1,200 Calorie Diet

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Pebblemonster21
Pebblemonster21 Posts: 17 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi Everyone!

So I started my current weight loss journey last Monday. I stuck to the 1,200 calorie diet pretty faithfully and worked out 4 times, each between 250-300 calories burned. Yet, when I weighed myself, it seems like I actually gained weight.
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Replies

  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    edited August 2015
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    How long have you been on this '1200 calorie diet' and have you been eating back your exercise calories?
  • Pebblemonster21
    Pebblemonster21 Posts: 17 Member
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    Does anyone have an idea of why that could be? It really has me tempted to go down to 1,000 calories per day, but I've read that it's dangerous to do that. However, my body seems totally unaffected at 1,200.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    It may be water retention from your new workout program or bad logging. Also one week isn't log enough to decide if something is working or not.
  • Pebblemonster21
    Pebblemonster21 Posts: 17 Member
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    IsaackGMOON wrote: »
    How long have you been on this '1200 calorie diet' and have you been eating back your exercise calories?

    I've been on it for a week now. And I haven't been eating back my calories burned. I stick to the 1,200 and then burn an additional 250-300.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Your weight is not a static number. It's constantly in flux due to things like muscle inflammation after a workout, water retention caused by lots of things (sodium, carbs, stress, hormones, etc), where you are in your monthly cycle, when you last pooped, etc. It's why so many people tell you that weight loss is not linear. You won't see a drop on the scale every single week, even when you're just starting out. Give your body some time to catch up with your new routine before you panic.
  • Pebblemonster21
    Pebblemonster21 Posts: 17 Member
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    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    It may be water retention from your new workout program or bad logging. Also one week isn't log enough to decide if something is working or not.

    That's true, I guess I need to be patient. It just kind of freaked me out because I was working so hard and to see that was kind of disappointing.
  • madhatter2013
    madhatter2013 Posts: 1,547 Member
    edited August 2015
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    A week? So you net under 1000? Patience is a virtue. Have some and eat more.
  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
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    Pebblemonster21 wrote: »
    IsaackGMOON wrote: »
    How long have you been on this '1200 calorie diet' and have you been eating back your exercise calories?

    I've been on it for a week now. And I haven't been eating back my calories burned. I stick to the 1,200 and then burn an additional 250-300.

    A week is nothing. And you should be eating back your exercise calories otherwise you will be netting a smaller amount (around 900) which isn't healthy..
  • Pebblemonster21
    Pebblemonster21 Posts: 17 Member
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    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    It may be water retention from your new workout program or bad logging. Also one week isn't log enough to decide if something is working or not.

    What do you mean by bad logging by the way?
  • sutai
    sutai Posts: 6 Member
    edited August 2015
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    If you're not weighting your food you should start, you might think you're eating on a deficit but you're actually overeating because you are underestimating what you're actually eating.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Pebblemonster21 wrote: »
    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    It may be water retention from your new workout program or bad logging. Also one week isn't log enough to decide if something is working or not.

    What do you mean by bad logging by the way?

    Using entries in the database that aren't correct (a lot of them are off), using someone else's homemade or generic entries that don't accurately reflect what you ate, guessing or eyeballing serving sizes, etc.

  • Pebblemonster21
    Pebblemonster21 Posts: 17 Member
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    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Your weight is not a static number. It's constantly in flux due to things like muscle inflammation after a workout, water retention caused by lots of things (sodium, carbs, stress, hormones, etc), where you are in your monthly cycle, when you last pooped, etc. It's why so many people tell you that weight loss is not linear. You won't see a drop on the scale every single week, even when you're just starting out. Give your body some time to catch up with your new routine before you panic.

    Thanks, this helped. I'm pretty desperate to lose some weight that I gained recently so I freaked out when it seemed like it wasn't working. I'll just keep at it.
  • Pebblemonster21
    Pebblemonster21 Posts: 17 Member
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    IsaackGMOON wrote: »
    Pebblemonster21 wrote: »
    IsaackGMOON wrote: »
    How long have you been on this '1200 calorie diet' and have you been eating back your exercise calories?

    I've been on it for a week now. And I haven't been eating back my calories burned. I stick to the 1,200 and then burn an additional 250-300.

    A week is nothing. And you should be eating back your exercise calories otherwise you will be netting a smaller amount (around 900) which isn't healthy..

    Wait, I don't understand. What would be the point of working out if I'm just going to eat back the calories I just burned? Wouldn't that be pointless?
  • Pebblemonster21
    Pebblemonster21 Posts: 17 Member
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    sutai wrote: »
    If you're not weighting your food you should start, you might think you're eating on a deficit but you're actually overeating because you are underestimating what you're actually eating.

    I have a food scale that I use to measure all of my food.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Pebblemonster21 wrote: »
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Your weight is not a static number. It's constantly in flux due to things like muscle inflammation after a workout, water retention caused by lots of things (sodium, carbs, stress, hormones, etc), where you are in your monthly cycle, when you last pooped, etc. It's why so many people tell you that weight loss is not linear. You won't see a drop on the scale every single week, even when you're just starting out. Give your body some time to catch up with your new routine before you panic.

    Thanks, this helped. I'm pretty desperate to lose some weight that I gained recently so I freaked out when it seemed like it wasn't working. I'll just keep at it.

    Have you had a chance to go through the "must read" posts stickied to the top of each section? This one in particular might be helpful: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear
  • Pebblemonster21
    Pebblemonster21 Posts: 17 Member
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    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Pebblemonster21 wrote: »
    Ready2Rock206 wrote: »
    It may be water retention from your new workout program or bad logging. Also one week isn't log enough to decide if something is working or not.

    What do you mean by bad logging by the way?

    Using entries in the database that aren't correct (a lot of them are off), using someone else's homemade or generic entries that don't accurately reflect what you ate, guessing or eyeballing serving sizes, etc.
    I have a food scale to avoid the eyeballing/guessing thing. But how can I avoid the incorrect database-thing?
  • Pebblemonster21
    Pebblemonster21 Posts: 17 Member
    Options
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Pebblemonster21 wrote: »
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Your weight is not a static number. It's constantly in flux due to things like muscle inflammation after a workout, water retention caused by lots of things (sodium, carbs, stress, hormones, etc), where you are in your monthly cycle, when you last pooped, etc. It's why so many people tell you that weight loss is not linear. You won't see a drop on the scale every single week, even when you're just starting out. Give your body some time to catch up with your new routine before you panic.

    Thanks, this helped. I'm pretty desperate to lose some weight that I gained recently so I freaked out when it seemed like it wasn't working. I'll just keep at it.

    Have you had a chance to go through the "must read" posts stickied to the top of each section? This one in particular might be helpful: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear

    Wow, that was a great article! Thanks (: I seriously was considering just eating 1,000 calories as I've done in the past, but I'm going to stick to the healthy way and try to avoid incorrect entries to make sure I'm really eating what I think I am.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Pebblemonster21 wrote: »
    IsaackGMOON wrote: »
    Pebblemonster21 wrote: »
    IsaackGMOON wrote: »
    How long have you been on this '1200 calorie diet' and have you been eating back your exercise calories?

    I've been on it for a week now. And I haven't been eating back my calories burned. I stick to the 1,200 and then burn an additional 250-300.

    A week is nothing. And you should be eating back your exercise calories otherwise you will be netting a smaller amount (around 900) which isn't healthy..

    Wait, I don't understand. What would be the point of working out if I'm just going to eat back the calories I just burned? Wouldn't that be pointless?

    The point is that exercise is great for your body and mind.

    MFP gives you a calorie goal that includes a deficit, without you doing any exercise. This deficit will create weight loss. If you increase this deficit through exercise, you run the risk of having your net calories go too low. This will impact your energy level, mood, ability to meet your body's nutritional needs, and may put you at a higher risk for binges. Additionally, rapid weight loss (like the kind you will experience if your deficit is too high) increase your risk of health complications (like hair loss and gall bladder issues) and it means you will lose more muscle than fat. You always lose some muscle on a diet, but you really want to lose as little as possible. A reasonable deficit makes this possible. This is why MFP is designed for people to eat their exercise calories back.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    Pebblemonster21 wrote: »
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Pebblemonster21 wrote: »
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Your weight is not a static number. It's constantly in flux due to things like muscle inflammation after a workout, water retention caused by lots of things (sodium, carbs, stress, hormones, etc), where you are in your monthly cycle, when you last pooped, etc. It's why so many people tell you that weight loss is not linear. You won't see a drop on the scale every single week, even when you're just starting out. Give your body some time to catch up with your new routine before you panic.

    Thanks, this helped. I'm pretty desperate to lose some weight that I gained recently so I freaked out when it seemed like it wasn't working. I'll just keep at it.

    Have you had a chance to go through the "must read" posts stickied to the top of each section? This one in particular might be helpful: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear

    Wow, that was a great article! Thanks (: I seriously was considering just eating 1,000 calories as I've done in the past, but I'm going to stick to the healthy way and try to avoid incorrect entries to make sure I'm really eating what I think I am.

    What are your stats ht/wt, because when you say you're going to "stick to the healthy way".....I don't think you're doing it netting under 1000 calories.....especially at your age.....unless you're 2 and a half feet tall.
  • savysing
    savysing Posts: 8 Member
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    Pebblemonster21 wrote: »
    Hi Everyone!

    So I started my current weight loss journey last Monday. I stuck to the 1,200 calorie diet pretty faithfully and worked out 4 times, each between 250-300 calories burned. Yet, when I weighed myself, it seems like I actually gained weight.

    That happens to me too!! I lost the first week but gained the second. I want to say it's from muscle gain, but I don't know. I know this is gross, but make sure you're getting in just a little bit of oil every day because it keeps you lubricated. Sometimes when I diet and cut out butter and oils, I get stopped up and that makes me gain weight. Just advice!

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