from sedentary to exercise & 1200 cal/day, but no weight drop in four weeks

fitgabs
fitgabs Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Why am I not losing weight? For context, I gained ten pounds from Apr 1- May 30. It was a fast food, couching couple of months. Fast forward to when I snapped out of that. I started morning Insanity routines in June, cut back on portions but not closely watching my intake. Four weeks ago, I kicked up my Insanity intensity and started on 1200 cal/day. In the last 28 days, I had one day of coke with burger and fries and another day of Mexican with margaritas. Other than that, 1200 cal/day. Yet no weight or inches lost. Last week, I even added workouts: intense outdoor house maintenance going on two weekends or intense workouts in the evenings (see Shape quarter pounder). Yet no change. Relative to Apr and May, I significantly increased my calorie out vs my calorie in. Why hasn't my body reacted to this? I don't plan to give up, I'm just seeking answers to understand. I'm 41, 5'2" and currently 147lb. My target is 132lb. I welcome your thoughts.

Replies

  • ItsyBitsy246
    ItsyBitsy246 Posts: 307 Member
    I had a similar experience with a similar routine/calorie intake when I first started on MFP. Didn't lose anything the first month (gained a pound the first week!). I figured- it wasn't long enough for my body to kick it in, or I was retaining water, or a combination of these/other factors. I started seeing results after about 6 weeks, and it's been slow but steady every since. Give it a bit of time.
  • fr33sia12
    fr33sia12 Posts: 1,258 Member
    fitgabs wrote: »
    Why am I not losing weight? For context, I gained ten pounds from Apr 1- May 30. It was a fast food, couching couple of months. Fast forward to when I snapped out of that. I started morning Insanity routines in June, cut back on portions but not closely watching my intake. Four weeks ago, I kicked up my Insanity intensity and started on 1200 cal/day. In the last 28 days, I had one day of coke with burger and fries and another day of Mexican with margaritas. Other than that, 1200 cal/day. Yet no weight or inches lost. Last week, I even added workouts: intense outdoor house maintenance going on two weekends or intense workouts in the evenings (see Shape quarter pounder). Yet no change. Relative to Apr and May, I significantly increased my calorie out vs my calorie in. Why hasn't my body reacted to this? I don't plan to give up, I'm just seeking answers to understand. I'm 41, 5'2" and currently 147lb. My target is 132lb. I welcome your thoughts.

    I think the bolded sentence says it all. Not closely watching, if you're not counting calories and weighing food how do you know you had 1200 a day? The burger and fries and the Mexican with magaritas, probably over 1000 cals each, plus you only have 14lbs to lose so it's not going to be a fast weight loss.
  • amyn73
    amyn73 Posts: 241 Member
    Yep, with such a narrow weight-loss margin, you'll have to work super hard and watch your caloric intake pretty closely. Everyone recommends a food scale. Never had one and I'm still losing but it might be worth a try.
  • 7elizamae
    7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
    If 1200 is your goal, you'll probably need to weigh and log just about everything. That's really three light meals and one or two very conservative snacks. Before I got a food scale I would never have guessed how little food made up 1200 calories.
  • _sacar
    _sacar Posts: 80 Member
    fr33sia12 wrote: »
    fitgabs wrote: »
    Why am I not losing weight? For context, I gained ten pounds from Apr 1- May 30. It was a fast food, couching couple of months. Fast forward to when I snapped out of that. I started morning Insanity routines in June, cut back on portions but not closely watching my intake. Four weeks ago, I kicked up my Insanity intensity and started on 1200 cal/day. In the last 28 days, I had one day of coke with burger and fries and another day of Mexican with margaritas. Other than that, 1200 cal/day. Yet no weight or inches lost. Last week, I even added workouts: intense outdoor house maintenance going on two weekends or intense workouts in the evenings (see Shape quarter pounder). Yet no change. Relative to Apr and May, I significantly increased my calorie out vs my calorie in. Why hasn't my body reacted to this? I don't plan to give up, I'm just seeking answers to understand. I'm 41, 5'2" and currently 147lb. My target is 132lb. I welcome your thoughts.

    I think the bolded sentence says it all. Not closely watching, if you're not counting calories and weighing food how do you know you had 1200 a day? The burger and fries and the Mexican with magaritas, probably over 1000 cals each, plus you only have 14lbs to lose so it's not going to be a fast weight loss.

    No, she's saying that's how she started, but then she really buckled down and tracked 1200/day.
  • BabyLovesToRun
    BabyLovesToRun Posts: 120 Member
    I always preach one word .... WATER WATER WATER! Be sure to not drink your calories and drink plenty of the water goodness, it REALLY does help in getting the lbs off.
  • matlocktm
    matlocktm Posts: 2 Member
    I had a similar experience - a few months ago I began working out every day and consuming x calories in order to produce a caloric deficit and my body just dug in that much harder to hold onto the fat stores because the signal was "okay troops, we're starving - ration everything!" I recently began a low-carb (ketogenic) eating plan and within a few days the scale was headed in the right direction. Plus, I don't feel sluggish, so workouts are more tolerable.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited July 2016
    There is no mention of a food scale in the OP. All I have to say is that 1200 calories and not weighing food and 15 pounds to loose... this will be pretty tight to say the least.

    Since no weight loss in 4 weeks, OP has be some how eating maintenance calories to maintain her weight and that includes the exercise calorie burns. Is it possible she has lost a wee bit of fat but not showing on the scale, body measurements would tell that.

    You do not have to drink load of water to loose weight Drink water to stay hydrated. You do not even have to exercise let alone kill your self increasing the intensity and volume of the exercise.

    You need a food scale and learn to use that and really count those calories. This is the only way you know for sure you as close to 100% on those 1200 calories your goal is set up for.
  • bendis2007
    bendis2007 Posts: 82 Member
    edited July 2016
    My stats are close to yours - you NEED a food scale. If you go off measuring cups and serving sizes, it's wrong about 90% of the time.
    Example if I eat frozen french fries, the recommended serving size is 84 grams or "21 french fries." 84 grams is usually about 10 or 11 french fries with the scale. It can add up really quick, an extra half serving here and there results in you not eating at the deficit you perceive to be. The day I measured what one ounce of cheese actually looks like was also a very sad day.....
    At your height and weight there is very little room for error. I weigh everything I eat (vegetables, fruit, and condiments included), and when I stay diligent eating between 1300-1500 calories per day, run a few miles 5 days a week I do show the scale decreasing.
    I also agree that with a new heavy workout there will be water gain from the repair the muscles need to undergo so that may take a few weeks as well. When I first started running I didn't drop as expected the first month but now that I have a better adaption to the exercise I can see pounds slipping away and muscular definition.
    Best of luck, don't get discouraged - just remember that you are working towards a better lifestyle and it's going to take time. It didn't take you 4 weeks to get where you are now and it's not going to take 4 weeks to see huge changes. Stay the course and you will see great things!
  • BlitzCracker
    BlitzCracker Posts: 2 Member
    fitgabs wrote: »
    Why am I not losing weight? For context, I gained ten pounds from Apr 1- May 30. It was a fast food, couching couple of months. Fast forward to when I snapped out of that. I started morning Insanity routines in June, cut back on portions but not closely watching my intake. Four weeks ago, I kicked up my Insanity intensity and started on 1200 cal/day. In the last 28 days, I had one day of coke with burger and fries and another day of Mexican with margaritas. Other than that, 1200 cal/day. Yet no weight or inches lost. Last week, I even added workouts: intense outdoor house maintenance going on two weekends or intense workouts in the evenings (see Shape quarter pounder). Yet no change. Relative to Apr and May, I significantly increased my calorie out vs my calorie in. Why hasn't my body reacted to this? I don't plan to give up, I'm just seeking answers to understand. I'm 41, 5'2" and currently 147lb. My target is 132lb. I welcome your thoughts.

    You almost certainly are not adequately counting calories (either burned in exercise or food intake). You should not go lower than 1200 calories if you are a female. If you are a male, your calories are so low your metabolism will start to slow down.

    I have found the calorie estimates to be way off in the various apps -- both exercise and food calorie estimates. For instance, I am swimming laps five days a week (2500 yards) and lifting weights five days a week. On days that overlap, my diary will basically be a net calories of zero. Yet I am still losing only about 2 lbs per week. My food calories are probably way off too because I tend to eat out each day, and there is no way to accurately measure that.

    So to keep it at 2 lbs per week, I set the calorie budget for as low as it will go and I try to keep my surplus calories the app says I can burn at around 500-800 calories each day. Since I am losing about 2 lbs per week at this current state, I think the counts are off by that same range (500-800) calories.

    Assuming that you have a similar range of error, you could easily be eating at maintenance every day. This is especially true if you are drinking alcoholic beverages and sugary drinks.

    That's my 2c, anyway. Good luck.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited July 2016
    matlocktm wrote: »
    I had a similar experience - a few months ago I began working out every day and consuming x calories in order to produce a caloric deficit and my body just dug in that much harder to hold onto the fat stores because the signal was "okay troops, we're starving - ration everything!" I recently began a low-carb (ketogenic) eating plan and within a few days the scale was headed in the right direction. Plus, I don't feel sluggish, so workouts are more tolerable.

    NO on the starvation mode mentioned here.. The body does not "ration" all the calories you intake.

    Food scale moved in the first 3 days because you went low carb (all water weight)..

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