No weight loss when I exercise

PibblesRun
PibblesRun Posts: 236 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
When I exercise I dont lose any weight! Im on 1200 cals a day (which is what MFP set me at, so dont tell me I need to eat more) I know as long as im at 1200 its healthy...Im 5'7" 177 lbs and have a pretty much sedentary lifestyle...I dont work, im a stay at home mom. I dont consider what I do daily as anything more than light work. Playing with my girl which consists of sitting on my butt in her playroom and going after her sometimes, light housework daily, once a week I do the heavy cleaning.

When I exercise I will for half hour give or take every day. Burn anywhere from 200-400 cals...When i do this every day I dont see any loss at all! I kept it up like that for 3 weeks...still no loss even though I lost 1-2 lbs a week before exercising. So I quit after 3 weeks and I started losing 1-2 lbs a week again. So I figured id try exercising again...and stopped losing again!

Im confused as heck...whats going on here? I thought exercise would give me a little more of a deficit to lose a little bit more each week but it completley halts my loss. And I cant be putting on that much muscle that I dont even see a few ounces of loss. Does anyone know what in the world is going on? Yes I started measuring and I dont lose inches either when I exercise...so it really does completely stop all progress.

Replies

  • Cyclink
    Cyclink Posts: 517 Member
    One of the biggest problems with MFP's calculators is that they do not account for any form of health or basic common sense. They just crunch the numbers you give them. They don't flag numbers that could be problematic.

    Using the numbers your posted to check you BMR, I found that you need about 1600 calories a day just to be healthy.

    The calories you were burning exercising were only causing a further problem. Ironically, by stopping exercise you were doing less damage, but not solving the problem.

    If you insist on eating only 1200, there's nothing any of us can do for you.
  • Nukkers
    Nukkers Posts: 139 Member
    Check out the group In Place of a Roap Map.
  • lookgreatfast
    lookgreatfast Posts: 106 Member
    for your height 1200 seems less...even though you may not want to hear this. Try eating back your exercise calories. I only ate 1100 cal. and didn't eat back my exercise cal. The weight didn't go anywhere. I started eating back my exercise cal and the machine started moving faster. I am only 4'9". so you definately would need more. I too am a stay home mom and only have light activity.
    And don't forget water, water, water.
  • paxbfl
    paxbfl Posts: 391 Member
    Also consider increasing the intensity of your exercise. When I work out for 30 minutes, I typically burn around 500 calories. Try High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) - go easy for 1 minute, moderate for 1 minute, hard for 1 minute, and all out for 1 minute then repeat 4 times for 5 intervals total. Add a warm up and cool-down to make the whole thing about 30 minutes.
  • ClementineGeorg
    ClementineGeorg Posts: 505 Member
    When I exercise I dont lose any weight! Im on 1200 cals a day (which is what MFP set me at, so dont tell me I need to eat more)

    MFP sets calories based on YOUR choice of lbs per week you want to lose.
    It's OUR fault if we want to lose 4 lbs per week or 0.1 lbs (just exagerating with the numbers).

    MFP just gives us a set of tools. We are responsible for how we use it.
  • paxbfl
    paxbfl Posts: 391 Member
    MFP sets calories based on YOUR choice of lbs per week you want to lose.
    It's OUR fault if we want to lose 4 lbs per week or 0.1 lbs (just exagerating with the numbers).

    MFP just gives us a set of tools. We are responsible for how we use it.

    I was just discussing this with someone. I think you're better off just choosing something reasonable, no more than 1 pound a week. Then, if you fall a little under that number and have a great week at the gym, maybe you can lose 2 pounds a week some weeks. But you're not aiming for a very low number every day and basically starving yourself.
  • Weebs628
    Weebs628 Posts: 574 Member
    When I exercise I dont lose any weight! Im on 1200 cals a day (which is what MFP set me at, so dont tell me I need to eat more)

    MFP sets calories based on YOUR choice of lbs per week you want to lose.
    It's OUR fault if we want to lose 4 lbs per week or 0.1 lbs (just exagerating with the numbers).

    MFP just gives us a set of tools. We are responsible for how we use it.

    Amen! I think 95% of the time this is the problem for people. I'm set on 1/2 pound a week cause I love food.
  • kdub67
    kdub67 Posts: 181 Member
    for your height 1200 seems less...even though you may not want to hear this. Try eating back your exercise calories. I only ate 1100 cal. and didn't eat back my exercise cal. The weight didn't go anywhere. I started eating back my exercise cal and the machine started moving faster. I am only 4'9". so you definately would need more. I too am a stay home mom and only have light activity.
    And don't forget water, water, water.

    Agree with this totally, as I found the exact same thing...Eating around 1150-1200 (dumb enough a year ago to not realize that it was too low!) plus exercising about 500 calories a day...so net was around 600. I didn't lose a single pound over a two month period. Now my goal is 1200 on non-exercise days and eating back most of my exercise calories. I've managed to lose an average of a pound a week.
  • MrsWilsoncroft
    MrsWilsoncroft Posts: 968 Member
    Eat more, lose weight
  • fg8585
    fg8585 Posts: 110 Member
    In my personal experience the scale doesn't budge unless i burn 500 + calories. Try that?
  • Crazy4Healthy
    Crazy4Healthy Posts: 626 Member
    Calories are not a one size fits all kind of thing. MFP has a tendency to put everyone at 1,200 calories to start. If you really think about it, someone 6' is not going to have the same maintenance calories as someone 5', so why would they also have the same amount of calories allotted to lose?

    You seem determined to stick with the 1,200 and if that is the case, at the very least, eat back your exercise calories so you are at least netting 1,200. I'm 5'2" and was eating more than that (and lost 41 lbs).
  • kimmcconkey
    kimmcconkey Posts: 45 Member
    I had mine set to 2lbs a week also and found that 1200 wasn't enough calories for me. If you actually check it out, everyone who opts for 2lb a week weight loss will be given a goal of 1200 calories no matter their starting weight or the amount of weight they want to lose. I eventually changed mine to 1lb a week and it increased my daily calorie goals to around 1600 and low and behold I started losing 0.5lb A DAY!!! I also do HIIT twice a week and never eat back the all the calories (cause I'm not hungry).

    I know you don't wanna hear this but honestly try changing the goal to 1lb/lb for a week or two and see if that makes a difference. No harm in trying since nothing is happening right now.

    Good Luck
  • PibblesRun
    PibblesRun Posts: 236 Member
    I know how to lose weight...I lost over 100 pounds 7 years ago. Eating 1200 cals a day and exercising a few days a week, light exercise like walking. And no...I didnt gain back the weight because i ate too few cals and lost weight the wrong way. I gained some of it back because of a difficult few years and having 3 miscarriges in a matter of 2 years and using food to cope...then getting pregnant and being able to stay pregnant and eating too much then from all the stress and worrying that I could lose her at anytime.

    So im doing the same things I did before to lose weight, and I lose just fine if I dont exercise. But I want to exercise because I know its good for my body...maybe on days I exercise I will eat my cals back and see how that goes. Thanks for the input.
  • ToyahAvonSlimmingworld
    ToyahAvonSlimmingworld Posts: 10 Member
    i was very much in the same boat during summer...started working out-gained/maintained every week. i cried every weigh in ;-( then when i stopped working out & went back to my normal sedentary 'mum' routine, the lbs started shifting again!!! crazy & frustrating i know. i've messed about a lot since then so i decided to get back on my journey last week & i'm doing ok now i think (i hope lol). once my weight is down where i want it to be i shall return to my working out regime. i just do walking now for exercise (might take up jogging soon though aswell) good luck hope things start working for you again xx
  • Ofaatu
    Ofaatu Posts: 42 Member
    Maybe your metabolism has changed in the past 7 years? When I first started here on MFP my weight loss totally stalled eating at 1200. I was exercising and not eating enough. I am now eating more and still exercising. The weight is slowly coming off. Measurements seem to be moving faster though. The weight is also coming off differently to how it did on previous weight loss attempts, I am putting that at my age. No longer in my 20's and it just seems so much harder to shift the weight this time. Good luck!
  • Crazy4Healthy
    Crazy4Healthy Posts: 626 Member
    I know how to lose weight...I lost over 100 pounds 7 years ago. Eating 1200 cals a day and exercising a few days a week, light exercise like walking. And no...I didnt gain back the weight because i ate too few cals and lost weight the wrong way. I gained some of it back because of a difficult few years and having 3 miscarriges in a matter of 2 years and using food to cope...then getting pregnant and being able to stay pregnant and eating too much then from all the stress and worrying that I could lose her at anytime.

    So im doing the same things I did before to lose weight, and I lose just fine if I dont exercise. But I want to exercise because I know its good for my body...maybe on days I exercise I will eat my cals back and see how that goes. Thanks for the input.

    May I ask why you are getting so defensive? You asked the question. If you already had the answer you wanted, why did you ask? Many of us have been in the same boat, I have also lost weight only eating 1,200 calories a day. That doesn't necessarily make it the best or right way. I found once I hit 40 it became much more difficult to lose weight and things had to change. Your body changes. Just consider the fact that the way you are going about things might need to as well. If you have previously lost weight and then gained, your body might also react differently to weight loss the next time. If you don't want advice, don't ask the question. Everyone here is trying to assist you. Some things will work for you and some won't, but you sound like you already have your mind made up one way.

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