Eating less, but still not losing weight

arasimaran
arasimaran Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi
I have been using myfitnesspal for over a month - I eat less than 1400cal per day, exercising too. But my weight has not budged. I am losing my motivation and now my eating habit and going from bad to worse. Especially weekends. Any ideas??

Replies

  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    Can you open your diary?

    How bad are your weekends?
  • Chavellek
    Chavellek Posts: 20 Member
    You might not be losing weight because you are gaining muscles. Do you know if you have lost any inches?
  • KateK8LoseW8
    KateK8LoseW8 Posts: 824 Member
    You might not be losing weight because you are gaining muscles.

    No. Gaining a measurable amount of muscle on a deficit within one month is impossible.


    My money is on:

    1. Too many cheat days/quick added calories
    2. Not weighing portions
    3. Overestimating calories burned through exercise and eating them all back
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    You might not be losing weight because you are gaining muscles. Do you know if you have lost any inches?

    No. You don't build muscle on a deficit.

    Kate has given you some good things to look at.

    If you are exercising, with the way MFP is designed, you need to eat your exercise calories back. MFP already works out your deficit for you. You don't have to undercut that to lose weight...

    I will give you an extreme analogy, just so you can see an example. Let's assume my daily goal that MFP gives me is like yours and is 1400 calories a day. I go on a 3 hour hike and burn, let's say 1200 calories. So I eat my 1400 calories, and I subtract the 1200 I burnt.

    1400-1200=200.

    My body has 200 calories then, to do all of it's daily functions, like breathing, digesting, keep your heart beating, thinking, etc. Does it sound like your body can get alot done with only 200 calories to go on? No.
    Your body, is like a car. It won't go places without gas. Your body's gas is food. So, eat your exercise calories. You're still in the deficit MFP has built in for you.

    Also, as Kate already said, weigh your food. Don't eyeball it. You'd be surprised with how off that can be. Buy a $10 scale at Target/Walmart and start weighing.

    Good luck.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    You might not be losing weight because you are gaining muscles.

    No. Gaining a measurable amount of muscle on a deficit within one month is impossible.


    My money is on:

    1. Too many cheat days/quick added calories
    2. Not weighing portions
    3. Overestimating calories burned through exercise and eating them all back

    This, or just not eating enough because you're not eating your exercise calories back. 'under 1400' just never sounds good, unless you're under 5' , have less than 10 lbs to lose and don't exercise or something.
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
    You might not be losing weight because you are gaining muscles.

    No. Gaining a measurable amount of muscle on a deficit within one month is impossible.


    My money is on:

    1. Too many cheat days/quick added calories
    2. Not weighing portions
    3. Overestimating calories burned through exercise and eating them all back

    This ^^
  • DaniettaF
    DaniettaF Posts: 212 Member
    I've recently been told I wasn't eating enough calories at 1300, and I'm now at 1700 as of today. You could be the same depending on your body fat percentage etc etc. But I'm rubbish at figuring these things out.

    The lady who recommended the change eats over 1800 I think and works out about 5-7 hours a week and is fit and healthy.

    Edit: and also don't eat your calories back!
  • Panda_Rolls
    Panda_Rolls Posts: 101 Member
    Either eat your calories back or up your daily intake and don't eat them back. I was eating about 1400 for a while and I was only losing about 1/2 lb a week. Now I'm more like 1800 and I'm actually losing faster. I know it's counterintuitive, but I'm not the only one who's had this happen.
  • SurfyFriend
    SurfyFriend Posts: 362 Member
    eat more food, drink more water, sleep more hours
  • itsjustdawn
    itsjustdawn Posts: 1,073 Member
    You might not be eating enough.
  • theslimapple
    theslimapple Posts: 38 Member
    For the record it IS possible to build muscles on a deficit if you're strength training. Actually the fastest, biggest gains happen when you start out. for women it can be up to a lb of muscle per month, then it tapers off to 1/2 lb about. for men it's about 3 lbs a month at first. so this can look on the scale like you're not losing, especially if you're aiming at 1lb a week of weight loss. I am losing weight slower because I'm building muscle mass. I was on a plateau my first 2-3 weeks but then I lost an inch off my waist and gained half an inch on my upper arms after about a month and a half. I can feel my muscles getting bigger. After only 8 weeks quads and biceps/tricepts's outlines are getting noticeably visible and I still have about 25-30 lbs to lose in overall goal.

    Now, you don't have your diary open so it's hard to figure out what's happening with you.

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