Not losing very fast at all..I am sort of new, new to postin

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exsacken
exsacken Posts: 10
in Introduce Yourself
Hi! Just figured I would try to post something, been trying to do really good on the diet. I only try to eat 1200 calories a day and if I plan on going over, I exercise that amount of calories off. I am a little frustrated b/c the weight is really sticking around and is not coming off easy at all. I am talking maybe 1 pound every 2 weeks!!! This is really making me upset!! Such hard work for little reward!! Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Right now I eat anything I want, as long as it sticks within the 1200 calories/per day!

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  • taiyola
    taiyola Posts: 964 Member
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    Maybe you're not eating enough or exercising enough.
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
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    With what you have to lose, 1/2 lb per week is what you should be losing. The less you have to lose, the slower it will be - and MUST be, if you want to be healthy.

    Might help to read these threads:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/186814-some-mfp-basics

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat
  • skinnyjeans13
    skinnyjeans13 Posts: 179
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    You should watch what you eat and try and balance it out... especially with your sodium. You can't really just eat whatever you want, you have to make smart choices... I'm pretty sure if you change up the foods you're eating you'll make progress.
  • krd82
    krd82 Posts: 53
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    If your eating anything you want, what is it? Are you eating alot of carbs?
  • exsacken
    exsacken Posts: 10
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    Hmmmm....good points. I am eating whatever I want. I think my problem is that I sometimes will just eat a cookie for lunch and sometimes I skip dinner b/c I ate too much during the day. I do exercise, but not every day. I always thought a calorie is a calorie...regardless if it was from lettuce or a tasty cookie (sweets are a big problem for me)!
  • debsavking
    debsavking Posts: 13
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    1200 cal is too little to start with, try with a higher cal intake and work ur way down.
  • baabybabs
    baabybabs Posts: 7
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    I recommend one cheat day every week or two. 1200 calories is pretty low intake, since it is the minimum. I hope you also make sure to stick to keeping your NET calories 1200, as MFP instructs you to do. Anyways, because 1200 is the bare minimum to keep your body going, you will lose weight but starvation mode kicks in a week or so after keeping your intake at a deficit. This is the body's mode of survival, in primal times our ancestors would have to hunt/gather their food [instead of visiting the grocery store] and in order to survive, if they've been at a deficit long enough, their metabolism slows down and begins to store calories as fat. To "wake" your metabolism back up so that it keeps working to help you lose weight, a cheat day every week or so as previously stated will help. Your body thinks, "Awesome! Look at all this food I'm getting!" and stops panicking and your metabolism stays up.

    Personally I've kept my 1200 net calories for weeks at a time, and I'd get the urge to eat more and would resist until finally I'd binge which feels awful, because at one point when I binged I got discouraged and thought "Well I messed up already, might as well REALLY mess up" and then binged for two more days, which set me back.

    My last "binge" (no as bad as my otherst, but I felt a bit out of control while I was wolfing down a bunch of food) was after over a week of keeping my net calories at a deficit (around 1200 calories). I actually woke up that day feeling puffy, lethargic, and my typical meals didn't satisfy me. So finally at the end of the night I ate 950 calories over (definitely a binge, and I don't recommend, less than 500 calories over seems fine). I woke up the next day feeling much more energized, not as irritable and tired as the day before and my meals satisfied me. Today, I feel slimmer than before my "binge", and I have the feeling that if I were to weigh myself I've probably lost weight.

    Long story short - try a day of overeating here and there! It'll keep your metabolism on its toes. :) Good luck
  • Ben2118
    Ben2118 Posts: 571 Member
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    How much water are you drinking?

    A calorie is a calorie, but it is everything else in it too, the sugar, fat, sat fat, sodium etc that could be slowing you down.

    Are you seeing a lot of red numbers in your food diary? Maybe make that public so people can suggest more options. There is always a reason for slow weight loss normally, you just have to try different things to find it. MFP adds a deficit to your goal anyway, so you should be losing, even without any exercise.

    Ben.
  • krd82
    krd82 Posts: 53
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    Oh girl, lol! Drop that cookie for lunch and eat some food! lol! Snacking helps through out the day will stabilize your sugar level and raise your metabolism. But don't snack on cookies, lol. Have you tried or can you eat whole almonds? Those fill me up for a quick snack. I love almonds!
  • exsacken
    exsacken Posts: 10
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    Thanks for the info...it's really hard to stay within the 1200 calorie limit..especially being on the go all the time...unless I eat lettuce all day. I think a binge day of 1700 calories a week sounds awesome!!!
  • exsacken
    exsacken Posts: 10
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    Yep...calories are usually green, but I have a few (carbs usually and fat) that end up with red a lot! Dang..might have to watch those too...I am a carb-o-holic!! I might switch some cookies out for some almonds like one of the replies said here!
  • SaraTonin
    SaraTonin Posts: 551 Member
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    Yes, with that little to lose you should set MFP to .5 pounds per week loss. You're right on track!

    You'll notice that even contestants on The Biggest Loser stop losing weight once they hit their goal weight, and they have nutritionists and vigorous workouts on their side!

    Keep eating real food at all of your meals, and exercising, and you'll feel healthier and lose what you're wanting.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,239 Member
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    Nothing wrong with skipping meals if it doesn't cause you to lose control and over eat. I agree that you should be focusing on 1/2 pound per week with the amount of weight you have to lose. What did your put your goal settings in as? If it was more than 1/2 pound/week set it at that and see what your calories come out as. 1200 is the minimum this site will set you on, so I am guessing your wanting the weight to come off too fast. I also agree that a cookie is not a meal. It is a bunch of empty calories. You need real food, veggies, fruit and lean protein sources to lost the weight. There is nothing wrong with a cookie now and then, but as a meal substitute it is not helpful. As to eating throughout the day, if it helps you, do it, if not don't as despite many people repeating that is will boost your metabolism and stabilize your blood sugar it will really not do either. How many meals you eat in a day is far less important than what you eat and how much.
  • baabybabs
    baabybabs Posts: 7
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    If it's hard for you to stay within 1200 calories a day, you should really try clean eating. Food is a lot more satisfying when it's been prepared by you, and healthier food is just more filling overall. I eat 5-6 big meals a day and stay within 1200 calories. It's processed food that can sometimes ruin my day for me! As they can be small and calorie dense and definitely not filling most of the time. On days I'm out all day I'll prepare my food when I have time (I try my best to plan what I'm going to eat throughout the day) and take it with me to avoid buying food while I'm out!
  • Ben2118
    Ben2118 Posts: 571 Member
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    Yep...calories are usually green, but I have a few (carbs usually and fat) that end up with red a lot! Dang..might have to watch those too...I am a carb-o-holic!! I might switch some cookies out for some almonds like one of the replies said here!

    Lower carbs and high protein works wonders!! You stay full for longer normally too, MFP protein figures are very low, you can have a lot more, especially if you exercise.

    Eating clean is important, 1200 cals can go a long way.
  • exsacken
    exsacken Posts: 10
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    I think I am going to give clean-eating a try! I do find myself soooo hungry all the time. I just have such incredible sugar cravings it's horrible. I wake up and the first thing I eat is cookies...terrible isn't it? I'll see how it goes...thanks for the tips everyone!
  • embracechange
    embracechange Posts: 4
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    reducing carbs to an absolute minimum for 3 days will make your appetite drop off. then add in more low-g carbs but keep them low. works for me.
  • logicalloss
    logicalloss Posts: 14 Member
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    Having that low of a calorie goal sets you up for disappointing yourself, which leads to self medication with food. Try planning your meals ahead of time. Cook a big pot of your favorite on Sunday night and take it in your lunch all week. The bottom line is don't give up. You are headed in the right direction.
  • palasa
    palasa Posts: 4
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    i would say cute down on carbs... sweat potatos are better then reg potatos.
    if you have crazing for chocolet i would reg the atkins ( caramel chocolate nut roll..... only 2 g sugar and 8g protein wich is going to fill you.... i feel like im eating a snikers bar when i have it.. its great!

    In the morning i would recomments eggs.... usualy one hole egg is 70 cal... eggs whites are 17 cal.... it has pretein.
    if you have fruit during the day it should help u alot of the sugar cravings.
    Vegies have low carbs,,,, pepers, brocoli, cabage ( love cambage salad)
    stay away from dressings.... stick with olive oil and basomic vinager...

    for working out i would recomman doing it after you have dinner... this way u burn alot fo what you eat and you could have a small snack ( like almons) before bed.... for some reason when i work out during the morning... i tend to feel more hungry during the day.... also drinking water when you feel hungry is a plus.... good luck
  • baabybabs
    baabybabs Posts: 7
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    Cutting out sugar and sodium has extremely helped me out. On a typical western diet with a lot of processed food your taste buds become dull, but once you cut them out you can truly learn to savor food. For example, I used to salt my broccoli a lot. Now I just dryfry them (stir-fry basically with a non stick pan, except I don't use oil unless I need to if I dont get other sources of fat that day) and just the cooked broccoli tastes amazing to me. In fact nowadays I'll crave it. It's a process but it pays off. Now a lot of processed or seasoned/sugared food is just far too strong or sweet for me. I'll just have one and a half teaspoons of dark brown sugar with my morning oatmeal (and a lot of cinnamon!) whereas before I used to drop two tablespoons of white sugar in there.. then immediately go for another bowl of oatmeal because sugar makes you crave more sugar.

    Again, I wish you all the luck in the world :)

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