I've been starving myself!

I really don't understand the "starvation" thing at all! All I know is that on the show "SURVIVOR" where everyone is hardly eating, they ALL lose a lot of weight! I don't mean to offend anyone, but I find it hard to believe that anyone eating less calories for an extended amount of time would not lose ANY weight. If I am not absolutely sure of the calorie count, I always err on the side of "over calculating". This way, if I'm wrong, I can still be within my alloted calories.

I was doing the same thing. 1200 calories for years with no results. Learned on MFP that I was indeed not eating enough...have upped my calories to 1600 and have started losing.

I really don't understand the "starvation" thing at all! All I know is that on the show "SURVIVOR" where everyone is hardly eating, they ALL lose a lot of weight! I don't mean to offend anyone, but I find it hard to believe that anyone eating less calories for an extended amount of time would not lose ANY weight. If I am not absolutely sure of the calorie count, I always err on the side of "over calculating". This way, if I'm wrong, I can still be within my alloted calories.

Comparing reality tv to real life...not quite the way to go...just saying.

Reality TV has nothing to do with it. The fact is, they film that show over a period of months, and you can SEE people losing weight. I'm sure a lot of stuff is fake on those shows, but the weight loss is REAL. Just sayin.....

bump

Everyone is different, but what you eat makes a difference too. Even if you eat low calories, but are eating foods high in sodium and sugar, you won't lose weight. Another aspect is carb to protein to fat ratio.
I see people who eat 1200 calories a day, and it's all junk and don't lose weight.

1200 calories a day, and no weight loss period. I just can't see that. I think you may have another issue, medical or something.

I understand that some people need to eat more to lose weight more efficiently, but to not lose anything.

There is something more to this. I could see if you drop some weight, but stopped losing. I would suggest talking to your doctor.

You can stall at 1200...there was a link posted that explained.

Joylia = great.

OP, congratulations and welcome!! I think you've found the right formula. I'm so sorry to hear about your wasted year . . . I've got a friend who is a personal trainer and scientist. Despite the odd naysaying in this thread, what you are empirically seeing actually is happening, because there is a relationship that exists between the calories you consume and the energy you burn. It *is* possible not to lose weight at 1200 calories because your body can function impaired and suboptimally on less than target calories.

Anyway read this pls! :-) http://nbsfit.com/nutrition/weight-loss-isnt-always-about-eating-less-and-exercising-more/

Excerpt:
"Everybody screws up once in a while and sometimes it takes a while to realize there was a screw up. It took me almost four years to realize that I was making the same mistake every day. Every freaking day. I was starving myself.

I wasn’t not eating, but I was eating 1200 to 1400 calories per day and that just isn’t enough for me. I am only 5’2″, so I don’t need a ton of calories, but I am a personal trainer who moves almost all day, every day and I do need to eat enough to fuel that activity. "

Everyone is different, but what you eat makes a difference too. Even if you eat low calories, but are eating foods high in sodium and sugar, you won't lose weight. Another aspect is carb to protein to fat ratio.
I see people who eat 1200 calories a day, and it's all junk and don't lose weight.

I don't think it is "the junk" that is to blame for eating at 1200 and not losing.

To counter, I have a friend on my MFP list that eats a lot of fast food and "junk" and he's at about 2000 cal/day and still losing.

Yup. After eating 1500 calories a day for months I suddenly stopped losing weight. I began to suspect that I wasn't eating enough calories, especially considering that my activity level had increased. I upped my calories to almost 1700 and started losing weight again. Isn't it amazing how that happens? LOL.

In our "diet mentality" trained brains, wrongly trained, I may say, It doesn't make sense to us that to eat more you will lose more. Certainly there is a line, but new thinking must prevail! Before I started MFP, I was eating almost nothing(around 1200 and only twice a day) and gaining! Then MFP told me with all my info to eat 1500 per day, with 5 smaller meals per day . Guess what, I lost weight. I eat more now than I ever did, better food's too! And usually never hungry. I have since heard that if you're starving yourself the body hangs on for dear life and hoards everything it can for survival. When it sees that it's getting enough, it lets go of weight. Terrible way of explaining, but you get the idea! Yeah for both of us! Now that I've lost almost 60lbs, MFP put's me at 1200 per day. I exercise everyday (walking 2-3 miles per day). Still losing!!!!


I will read that article posted. Great subject!

What I have noticed (For me at least) is that loss happens when I am eating good quality calories. This can often mean that I am eating more calories than I normally would... but when I am moderately active and eat back the calories in quality foods, I lose weight (and more importantly, size). If I am sitting around and only eating 1100 mostly empty calories (fairly normal for me at that time,) I would not see a change in numbers beyond normal daily fluctuation. I'm not sure if this was due to water retention/bloating, loss of muscle mass, or what, but I guess my point is that I, too, have notice this phenomenon, and a change in diet is huge.

1200 calories a day, and no weight loss period. I just can't see that. I think you may have another issue, medical or something.

I understand that some people need to eat more to lose weight more efficiently, but to not lose anything.

There is something more to this. I could see if you drop some weight, but stopped losing. I would suggest talking to your doctor.

You can stall at 1200...there was a link posted that explained.

Joylia = great.

OP, congratulations and welcome!! I think you've found the right formula. I'm so sorry to hear about your wasted year . . . I've got a friend who is a personal trainer and scientist. Despite the odd naysaying in this thread, what you are empirically seeing actually is happening, because there is a relationship that exists between the calories you consume and the energy you burn. It *is* possible not to lose weight at 1200 calories because your body can function impaired and suboptimally on less than target calories.

Anyway read this pls! :-) http://nbsfit.com/nutrition/weight-loss-isnt-always-about-eating-less-and-exercising-more/

Excerpt:
"Everybody screws up once in a while and sometimes it takes a while to realize there was a screw up. It took me almost four years to realize that I was making the same mistake every day. Every freaking day. I was starving myself.

I wasn’t not eating, but I was eating 1200 to 1400 calories per day and that just isn’t enough for me. I am only 5’2″, so I don’t need a ton of calories, but I am a personal trainer who moves almost all day, every day and I do need to eat enough to fuel that activity. "

There is a big difference between the blogger and the OP. OP never said anything about working out, just logging her food. She also just started in July, the blogger had been doing it for a long time.

Also, STALLING I can see, but no weight loss PERIOD, not likely. Unless something else is going on.

Something is amiss. If you were really eating 1200 caories per day for an entire year and haven't lost any weight at all, how is adding more calories going to make you lose?

Perhaps, for her body, it was starvation mode? I see it was already answered, but yeah...when you starve your body, even when YOU don't think you are starving, it holds on to everything in case you really are, in fact, starving.

That's why I'm in my plateau right now, actually.

Starvation mode may cause a plateau, but it doesn't prevent someone from ever losing any weight. Thtat's not how the body works. If she was truly eating only 1200 calories for an entire year and didn't lose any weight, eating more calories will cause her to gain unless she also changes her activity level, because clearly 1200 is her TDEE.

No one's TDEE is 1200. For example, I'm 32 and 5'7". In order for my TDEE to approach 1200, I'd have to weigh 50 pounds and be sedentary. Then it would be CLOSE to 1200, but not quite that low. I'm pretty sure if I weighed 50 pounds, I'd be dead.

I try to avoid callling people out, but that is a potentially dangerous statement, since the only way to lose weight is to eat substantially less than your TDEE, and your statement "clearly 1200 is her TDEE" would inply that in order to lose weight, the OP would have to eat around 700 calories per day, and that is not even remotely safe or healthy. Research a little bit before you make such statements please.

*sigh* Can you tell me the definition of TDEE?

Something is amiss. If you were really eating 1200 caories per day for an entire year and haven't lost any weight at all, how is adding more calories going to make you lose?

Perhaps, for her body, it was starvation mode? I see it was already answered, but yeah...when you starve your body, even when YOU don't think you are starving, it holds on to everything in case you really are, in fact, starving.

That's why I'm in my plateau right now, actually.

Starvation mode may cause a plateau, but it doesn't prevent someone from ever losing any weight. Thtat's not how the body works. If she was truly eating only 1200 calories for an entire year and didn't lose any weight, eating more calories will cause her to gain unless she also changes her activity level, because clearly 1200 is her TDEE.

No one's TDEE is 1200. For example, I'm 32 and 5'7". In order for my TDEE to approach 1200, I'd have to weigh 50 pounds and be sedentary. Then it would be CLOSE to 1200, but not quite that low. I'm pretty sure if I weighed 50 pounds, I'd be dead.

I try to avoid callling people out, but that is a potentially dangerous statement, since the only way to lose weight is to eat substantially less than your TDEE, and your statement "clearly 1200 is her TDEE" would inply that in order to lose weight, the OP would have to eat around 700 calories per day, and that is not even remotely safe or healthy. Research a little bit before you make such statements please.

*sigh* Can you tell me the definition of TDEE?

Sure

TDEE is the common abbreviation for Total Daily Energy Expenditure which is a metric to calculate the amount of calories your body needs to function in a day.

This is quite similar to BMR; in fact, you need your BMR to calculate your TDEE; but your TDEE accounts for your average daily activity as well to give a figure truer to your specific situation. Basically, the TDEE calculation relies on categorizing your daily activity into one of the metrics' predetermined groupings:

Sedentary - desk job and little to no exercise
Lightly Active - light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk
Moderately Active - moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk
Very Active - hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk
Extremely Active - hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or training

Once you have determined where you fit in on the TDEE activity rate scale, this activity rate is used to weight your BMR giving you a more accurate assessment of how many calories you really need throughout the course of the day. Since BMR only accounts for your bodies basic functioning needs and not your daily activity, TDEE provides standard multipliers for accurately determining a TDEE.


ETA note that definition gotten from http://www.quickbmr.com/what-is-tdee.html

No, I'm assuming she miscalculated her calories in. She's didn't have to calculate her TDEE. If she was eating 1200 a day for an entire year without losing or gaining we already know her TDEE, because TDEE is the amount at which one maintains their weight.

So, if a person is eating at their TDEE and they add 400 more calories to their diet, what will happen?

I'm getting a little upset; did you not read what I wrote? What happened was her TDEE increased.

How long should one expect that take?