Why am I not losing on 1200cal per day?
Replies
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Yes, sorry just did a slight amendment.
Yes pretty accurate. The only thing I dont log is my coffee intake. I drink about 3 half cups a day at work and 3 full ones at home all with semi skim milk.
I changed to stop me plateau-ing, but I have been stuck since just after Easter. I am wondering if changing back will help.
Funny you mention the coffee. I am reading a book right now (Accidentally Overweight by Dr. Libby Weaver) and she explains how coffee affects your insulin and blood sugar. She had a patient who lost weight by doing nothing other than eliminating coffee.
If you aren't logging your coffee and have 3 cups with creamer, that could be an extra 300 calories in your diet right there.
If you lost on high calories and aren't on lower calories, isn't that your answer right there staring you in the face? Our bodies are not DESIGNED to lose weight when we feed them too little. Your body's first priority is survival. Second priority is stasis (balance). If you distract your body with code-red-alert-too-few-calories it will never focus on returning your weight to balance.0 -
Decrease empty calories, eat LOTS of veggies, not potatoes, pasta, etc., add fruits, lean protein, and water and you should see a drop. Best of luck!
whats wrong with potatoes and pasta?0 -
Exercise and eat more. 1200 is too low for the most people. If breakfast makes you sick, try juicing fresh fruit & veg in the morning. Stop eating fried anything (eww). Water. Oh yeah and exercise. Plus, you are older and due to loss of hormones it gets harder for us, especially women. PS lifting weights increases bone density. Perfect for us older (seasoned? LOL) women as our bones slowly weaken. (Thanks for that Mother Nature)0
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sigh another 1200 calorie why am I not losing thread..
I swear I see like ten of these a day...
without really reading through I can see the answers...
Up your calories...always a popular one
Your in starvation mode - another popular slogan - so eat 24 meals spaced out at one hour intervals to get out of it
calculate TDDE and deduct 20% (the road mappers)
stop eating carbs but its ok to eat lots of veggies LOL
Eat raspberry ketones..I just added that for ****s and giggles...0 -
Decrease empty calories, eat LOTS of veggies, not potatoes, pasta, etc., add fruits, lean protein, and water and you should see a drop. Best of luck!
whats wrong with potatoes and pasta?
start a thread if you're curious. lets not hijack this one.
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It's not just eating too little! I looked at your diary and it is what you are eating as well. You are eating a lot of beef brisket. You should try switching it to lean proteins such as chicken and turkey. Try tuna as well. Too much red meat is not a good thing for you either. Once or twice a week at most! And you are having too many carbs too. Too much bread will cause you not to lose weight also. Try having a "treat" meal once a week of whatever you'd like. I do that typically on Saturdays, and the rest of the week I stick to lots of fruits, veggies, and lean proteins.
If you are in a rush in the morning, try making yourself a smoothie the night before and refrigerate it. I have a good recipe you should try:
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 cup of Almond Milk or Skim Milk
1 tbsp of cinnamon
1 tbsp of ground flax seed
1 medium banana or 1/3 cup of frozen blueberries or 1/2 cup of frozen berries
Blend it all together the night before and put in your fridge. The oats will soak up the milk by the morning time leaving a nice thick smoothie. I have one of these every morning and I stay full. Usually after a few hours I have a morning snack, then I have lunch, a mid afternoon snack, dinner, and then if I'm hungry a snack no later than 7pm.
But you for sure need to stay away from eating just 1200 cals. Keep it at least 1600-1800 a day minimum. If you exercise, don't be afraid to eat some of them back as well!
Also you have to log pretty much everything that goes into your mouth to get an accurate count.0 -
In before this explodes.
If you were losing when you were eating more why did you drop your calories? Try going back to eating 1500-1900 and see what happens.
LOL, that's what I was thinking too.
Yes, believe it or not, sometimes eating too few cals will backfire on you and stall your loss. Don't make the mistake of thinking "less will make me lose faster/more". If you did well at 1600-1900, go back to that. Easy peasy.0 -
I'm in the same boat. I eat between 1200 and 1350 a day and I've been completely stuck for two to three months.0
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Has anyone suggested this site yet? http://www.coachcalorie.com/not-eating-enough-calories-to-lose-weight/
I think dropping down to 1200-1300 cals for a short while can work, but not for a long while. I read that article and bumped up my calorie and lost a bit more by eating more.0 -
i wish u the best of luck with ur weight loss. i dont not think it is becuz u r eating 1200 cals that u r not losing weight. i looked at ur profile and it seems that u have tried many many diets and not been successful. all diets have pretty much the same principle-burn more cals than u take in. maybe try to find out the real reason u have been unsuccessful in finding one that works for u. i wouldnt blame the diet. good luck in ur journey.0
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Decrease empty calories, eat LOTS of veggies, not potatoes, pasta, etc., add fruits, lean protein, and water and you should see a drop. Best of luck!
whats wrong with potatoes and pasta?
start a thread if you're curious. lets not hijack this one.
I am just curious as to the reason this person suggested that...
Now, I would agree that potatoes and pasta every single night is probably not the best dietary habit..but once in a while some whole wheat linguine or a little sweet or red potato is fine....I would like to know why this person thinks differently? Is it because they have carbs (gasp!) in them...if that is the case then why eat lots of veggies that have carbs in them...seems a contradiction but maybe I am not reading this correctly...0 -
OK, yeah. Now looking at your diary I see that you are not eating well at all. It's more than just total calories. You need better quality foods.0
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I'm in the same boat. I eat between 1200 and 1350 a day and I've been completely stuck for two to three months.
so follow everyone's advice and eat more!
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Decrease empty calories, eat LOTS of veggies, not potatoes, pasta, etc., add fruits, lean protein, and water and you should see a drop. Best of luck!
whats wrong with potatoes and pasta?
start a thread if you're curious. lets not hijack this one.
I am just curious as to the reason this person suggested that...
Now, I would agree that potatoes and pasta every single night is probably not the best dietary habit..but once in a while some whole wheat linguine or a little sweet or red potato is fine....I would like to know why this person thinks differently? Is it because they have carbs (gasp!) in them...if that is the case then why eat lots of veggies that have carbs in them...seems a contradiction but maybe I am not reading this correctly...
pasta and potatoes and much more carb-dense than veggies, but I'm gonna save the starch factor for the thread this may or may not spawn0 -
Another idea is to limit sodium to 2400mg a day...Decrease empty calories, eat LOTS of veggies, not potatoes, pasta, etc., add fruits, lean protein, and water and you should see a drop. Best of luck!
Yep, looking at what I am eating, I need to get rid of the potatoes and bread. Not much of a fruit eater but I can seriously up the veg. I think the 'empty' carbs have struck especially bread which is one of my many weaknesses. Although I am staying within calorie limits, I there is far greater proportion of starchy foods.
Thanks0 -
It's not just eating too little! I looked at your diary and it is what you are eating as well. You are eating a lot of beef brisket. You should try switching it to lean proteins such as chicken and turkey. Try tuna as well. Too much red meat is not a good thing for you either. Once or twice a week at most! And you are having too many carbs too. Too much bread will cause you not to lose weight also. Try having a "treat" meal once a week of whatever you'd like. I do that typically on Saturdays, and the rest of the week I stick to lots of fruits, veggies, and lean proteins.
OP has acknowledged that she is not eating enough calories. Why would you have her reduce her dietary fat consumption?
Or her carb consumption?
*sigh*0 -
Another idea is to limit sodium to 2400mg a day...Decrease empty calories, eat LOTS of veggies, not potatoes, pasta, etc., add fruits, lean protein, and water and you should see a drop. Best of luck!
Yep, looking at what I am eating, I need to get rid of the potatoes and bread. Not much of a fruit eater but I can seriously up the veg. I think the 'empty' carbs have struck especially bread which is one of my many weaknesses. Although I am staying within calorie limits, I there is far greater proportion of starchy foods.
Thanks
How is sodium consumption correlated with fat loss???0 -
the responses in this thread are ridiculous.
Not many people understand how a VLCD can actually work.
I was at a 50% deficit which my metabolic furnace should have also halted because I was eating 1 large meal a day and 2 protein shakes for breakfast and dinner.
Eat nothing for 3 days and tell me if you dont lose weight please0 -
If you aren't weighing your food, adding your own recipes, and logging everything you eat, then you really don't know if you are eating 1200 calories or not.
This is true. People tend to dramatically underestimate their calories. You've got to log everything accurately. Pain in the butt, but it works.0 -
havent you heard? weight loss=fat loss
Another idea is to limit sodium to 2400mg a day...Decrease empty calories, eat LOTS of veggies, not potatoes, pasta, etc., add fruits, lean protein, and water and you should see a drop. Best of luck!
Yep, looking at what I am eating, I need to get rid of the potatoes and bread. Not much of a fruit eater but I can seriously up the veg. I think the 'empty' carbs have struck especially bread which is one of my many weaknesses. Although I am staying within calorie limits, I there is far greater proportion of starchy foods.
Thanks
How is sodium consumption correlated with fat loss???
Forget the fact that water is attracted to sodium like a fat kid loves cake.0 -
I didn't actually imply you are lying my dear. I simply stated that you likely are not telling the truth to yourself about how many calories you are eating. Lying is intentional, whereas not telling the truth can happen any number of ways.
Let me ask you something. How do you feel throughout the day? I have to track calories whenever I want to lose weight so far, because otherwise I don't eat enough. When I don't eat enough, my performance decreases because my work involves using my body to make music. My performance also decreases in my workouts.
Do you have energy? Do you feel hungry?
As for not wanting to measure food because of the way you cook, I can only say "how bad do you want this? Bad enough to learn a new way to cook and maybe have some simpler meals for a while?"
I say simpler, not boring, because I do know a few techniques for making something simple like a chicken breast, turkey breast, or pork loin taste absolutely splendid. But again, it involves taking measurements and absolute precision. In this case, with a digital meat thermometer.0 -
the responses in this thread are ridiculous.
Not many people understand how a VLCD can actually work.
I was at a 50% deficit which my metabolic furnace should have also halted because I was eating 1 large meal a day and 2 protein shakes for breakfast and dinner.
Eat nothing for 3 days and tell me if you dont lose weight please
The weight loss will be all water. The end result will only be dehydration...not loss of fat.0 -
I would say that you are in "Starvation Mode" and your metabolic furnace has slowed down to a crawl.
When we don't take in the correct amount of calories that our specific body needs to maintain "homeostasis", or more simply in this case the amount needed to maintain the body's everyday ability to function, the brain believes that there must be a shortage of food. And when this happens the brain tells the body's metabolic furnace to slow down and allow the body to store whatever food is taken in. And I think that's what is happening in your case.
Your body is HOARDING THE FOOD YOU EAT and your body's metabolic furnace has slowed down to a crawl. Your body is burning only what it needs to stay alive. The rest is being stored until the perceived "food shortage" is over. It's quite possible that your specific metabolism requires more than 1200 calories a day just to maintain "homeostasis" or a "balance" in the body. Until I accepted this physiologic principle I remained in "Starvation Mode" and lost NOTHING. My body stored every tiny morsel I ate. But when I started eating...I started to lose.
And in my case since I am physically unable to do any "exercise" it proved to be the INCREASE in calories that caused my metabolic furnace to ignite and my body to begin losing the weight. Now, when I hit a weight loss plateau I increase my calories a little bit (a very LITTLE, about 200 extra calories/day) and the metabolic furnace turns up the thermostat, burns hotter, and I start losing again.
Try it. What have you got to lose but weight!!!
I have to agree with you. I am going to slowly increase my weekly calorie intake - some how.
Your reply sounds as if you have little or no hope of accomplishing this small but "fun" task of actually increasing your caloric intake. That tells me something here. Could you be a bit depressed about all of this? It can be overwhelming if permitted to be. Look at it as a challenge. You have the means. You have the knowledge. You have the support. Now...it's up to you. Do you really want it enough to do it? Record everything on MFP. And I mean EVERYTHING you eat even if it's just a morsel. If you need more calories .....EAT THEM. Get a "Smart Ones" frozen meal...they're around 200-300 calories each. EAT IT. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!0 -
yet another example of 1200 not working.
why do people still waste their time trying it?
"Yet another example of"... shortsighted thinking.
The answer to your question is:
Because everyone's body is different...that's why.
Everyone doesn't come in the same size and/or metabolic rate.
Because it may not work for you doesn't mean it won't work for someone else.
So please don't undermine someone else out there who's body DOES function properly on 1200 cal/day and who does lose weight on just 1200 calories/day.
Not everyone has the same lifestyle requiring the same caloric intake as everyone else.0 -
yet another example of 1200 not working.
why do people still waste their time trying it?
"Yet another example of"... shortsighted thinking.
The answer to your question is:
Because everyone's body is different...that's why.
Everyone doesn't come in the same size and/or metabolic rate.
Because it may not work for you doesn't mean it won't work for someone else.
So please don't undermine someone else out there who's body DOES function properly on 1200 cal/day and who does lose weight on just 1200 calories/day.
Not everyone has the same lifestyle requiring the same caloric intake as everyone else.
the only people for whom 1200 cal is right are very small women, very elderly people, or people with disorders that are under the direct supervision of a doctor.
end of story.0 -
You are a nurse. I hope you are kiddingthe responses in this thread are ridiculous.
Not many people understand how a VLCD can actually work.
I was at a 50% deficit which my metabolic furnace should have also halted because I was eating 1 large meal a day and 2 protein shakes for breakfast and dinner.
Eat nothing for 3 days and tell me if you dont lose weight please
The weight loss will be all water. The end result will only be dehydration...not loss of fat.
Yes there will be water loss which may come from depleted glycogen. not dehydration necessarily because you are still drinking water.
Fat loss and muscle loss will occur. energy will come from somewhere0 -
Dieting and losing weight is all about experimenting and figuring out what works best for you. It takes time and patience.
There is a lot of good general information out there but it is not a one size fits all sort of thing. It is best to read up, follow general guidelines and tweak it to fit your needs.
The best advice I can give is find a routine that works for you and is completely sustainable.
Well said, some people can lose weight by eating 6 small meals while others have to stick to 3 meals a day. And all the papers out there saying "you should do this or you should do that" are just what we know so far, soon another study will come out and say something completely different. Remember when eggs were bad for us, now it perfection in a small package. There was a time when butter was bad, now its ok again.
Most people eat for the wrong reasons. In the evening I want to eat something sweet then something salty to counteract the sweet. Now ask me if I was actually hungry when I ate either one. lol and there was a time a few years ago when I could be in the middle of chewing and I would just know, you need to spit this out, your full. I'm trying to get back to that point. Most people are no longer in tune with what their bodies are telling them.
IMHO0 -
yet another example of 1200 not working.
why do people still waste their time trying it?
"Yet another example of"... shortsighted thinking.
The answer to your question is:
Because everyone's body is different...that's why.
Everyone doesn't come in the same size and/or metabolic rate.
Because it may not work for you doesn't mean it won't work for someone else.
So please don't undermine someone else out there who's body DOES function properly on 1200 cal/day and who does lose weight on just 1200 calories/day.
Not everyone has the same lifestyle requiring the same caloric intake as everyone else.
the only people for whom 1200 cal is right are very small women, very elderly people, or people with disorders that are under the direct supervision of a doctor.
end of story.
Or people looking to cut weight to make a weight class, competition, etc. They just don't sustain it long term, which I assume is an unwritten given in your post. But some people can use 1200 or lower cal diets with very good success in very short time frames.0 -
You are a nurse. I hope you are kiddingthe responses in this thread are ridiculous.
Not many people understand how a VLCD can actually work.
I was at a 50% deficit which my metabolic furnace should have also halted because I was eating 1 large meal a day and 2 protein shakes for breakfast and dinner.
Eat nothing for 3 days and tell me if you dont lose weight please
The weight loss will be all water. The end result will only be dehydration...not loss of fat.
Yes there will be water loss which may come from depleted glycogen. not dehydration necessarily because you are still drinking water.
Fat loss and muscle loss will occur. energy will come from somewhere
agreed0 -
Actually, in the parallel universe of dieting, you can simply create energy by not eating enough. You may be losing money on each transaction, but you make up for it in volume.0
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