1200 with workouts and no weight loss?!?? Help

I understand where you are coming from and I dont think you need professional help... But think of it this way, Maybe youre gaining muscle (Cause it does weigh more than fat) and you're probably also loosing inches. Have you tried measuring your neck, thighs, waist? Sometimes weight is an inaccurate way to measure changes in your body. So maybe try something different (like Measuring). Either way keep it up, cause you're doing everything right and in time you will see changes start to happen.. Unfortunately, its a long ride! GOOD LUCK!

I would suggest that you start by eating your exercise calories (min you should net is 1200 cal) and hide the scale for at least 4 weeks. If you feel you must keep track, then take progress pics and measurements You might think that this won't help, but I think you will be surprised! There are many threads on here that promote the 'eat more to lose' method cause it works! You seem to be exercising a lot and you need to fuel your body! Food is your body's fuel! If you don't fuel your body enough, it will 'hold' on to whatever it can! So make sure you eat enough


I increased from 1200 to 1700 and I lost weight and continued to lose weight.

Your breakfast is part of the problem. YOu are eatign too many sugary foods and carbs (cereals are carbs) for your first meal of the day - your sugar levels are spiking, you shodul be lookign for something wth a more steady release. When you have too much sugar your body produces insulin to remove the sugar from your blood and store it for energy in our muscles. However when those stores are full then these sugars are stored as fat and can cause weight gain. Suggest you rotate the breakfasts eggs, ham cheese, bacon, eg protein more breakfast to start the day. Also you need to eat back the exercise calories or as previous comments advise your metabolim will slow down due to lack of nutritions and energy etc . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_index

You aren't eating enough.

I'm sticking to 1200., working out at least 5 times per week doing 50ish mins of 10k interval training . Eating very nutritiously with occasional treats but generally very balanced! Bit I've not lost any weight this week!!!! Help please check my diary and let me know what I'm doing wrong?!? Thanks

Make sure you have calculated your TDEE and eating enough calories (you not be eating enough so metabolism slows down). Are you doing any resistance training? Dont forget - muscle weighs more than fat so you may be losing body fat but scales say otherwise.

Give yourself at least one treat meal a week to 'trick' your body.

Also, having just looked your diary - cookies for breakfast isn't exactly healthy and nutritious! If you're trying to lose body fat, try to keep refined sugar to a minimum, including no cakes, biscuits, etc. Some will tell you to eat that sort of stuff if your calorie goal allows, but consider 'good calories' and 'bad calories'. You're not going to eat a load of cake each day just because your calories for the day allow it...allow yourself these foods as a treat

Ill have a look at how to calculate my TDEE......

Haha I know cookies for breakfast was a terrible idea in anger and defiance when I weighed in fool! But the rest of the week has been very good and I very rarely have bad things. If I have carbs it is seeds, wholegrains oats etc!

Try this site - pretty good and widely recommended: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Before I went on vacay, I exercised hard every single day (running up to 8 miles per session), kept my cals under 1500 and I didn't lose a single pound. But I did look better! My theory is that I store a lot of water from working out and it takes a couple days to flush out. If you aren't suffering from over training: getting sick, having insomnia or generally feeling under the weather, then your body is doing either building muscle or storing water. Not great for scales but great for looks.

You need to eat way more than 1200 calories with the amount of exercise you are doing. Simple as that.

You did get some help, so listen to what they have said. Your goal is really too low. I'm 5'1" and would look frightening at 95 pounds.

Now, are you eating back your exercise calories? If not, do that for a week or two and see how you feel.

I actually never once said my goal was 95lb!
I'm gonna try eating back exercise kcals after next week if there's stil no loss

I was wondering where people were getting that goal from myself as you never mentioned it and your profile says your goal is 105 which is not a bad goal for someone who is 5'. I will say that muscle weight is more than fat weight.

Myself, I got stuck on a plateau pretty quick when I first started this journey. I was also doing 1200 calories a day and I just couldn't drop any weight. I went up to 1350 and it started coming off. This go round I was doing 1460 calories which is what MFP suggested to me and not dropping weight after a month solid of going to the gym so I've gone down to 1350 again. All of our bodies are different so it is hard to give someone advice because what works for one might not work for you.

I think you are on the right track by adjusting your daily calories to see if that helps. Also, give it a month at any number to truly see what is going on. A week in terms of weight lose, body changes, etc is really not much.

Good luck!

So I checked my TDEE and it says with workouts 5 times per week I should be eating kcals 1382! This isn't a lot more than my 1200?! And that takes into account the exercise kcals! So I've upped my intake to 1382 kcal and had an omelette for breakfast instead of my shake or porridge.

That's probably your BMR, not your TDEE. If you provide your height and exact weight and activity level right now, then we can do the calculation for you.

ETA: Using the info I've gathered from here, you should be eating more like 1800 cals to LOSE weight. That means you will LOSE weight eating at 1800. That's with a 15% deficit which I believe is best for people with under 25lbs to lose.

We are all really glad you're in recovery, and that is why we are genuinely trying to help you.:flowerforyou:

I understand where you are coming from and I dont think you need professional help... But think of it this way, Maybe youre gaining muscle (Cause it does weigh more than fat) and you're probably also loosing inches. Have you tried measuring your neck, thighs, waist? Sometimes weight is an inaccurate way to measure changes in your body. So maybe try something different (like Measuring). Either way keep it up, cause you're doing everything right and in time you will see changes start to happen.. Unfortunately, its a long ride! GOOD LUCK!

Oh god please don't listen to this.

1) You can't gain muscle @ a deficit
2) Muscle does NOT weigh more than fat. It takes up less mass... a pound is a pound no matter what it is.


OP - More than likely you are eating more than you think (are you weighing your foods)