Help please! i don't know what I am doing wrong...

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  • shellm3
    shellm3 Posts: 15
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    When you first start sometimes inches will come off before weight does. I agree with making sure you are eating enough also! Don't get to down on yourself. Keep it up!
  • yakoali
    yakoali Posts: 8 Member
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    I would agree with previous posters - 1200 is way too low!

    Also, I would totally get rid of liquid calories - Slim Fast and energy drinks - and eat normal food instead. Liquid calories have very low thermic effect (it's how much energy is needed to digest a particular food) comparing to solid food. They are also loaded with simple sugars (18g in Slim Fast Chocolate Milk Shake) and simple sugars are not good for you if you are trying to lose weight.
  • DebbieDuffy09
    DebbieDuffy09 Posts: 22
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    Thank you all. I will eat more healthy stuff...... Get my calories up with the good stuf.... Hope it works!
  • piquilter
    piquilter Posts: 119
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    I'm going to repeat pretty much what everyone else has said, but I want you to know that a lot of us are here to support you. You definitely need to eat more, it seems backward but I do lose better when I get he calories up to the 1200 and I do try to eat some of my exercise calories. I've been told that when your body goes into starvation mode it will hold on to the fat & get rid of the muscle. I'm a fanatic when it comes to sodium because even though I'm out of the TOM time of my life I still retain water if I get too much sodium. Reducing the sodium is also good for keeping the blood pressure down. Someone on this site told me they lose better when they keep the carbs down, I've been trying to stay under my carb limit & up the fiber and it has made a difference. Getting that amount of exercise is great, but give your body the fuel it needs to function. Water water and more water :smile: I drink way over the recommended 8 glasses a day & I have to fight the feeling it doesn't make sense, but it totally works for me. Slow and steady wins the race. None of us gained the weight overnight and none of us will lose it that way. We make it a lifestyle change & it will work. I've been a yo yo my entire life so I know the lifestyle needs to become lifelong...this time I want to learn my lesson. Feel free to friend me & trust the site. Good luck!
  • abcollins1355
    abcollins1355 Posts: 22
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    I am guessing you are scared to eat TOO much and settled on the old 1200 calorie thing. I have been trying to lose weight on and off for 15 years...I once went down to 800 calories a day and I still cannot comprehend how I did not get results. I was miserable, I felt lousy and finally I binged. This has been a regular pattern for me. This July I started to get healthy once again. My daughter (we can learn from our kids!) had been nagging me with info she got from this site saying I had been eating far too little calories. Yeah well...what does she know? But we went on vacation a few weeks later and I decided I would not look to lose weight that week but merely maintain so I could enjoy myself. Well...I was eating about 2200 calories a day and we were swimming a lot. When I got home the scale said -5! I kept getting on and off it all day..thinking it was messed up. It was not. From that point on I started eating more. I hover around 1700 calories a day (sometimes a tad more!) and I exercise as well and I have been losing about 3 lbs a week. I am now at -50 (hopefully more at weigh in tomorrow!) and I am eating more each day than I have in years! This amazes me! It is the best discovery I have made! I know it is hard to believe but eating too few calories really does mess you up.


    Thank you for your story!

    This is what I have been trying to get through to people on this site!

    1200 is too low for just about every single person who is not 4 feet tall.

    Undereating is the 2nd worst thing you can do for your body. It is second only to smoking.
  • highrise
    highrise Posts: 147 Member
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    Also, I would totally get rid of liquid calories - Slim Fast and energy drinks - and eat normal food instead.

    That was my first thought as well - for the 200 calories you use at breakfast with the shake you could have a bowl of oatmeal with fruit and honey! Much more appetising and full of fibre etc.

    I also agree with the poster who said that these things take time. The numbers will work for you, just stick at it - good luck.
  • Bamacraft
    Bamacraft Posts: 175 Member
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    I agree on calories. This seems to be a very mis-interpreted part of losing weight. You should probably eat ~1600 healthy calories per day (be sensible if you treat yourself) and aim to burn 3500 calories per week with exercise. This will allow you to lose ~2lb per week.

    Also, dont get frustarted with results right off. be patient and give it a few weeks.
  • DebbieDuffy09
    DebbieDuffy09 Posts: 22
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    Thank you all for your advice. Today for the first time in a looong time I ate real food for breakfast. No shake. Just two egg whites with a slice of provolone on toast and a glass of 2% Mil. It was delish! I can't give up my AMP. First I don't drink Coffee and it's almost like soda so it satisifes that craving in me. I did make a vow not to salt food anymore. Wich is a HUGE step for me!
  • piquilter
    piquilter Posts: 119
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    Glad you are happy with the real food. I tried the liquid things, but my brain is like "you've got to be kidding, you think I'm going to believe that's a meal?" I love love love oatmeal :love: My brain needs something to chew :smile: so I have a recipe for crockpot oatmeal that makes 16 servings & then freeze it in half cup servings. I have a container every morning along with my Greek yogurt (really hooked on this stuff :happy: ). The oatmeal is made with steel cut oats, raisins, walnuts & a little brown sugar. Lots of texture & chewy. Less than 200 calories in a half cup, low fat, high protein & 3g. of fiber. Bliss! :laugh:
  • mommaski4
    mommaski4 Posts: 305 Member
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    I have to agree with what most have said. I took a look at your diaries and you are not eating enough calories on most days. Trust MFP and try to eat the calories they have calculated for you. As you lose weight, they will recalculate your caloric needs every 10lbs but until that time, as a 300lb woman, you need more than 1200 calories per day, not including what you burn off exercising. I try to eat back 2/3 of my exercise calories to make sure my body has all the fuel it needs to run efficiently.

    Yeah, i trust their calculations as far as i can throw them.

    It told me i should be eating 1200 also, so you are saying that a300 pound person should be eating the same as a 115 pound person????

    Thats plain bad advice in any situation.

    The calories for a 300 pound individual would easily be 2000 a day, depending on height age and activity level.

    I would never eat that low myself, i cant imagine why so many people are fixated on 1200 as their number.
    Seriously, the posts with people eating this low is insane.


    That is my point. If your information is entered correct, at 300lbs, MFP should NOT be telling you to eat 1200 calories a day! I am 213 and my calculations are for 1430 per day based on wanting to lose (realistically) 1.5lbs per week. When I was at 228 my calories level was at 1475 per day. MFP always asks if I want them recalculated every time I post a loss, thus the reduction to 1430. 1200 calories is NOT enough for larger body compositions. It may not be enough for active lifestyles. All of that comes in to play when determining calories. She should be eating far more than she has been.

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