1,200 causes me to NOT lose weight??

Options
2»

Replies

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Options
    It is absolutely normal to have a big drop and then stall for a couple weeks when you're first starting.

    This. Don't worry about it or overthink it. If you feel good, you are probably doing just fine.

    There's no magic number that you need to be eating such that if you go over or under you don't lose. Basically, there's your maintenance number and less than that (and 1200 would be less than that) you should lose. It's best for energy and sustainability to not cut calories too low, so if you are running an hour regularly I'd definitely eat some of that back (in fact I do--I run and usually eat most of the calories from it back).

    If you are having trouble meeting your calories I'd think about why. If skipping planned meals, maybe try to accept that as your lifestyle (fewer meals) and build in more calories into snacks or the other meals. If it's because you cut out lots of things and are eating really low calorie meals (I did this when I started) maybe look at whether you went overboard and cut fat too low or are being too restrictive about carbs or some such. IME, this problem takes care of itself, since people are often really enthusiastic and happy to be more restrictive at the start of a diet (or, uh, "new lifestyle") and then loosen up or find that they get bored without allowing back in more foods.

    Anyway, don't panic--you are down 10 in a short period of time and you will probably start seeing losses again soon. Just happens sometimes. (And you will learn how your cycle affects it in a few months too. I tend to stall mid-month, others gain the week before or week of. It's weird.)
  • Happymelz
    Happymelz Posts: 536 Member
    Options
    Calorie cycling saved my life. I started my diet at about 1200 calories/day. At first I dropped weight like crazy. Then after a month, the weight loss just. stopped.

    I kept doing what I was doing for another month, sure that it was just a plateau and that I would start to see the scale move again soon. I was just maintaining and started getting frustrated.

    Now I count my calories for the whole week, not just for the day. I eat 1200 some days and close to 2000 once or twice a week. As long as my weekly calories are in a deficit, it really does work. The first week I tried it, the scale moved again. Granted, it is much harder to track this using MFP alone. I made a spreadsheet in excel to help me.

    The other major change I made was upping my water intake considerable. When I did that, my extra water weight fell right off and while that isn't really fat loss, it helped to keep me motivated.

    I am also as realistic as possible about making this a lifestyle change, not a crash course diet. I want to lose it and keep it off for life, so I try to make it sustainable. If I go on vacation, I relax my standards a bit (not all the way, but I allow myself to have fun). I eat at maintenance for a week sometimes just to give myself a break. I am not trying to rush the process because the temptation for most dieters is to lose the weight then stop the "diet".

    When I stopped looking at it as a diet, I stopped stressing. Now I see a steady, if somewhat slow, weight loss. It's not a race. Some weeks I lose nothing. Other weeks I lose several pounds. It really isn't linear and it won't go exactly the way we want. Such is life. :ohwell:

    THIS!!!!!!!!!

    I was eating ALL of my exercise calories back every day and then going over on the weekends.

    Now I eat somewhere between 1200 and 2000 calories per day. (usally WAY more than 1200 because 1200 is too low.)
  • drey0422
    drey0422 Posts: 39
    Options
    Thank every single one of you.. i will definitely be taking you advice because i hate when the number on the scale doesn't drop especially when i feel like i'm sacrificing some of my favorite foods. Thanks!!!
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
    Options
    While I am in agreement that 1200 calorie generally does not properly fuel a person's body, especially when they exercise, it does not cause a person to "hold on to" weight and it does not gain weight. You don't eat more to lose weight, you eat more to have the energy to live, move, exercise.

    If you are not losing weight you are not in a deficit. Ensure that you are using proper portion control (weighing food helps), choosing correct food entries, and are choosing accurate calorie burns, all the while keeping at a calorie deficit.

    Chances are you are unintentionally underestimating calories in and overestimating calorie burns.
  • mactaffy84
    mactaffy84 Posts: 398 Member
    Options
    Thank you! There is no way eating 1200 calories makes it so you don't lose wright. When will people start using common sense here?!

Categories