Stalled after raising my calorie from 1200

CatMcCheesey

1200 calories is working fine for me, and I'm close in height/weight to the OP. I'm losing 2 pounds a week, just like MFP said I would. I'm lifting weights 3 times a week, and I feel great! Everyone is different.

Broejen

I was one of those doing a 1200 cal. diet, sometimes netting only 1000, at 218lbs. Worked great for the first 4-5 months but then the weight loss slowed down then stopped and now I have been hovering at the same level for 3-4 months now. Had I just eaten more from the beginning, I would probably still be losing! Why would you want to eat so low and ruin your metabolism when you could be eating almost normally and still lose?

CatMcCheesey

I was one of those doing a 1200 cal. diet, sometimes netting only 1000, at 218lbs. Worked great for the first 4-5 months but then the weight loss slowed down then stopped and now I have been hovering at the same level for 3-4 months now. Had I just eaten more from the beginning, I would probably still be losing! Why would you want to eat so low and ruin your metabolism when you could be eating almost normally and still lose?

Why would you think it would ruin one's metabolism?

nicleed

I lose between 8 and 10 lbs a each and every month. Some months the scale won't move till the end of the month, but I still get it done. Has been this way since I started in January 2012. I don't eat 1200, I won't say what I do eat you can look at that yourself. I'm NOT in starvation mode, my metab is just fine. I'm not hungry, My hair is NOT falling out, my nails are bad but in all honesty they were bad before I started the diet so that's def not the cause. My way of doing things blow your whole starvation mode BS right out of the water. I fast each and every day. I eat pretty clean, not 100% but way better than what I used to eat. I do agree you have to give it longer than a week to work your body is getting used to the new amounts. But why change if you were losing?

I'll save people some clicking and math:

She's consistently netting less than 700 daily.

And eating unflavoured geltine for breakfast. WTF....

To the OP. The main issue I see with younger women eating less is that when they get older (ie my age) they have stuffed their metabolism so much, and have minimal lean muscle mass, that they a/ have to keep eating like a sparrow or b/ the middle age spread takes over. Our metabolism slows down a great deal as we age - mainly due to the withering muscles and menopause.

I am 45, pre-menopausal and my BMR is around 1450, yet I am maintaining about 2200 (TDEE) with daily exercise (cardio + weights). I eat ice cream and chocolate (whenever I feel like it!). I lost weight steadily last year eating around 1800....Granted, I am tall (5'9") so can eat more than a shorter person.

I am fitter and healthier now than I was in my 30s.

First of all I'm not eating gelatin for my breakfast I don't eat breakfast, but I use gelatin for digestive health and other health benifits. I drink it in the mornings and at night, it's no biggie and I DO NOT NET LESS THAN 700 CALORIES A DAY. Fitbit adjust those calories for me by just moving around. I do not eat my exercise calories back but I haven't even gone to Zumba since Tuesday so all that is adjusted by the fitbit is "NORMAL" calorie burn from just being alive *sigh* please know what your talking about before you post. I haven't even worn the fitbit since Zumba on tuesday and it's still adjusting. But my success blows your omg you CAN'T lose weight if you don't more than 1200 calories a day out of the water.

Where did I say you can't lose weight netting 1200 cals a day? Quote please.

Broejen

would you think it would ruin one's metabolism?

Well I guess I shouldn't say "ruin" but it definitely isn't as good as it was when I first started. It's slowed down so now I am at maintenance eating the same amount of calories that I was losing at before. Metabolic Slowdown I think is what it's called.

DavPul

1200 calories is working fine for me, and I'm close in height/weight to the OP. I'm losing 2 pounds a week, just like MFP said I would. I'm lifting weights 3 times a week, and I feel great! Everyone is different.

Get back to us when you reach goal and attempt maintenance.

Sarauk2sf

would you think it would ruin one's metabolism?

Well I guess I shouldn't say "ruin" but it definitely isn't as good as it was when I first started. It's slowed down so now I am at maintenance eating the same amount of calories that I was losing at before. Metabolic Slowdown I think is what it's called.

Good youtube video here. It is about competitive body builders so it is about extremes, but is a good listen

http://www.biolayne.com/nutrition/biolayne-video-log-9-metabolic-damage/

Broejen

Good youtube video here. It is about competitive body builders so it is about extremes, but is a good listen

http://www.biolayne.com/nutrition/biolayne-video-log-9-metabolic-damage/

Thanks for that! He also has a follow-up video!

http://youtu.be/EY1DsZMNfNw

dianeb613

I had been stalled for the past 3 weeks eating 1200 calories plus some of my exercise calories. Since I am so close to where I want to be I decided that I would change my settings to losing only 1/2 lb a week so my allowance of calories went up from 1200 to 1420 of which I ate almost all of them each day. I must admit I was scared to get on the scale this morning because for sure I thought I gained. To my surprise I lost .8 which is good for me. Maybe I wasn't eating enough calories.

TurtleSpeed13

this is my 1st time on here. I am trying to figure it all out. Hope you find out what works.
:blushing:

SarahDavs

UPDATE: To anyone who implied I was being a fool, you were right! I re-weighed myself this morning and lost 1.6 pounds. Too bad I can't update the OP to reflect this new info. This just proves that I really don't know what I'm doing. I think what I'm going to do now is just go to 1300 this week and then raise it to 1400 next week... possibly raise it a bit from there, IDK. I don't think anyone in this thread is wrong. Obviously there are some really passionate opinions, and I'm assuming people are speaking from their own experience with success and failure at weight loss. But I appreciate all the input.

Siege_Tank

1200, the number, the idea, the notion of it is a HIGHLY controversial thing around here. The title of the thread is ensured to bring out all the women who are fanatically mad that they have to eat so little to keep their shape. Those kinds of people, the ones who hate being told to eat less, have started their own, slow weight loss groups - named eat more to weigh less.

I'll tell you, I got overweight by eating high calorie junk food, mostly fried carbs like french fries and chicken wings, and fried anything. That stuff has soo many calories packed into a little bit of food that it's easy to eat more calories than you need per day.

When 1600 calories is the count on a McDonalds angus bacon cheeseburger with large fries and a coke..

1600 calories is TEN portions of 4oz chicken breasts PLUS 6 cups of steamed broccoli.

You're damn right I eat 1200, when I cut out crappy junk food, it's almost IMPOSSIBLE for me to get to 1200 calories. I'm a small guy, and I just can't eat that volume of food without feeling like I'm going to pop.

I have had argument after argument with these people over calorie counts and what is “too low.” There are some people out there who think that eating below 1400-1500 is unhealthy, dangerous, reckless, and sets an awful example for most people to look at.

I don’t disagree.. When people are at a healthy weight. When people are OVERWEIGHT, they could stand to cut calories, as many as their willpower will allow. If they have the willpower to not eat for the entire Wednesday that they feel empowered... GREAT!! It’s called “fasting”. I actually just completed a 28 hour fast last night, it was hellish, but I felt like I had accomplished something I never could before.

The biggest piece of advice is this: listen to your body. If you aren't hungry, don't eat. Ask yourself if you are *truly* hungry. Don't add high fat foods like peanut butter *just* to get in that last 100 calories. We got here by eating "just one more bite", un-eating those one more bites is fine.

http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

This guy's website is phenomenal about teaching how our bodies work, and what kinds of BS there are in all the fitness magazines. He is one of the first people to admit when he gets it wrong, he's just looking for the truth. I hope it helps!

Sarauk2sf

UPDATE: To anyone who implied I was being a fool, you were right! I re-weighed myself this morning and lost 1.6 pounds. Too bad I can't update the OP to reflect this new info. This just proves that I really don't know what I'm doing. I think what I'm going to do now is just go to 1300 this week and then raise it to 1400 next week... possibly raise it a bit from there, IDK. I don't think anyone in this thread is wrong. Obviously there are some really passionate opinions, and I'm assuming people are speaking from their own experience with success and failure at weight loss. But I appreciate all the input.

Don't be so hard on yourself. Upping calories is a nerve wracking thing and, no matter how logical we are, we tend to focus on the scale too much. It is human nature.

I would recommend upping your calories very slowly. This will give your metabolism time to adapt and minimize any water weight fluctuations from the higher calories . Upping by 100 a week is a good idea but I would suggest after 2 weeks of 100 calorie increases you sit there for a couple of weeks to let everything settle down. If things are progressing as you hope, then try upping again by 50 - 100 calories.

SarahDavs

Siege_Tank, I'm listening to you. I'm also listening to what people are saying on the other side of the coin. I think everyone is different. You're passionate about your opinion because you're seeing results, what you're doing is working for you, and you've done some research that reflects your opinion. I want to do what works for me. It might end up being what you're doing. Or I might be able to be successful eating a few more calories a day. The threat of my metabolism slowing from the people who take the opinion that I should be eating more is what scares me the most. I already have a slow metabolism due to being a woman, a mother and having a hormonal imbalance (PCOS.) I don't want to chance on making it worse. I guess it's going to be a bit of trial and error before I really know what road I'm going to take. But you seem like a very intelligent guy and I've appreciated your part of this debate very much.

srm1960

Well, I upped my calorie intake from 1200 to 1400 last week. Even though I was losing about 1 1/2 pounds a week from the 1200. But I kept reading all the MFP threads about 1200 not being enough to sustain you. But and I didn't lose even .1 of a pound, or any inches. I'm going back to 1200. I'm 123 pounds right now and exercise everyday. Do you think if I'm eating healthy foods about every 3 hours at 1200 a day that my body will really go into starvation mode? Is anyone else losing and doing just fine at 1200?

ETA: I meant I weigh *223* pounds.

????????This is my story EXACTLY!!!

Siege_Tank

Siege_Tank, I'm listening to you. I'm also listening to what people are saying on the other side of the coin. I think everyone is different. You're passionate about your opinion because you're seeing results, what you're doing is working for you, and you've done some research that reflects your opinion. I want to do what works for me. It might end up being what you're doing. Or I might be able to be successful eating a few more calories a day. The threat of my metabolism slowing from the people who take the opinion that I should be eating more is what scares me the most. I already have a slow metabolism due to being a woman, a mother and having a hormonal imbalance (PCOS.) I don't want to chance on making it worse. I guess it's going to be a bit of trial and error before I really know what road I'm going to take. But you seem like a very intelligent guy and I've appreciated your part of this debate very much.

Lol, That's all it takes, try the different methods to see what works for your body. All it takes to lose is an undying commitment to reach your goals.

Most of what I was saying was a counter argument to those who were making statments along the lines of "there can be only one path.."

If I came off as pushy or pretentious I certainly didn't mean to, I only intended to slay the zombies with an arsenal of awesome.

FlaxMilk

OP congrats on the weight loss! I noticed you have PCOS, so you'll probably have to pay a bit more attention through tracking and giving it sufficient time to know what calorie level works for you. Some of the advice on the boards might not be individualized enough for you, so I'd give your doctor a call too and ask what the docs want you to do. If you lost 1.6 lbs on 1400, you can clearly eat at least that much and lose. Awesome!

Diamond05

bump

SarahDavs

OP congrats on the weight loss! I noticed you have PCOS, so you'll probably have to pay a bit more attention through tracking and giving it sufficient time to know what calorie level works for you. Some of the advice on the boards might not be individualized enough for you, so I'd give your doctor a call too and ask what the docs want you to do. If you lost 1.6 lbs on 1400, you can clearly eat at least that much and lose. Awesome!

Thanks! My doctor has said from the start to do a 1400 calorie diet, but I always thought that was just his default answer. I was always under the impression that cutting as many calories as possible (without going too low) was the best way to lose, that's why I didn't mind when MFP defaulted me at 1200. I've been on 1000 calorie diets in the past and lost little to nothing though, I thought it was just because of the PCOS. Reading all the threads about 1200 being too low is totally new information to me. But yeah, I'm talking to my doctor a lot, he's the reason why I know to eat low glycemic index foods (because of my PCOS.)

CM9178

Siege_Tank, I'm listening to you. I'm also listening to what people are saying on the other side of the coin. I think everyone is different. You're passionate about your opinion because you're seeing results, what you're doing is working for you, and you've done some research that reflects your opinion. I want to do what works for me. It might end up being what you're doing. Or I might be able to be successful eating a few more calories a day. The threat of my metabolism slowing from the people who take the opinion that I should be eating more is what scares me the most. I already have a slow metabolism due to being a woman, a mother and having a hormonal imbalance (PCOS.) I don't want to chance on making it worse. I guess it's going to be a bit of trial and error before I really know what road I'm going to take. But you seem like a very intelligent guy and I've appreciated your part of this debate very much.

That is great news! If you stick with upping your calories slowly, you will still lose weight. As long as you have calculated your TDEE as accurately as possible, and you stay below that number, you WILL lose weight.
Many people say they are afraid they will gain all of their weight back if they increase their calories - but that is impossible if you are still eating under the number of calories you burn in a day. Yes, you may see some initial weight "gain", but that is just water, and your metabolism fixing itself, and eventually it will come off.
As another person said, you can obviously lose weight at 1400, so no reason to eat any lower than that right? Why eat less if you don't have to?

savithny

] Thanks! My doctor has said from the start to do a 1400 calorie diet, but I always thought that was just his default answer. I was always under the impression that cutting as many calories as possible (without going too low) was the best way to lose, that's why I didn't mind when MFP defaulted me at 1200. I've been on 1000 calorie diets in the past and lost little to nothing though, I thought it was just because of the PCOS. Reading all the threads about 1200 being too low is totally new information to me. But yeah, I'm talking to my doctor a lot, he's the reason why I know to eat low glycemic index foods (because of my PCOS.)

You said above that you get impatient and frustrated and want results. But what stinks more than getting slow results? Trying to do too much too fast and then getting NO results.

I thought, when I filled out the worksheets at MFP, that was being moderate, picking "1 pound a week" I have been pretty sedentary and I was working on improving that, but I used "sedentary" and 1 pound/week and got given a number and it seemed pretty generous compared to the 1200 everyone was talking about (I'm 5'10").

Then I read the "In place of a roadmap" and noticed that the MFP number was still less than my BMR, but hey, I'd only set it for a pound a week, right Moderation. And even the roadmap people say that bigger people can go for bigger deficits, right?

So for the first two months, my loss wasn't linear (I tended to see nothing for several weeks and then a drop), but it averaged out to 1.25 pounds a week -- right in line with predictions. But then it stopped. Even though I'd gotten more active, walking daily for exercise and working more movement into my daily routine and starting a timid little strength training program.

So I had my metabolism tested. And it was running 10% lower than even the most pessimistic online calculator said it should be. Yep, I managed to turn my metabolism to the "low burn" setting," while trying to lose a very moderate pound a week!

Once I'd done that, what are my choices? Eat even less to lose a pound a week and slow things down more? That sounds like a sucky option.

What I've been trying to do for the last few weeks is eat closer to what I suspect is maintenance . My goal right now is to maintain the loss I've got, stay active, convince my body there's no famiine, and hopefully make this weight my new setpoint before starting again with a bigger deficit. And lo and behold - the scale moved down this week again, which makes me hope my metabolism isn't permanently fried.

Mommy4812

My weight also stalled for 3 weeks when raising it from only 1440 to 1560. That's only a 120 calorie difference but then I read it was normal and it takes time for the body to adjust so sure enough after the 3rd week my weight started going back down and I feel much better with those little bit more calories. DO eat your exercise calories back unless you're using the TDEE method.

dianeb613

After losing .8 last week, I gained .2 this week. Not bad because I am eating more calories. I am not going back to 1200 calories. I'll stick with1460...and wait it out since I am so so close to where I want to be.