1200 calorie diet and not losing

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Hello all. I've been on a 1200 calorie diet for about a month now. If I exceed 1200 I don't go beyond 1400 calories a day and that is rare. My doctor told me that I burn 1750 calories a day and that is without exercise. I eat gluten free and the only sweet I indulge in is a single Dr. Pepper a day. I take Phentermine, but it really doesn't do much for me. I do CrossFit 3-4 days a week and I also run twice a week. I know I will gain muscle with CrossFit, but no weight loss after an entire month? Any thoughts on what is going on? I'm working very hard and staying the same weight as when I was doing nothing at all! So discouraging...
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Replies

  • onwarddownward
    onwarddownward Posts: 1,683 Member
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    You could run a search on your topic title to find your answer, but, to avoid making you burn any calories doing that, I'll say:

    Open your food diary.

    Eat more. You're not feeding yourself enough.

    Drink more ice water.

    Take measurements and photos. The scale won't give you an accurate measurement.
  • LexiAtel
    LexiAtel Posts: 228 Member
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    How much do you weigh? What's your height?

    Are you logging your calories? Many people THINK they are only consuming so much, then they start logging calroies and realize they have been consuming more than they thought.

    You should have lost weight, yeah. But I would think your body would burn more than 1750 a day too..Mine burns 21xx a day, but I am "obese", if you're not obese, you're not going to lose much weight.
  • Diptiish
    Diptiish Posts: 61
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    Same story. Really very discouraging :(
  • salladeve
    salladeve Posts: 1,053 Member
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    And again..........
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    OPen your diary ?

    Is this single Dr Pepper a 20ozs full fat one with 64g of sugar and 250 calories ?
  • AnneSoCal
    AnneSoCal Posts: 33 Member
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    It would be hard to say unless I knew exactly what you were eating. When you say "gluten free," does that mean you're eating gluten free packaged foods? If so, you have to beware because they contain a lot of other flours like potato, rice, tapioca, that are high in carbohydrates, which could be affecting your weight loss. I guess I technically eat gluten free since I'm on a low carb diet, but I only eat clean food (meats, poultry, fish, veggies, nuts, seeds, fats and very little fruit).

    Also, it goes without saying, but drinking water is essential to weight loss, especially if you're working out so much.

    I have found that losing weight is really probably 85% what you eat and about 15% working out, especially in the beginning. You may just be over taxing your body by doing all the Cross Fit and running while eating such a low calorie diet.

    Again, I don't know what you're eating on a daily basis, so I can't really say if that's the problem, but you might want to research other types of diets to see if your body likes those any better because it's obviously not cooperating with you right now! ;)

    It's great that your exercising though, it's good for you, but don't think that's what's going to make you lose weight, your diet is the key.
  • farahbartlett123
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    You could be eating 1200 calories of junk food. It depends what your eating! Make sure your meal is mostly vegtables and your drinking ATLEAST 2 L of water

    Hope this helps a bit x
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
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    *sign*...another one. :frown:
  • luckydays27
    luckydays27 Posts: 552 Member
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    If you eat only 1200 (sometimes 1400 cals) a day and do cross fit 3-4 days a week, you will never lose weight.

    Your body needs to fuel itself and you need to eat more to lose. If your doctor said you burn 1750 cals a day with no fitness, then to lose 1 lb a week, you would decrease your cals to 1250 BUT you are also burning a crap load of cals doing cross fit/running so you need to eat those cals back.

    Dont eat your cals (or most of them) and you wont lose.

    Dont focus on the scale, take photos and measurements to see the real body transformation.

    But again most importantly, you have to eat your food.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Quit the exercise and see how that goes. Same logic as exercising and eating more - lower deficit, less stress.
  • FitnessBeverlyHills
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    Like mentioned above there are a lot of things to consider.

    1. What is your age, weight, and height?

    2. How long have you been doing this exercise routine?

    3. Don't take into account that your doctor says you burn 1700 calories a day, if that was the case we would all be skinny

    4. Have you been keeping a food and exercise log?

    5. Do you use a heart rate monitor

    The first issue could be like someone mentioned, that you are not eating the right foods. I work with clients often who aren't over weight, but have a lot of access fat and its usually because they aren't eating enough protein to gain enough muscle. They are doing resistance training on a regular basis with little results. I see this with a lot of men as well. You have to eat protein if you want to gain muscle.

    Second if you have been doing this exercise routine for a while your body could be plateauing because it has gotten used to these exercises. It might be time to switch it up and try something new. Be careful of running too much as it can start to burn protein if you havent eaten enough carbs, therefore counter acting all your crossfit training.
  • musicchick02
    musicchick02 Posts: 5 Member
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    I'm 5'9" and weigh 220. The Dr. Pepper is a can (150 calories).
    Thank you for the responses!
  • mkmerrill
    mkmerrill Posts: 74 Member
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    Eat more. You are not fueling your body
  • AlongCame_Molly
    AlongCame_Molly Posts: 2,835 Member
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    I know I will gain muscle with CrossFit

    This is actually untrue. Not while eating 1200. You can only gain muscle eating at a surplus. It is completely impossible to gain muscle at a calorie deficit.

    That being said, I don't think 1200 is enough for you, unless you are very very short (meaning SMALLER than 5 feet) I would double check that number your Dr. gave you by finding an online TDEE calculator, and making sure you're not eating less than -20% of that number. Keep in mind that a larger deficit does NOT necessarily equal faster weight loss. You could be shooting yourself in the foot by eating too little.
  • musicchick02
    musicchick02 Posts: 5 Member
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    -29 yrs old
    -5'9"
    - I've been doing CrossFit for a little of a month. Before that I ran 5 days a week and worked out at the gym 2-3 days a week.
    -Don't have/use a heart rate monitor. Should I?
    -I log all of the food that I eat but not the exercise.

    I know that losing weight isn't easy but dag gone! Im busting my butt! I'm open to all suggestions. I am very determined to meet my goal! Thanks again, everyone! I really appreciate you taking your time to respond!
  • Joreanasaurous
    Joreanasaurous Posts: 1,384 Member
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    I know I will gain muscle with CrossFit

    This is actually untrue. Not while eating 1200. You can only gain muscle eating at a surplus. It is completely impossible to gain muscle at a calorie deficit.

    That being said, I don't think 1200 is enough for you, unless you are very very short (meaning SMALLER than 5 feet) I would double check that number your Dr. gave you by finding an online TDEE calculator, and making sure you're not eating less than -20% of that number. Keep in mind that a larger deficit does NOT necessarily equal faster weight loss. You could be shooting yourself in the foot by eating too little.

    Yeah... I'm 4'11" and I rarely go below 1800. You are eating way too little.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    If your body burns 1750 without exercise, don't you think it deserves more than 1200-1400, especially if you're doing CrossFit and running?

    I'm older, shorter and workout less than you do, and I eat 1800-2000 calories a day and lose. You need to eat more.
  • owieprone
    owieprone Posts: 217 Member
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    soft drink addiction, ditch it! save your teeth ;)

    i had to do this with pepsi max... i have literally banned myself from buying it cos its killing my teeth.

    I also agree with all the above posts. you're not eating enough and possibly all the wrong stuff.

    gluten free doesn't mean it's got less carbs in it. ditch the processed carbs as much as possible, google low carb recipes and see if you can find substitutes for things you normally have such as

    miracle noodles (aka zero noodles) instead of normal pasta (they are quite expensive so that alone will make you eat less).
    spagetti squash (if you can find it!) instead of spagetti/noodles
    courgettes instead of lasagna sheets (don't cook them before hand, let them cook once lasagna's assembled)

    carbs are great when they're in their natural form, i.e. in fruit and veg but not so great once someones messed with it for you, bread, pasta etc up your veg and protein intake (soya, pulses etc if your veggie) and keep your processed carbs to a minimum, so not every meal and a 1/4 of your plate if not less (1 slice of bread, or half a portion of 1 persons pasta, try oopsie bread - aka cloud bread).

    diet and low fat things are usually full of sugar or fake sugar (which in themselves can cause health problems, Stevia is ok tho).

    Hope that helps. If you need more help ask a fitness dietitian/nutritionist for help with what to eat, they often don't cost that much and the benefits can far outweigh the cost) if you can't afford that just read up on as much food related stuff as you can on the internet. Your best nutritionist is you, you know what you do and don't like and once you have the rough idea, you can best decide what you have time to do, what works and what doesn't, and with the foods you can actually find in your local shops.
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
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    If your body burns 1750 without exercise, don't you think it deserves more than 1200-1400, especially if you're doing CrossFit and running?

    I'm older, shorter and workout less than you do, and I eat 1800-2000 calories a day and lose. You need to eat more.

    This. Your NET calories per day should be at or above your BMR. If you're only eating 1200-1400 a day and not eating back exercise calories, you are way underfeeding yourself.
  • musicchick02
    musicchick02 Posts: 5 Member
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    Ditching the Dr. Pepper will be super tough, but I also want to save my pearly whites! :) This will be a challenge...but I'm up for it!
    I eat gluten free due to an allergy. I guess I should have been clear. Sorry about that!
    I looked at a few TDEE calculators and they are saying. 2700-3000 calories! Woah! Anyone have a recommendation as to an online calculator that is the most accurate?