Not eating enough?

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JeffreyOC
JeffreyOC Posts: 810 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
In my first 2 weeks of dieting I lost 12Ibs, over the past week my weight has remained the same. I've had a few days where I've only been eating 700-1,000 calories despite MFP recommending I intake 2,000. I'm aware that my weight loss will slow down and it will get more difficult, could this be a factor as to why my weight isn't changing?

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  • tiptoethruthetulips
    tiptoethruthetulips Posts: 3,360 Member
    edited July 2016
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    12lb in two weeks is likely to include a a lot of fluid loss, your body is taking the time to rehydrate, that is why there hasn't been any weight loss in the past week.

    Make sure you drink plenty of fluids and do eat more than 700 to 1000 calories, you are a make and you definitely need the extra calories. If you under eat to that extent often you will start to lose lean body mass instead of excess fat. You don't want to lose lean body mass, you should be working to maintain it.

  • Vicxie86
    Vicxie86 Posts: 181 Member
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    For me, if i don't eat enough, the scale acts like we're enemies. Also watch your sodium intake, you can retain a few lbs because of the water weight. Last week, i was at 102.4kg and since sunday, i've gone down by 2.6kg. I know i didn't lose all that in 5days but i also know that i was steady between 102.8-102.4kg for 2wks before i decided to reduce my sodium intake a little bit more and now i see a true reflection of my weight lose.

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Your weight loss won't slow down from eating 700 calories. However, you do put your body at risk for more muscle loss and other serious issues that come from malnutrition. MFP wants to make sure you lose in a healthy manner, which is why they have minimum intake guidelines/warnings.
  • ziggy2006
    ziggy2006 Posts: 255 Member
    edited July 2016
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    JeffreyOC wrote: »
    In my first 2 weeks of dieting I lost 12Ibs, over the past week my weight has remained the same.
    Your weight loss will not be linear. Over 12 pounds is a huge amount of weight to lose in just two weeks. It is not surprising that your weight is not changing after dropping so much so quickly. The number on the scale remaining the same does not mean that you aren't experiencing fat loss due to a calorie deficit - it just means that the fat loss is being hidden by fluctuations in fluid levels and solid waste.
    JeffreyOC wrote: »
    I've had a few days where I've only been eating 700-1,000 calories despite MFP recommending I intake 2,000.

    You don't explain why you are eating so few calories, but it is a bad idea. Eating so little makes it nearly impossible to meet your minimum nutritional requirements and makes it likely that you will lose lean body mass at an increased rate.

    JeffreyOC wrote: »
    I'm aware that my weight loss will slow down and it will get more difficult, could this be a factor as to why my weight isn't changing?

    No. Your weight loss will slow down as your weight decreases, because it takes fewer calories to maintain a smaller body. A 12 pound loss, much of it likely fluid, is unlikely to have made your caloric needs decrease significantly enough to slow down your weight loss noticeably.

    A lot of people misunderstand the reduction in expected rate of weight loss under inadequate calorie consumption. The decrease in rate of weight loss is never enough to overcome the increased calorie deficit. It just means the rate doesn't increase in a linear way - the weight loss continues, just not as fast as the increased calorie deficit would predict. If that were not true and people stopped losing weight with very low caloric intake, it would not be possible for people to starve to death.

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