Whenever I eat my calore deficit I don't lose weight

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ajocec
ajocec Posts: 19 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
my calorie deficit is only set to 1200, but when I eat the 1200 or even close to that I either gain weight or stay the same. I exercise 5 days a week and very rarely eat back any of my exercise calories. I drink at least 4 liters of water a day. What am I doing wrong?
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Replies

  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
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    ajocec wrote: »
    my calorie deficit is only set to 1200, but when I eat the 1200 or even close to that I either gain weight or stay the same. I exercise 5 days a week and very rarely eat back any of my exercise calories. I drink at least 4 liters of water a day. What am I doing wrong?

    Need more info but just to start; Over how long a time frame?
  • denali26
    denali26 Posts: 20 Member
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    Are you weighing everything you eat?
  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,112 Member
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    My first hunch would be trolling.
    Otherwise i would would suggest you are simply not weighing and logging accurately.
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    How long have you tried eating 1200 and consistently gained weight? What are you eating at the moment? What are your stats (height, weight)? How long have you been eating under 1200?
  • ncboiler89
    ncboiler89 Posts: 2,408 Member
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    Camo_xxx wrote: »
    My first hunch would be trolling.
    quote]

    lol. That's what I was thinking. There are some posts that are just so wtf they make me think they are a level.
  • ajocec
    ajocec Posts: 19 Member
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    I am 5'6 currently 180. SW 220, started MFP at 196 Mid-March. I know that is a big weight loss however that has been because of the days I've eaten very little. I do not weigh my food as I have a daily job. I do always log as accurately as possible. Thank you for your help with this!
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
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    If you aren't losing, you aren't eating in a deficit.
  • acorsaut89
    acorsaut89 Posts: 1,147 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Three possibilities of what's happening here

    1. You're eating more than you think you are.
    2. You're not burning as much as you think you are, which means you're consuming too much to be at a deficit.
    3. The most likely scenario of them all - you're eating more than you think you are AND you're not burning nearly as much as you think you are.

    ETA: your profile states you've lost 31lbs and have 44 more to go. So that leads me to believe you had a total of 75lbs to lose . . . which is quite a bit of weight. This would mean you were over eating and over consuming by a lot for a long period of time, which leads me to believe that your body would lose on a deficit like that. I think you're definitely eating more than you think you are if you've stopped losing.

    If you're looking for the "OH MY - eat more to lose more, starvation mode honey" response, I doubt you'll find it here. If you've lost 31 lbs already, you know what it takes to lose and I highly doubt at 27 years old you need to be under 1200 calories/day - no one needs to be under that. If you are under that you could be causing long term damage depending on how consistent you are about it, but again I believe you're simply eating more than you think you are. It's really easy to do so.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
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    ajocec wrote: »
    I am 5'6 currently 180. SW 220, started MFP at 196 Mid-March. I know that is a big weight loss however that has been because of the days I've eaten very little. I do not weigh my food as I have a daily job. I do always log as accurately as possible. Thank you for your help with this!

    If you don't weigh your food you don't know how much you are eating.

    Most people have daily jobs - if you want to lose weight then you need to by a scale and log your food, you clearly are not guessing accurately enough.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,658 Member
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    ajocec wrote: »
    I do not weigh my food as I have a daily job. I do always log as accurately as possible.
    How do you know how accurately you're logging if you're not weighing your food?

  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    Either you're not actually eating 1200 as you're not weighing food (unless you're eating all prepackaged food), or you're not giving yourself enough time to see how eating 1200 actually affects you. You didn't answer how long you'd been eating 1200 calories and gaining weight. Was it a month where you saw consistent gain? Or did you eat 1200 for one day and see an increase the next day?
  • ajocec
    ajocec Posts: 19 Member
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    DemoraFairy wrote: »
    Either you're not actually eating 1200 as you're not weighing food (unless you're eating all prepackaged food), or you're not giving yourself enough time to see how eating 1200 actually affects you. You didn't answer how long you'd been eating 1200 calories and gaining weight. Was it a month where you saw consistent gain? Or did you eat 1200 for one day and see an increase the next day?

    I understand that weight loss is not linear, and this is not a one time occurrence. I looked over the month and averaged out that on the days I ate 1200 or close to I saw an increase.

    I am doing the best I can to log accurately without a scale. A scale is not an option for me but I am trying very hard.
  • Lib_B
    Lib_B Posts: 446 Member
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    Based on the advice I've see on other threads, I would suggest increasing your calories to about 2,600 a day.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    you've lost 16 pounds since mid-March. You may not have seen a loss on the scale in the past week-10 days (i'm guessing, you didn't say) but that does not mean you've stalled or gained. Could be water weight from TOM/hormones, sodium, stress, etc.

    Compare your weight today to weight a month ago. You're down considerably. Keep going, give it another 4-8 weeks. I predict you'll continue to go downward overall but have some weeks where you don't move in the direction you want.

    And if you're not using a scale, you're probably eating more than 1200. But with a good amount of weight to lose, you can estimate and get away with it for now. As time goes on and you lose more weight, if you reach a point where your weight loss stalls for 8-12 weeks: then re-evaluate and look for more accuracy.
  • Iron_Feline
    Iron_Feline Posts: 10,750 Member
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    Lib_B wrote: »
    Based on the advice I've see on other threads, I would suggest increasing your calories to about 2,600 a day.

    Sorry what now?
  • hhnkhl
    hhnkhl Posts: 231 Member
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    You aren't losing weight if you are eating more.
  • LessofPenny
    LessofPenny Posts: 53 Member
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    Make sure that you have been checked out by a dr and do not have any health issues that are causing you to plateau. Stick it out.....staying the same is better than getting frustrated, throwing in the towel and gaining. Get moving.....if you are moving....move more.
  • acorsaut89
    acorsaut89 Posts: 1,147 Member
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    ajocec wrote: »
    I am 5'6 currently 180. SW 220, started MFP at 196 Mid-March. I know that is a big weight loss however that has been because of the days I've eaten very little. I do not weigh my food as I have a daily job. I do always log as accurately as possible. Thank you for your help with this!

    You lost 16 lbs in 4 weeks, approx? That's ED territory, very unhealthy and highly unsustainable long term.

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