1200 calories a day and GAINING weight

slb260
slb260 Posts: 52 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I have tried many different weight loss plans - all devised by my naturopath. All things that have worked well for other people, including my husband, who lost 70 pounds. Now, I'm not in his boat - I probably should lose 20. But seriously, everything I try - at first I lose a little bit - like under five pounds - and then I start gaining. It is very frustrating.

Replies

  • Phoenix_Warrior
    Phoenix_Warrior Posts: 1,633 Member
    The only way people can help you is if you open your diary. Are you weighing and measuring your food? logging everything? Overestimating burns from exercise?
  • Escape_Artist
    Escape_Artist Posts: 1,155 Member
    The only way people can help you is if you open your diary. Are you weighing and measuring your food? logging everything? Overestimating burns from exercise?

    This. We need to see the logs :ohwell:
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think?hl=eating+more+than+you+think
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    You might be eating more than you think. Do you use a scale to weigh your portions? You may be over estimating exercise calories. Do you have a way of estimating your energy output, like a hrm? Being that you're only looking to lose 20 lbs, your deficit might be too aggressive. Some people set their weekly lbs lost to .5 instead of 2. It's slow, but for someone who doesn't have a lot to lose, this might be the best way for you. Men lose more than women do, especially if they had more fat to get rid of in the first place.

    Opening your diary might help pin point some issues.

    Eta spelling of lose/loose I can't believe I did that :blushing:
  • slb260
    slb260 Posts: 52 Member
    Thank you everyone. I haven't really been exercising, because I had foot surgery 7 weeks ago, and it is just now at the point where I can even do a brisk walk again. I don't weigh my food, no. I have a lot of food allergies as well - not that it makes a difference as far as weight loss goes, but if I open my diary, it will explain some of the repetition in there.

    I guess perhaps I have to get off the premise that "a calorie is a calorie", and watch the carbs - subbing in more fruit and veggies?
  • SkinnyFatAlbert
    SkinnyFatAlbert Posts: 482 Member
    Thank you everyone. I haven't really been exercising, because I had foot surgery 7 weeks ago, and it is just now at the point where I can even do a brisk walk again. I don't weigh my food, no. I have a lot of food allergies as well - not that it makes a difference as far as weight loss goes, but if I open my diary, it will explain some of the repetition in there.

    I guess perhaps I have to get off the premise that "a calorie is a calorie", and watch the carbs - subbing in more fruit and veggies?

    A calorie is a unit of heat so a calorie literally is a calorie.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Got to weigh your food, otherwise it's very easy to underestimate how much you eat. Also, gaining a bit is a normal part of weight loss, it's not linear.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    Looked back through your diary and there are a lot of incomplete days in there. Accurate and consistent logging is key - I'd start there so you can get an honest look at what you're actually consuming each day.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    Got to weigh your food, otherwise it's very easy to underestimate how much you eat. Also, gaining a bit is a normal part of weight loss, it's not linear.

    This.
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
    It's VERY, VERY important to weigh your food using a scale. Measuring cups tend to be inaccurate, and eye-balling portions is generally way off. I'm vegetarian and I avoid gluten. You can lose weight eating whatever foods you normally eat, but measuring portions and controlling calories that way is critically important.
  • Stage14
    Stage14 Posts: 1,046 Member
    Looked back through your diary and there are a lot of incomplete days in there. Accurate and consistent logging is key - I'd start there so you can get an honest look at what you're actually consuming each day.

    This. Cutting carbs or whatever else is kind of a moot point until you start actually accurately logging your food, which you haven't been consistently doing.
  • slb260
    slb260 Posts: 52 Member
    A lot of those blank days were after surgery....hard to have decent brain comprehension then. :)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I don't see a whole lot of consistency in your logging and you aren't weighing and measuring...I can pretty much guarantee that you're eating more than you think you are. You really can't gain on 1200 calories unless you are incredibly short, small, and old...then maybe you could maintain on 1200. The average woman maintains at around 1800 - 2000 calories per day, and that is with little to no exercise...so if you're gaining, you're probably eating in that upper range.
  • echofm1
    echofm1 Posts: 471 Member
    I guess perhaps I have to get off the premise that "a calorie is a calorie", and watch the carbs - subbing in more fruit and veggies?

    No, a calorie really is a calorie. Also, fruits and veggies are carbs too. While high sodium intake can make you retain more water, there's no "bad foods" that make you not lose weight if you're accurately logging your calories eaten and exercise.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    as a side note- if you have been sitting less- and eating the same amount you can easily see some gain... your day to day life burns a certain amount.. you need gas in the tank simple to function.. if you are functioning at a lower level- with the foot surgery I suspect you are... you can easily put on weight.


    If you always put in 10 gallons- for your 50 mile commute... but after surgery your commute went down to 10 miles... you now have way more gallons than you need- and that means you put on weight.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    How much are you gaining and over what period of time? Weight loss isn't linear and sometimes your body holds onto some water weight while it's adjusting to changes. This can mask any fat loss that's happening and make the scale go up. This is why people usually say that you need to stick with any program for at least a month before you can determine whether or not it's working. A week or two is well within the normal fluctuations you're going to see during this journey.
  • Stage14
    Stage14 Posts: 1,046 Member
    A lot of those blank days were after surgery....hard to have decent brain comprehension then. :)

    I get that, but your body didn't say "oh we had surgery and are having a hard time logging, so we won't count these calories", you know? What I'm saying is that I'm not criticizing your past logging, but I am strongly suggesting that if you want to turn things around, the easiest thing you can do is to weigh and log every bite every day. If that doesn't help after a month, THEN you can start messing around with macros and micros and cutting certain types of food out of your diet.
  • Julzanne72
    Julzanne72 Posts: 468 Member
    Thank you everyone. I haven't really been exercising, because I had foot surgery 7 weeks ago, and it is just now at the point where I can even do a brisk walk again. I don't weigh my food, no. I have a lot of food allergies as well - not that it makes a difference as far as weight loss goes, but if I open my diary, it will explain some of the repetition in there.

    I guess perhaps I have to get off the premise that "a calorie is a calorie", and watch the carbs - subbing in more fruit and veggies?
    ^^^I disagree, if you look at my diary, I stay within my macros, am not a fan of veggies, and Started almost a month ago, have lost on average 2lbs a weeks. started at 200.7-as of this morning at 193.6
  • YoungIronG
    YoungIronG Posts: 125 Member
    i borrowed my gram/ounce scale from my sister in law and BOY WAS I OVER DOING IT on the servings. now that i have been weighing my food for about a month, i lost 13 pounds.

    and its a pretty cheap and rickety scale! GET ONE!!!! it will blow your mind.

    now i look on the lable, see the weight of ONE SERVING and eat just that. ie; 1 serving of eggs, 1 serving of fish, 1 serving of veggie, 1 serving of cheese

    i mostly eat the same thing everyday
  • Escape_Artist
    Escape_Artist Posts: 1,155 Member
    Thank you everyone. I haven't really been exercising, because I had foot surgery 7 weeks ago, and it is just now at the point where I can even do a brisk walk again. I don't weigh my food, no. I have a lot of food allergies as well - not that it makes a difference as far as weight loss goes, but if I open my diary, it will explain some of the repetition in there.

    I guess perhaps I have to get off the premise that "a calorie is a calorie", and watch the carbs - subbing in more fruit and veggies?

    If you don't weight your food then you don't know how many calories you are taking in a day. Which means you are probably not eating 1200 calories since you are estimating your intake.
  • slb260
    slb260 Posts: 52 Member
    Food scale it is then. :) I've been depending too much on what people post as caloric counts and measures, I think. I'll go out shopping soon.

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