help - not losing at 1200 calories

I am no expert but I have had some success since I started 8/5/13- looking at your diary, you are eating too many processed foods, they all contain loads of sodium and sugars which will sabotage your weight loss. Try sticking to "whole" foods and stay clear of processed foods all together.

Maybe its your thyroid?

*...punches himself in the face...*

LMAO. My thyroid is fine! I'm over going to the doctor because "something is wrong with me." The thing that was wrong with me was that I was sitting on my *kitten* all day, eating like it was Thanksgiving everyday and wishing I was a size 2.

that is not even three weeks...it takes your body four to six weeks to adapt to any change...give it six weeks and if no loss then make some adjustments..

do you have a food scale, weigh/measure all your food? You could be underestimating..

Seconded

Also make sure you are weighing yourself under the same conditions every time... Same amount of time after you have eaten, worked out, same amont of clothing etc... especially at such an early stage of your goal... 2.5 weeks you could at best expect to lose 2-4 pounds so these things become a facotr. It sound though, that you are just expecting too much to happen too soon. Make a solid plan, execute it, and stick to it and you will see results.

Hello there! Ok, I have been dieting and exersizing for almost 5 weeks now, and did not loose weight, but gained 2 1/2 pds. I was so upset and could not understand why and was going to give up. I was eating 1200 cals. a day and walking 3 1/2 miles 6 days at 3.5 mile an hr speed. So I remembered back to when I went on a low carb diet and was able to loose with ease. So I got out that food diary ( cannot believe I kept it) and started looking at the carb. intake and calories. Everything I was eating then was not only low carb, but also low cal. So I tweeked my diet slightly. I realized I was eating 1200 calories, but my carbs were high. So now I eat enough carbs so I have enough energy and don't feel sluggish or weakwith out over doing it and still manage to eat 1200. I also have increased my exersize to 7 miles a day, 6 days a week. 60 mins in the morning at 3.0-3.5 mile an hr speed, and then again in the evenings. I have not incorporated weights yet, but plan to in the future. I have lost 5.3 pds in just one week since tweeking my diet and exersize. But remember what works for one person may not work for you. This is what works for me.

1. don't trust the initial setup that MFP provides. If you put in the wrong/inaccurate information, it'll tell you to eat an amount that may not be applicable.
2. Make sure you eat enough.
3. Figure out what works for you and is sustainable/healthy/long term.
4. avoid fads. don't buy in to any "Hey, try the twinkie and vodka diet"
5. Don't cut out anything now that you don't plan on literally giving up forever.
6. GET A FOOD SCALE. Weigh everything. No, seriously.
7. Get an HRM with a chest strap. You'll at least have a better idea of what you're burning. It'll be more accurate than the generic info in the exercise database.. and even more than the cardio machines. This is great for steady state cardio (run/walk/etc)
8. Don't go balls out. You'll burn out. I see 300 lb people show up here, instantly start working out and cutting their intake SEVERELY... trying to cut out all of their carbs at once.. whatever. Take it slow. Figure out how much you need to eat FIRST in order to lose.. then incorporate exercise.
9. Don't cardio yourself to death.
10. Take the information on the forums with a grain of salt. A lot of people that have been here for a while.. and have been successful, may seem jaded. They give out GREAT advice day after day, only to be met with people that refuse to listen.
11. Eat real food. Not diet food. Not "low fat, sugar free, now without X." It's easier to get/find/count.
12. don't set time restrictions.
13. measure yourself weekly. Don't just weigh. Measure and take pictures.
14 BE PATIENT.
15. Avoid forum topics that have "1200" in the title. It's just full of butthurt. Lots of it.
16. This isn't a game, it's about changing your lifestyle. Do that.

pretty much that.

...and don't fall into the "1200 calorie" vertigo of suck because of:

the typical MFP users does this:
1. I wanna lose weight, let's try MFP.
2. OH! Wow, it tells me I can lose 2 lbs a WEEK? AWESOME!
3. I just sit at a desk when I'm not working out, I guess I'm sedentary.
4. MFP tells them 1200 calories, and they don't even eat that.. then they work out on top of it.. creating an even bigger deficit.
5. Lose a lot, fast, brag about 1200 calorie success.
6. Come back in a few months trying to figure out why they're dizzy, tired, not losing weight.
7. Get on the forums, ask why they aren't losing.
8. Get two responses (I eat 1200 and lose) (I eat 2200 and lose)
9. Argument ensues about who is right.

Now. That being said. These threads happen hundreds of times per day. Most times, and I mean really.. seriously.. 95% of the time.. people get the 1200 number because they don't put the right information in when they set up the account. There are a great number of people that are trying to help. I'm one of 'em.

I'm a hardcore advocate of actually finding out what works for the individual.. by means of other calculators, averages, time, practice, and patience.

Blanket prescriptions of 1200 calories "because it worked for me" is more harmful to the generic new user than the "figure out what you need to eat." Unfortunately, one is a LOT easier to type.

Find out what you need: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
Take the tips, links, and info above and make the cart more manageable to stay on.

The TL;DR version? You're doing it wrong. You can't work out as much as you are, only eat 1200 calories.. and expect good things to happen.

...but you will notice that my net calories for almost three weeks there have been 2 over 1200 and NONE over 1500.

Personally I feel "net calories" is a huge red flag. My suggestion would be to fix your daily intake (averaged over a week is fine) to a single number - say 1300 calories.

Checked that...my weekly average of calories (not net calories) is 1290. And my thyroid is fine. I'm sure my body is completely messed up from 20 yrs of stupid fad dieting and yo-yoing. I am trying to do it right this time!

Hubby probably needs to be educated but he's a military man, never been more than 30 lbs overweight and when he wants to loose he eats around 900 calories a day and runs 5-6 miles a day. So, that method seems to work for him. It, however, does not seem to be working for me.

Since 9/7/13, I have been faithfully tracking and consuming 1200 calories a day and have not lost a pound yet! I am so frustrated. I'm not sure what information to give here, but anyone can look at my diary if they want.

I lift weights 3x/wk for 30 min
I do cardio 2x/wk for 30 min
I average around 6k to 8k steps per day on the fitbit
I have been sticking with 1200 calories a day (occasional days of higher calories but ALWAYS tracked!!)

I feel like I have scrutinized my diet to death to see if I am missing something. I just feel like I should have lost something by now!! There is so much debate about whether or not to eat your exercise calories and I am just overwhelmed at this point. If I look at my "net calories" I am around 700 per day.

Any advice would be appreciated!!