1200 calories no longer working

intactbynature
intactbynature Posts: 12 Member
edited December 1 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys I started my journey a little over a year ago and in eight months had lost 30 pounds (yay!)

I've recently turned my attention to muscle building and getting rid of the last few stubborn pounds of fat and building a better booty. I stared lifting about 6 months ago and I am pretty stoked on my results. I've really built a lot of muscle mass and I love the way I look aside from some stubborn belly fat.

I have been eating about 1200 net calories a day and have not lost any weight in about 5 or 6 months. I no longer think this is just a regular plateau lol. Anyway, here are my stats please let me know what you think and what suggestions you might have

28, female, 5'1" 116lbs 16% bfp, BMR 1300
1200 net calories a day between 90-120 grams of protein a day. Weight lifting 5 times a week for between 40-60 minutes with heavy weights 10 reps per set 6 sets for each exercise, plus half an hour to an hour of cardio 3 times a week. I take multi vitamins, magnesium supplements, probiotics, and calcium supplements. I use a Fitbit to track my calories burned.

I'd like to get my bfp between 14.5% and 15% but for the life of me I cannot seem to get rid of this last bit of fat

Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated. I don't know what's up exactly, and I'm not sure if I've been doing 1200 calories too long and it's just not working any more. Should I up them? Last time I upped them to 1400 for a month and gained five pounds instead of losing.

TIA

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Your diary is closed.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    I find it hard to believe you are doing heavy lifting for an hour 5x a week plus cardio on 1200 net calories...and are building muscle....that doesn't happen.

    1. How did you calculate bf%? if it is that low you have probably lost your period.

    If you are gaining on 1400...you are eating more than you think.
  • atgoallifer
    atgoallifer Posts: 1 Member
    I would think that at that size it is probably right where you need to be weight wise. Is it fat or excess skin? Excess skin (slight roll) can not be exercised or dieted off.
  • betuel75
    betuel75 Posts: 776 Member
    Your not actually eating 1200 calories if your not losing weight. Your eating more. Do you weigh all food on a digital food scale and log in MFP everything you eat to know you actually ate 1200 calories?
  • intactbynature
    intactbynature Posts: 12 Member
    edited April 2016
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Your diary is closed.

    Fixed the diary settings
  • intactbynature
    intactbynature Posts: 12 Member
    edited April 2016
    I have a food scale and use it along with measuring cups when cooking.

    Aside from a few *kitten* up days of emotional eating I always stay within track

    Bfp taken by personal trainer twice went from 16.9% in December to 16% at the beginning of this month

    I don't know about my period I have an IUD and haven't had one in a while

    I have some loose skin from having children but that's not what really concerns me
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    edited April 2016
    intactbynature wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Your diary is closed.

    Fixed the diary settings

    It looks like you're not weighing your solid food (or at least not some of it) and you're using generic entries for things like pasta sauce (which can throw you off because how do you know your recipe is close to that of the person who created the entry?). There are some odd measurements -- for example, how do you determine .7 of a tablespoon of peanut butter? How are you calculating your exercise calorie burns?
  • rempejeff
    rempejeff Posts: 46 Member
    When you're taking in the food its going straight to your muscles your equaling your muscle mass to your weight-loss. You half to change up your meals.
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
    rempejeff wrote: »
    When you're taking in the food its going straight to your muscles your equaling your muscle mass to your weight-loss. You half to change up your meals.

    How does...what? No.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    My first thought is overestimating calorie burns. You are being given 700+ calories. What are you doing on those days?
  • rempejeff
    rempejeff Posts: 46 Member
    If you are wanting to lose weight or gain it. Everyone is different you will have to just change stuff up to see what works for you on food Products
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    rempejeff wrote: »
    When you're taking in the food its going straight to your muscles your equaling your muscle mass to your weight-loss. You half to change up your meals.
    rempejeff wrote: »
    If you are wanting to lose weight or gain it. Everyone is different you will have to just change stuff up to see what works for you on food Products

    Wut?
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    rempejeff wrote: »
    If you are wanting to lose weight or gain it. Everyone is different you will have to just change stuff up to see what works for you on food Products

    No. You're over-complicating it. People who want to lose weight should consume fewer calories than they burn. People who want to gain weight should eat more calories than they burn. Changing up food products is only going to help someone accomplish weight loss or gain if it also changes how many calories they're consuming.
  • LindsNW05
    LindsNW05 Posts: 36 Member
    rempejeff wrote: »
    When you're taking in the food its going straight to your muscles your equaling your muscle mass to your weight-loss. You half to change up your meals.

    :|:| I don't think that's how that works.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    edited April 2016
    rempejeff wrote: »
    When you're taking in the food its going straight to your muscles your equaling your muscle mass to your weight-loss. You half to change up your meals.
    rempejeff wrote: »
    If you are wanting to lose weight or gain it. Everyone is different you will have to just change stuff up to see what works for you on food Products

    Um, say what now?
    regardless of using food scale if you aren't using the correct entries you are eating more than you think.

    For example today...

    8 oz chicken tenders 200 calories?...raw it's 390 cooked 375
    oatmeal 1/2cup
    white rice 2.25 cup (loosely packed?) or jammed in there...
    generic tenderloin chicken 10 oz...338 calories...covered above except the "generic" part of the entry...

    most entries I don't see weighed...if you are using a food scale your diary doesn't reflect it.

    as for PT taking BF% that doesn't explain how they are doing it...Dexa scan is the most reliable as calipers are well...unreliable along with scales etc.

    and if you have a personal trainer and they told you that you can build muscle on 1200 calories....fire them.

    And yes to the above
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    intactbynature wrote: »
    I have a food scale and use it along with measuring cups when cooking.

    Aside from a few *kitten* up days of emotional eating I always stay within track

    Bfp taken by personal trainer twice went from 16.9% in December to 16% at the beginning of this month

    I don't know about my period I have an IUD and haven't had one in a while

    I have some loose skin from having children but that's not what really concerns me

    regardless of using food scale if you aren't using the correct entries you are eating more than you think.

    For example today...

    8 oz chicken tenders 200 calories?...raw it's 390 cooked 375
    oatmeal 1/2cup
    white rice 2.25 cup (loosely packed?) or jammed in there...
    generic tenderloin chicken 10 oz...338 calories...covered above except the "generic" part of the entry...

    most entries I don't see weighed...if you are using a food scale your diary doesn't reflect it.

    as for PT taking BF% that doesn't explain how they are doing it...Dexa scan is the most reliable as calipers are well...unreliable along with scales etc.

    and if you have a personal trainer and they told you that you can build muscle on 1200 calories....fire them.

    She is right you know
  • intactbynature
    intactbynature Posts: 12 Member
    edited April 2016
    3dogsrunning wrote: »
    My first thought is overestimating calorie burns. You are being given 700+ calories. What are you doing on those days?

    Step class and weight lifting
  • intactbynature
    intactbynature Posts: 12 Member
    edited April 2016
    Oops double post
  • ketorach
    ketorach Posts: 430 Member
    It looks like you're doing a great job logging everything you eat... but, you've got some *really* bad entries. 3oz of chicken breast is approx. 126 calories, so 15oz would be 629. So, you're way underestimating the amount of calories you're eating.
  • benevempress
    benevempress Posts: 136 Member
    edited April 2016
    I know you don't want to hear that you are eating more calories than you think, and frankly with your level of reported exercise I wouldn't think a couple of hundred calories would matter, but checking your intake is always the first place to start. I've also heard it said that when you have very little to lose, small errors in logging can make the difference. So if 100-200 calories per day is the difference between gaining/maintaining/losing for you, check and weigh everything.

    If you are not weighing ALL non-liquids by gram, your intake is an estimate and could be higher than you think. Even prepackaged food can be heavier (that is allowed by law) and therefore more calories than the package says.

    I repeat the fact that you have questionable selections from the database (the database is full of wrong entries). Suggest you check a more reliable source for calorie/nutrition information for any non-packaged food and make sure it matches what you are putting in your diary. If you search online for USDA calories they have a website you can use.
  • blues4miles
    blues4miles Posts: 1,481 Member
    I see logging inaccuracies in your diary...

    1 medium apple, 1/2 cup of oats, 1/4 cup cranberries...those are things that need to be weighed. Some suspect entries, like some chips in there that say 15 chips but are only 24 calories? Seems unlikely.

    You aren't actually eating 1200 calories. Your 7 day average is 1594 calories eaten. If your logging is off, that could easily be 10-20% higher and close to maintenance for you. Fitbit is giving you 300-500 calories a day, but it's possibly that is an overestimate if you are only doing cardio for 30 minutes on a lot of days. Add in some cheat days that are probably happening more than you realize...

    If I were you, already at a healthy weight, I would try to figure out what your maintenance is, and log accurately. Whether that is 1500 or 1800 or 2200. Really get serious about logging and weighing everything. Get to the point where your log is accurate and you are maintain for 3 months. Effectively that's what's happening now, but your log is inaccurate so you don't know what the number is. Then you'll have a real number to work with, and good logging skills.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    intactbynature wrote: »
    3dogsrunning wrote: »
    My first thought is overestimating calorie burns. You are being given 700+ calories. What are you doing on those days?

    Step class and weight lifting

    Along with the great advice you're getting on your food logging, are you getting your 700 calorie burns from MFP, or from a device such as a fitbit?
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,192 Member
    @RGv2 In her original post she said that she gets them from Fitbit ;)
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
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  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    Gisel2015 wrote: »
    @RGv2 In her original post she said that she gets them from Fitbit ;)

    Awesome @Gisel2015 , even after re-reading the OP twice I still missed it.

    Is the fitbit giving you 700+ calorie burns on lifting days, or is that on days when you lift for 40ish min, and also do 30-60 min of cardio on top of it.

    I'm in agreement that 700 sounds a bit high as well. As a 200lb guy, I'd struggle to get to 700+ in 60-90min of exercise.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    You're eating more than you think and possibly overestimating your burns.

    Your diary is closed now, but I'm guessing that if you're eating 1200 net and eating back 700 calories of exercise, you're eating 1900 a day... add in 300-400 calories of underestimations and bad entries, and you're at maintenance, plain and simple.

    So either start eating back only half your exercise calories, or tighten your logging.

This discussion has been closed.

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