Eating 1200 calories and gaining weight

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cappyliv
cappyliv Posts: 9
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been eating 1200 calories and have all of sudden in the last week gained weight, my exercise at the moment is only walking.
I'm also breastfeeding
So what I was wondering should I be eating more? Or am I doing something else wrong?
Thanks

Replies

  • LeanButNotMean44
    LeanButNotMean44 Posts: 852 Member
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    First off, everyone's weight fluctuates, so if you gain one week chill out. :)

    Second, are you weighing your food? If not, you are likely eating more than 1200 calories. If you put a 1/2 cup of oats on a food scale, it is WAY more than 40g (which is what the package uses to determine the calorie count).

    1200 seems low for someone who is breast feeding. Have you spoken with your doctor about this?
  • cappyliv
    cappyliv Posts: 9
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    Haven't spoken to my doctor! I seem to have enough milk though
    Also I'm not weighing my food, and I prob am eating more, I guess I should prob take it slow and steady.
    I just thought maybe I was doing something wrong
  • obscuremusicreference
    obscuremusicreference Posts: 1,320 Member
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    A gain in the last week could be water weight. I just got a food scale last week and lost all my weight to date measuring (1200 is a low enough bar that you're probably still going to be eating at a deficit unless you are very short or very sedentary).

    I second the opinion that 1200 seems too low for breastfeeding, however. Is that 1200 net after breastfeeding, or just 1200?
  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
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    You are eating more than you think, weigh your food. But get an ok from your Dr. IMO 1200 is way too low for someone who is BF! And, congrats on the baby!
  • myheartsabattleground
    myheartsabattleground Posts: 2,040 Member
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    Have you been weighing everything ?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,871 Member
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    Nobody is gaining weight on 1200 calories...you are eating more than you think you are if you are truly gaining weight.

    Also keep in mind that weight fluctuates naturally...nobody weighs exactly XXX Lbs...it is important to look at your weight as a trend and an average, not as one specific number.

    Lastly, you're breast feeding...my concern would be that you're not eating enough to sustain yourself and your baby. 1200 calories is pretty much bare minimum for a short, sedentary female alone...breast feeding is roughly the equivalent of 500 calories per day in exercise which would most definitely mean you're not sedentary.

    If it were me, I would speak to a health care professional about how much I should be eating, etc. I know my wife lost her baby weight while breast feeding, working out, and eating around 1700 calories per day or so. Just saying you probably want to dial it back a bit and not be so aggressive...you have another human being to think about other than yourself here and that human being is reliant on you to provide it adequate nutrition.
  • ShellyBell999
    ShellyBell999 Posts: 1,482 Member
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    It's probably just water weight. :)
    Most moms need to eat an extra 500 cals a day while breast feeding. :D
    If you're only eating 1200 per day then after baby, you're left with 700 for yourself. :\
    The minimum fed intravenously to a coma patient is 1200 calories. :o

    Eat more or you and your baby will soon be unhappy. :s
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
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    cappyliv wrote:
    I've been eating 1200 calories and have all of sudden in the last week gained weight ... should I be eating more? Or am I doing something else wrong?
    If you're gaining weight & don't want to, no you should not eat more in order to lose weight.

    But I agree with everyone else that you're probably not eating 1200 cal, and that you should talk with your doctor/midwife about what would be an adequate caloric level.

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  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    One week's weight gain is nothing to be concerned about. However, I agree with everyone about weighing your food.
  • cappyliv
    cappyliv Posts: 9
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    Thanks everyone, I'm not weighing my food so I agree that I'm prob eating more.
    I will increase my calories and see if anything changes in te next week.
    Also I'm
    167cm tall and currently weigh
    61kg
    I was hoping to get down to 55kg which was my pre pregnancy weight.
  • udegbunamchuks789
    udegbunamchuks789 Posts: 1 Member
    edited January 2015
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    Well in my case I'm weighing my food religiously and have constantly lost 1 kg per week but I stepped on the scale this morning expecting to be 81kg and the scale says 83 kg.

    I'm on a 1,000 calorie deficit plan. I wonder if it's water weight 'cause I recently started increasing my water intake which seems to reduce my hunger pangs.

    For 2 months now I've been tracking my calorie expenditure with the in built pedometer on my Nokia Lumia 730 before I switched to the Xiaomi MiBand.


    I switched to a FitBit One last week Monday and I just hope it's not overestimating my calorie burn :disappointed: :
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Can you open your diary?
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
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    Nope. If you're gaining weight, you ain't eating 1200 no matter how convinced you are.
  • joannemgregory
    joannemgregory Posts: 8 Member
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    As you only have 6kg to lose perhaps set your loss to 0.5kg a week you would have more calories then. The closer to your target the harder to lose.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
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    Did you eat anything excessively salty (like take-away)? If so then it could be water weight. 2 kg could be a normal fluctutation...

    However, 1200 cal seems awfully low for some one who is breastfeeding though.
  • Phoenix_Down
    Phoenix_Down Posts: 530 Member
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    Retention from exercise, Excess sodium, excess cortisol from stress/lack of sleep, time of the month, and whether or not you have had a recent bowel movement all effect scale weight. My weight fluctuations as much as 4-5 lbs from morning to evening and 2-3 lbs from one day to the next, depending on the day.

    You're looking for a weight trend over several weeks.

    I also echo that you're not gaining true weight from eating 1200 calories but that seems pitifully low on it's own, let alone also trying to breastfeed. I highly recommend talking to your OBGYN about caloric needs during breastfeeding. I thought you were supposed to add like 500 calories a day for it, I could be wrong but again 1200 is pretty aggressive.

    Using a digital food scale would be a great resource if you find weight loss isn't moving over a few weeks time. It really helped me pinpoint inaccuracies.

    This is a game of patience though, so don't be discouraged if you don't lose every week. Just keep consistent and you'll know where to go from there
  • amayitux
    amayitux Posts: 68 Member
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    Please talk to your doctor and get dietary requirements from him/her.

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