not losing with 1200 calorie plan

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Replies

  • LoseYouself
    LoseYouself Posts: 249 Member
    You're not eating enough. It seems counter productive, but we need to eat enough, or your body is just going to fight you the entire time and you won't feel your best. I've had personal experience with this. I lost a lot of weight 4 years ago (with calories ranging from 1200-1800) and have maintained that loss.. but I've had trouble losing weight since then. I'd just fluctuate up and down, despite sticking to my lower calorie goal. I tried cutting back even more.. and it always backfired. I couldn't lose with less calories. You want a caloric deficit, but not one that is TOO big. Ideally, you should eat at least your BMR, but less than your total daily energy expenditure which depends on age, weight, height, etc. You can figure out these with online calculators.

    However, I've recently learned about increasing calories for weight loss. There's lots of information on it here. I increased my calories up to 2000 a day (and I workout 4-5 days per week) with a little extra if I workout extra hard or workout an extra day. Ever since starting this only 4 weeks ago, I've lost 7 pounds. It doesn't make sense, but it works.. and trust me you feel A LOT better and have extra energy to workout. This is the most energy I've had for workouts in over a year. Search some threads for eating more to lose more.

    Good luck!
  • JohnMessmer
    JohnMessmer Posts: 536
    Well a couple of things, first how much do you weigh and what is your height?

    Really anyone offering advice without knowing your specifics, can't give you specific advice. So yes, in general, Eat More and Exercise More and eat healthier and gain some muscle tone by weight lifting and drink more water and ...does any of this actually help anyone? I don't think so.

    So let me offer no help also, drink more water. Every day I looked at in your diary shows you only drink about 5 cups a day, the MINIMUM recommended daily intake on MFP is 8 cups a day and most health organizations, like the Mayo Clinic, recommend around 11. Simply put, Water cleanses your cells and flushes excess away. You should drink water until your urine is clear, and then when you are thirsty or hungry, yes every meal should be preceded by a full glass of water. Now that I have pounded in the importance of water, especially in weight loss, the next issue is in your calorie estimation. These "homemade" entries, are they accurate? If there is any doubt about the weight or portion of an item, estimate HIGH. Additionally, when you exercise you should estimate Low. This will allow you a bit of latitude if your estimates are off.

    Hope that helps, although I doubt it is anything you did not already know.
  • SRH7
    SRH7 Posts: 2,037 Member
    do this http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    This! Read it and do what it says.

    You probably need to eat more than 1200. MFP sets that as the standard intake for most people and for most it is too low. If you need a hand figuring it out, send me a message - happy to help!

    Other tips:

    * Log absolutely everything. The more you do it the easier it wil get as your favourite foods will appear on your diary options so you can log quickly.
    * Never assume portion size - get a set of cheap kitchen scales and weigh everything - even the milk in your coffee. I used to eat muesli for breakfast, then realised what looked like a tiny portion was 500 calories - ouch!
    * Calories in, calories out. The time of day you eat does not matter - eat when is good for you. If this means six meals a day, three with snacks, whatever - do what works for you. I'm a nighttime snacker so I eat a light breakfast and lunch so I can have a snack after dinner.
    * Eat back your exercise calories - your body needs fuel, so feed it. One word of advice - the calorie burn estimations on MFP tend to be way out so unless you have a heart rate monitor (HRM) to check your calorie burn assume the calorie burn said by MFP is double what it should be.
    * You mention 'cheat' days. These are fine but be careful you don't undo all your hard midweek by blowing it at the weekends. If I'm having a cheat day food and drink wise I try to get in a lot of exercise on that day to offset it.
    * Aim for 1lb a week loss. It doesn't sound much but it will ensure you don't lose lean tissue, only fat, that you will not feel deprived and miserable... and it works and will stay off.
    * Measure yourself - often fat loss shows on the tape measure rather than the scales.

    As I said, if you need any support/help, give me a shout.

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