Staying within Calorie Range but not losing weight???

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bttrflykisses820
bttrflykisses820 Posts: 24
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone,

This is my first post on MFP! But i've been logging my food and weight here for about a month now.

Well here is the problem I've had the last two weeks. I've been eating about 1200 calories sometimes a smidge more and sometimes a smidge less. By "smidge" i mean 100 calories or less. The first few weeks i did great and was consistently losing weight... without any major fluctuations. Now the last two weeks my scale is going up and down.... I'll give you an example.

Day 1 - 210lbs
Day 2 - 211lbs
Day 3 - 212lbs
Day 4 - 211lbs
Day 5 - 212lbs
Day 6 - 211lbs
Day 7 - 209lbs


Yes, i do weigh daily, for those that will probably want to know. But even if i weigh on a "designated" day... what if that designated day happens to be... Day 1 and then Day 5 on my example? Then I'd be devastated!

I'm already depressed that a couple days ago i was 2 lbs less than i am today! Because now i don't know what my accurate weight is or if i'm even making progress or just having "water fluctuations." I don't see how I would gain any weight though, since I don't eat over 1300 calories.... always at or close to 1200.

I drink plenty of water, at least 4 bottles a day, i eat healthy things... nothing fried, nothing with too much sodium...
I don't exercise right now besides regular every day activities. Umm... I'm trying to think of anything else that you might want to know. lol. Oh, i'm even taking Calcium Pyruvate... which is a natural fat burner... not a gimmick. Its an actual vitamin (?) that you naturally ingest through different foods. Its just a supplement.

Well, please let me know what you think and if you have any questions, I'll be sure to answer. :-)

Replies

  • Jelywa
    Jelywa Posts: 13
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    Have you had a chance to read this yet? http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
  • lt_mrcook
    lt_mrcook Posts: 389 Member
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    Do you always weigh yourself at the same time of day? Your weight can change from 2-5 lbs just in one day.

    Add some exercises, even if it's just a 15 minute brisk walk each day. It may be enough to shock your system. Don't eat any extra calories you burn, unless you feel sluggish.

    There is NO such thing as a fat burner. I don't care what the package says. Your body will only use fat stores if you use more calories than you take in. Granted you need vitmins and nutrients for all of your bodily processes to function properly, but nothing is going to make your body burn more fat with the same inputs and outputs. You want to burn more calories, do more work.
  • Sparksfly
    Sparksfly Posts: 470 Member
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    weigh yourself once a week is what I do!

    Day 1=210
    Day 7=209

    -one pound loss per week is pretty good if you ask me!
  • Sparksfly
    Sparksfly Posts: 470 Member
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    also! I go through the same thing...

    Last Monday I weighed in at 152.5, I went to the gym that night and I was up like 5.5 lbs!

    Obviously I didn't eat 19000 calories that day. It was probably the food I ate and water I drank that didn't leave my system yet.
  • cdavis1126
    cdavis1126 Posts: 301 Member
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    Give yourself a break and stop weighing everyday. It's just not a good thing to do. Pick a day and weigh yourself once a week as soon as you get up after you pee. Add in 15 minutes of cardio everyday and I bet you will see that scale move at the end of the week. You can also try tricking your body by boosting. Every fourth day, double the amount of protein or carbs at one meal. It throws your body off balance and will help you loose weight.

    Your total calories for one meal should be between 300 to 500.
    Protein should be between 15 and 30 g
    carbs between 30 to 45 g
    fat should be 20 to 30% or LESS of total calories
    Fiber at least 5 g (20 to 25g/day)
    Sodium should be LESS than 700 mgs per meal.

    Try taking a look at your numbers based on this list. This is what my food plan recommends and I've lost 45 lbs in 4 months. I also exercise everyday even if it's only 1/2 hour on the treadmill.

    Christine
  • volks80
    volks80 Posts: 56
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    It looks like normal day to day fluctuation to me....which is why people shouldn't weight theirself everyday.
    I get what you're saying that if you weigh yourself on the "wrong" day then it looks like no weight loss, but personally I say then chalk that up to no weight loss and move on. If you stick to it then the next week you will see that you DID lose.
  • ScarletTarah
    ScarletTarah Posts: 117 Member
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    Whatever you do don't give up, and if your not exercising add it in.
  • ckmama
    ckmama Posts: 1,668 Member
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    I would dare say you aren't eating enough either. You're body may be holding onto weight for dear life. You should reevaluate your calorie intake. Most people still think with that 1200 calorie diet thinking that is the way to lose weight fast, but it isn't healthy and it usually doesn't last because it isn't maintainable.

    I don't know how much you weigh but if you have 80 lbs to lose then you probably aren't eating enough.

    I weigh daily, but I also have those fluctuations. You have to learn to live with them and see the bigger picture.

    Keep your head up./
  • alishapotrie
    alishapotrie Posts: 2 Member
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    How long have you been restricting yourself to 1200 calories? Maybe your metabolism has slowed down due to too few calories, which I have read can happen. Solution: maybe up calories and more exercise if your not already. Good Luck!!:smile:
  • Chenoachem
    Chenoachem Posts: 1,758 Member
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    Your calorie intake does seem really low. Espcially if you working out everyday. You need to eat those exercise calories since MFP has already worked into a calorie defficiet. You might be putting your body into a starvation mode with not having enough food.

    Your progress so far is great. The drinking water all day is awesome. The workout would be great but it is important to fuel your body appropriate for your size. Try switching to loosing 1 lb per week, increase your calories. That helped me at times early on.

    Good Luck. You are doing great. Keep up the good work.
  • jillybeanruns
    jillybeanruns Posts: 1,420 Member
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    Don't weigh every day! And is there any particular reason why you're not exercising? Because you really should be. You should not be going below 1200 calories. I think you should be eating 1600-1800 calories a day. Try it for a week and see where it gets you. But exercise is key. Diet is only 1/2 the equation.
  • geekyjen
    geekyjen Posts: 103 Member
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    Tons of things can have an impact on weight loss, stress being a common one. Are you having regular BMs? Time of the month? I haven't looked at your food, sorry.
    I too weigh myself everyday despite so many people on here saying not to. It's true, water and everything else can make you fluctuate day to day, but I still prefer it. It's only bad when you let the up days get you down.
  • robsonia
    robsonia Posts: 1
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    I'm no expert but I agree with what's already been said; pick one day a week to weigh-in. I've changed my eating habits and am now having very small meals every 3-4 hours which seems to be working; by small I mean like a fist full.
  • bttrflykisses820
    bttrflykisses820 Posts: 24
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    Wow, such fast responses! Thank you ALL so very much!

    Jelywa - that article was amazing! But i'm not sure if that applies to me... before i started my "diet" i just ate whatever i wanted without being excessive.... like I didnt eat McDonalds daily... or fried things all the time. I just ate like any person not watching their weight eats like.

    So, a week after i started my diet i thought back to the previous week and of a day i could remember what I ate... so I calculated the things i remembered and i believe it was over 2000. So even at that 2000something calorie range i was "maintaining".

    In 4 years gained 20lbs. Which is a lot. But it was gradual. So my point is... according to the calories i'm eating now... i SHOULD be losing weight, because they are definitely less than before. lol

    MrCook - you are right about "fat burners" in general, and I don't agree with the "fat loss" pills. But this is a natural supplement that has a variety of effects... such as lowering cholesterol and aids in converting sugar to energy... so with more energy your metabolism can speed up and therefore help you lose weight.

    Sparksfly - i have a "mentally chosen designated" day.. lol but I still weigh every day. I chose Wednesday to be my comparison days. So even if i weigh myself daily I will still compare Wednesday to Wednesday.

    cdavis - i usually weigh myself when i wake up, go pee and hop on the scale lol. I do need to add some exercising in for sure... After i'm done with this post i'll compare my data to the little chart you provided me!

    Volks80 - you are right... sometimes it is the wrong day and sometimes that wrong day also falls in increments of weeks. Monday could be a really good weighing day... showing your weight to be low and then Sunday maybe you had a whole lot of water in you and show you to be 2 lbs heavier! How frustrating!

    Scarlet - definitely not giving up! Just frustrated. lol

    ckmama - i weigh the same as my example. lol. It's just not accurate because i dont remember the exact day and amount. I'm 210 atm... i think. I'll try rotating calories around and see what happens... go up and down in calories.

    Alishapotrie - been dieting for a month. :-)

    Chenoachem - I'll add excercise and diff calorie amounts.

    Allislefttogain - I cant imagine eating 1600-1800! Wow, thats a lot of food. lol But you are right about diet being 1/2 of the equation.

    Geekyjen - you might have hit upon something. I've been SUPER stressed the last week or so. I have had so much work to do in such a short amount of time and i've been lacking a lot of sleep too. BM's.... are every 2 days. I thought i used to go every day before my diet.... so i'm trying to add more fiber to my diet to help that out. My time of the month should be within a couple of days! lol That will be terrible. It will be the first time since i started my diet. I dont know if i will want to weight myself this coming week.

    Robsonia - i'm already eating about 3, sometimes 4 small meals a day every 3-4 hours.


    Wow! That was a lot of responses. haha i dont think i'm going to reply individually next time... lol i'm just reply generally. Took too long to type!

    All of you gave me some great information though, and I really appreciate your help.

    Do you guys know if sleep affects weight loss? Geekyjen actually made me think of it... so i wonder if that has anything to do with it. I've been getting about 4 hours of sleep the last week and a half.
  • jewels319
    jewels319 Posts: 72 Member
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    I hate the scale......used to weigh everyday...that fluctuation is so frickin discouraging so I stopped....once a week now....and I am losing. The scale is only ur friend once a week. :grumble:
  • dogmeat
    dogmeat Posts: 83
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    Yeah, I agree with many above, eat more, add some exercise, eat your exercise calories, dedicate one day a week for weigh-in.
  • spaniel
    spaniel Posts: 468
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    cdavis1126: Was that protein, carbs, fat, etc per meal? I haven't lost anything in three weeks on this program and wonder if my "breakdown" of carbs, fat and protein are mixed up. I do exercise 5 days a week at least 40 minutes. My net calories are suppposed to be 1410 plus whatever I add for exercise. Thanks!
  • geekyjen
    geekyjen Posts: 103 Member
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    sleep can definitely have an impact on weight. i'm not completely sure of the mechanism, but the two are definitely linked.

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