What's wrong with me?

sassycurlzss
sassycurlzss Posts: 47 Member
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
I started mfp Jan 1, 2010. I've lost 11lbs. I have a 1200 cal diet plan like most. I eat almost all of my cals if I don't it's only 100-200 less. I work long hours and get home late eat dinner n have left over cals sometimes I'm not going to just shove food in my face to eat those extra and I eat over 100-200 on sat so it makes up for it. I eat three balanced meals a day have two snacks a day an apple or fruit or veggies. I gave up diet pop for lent and drink nothing but water and one glass of diet juice in the morning. I started my exercising at home 3-4 days a week missed feb (injury) and now I'm at the gym 4-5 days a week. Cardio and weight for both home and gym. I eat my exercise cals. I don not eat fast foods. I havent lost anything since end of Jan nothing in feb and two pounds because I ate meat and only greens for three days just to put two back on. I'm so tired and confused. I can't keep going if I'm
not even losing a pound a week!!! My mesurements don't change and I have someone do it for me so it's consistant. I need help! What do I need to do??
(Please excuse spelling and grammer typed it on my phone)

Replies

  • MelleyJ
    MelleyJ Posts: 198
    In my opinion, I think you need to eat more. 1200 calories seems to be some "magic" number that someone found and said that's how many one should have at the very least. But who is 1200 calories for? Every dietician and exercise physiologist agrees that it's definitely not enough.
    I have been "stuck" for two weeks. I had my RMR tested.. the very minimum I can eat is 1380, and it should have been more, but I destroyed my metabolism by doing the 1200 kcals. I have bumped it up to 1400-1500 a day, and after a week I have started to see myself go back down again.
    I know everyone talks about "starvation mode" and "1200 calorie diets" on here, but you have to find the number that's right for you body, and it's most likely higher than you think. You don't have to come home and "eat" more calories. Have a glass of skim milk to help keep up your bone density and have a healthy snack. That's a great source of calories and calcium. Have a glass of orange juice (4-6 ounces) in the morning with breakfast for some Vitamin C. Nobody says you should come home and eat cookies to get your calories in. But try bumping up your calories. I thought I had a horrible day yesterday because I was at 1800 calories, but I still dropped 0.5lbs today on the scale. You would be surprised with what your body really needs. Experiment with your calories and bump it up. I was scared of going up too, so I started off low. I went to 1400-1500. As long as I stayed in that range, I was okay and I have seen myself start to go down again.
    I hope this helps. Good luck with your goals and keep it up. Don't give up. I am glad I didn't!
  • StaceG1986
    StaceG1986 Posts: 350
    I was in the same position. I wasn't even losing a pound a week. I upped my cals and am now losing 1.5 lbs + a week. I changed my goal on here based on my BMR which is 1650, but I usually eat about 1500 ish.
  • stargirl27
    stargirl27 Posts: 6
    I agree with Melly G, sounds like you are wearing yourself out. Listen to your hunger and thirst and rest signals, keeping counting the calories but if you're hungry eat something healthy. If you're tired take a nap sounds like you're exhausted and you definitely deserve it! But don't give up either.
    This was some interesting information as well about why we hit plateaus.
    Good Luck!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/stroutman81/view/the-starvation-mode-20677
  • msbanana
    msbanana Posts: 793 Member
    Melly J hit the nail on the head. Your body is storing everything right now because it thinks you're starving. If you're hitting the gym 4-5 times a week you NEED to eat more than 1200 cals a day. Try bumping it up to 1500 for a 2 weeks. You may see an initial gain (that's your body correcting) once your metabolism is up and running again the way it should be you'll start seeing it drop. And to make yourself feel better you can still eat 1200 on the days you don't work out. Melly's also correct in recommending you check on you BMR. (There's a tool here for that.) The BMR is how many calories you need to consume to maintain your weight if you did nothing but lay in bed all day. Consuming AT LEAST what the BMR recommends (Mine is 1680 cals) when you work out really helps fight fatigue and keeps your metabolism chugging along. (You have to feed it for it to work!!)

    Hope this helps!!
  • TGIBriday83
    TGIBriday83 Posts: 68 Member
    you basically need to play around with your calories and diet in order to find soemthing that'll work. you could be taking in too few. you also have to realize that those first 11 lbs came off quick cuz it was new and different, but your body adjusted and apparently is letting weight off at a lot slower and healthier rate.just keep doing what your doing and give it time.
  • sassycurlzss
    sassycurlzss Posts: 47 Member
    Thanks to everyone who posted! I thought that I should increase my cals too! So I'm starting it off today. What a good day to add a few extra cals! (st. Pats) I hope it works!
  • weidner
    weidner Posts: 127
    Oaky, this is making me a bit nervous - I just lost 17 pounds and when I went to log into the mfp this morning, it informed me that I should now re-enter my weight and my cal intake should change. I did that and now I am only taking in 1390 calories a day - is this going to stunt my weight loss progress?
  • MelleyJ
    MelleyJ Posts: 198
    Oaky, this is making me a bit nervous - I just lost 17 pounds and when I went to log into the mfp this morning, it informed me that I should now re-enter my weight and my cal intake should change. I did that and now I am only taking in 1390 calories a day - is this going to stunt my weight loss progress?

    No, I don't think it will. As your body begins to lose weight, your body doesn't "need" as much, and your metabolism will slow a bit. That's natural. Think about it this way.. if you were walking around at the weight you were at, you were carrying around that "extra" weight. Now, that weight is gone. It would be like walking around now with a backpack full of stuff that would make you weigh what you did when you started. Your body would have to work harder and burn more calories in order to do so. Youshould be fine lowering your calories. Just stay close to the number you were at and slowly decrease it down. If you were eating 1500, go a few days at 1450, then drop to 1400. It's scary to change your calories when you see it working and then it not working. Hope this makes sense! PS. Congrats on the first 17lbs!!
  • sarayaha
    sarayaha Posts: 7
    im having the same problem. gave up all the junk food. No high fat foods in my diet at all. I am working out to jillians 30 day shred and adding walking in as much as possible. i try really hard to eat 1200 calories. but honestly its hard. Since ive gotten rid of the junk its difficult to get in the proper amount of calories. 3 meals and usually a snack or 2. and im barely hittiing 1100. Im just not hungry! on top of that, I changed my diet over a month ago and I still gained weight. 3 pounds last week alone. i dont understand at all.
  • kcandjoe
    kcandjoe Posts: 8
    so if you look at your bmr how many calories do you minus to loose say 2 pounds a week?
    KArrie
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