When I eat 1200 cals I put on weight

Friday October 10
Lunch
Twix - Finger, 2 finger
Ocado - Honey Roast Ham, 2 slice(s)

Sunday October 12
Snacks
Monster - Energy Absolutely Zero Uk
Waitrose - British Breaded Ham, 3 slice

Ham on it's own? no bread, salad or accompaniments? looks very much like bad logging

rachelperry84 wrote: »

It's as accurate as I can get if haven't cooked the food myself. There are 2 cases of that in my diary anyway, so not like it's every meal. It still doesn't make sense even with that being wrong

Rachal .. go on this MFP page and calculate your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) which is the estimated number of calories you need at your present age, weight and height to pretty much lay in bed all day and do nothing. ....

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/tools/bmr-calculator

.... That would, under normal conditions, be the least amount of calories you eat in a day. That does not count the additional calories you need to be active and those active calories should be above you BMR calories. ... more or less. ....(I don't want to start a whole bunch of people charging after me for saying this )

You got to go see a doctor. Although I do also doubt the validity of some entries, like today (half a cup of potatoes? one chicken breast?), but I'm guessing you were eating out or something?

But yeah chicken 4 wraps at only 590 calories total... VERY unlikely. Ham and cheese panini at 470, unlikely too, considering bread is often 300 calories, cheese 130, then you have to add the butter... I'm also curious about what kind of sausage is only 110 calories (from Wednesday) and where I can find that magic sausage (regular sausages are closer to 190 calories).

So yeah... I doubt your entries are correct. You could be eating way more than you think, even if you seem to barely eat some other days.

Yikes....I can understand your frustration, but you have to understand that these people are giving you good advise. When we look at your diary and you have "1 mug of tea w/ skim milk)...is that a recipe that you entered? that you control the exact quantity of? while yes I understand that skim milk doesn't really carry a lot of cals with it if the person who cited that uses 1 tablespoon and you use 3...there will be a difference in the cals. Now that is very marginal difference, but what they are trying to explain is those marginal difference, or the lax approach to logging (believe me I do the same, but I have been losing with out weighing) you say that you weigh everything, but also that you are relying on prepackaged foods for their weights, unfortunately those values can be incorrect also. So in fact you are guestimating portions if your not weighing everything. people on here are not trying to judge you or hurt your feelings, they are being truthful in telling you that you are [il]likely[/i] consuming more cals then you realize. If you are a person who has very little to lose and have been given a finite amount of calories for the day, being as accurate as possible becomes more critical then someone like me who still has loads of weight to lose. I currently lose with guestimating but when I hone in on goal weight I'm sure that will change. From what I understand youtube has some great videos in reference to proper weighing of food, you may want to check some of those out too. Best Luck!!

rachelperry84 wrote: »

Woodspoon wrote: »

Friday October 10
Lunch
Twix - Finger, 2 finger
Ocado - Honey Roast Ham, 2 slice(s)

Sunday October 12
Snacks
Monster - Energy Absolutely Zero Uk
Waitrose - British Breaded Ham, 3 slice

Ham on it's own? no bread, salad or accompaniments? looks very much like bad logging

Genuine day. Love eating ham on its own, and sharing it with the dogs.

Just more for the safety of your dogs, you shouldn't feed them processed or cured pork like bacon and ham. Not only is the fat content high but it's also full of sodium. Their little bodies find it harder to process. This is widely known knowledge.

dbmata wrote: »

rachelperry84 wrote: »

If I eat 1200 cals I put on weight about 1-2kg per week.

Doubt it.

There lots of user error going on. Gain 2 pounds per week on a 1200 cal diet.

Francl27 wrote: »

You got to go see a doctor. Although I do also doubt the validity of some entries, like today (half a cup of potatoes? one chicken breast?), but I'm guessing you were eating out or something?

But yeah chicken 4 wraps at only 590 calories total... VERY unlikely. Ham and cheese panini at 470, unlikely too, considering bread is often 300 calories, cheese 130, then you have to add the butter... I'm also curious about what kind of sausage is only 110 calories (from Wednesday) and where I can find that magic sausage (regular sausages are closer to 190 calories).

So yeah... I doubt your entries are correct. You could be eating way more than you think, even if you seem to barely eat some other days.

There are loads of different types of bread and sausages on the market. 2 slices of bread usually average out at about 200 calories (mfp and the product details on packaging confirm this). The bread I eat is an Irish slimming brand which are only 60 calories a slice. Yes, a panini would be more like 250 calories unbuttered, but sliced bread is less than that.

I have frozen sausages from Aldi which are 110 calories each (as stated on the pack itself) and there are low fat, gluten free ones from Tesco which are only 45 calories each (they are thin though!).

OP, looking at your diary, your eating habits are rather erratic. Some days you overeat and other days you really undereat. Try to mantain a healthy balance of meals throughout the day and try to avoid the empty snacky stuff as much as you can. You can limit yourself to 1200 calories a day and still enjoy good, filling food. I'm on 1200 calories and it's easier than you think, once you get used to how much things weigh and you log EVRYTHING that goes into your mouth (things like spices, condiments and sauces count too!). After a while, it becomes habit and you'll find your new eating plan second nature. There's always room for treats here and there, but they should be supplements to your daily meals, not meals themselves.

Good luck

josul75 wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

You got to go see a doctor. Although I do also doubt the validity of some entries, like today (half a cup of potatoes? one chicken breast?), but I'm guessing you were eating out or something?

But yeah chicken 4 wraps at only 590 calories total... VERY unlikely. Ham and cheese panini at 470, unlikely too, considering bread is often 300 calories, cheese 130, then you have to add the butter... I'm also curious about what kind of sausage is only 110 calories (from Wednesday) and where I can find that magic sausage (regular sausages are closer to 190 calories).

So yeah... I doubt your entries are correct. You could be eating way more than you think, even if you seem to barely eat some other days.

There are loads of different types of bread and sausages on the market. 2 slices of bread usually average out at about 200 calories (mfp and the product details on packaging confirm this). The bread I eat is an Irish slimming brand which are only 60 calories a slice. Yes, a panini would be more like 250 calories unbuttered, but sliced bread is less than that.

I have frozen sausages from Aldi which are 110 calories each (as stated on the pack itself) and there are low fat, gluten free ones from Tesco which are only 45 calories each (they are thin though!).

OP, looking at your diary, your eating habits are rather erratic. Some days you overeat and other days you really undereat. Try to mantain a healthy balance of meals throughout the day and try to avoid the empty snacky stuff as much as you can. You can limit yourself to 1200 calories a day and still enjoy good, filling food. I'm on 1200 calories and it's easier than you think, once you get used to how much things weigh and you log EVRYTHING that goes into your mouth (things like spices, condiments and sauces count too!). After a while, it becomes habit and you'll find your new eating plan second nature. There's always room for treats here and there, but they should be supplements to your daily meals, not meals themselves.

Good luck

But she's clearly using generic entries for those things, and picking the lowest calories entries for them... not using brands, not weighing etc.

Once I individually added up what was in a ham and cheese panini I got from a restaurant and it came out close to 900 calories... I mean obviously I can make myself one for 300 calories or less at home, but then I would think she would have entered it properly.

Assuming OP is a woman, I didn't check.

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If your eating just two candy bars a day here and there your going to gain weight like crazy your body is going to go into starvation mode and store all the fat your taking in. If your eating one meal and a snack your starving your body and anything you eat you will store as fat.

Honestly? All I see in this discussion is EXCUSES. Tons and tons of excuses. I can't eat healthy because I gain weight? BS.

For the cost of one 250 calorie candy bar, you can insert 2 pieces of fruit, a serving of high quality dairy, at least 2 servings of vegetables and a small portion of lean protein. All far better than a choice that is full of sugar/carbs and empty of vitamins. You bring your diary in to the doctor, this is one of the first things they will point out.

You have asked for guidance, and more than one person has pointed out that it's physically impossible to do what you are claiming when you are keeping accurate numbers. Seems to me that you just don't want to hear this.

As many people know, I'm a hardcore spokesperson for eating disorders. If you managed to gain what you claim on 1200 calories a day, the only possible way I can imagine this is occurring to any near extent is that you've completely destroyed your metabolism and your body is trying to recover. It sounds as if you are eating on par with the typical anorexic and using the excuses for the anorexic in denial. Eating under 900 calories a day every day for a long extended time can have major impact on your body's ability to metabolize foods. Eating further under that puts you into the anorexic category.
Me, I gained a huge amount of weight when I moved from anorexia levels to 1500 a day, despite my "natural" TDEE being an average of 2200 a day. It was simply because my metabolism no longer worked because I'd convinced my body that I was dying of starvation. I got no nutrients, not enough calories, and would have binges that I would hide from everyone (which I suspect is the case here as well).

Just go to the doctor and get yourself a therapist. You need it.

Here's my suggestion, cook your own meals for at least a week and see if things change.
You said you weigh things, so you do own a food scale. Great, use it.
Weigh everything that goes into a meal and make a recipe out of it, don't eat at restaurants for this week to eliminate any guessing. Restaurant foods are notorious for being very high in fat, carbs, and sodium.
At least this way, when you go to your doctor you will have a healthy food plan to present

Francl27 wrote: »

josul75 wrote: »

Francl27 wrote: »

You got to go see a doctor. Although I do also doubt the validity of some entries, like today (half a cup of potatoes? one chicken breast?), but I'm guessing you were eating out or something?

But yeah chicken 4 wraps at only 590 calories total... VERY unlikely. Ham and cheese panini at 470, unlikely too, considering bread is often 300 calories, cheese 130, then you have to add the butter... I'm also curious about what kind of sausage is only 110 calories (from Wednesday) and where I can find that magic sausage (regular sausages are closer to 190 calories).

So yeah... I doubt your entries are correct. You could be eating way more than you think, even if you seem to barely eat some other days.

There are loads of different types of bread and sausages on the market. 2 slices of bread usually average out at about 200 calories (mfp and the product details on packaging confirm this). The bread I eat is an Irish slimming brand which are only 60 calories a slice. Yes, a panini would be more like 250 calories unbuttered, but sliced bread is less than that.

I have frozen sausages from Aldi which are 110 calories each (as stated on the pack itself) and there are low fat, gluten free ones from Tesco which are only 45 calories each (they are thin though!).

OP, looking at your diary, your eating habits are rather erratic. Some days you overeat and other days you really undereat. Try to mantain a healthy balance of meals throughout the day and try to avoid the empty snacky stuff as much as you can. You can limit yourself to 1200 calories a day and still enjoy good, filling food. I'm on 1200 calories and it's easier than you think, once you get used to how much things weigh and you log EVRYTHING that goes into your mouth (things like spices, condiments and sauces count too!). After a while, it becomes habit and you'll find your new eating plan second nature. There's always room for treats here and there, but they should be supplements to your daily meals, not meals themselves.

Good luck

But she's clearly using generic entries for those things, and picking the lowest calories entries for them... not using brands, not weighing etc.

Once I individually added up what was in a ham and cheese panini I got from a restaurant and it came out close to 900 calories... I mean obviously I can make myself one for 300 calories or less at home, but then I would think she would have entered it properly.

Assuming OP is a woman, I didn't check.

The four chicken wraps for 590 cals definitely jumped out at me. And I think she had a chicken Caesar salad for 220 cals when those things are known to be calorie bombs. I agree with the suggestion to try cooking more of her own meals for a while using the Recipe function to add up ALL the ingredients because something's not right here

So OP only one meal and one snack most times? You never have any days when you're just like aww screw it I'm gonna eat a ton of food? That would be great if you don't, but if you do, you should log it because it's your long term average deficit that matters, not just the days you're being "good"

I agree with everyone here, you clearly are logging accurately, cook more homemade food and put it in the recipe creator (I use this loads and its great because if you amend an ingredient you can go in and amend it), and weigh and measure everything. You clearly aren`t doing this, putting generic items in your diary is a guess, and 1.98 of something isn't accurate. You are eating way over 1200cals per day. Instead of eating chocolate as a meal change it for fruit salad with yoghurt etc. Also do some exercise as well, even a 30 min walk everyday. If you want any help feel free to add me