Need some serious help here concerning food/excercise.

Dementedllama · December 2012

My mom and me have been dieting for two months now. She's lost one pound. I fluctuate between one and two.

I've been told recently that it's because we aren't eating enough, and are excercising TOO much.

I honestly don't see how this can be possible? Too much excercise? And we don't starve ourselves!

So I need help from you MFP community!!

We're both eating around 1,200 calories a day. And burning between 500-700 off at the gym.

Anybody know anything about this?

lollyish · December 2012

Are you eating the wrong things?
Sugar in particular?
Sometimes it can just take a while to start the weight shifting, or it could be down to even though youre eating 1200 calories, you may be eating the wrong types of foods.

Dementedllama · December 2012

Are you eating the wrong things?
Sugar in particular?
Sometimes it can just take a while to start the weight shifting, or it could be down to even though youre eating 1200 calories, you may be eating the wrong types of foods.

We don't eat sugar in excess. Very little. We eat a lot of fruits and veggies, protein, and a small portion of carbs.

AnvilHead · December 2012

...Anybody know anything about this?

Dan does:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

lvtruu1 · December 2012

Almost always, it is that you are eating to much. How well do you track it? Do you weigh everything? One issue I have with this program is that people can also pick the wrong entries for their foods. Many are off 100's of calories. What I did was either check the package and compare it, selecting the right one. Also you need to go on the internet and find out what calories are really in different foods. Look around. You'll find that you may be off a lot in what you think you are eating and what you really are.

Dementedllama · December 2012

Almost always, it is that you are eating to much. How well do you track it? Do you weigh everything? One issue I have with this program is that people can also pick the wrong entries for their foods. Many are off 100's of calories. What I did was either check the package and compare it, selecting the right one. Also you need to go on the internet and find out what calories are really in different foods. Look around. You'll find that you may be off a lot in what you think you are eating and what you really are.

Uh, no. I check all the packages and measure everything and correctly log EVERYTHING I consume. But thanks.

envy09 · December 2012

So at the most you're neting 700 calories a day? Probably going to want to eat more...just a thought.

Dementedllama · December 2012

Anvilhead: I've read that before, but it still confuses me.

Dementedllama · December 2012

So at the most you're neting 700 calories a day? Probably going to want to eat more...just a thought.

Sometimes I net less than that.

But I don't know what that means. That's why I need things explained to me.

envy09 · December 2012

So at the most you're neting 700 calories a day? Probably going to want to eat more...just a thought.

Sometimes I net less than that.

But I don't know what that means. That's why I need things explained to me.

You've been eating 1200 calories a day. Minus the amount of calories from exercise: 1200-500=700 calories a day.

Btw, you can quote people by pushing the quote button instead of the reply button.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics · December 2012

It means if you burn 500 calories you should eat 1700 instead of 1200. That's assuming that your calorie burn is correct, which it isn't always.

tetecia · December 2012

You should be attempting to NET at LEAST 1200 cals a day. So if you are burning 500 Cals a day in exercise then that means you should be eating around 1700 Cals a day. Of course, this is all based on the minimum of needing 1200 cals a day just to base line. Of course, sometimes under doctors orders people can't eat that much, or there are just random days that you just can't get that many cals in after exercise (it's happened to me sometimes) and if it looks like that near the end of the day have some trail mix or something high in calories that's good for you. I've had issues like that before when i first started. Does that make any sense?

Chelle175 · December 2012

Maybe this will help. The exercise that you get at the gym is not the only source of calories that you burn during a day. Your body has to have a certain amount of calories to simply exist - breathing, moving, breaking down food - all of the body's internal processess take energy.

If you consume fewer calories that what your body has to have on a daily basis just to survive, your body won't let you lose weight. Instead, it will hoarde everything you eat. It's called "starvation mode." Your body is hanging on to every calorie. No matter how much you exercise, you won't lose. And you may end up causing serious harm to your body.

This site gives you your Basal Metabolic Rate...that's the number of calories you need to keep your body functioning. When everything you do and eat in a day are tallied, you shouldn't be going below that number.

Net calorie intakes of 700 - 800/day can be dangerous.

onyxgirl17 · December 2012

yea I agree with what everyone else is saying, you should actually be eating more....

marie_25m · December 2012

You need to need eat more, to net 1200. also, have you seen the changes in lost inches???

ElliInJapan · December 2012

So at the most you're neting 700 calories a day? Probably going to want to eat more...just a thought.

Sometimes I net less than that.

But I don't know what that means. That's why I need things explained to me.

I'm not an expert but I'll tell you what I have understood from all the posts on starvation around here. When you don't eat enough, your metabolism slows down because your body interprets this lack of calories as starvation. As a result you end up not losing weight or losing very slowly, while you also destroy your muscle mass. If you increase your calorie intake you'll restart your metabolism again and have a healthier weight loss. Some people argue that starvation is a myth and I'm not really sure if their arguments are valid, but let's use some common sense here: 700 calories per day is far too low, don't you think? I'd personally be very miserable with so little food and even if I managed to do it for a while, I wouldn't be able to do it for long. If you take a look at the success stories, you'll see that most people made it by having some reasonable calorie deficit (but not extreme) over an extended period of time (plus exercise). You should read the posts pinned at the top, they are very useful.

closenre · December 2012

If you were not working out prior to starting your diet you may be gaining muscle while losing fat. Watch how your pants fit and look for muscle definition. Scale may not always tell the truth but measurements will!! Good luck!!

AnvilHead · December 2012

If you were not working out prior to starting your diet you may be gaining muscle while losing fat...

She's netting 500-700 calories a day. It's a very safe assumption that she's NOT gaining muscle. In fact, it's a safe assumption that she's losing a significant amount of lean body mass along with the fat.

Dementedllama · December 2012

You should be attempting to NET at LEAST 1200 cals a day. So if you are burning 500 Cals a day in exercise then that means you should be eating around 1700 Cals a day. Of course, this is all based on the minimum of needing 1200 cals a day just to base line. Of course, sometimes under doctors orders people can't eat that much, or there are just random days that you just can't get that many cals in after exercise (it's happened to me sometimes) and if it looks like that near the end of the day have some trail mix or something high in calories that's good for you. I've had issues like that before when i first started. Does that make any sense?

Yes it does! I understand now, thank you!

Dementedllama · December 2012

You need to need eat more, to net 1200. also, have you seen the changes in lost inches???

No, no lost inches. No changes at all.

Dementedllama · December 2012

Thanks to everyone for your help ! I'm now netting 1,200 a day.

To those of you that were rude, I didn't KNOW that I was starving myself. I wasn't miserable or hungry.

pamleac · December 2012

You are losing fat, gaining muscle perhaps?

moniquedeanne · December 2012

Everything people are saying about your net calories is true. You also might want to try adding in more strength training, that always busts me out of a weight-loss rut. Even when I don't see the scale change my inches always decrease with strength training plus you get the added bonus of not having to feel like a hamster on a wheel.

ChristinaR720 · December 2012

If you're not comfortable increasing your calories to 1700 right away, start with an increase to 1400 one week, and then increase to 1700 the following week. It should help!