Not Losing Weight on a 1000 calorie/day deficit

Setting your diary to public or giving us some more details might help get you more specific advice. Until then, these are my really general tips. Maybe something will help you out.

1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so since you last saw a drop on the scale, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.

2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.

5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.

First, 1000 calories/day is lower than recommended.

Second, you're only 1 week in. Give it time. I didn't see the first gram of loss until 10 days in.

Omg. Just wait. Also, 1000 calories a day diet, or a 1000 calorie a day deficit?

Both sound wrong. You should be eating 1200 calories a day MINIMUM. And I highly doubt you could burn enough calories to have a 1000 calorie deficit.

1,000 calorie deficit or you're eating 1,000 calories a day? What lizwooshy said.

You said this is your first week exercising? You're probably retaining water from that.

Also, your ticker says you weigh 135 right now...if that's accurate and you chose two pounds per week, it's extremely likely you aren't reaching that amount, since MFP will not give you a goal under 1200 (and please don't drop below that, this is to ensure your body receives the proper nutrition it needs).

lizwooshy wrote: »

Omg. Just wait. Also, 1000 calories a day diet, or a 1000 calorie a day deficit?

Both sound wrong. You should be eating 1200 calories a day MINIMUM. And I highly doubt you could burn enough calories to have a 1000 calorie deficit.

1000 calorie deficit is more for people with 100lb to lose. No idea how much they have to lose.

Maybe 1000 calorie deficit is too much if they have 30lb to lose.

Isn't the recommended weightloss like half a pound for every 25 pound your over weight?

Machka9 wrote: »

First, 1000 calories/day is lower than recommended.

Second, you're only 1 week in. Give it time. I didn't see the first gram of loss until 10 days in.

I think they meant 1000 calorie deficit, as in goal of 2 lbs a week, not 1000 calories intake.

lizwooshy wrote: »

Omg. Just wait. Also, 1000 calories a day diet, or a 1000 calorie a day deficit?

Both sound wrong. You should be eating 1200 calories a day MINIMUM. And I highly doubt you could burn enough calories to have a 1000 calorie deficit.

Lots of people can realistically hit a 2 lb a week (1000 calorie deficit) and even be over 1200 calories.

mmf1219 wrote: »

I found if I eat less carbs it helps jump start weight loss. Are you eating pasta,rice ect? If you are try cutting back on those type of carbs.

That's because carbs are stored as glycogen in your muscle and require water to store them. When you cut carbs, your glycogen levels go down along with the water and you drop weight. But, as soon as you eat carbs, you replace those levels and weight goes back up. It's a temporary loss.
One of the many reasons why scale weight should only be one part of tracking progress.

3dogsrunning wrote: »

Machka9 wrote: »

First, 1000 calories/day is lower than recommended.

Second, you're only 1 week in. Give it time. I didn't see the first gram of loss until 10 days in.

I think they meant 1000 calorie deficit, as in goal of 2 lbs a week, not 1000 calories intake.

lizwooshy wrote: »

Omg. Just wait. Also, 1000 calories a day diet, or a 1000 calorie a day deficit?

Both sound wrong. You should be eating 1200 calories a day MINIMUM. And I highly doubt you could burn enough calories to have a 1000 calorie deficit.

Lots of people can realistically hit a 2 lb a week (1000 calorie deficit) and even be over 1200 calories.

I can EASILY hit a 1,000 cal deficit daily. When I run 5-6 miles, that alone is ~600 to 700 calories (120 call per mile). My built in deficit for days w/ out exercise is 500 calories. ...combine the two and it's over 1,000calories. Even without exercise I can hit a 1,000 cal deficit. My calorie goal for 1# a week is 1800 calories per day. If I cut that to 1200, I'd have a 1,000 calorie deficit without exercise.

Hell, on Sunday I had a calorie goal of 3,250 thanks to a long run. I ate 2100 calories and still had a 1,000 calorie deficit.

More information would indeed help us help her.