Not losing the weight

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emsieo
emsieo Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi I wonder if anyone else is finding the problem that I am.

I have been on 1000 calories a day and also combined that with a low carb meal plan and daily exercise but I dont seem to be shifting any weight. Does anyone out there have any tips or ideas as to why this might be happening? It is becoming very disheartening and although my friends all insist that they can see weight loss I have seen no change myself in both figures (weight) and clothing size.

Any advice would be appreciated

xx

Replies

  • MrsCupCakeBoyle
    MrsCupCakeBoyle Posts: 259 Member
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    eat more
  • mrmchap
    mrmchap Posts: 31 Member
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    From what I have been told it is not healthy to be at anything under 1200 calories a day. This could be the reason why your not seeing a change, your body is starving and burning up any energy you do have just functioning. Try upping your calorie intake and see if that helps.
  • dittiepe
    dittiepe Posts: 557 Member
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    You're too low on calories. You should be having about 1200.
  • RMinVA
    RMinVA Posts: 1,085 Member
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    I agree, eat more, but also look at what you are eating. I wrote about that exact thing on my blog last week. You may be eating low carb, but if you are eating a lot of "junk" calories, you are starving nutritionally.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/RMinVA
  • husker_gal
    husker_gal Posts: 462 Member
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    you need 1200 NET calories per day. So eat 1200 plus whatever you burn in exercise. Good luck!
  • jddeq
    jddeq Posts: 10
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    I'm having pretty much the same problem as far as not losing any weight. I'm eating 1200+ calories a day depending on how much exercise I'm doing for the day. I've actually gained weight.

    Very discouraged!
  • FrenchMob
    FrenchMob Posts: 1,167 Member
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    Unless you are 3 feet tall and weight 90 lbs, 1000 calories isn't going to cut it, especially if you're exercising on top of that.
  • Booper83
    Booper83 Posts: 70 Member
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    Start measuring your body and see if there's a difference. And the weightt might be gaining muscle and losing fat.
  • crystalmichelle82
    crystalmichelle82 Posts: 249
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    you are seeing this a lot... eat more. You are probably placing your body in starvation mode. Eat 5-6 small meals a day. Various food groups. Lots of protein. I dont know your stats (weight, height, fitness prgm) but for example I am 5'5, 114 and I eat 1500-1700 calories a day and workout 6 days a week high intensity plyometric ChaLean Extreme. Just giving you an example....
  • jsjewhit
    jsjewhit Posts: 1
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    Hi, 1000 cals is too low. How much weight do you have to lose? If it is quite a bit then you need to have probably at least 12-1400 cals. If you have too few your body will go into starvation mode and hang onto the weight. Add some low GI carbs to give you extra cals. Good luck , Jo
  • vettle
    vettle Posts: 621 Member
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    Well - everyone else has already said this, but your body is in starvation mode. If you do not eat 1200 calories a day at least, you are putting your internal organs in danger. they are strained. You can have failure of your organs. Eat more PLEASE!!! At 1000 cals, you are anorexic.
  • janeite1990
    janeite1990 Posts: 694 Member
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    Just got started, but in the same boat! I'm on 1200 calories, and they have been mostly GOOD calories, with just a little junk thrown in. Still...that plus way increased exercise should have yielded better than a one pound loss this week, right? I cut out sodas, and I would think just that with exercise would do better than one pound! This is really frustrating. I don't think I'm too low on calories because I haven't been hungry.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    The body is designed to maintain weight, not lose weight. If you keep yourself on a very low calorie trend, then your body will begin to conserve energy by prioritizing bodily functions. This means that your daily caloric burn will even out with your daily caloric intake. To avoid this, you have to give yourself an occasional higher calorie intake for a day or two so the body will perceive the fasting period to be over and resume normal function. Some call it zigzagging.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    Just got started, but in the same boat! I'm on 1200 calories, and they have been mostly GOOD calories, with just a little junk thrown in. Still...that plus way increased exercise should have yielded better than a one pound loss this week, right? I cut out sodas, and I would think just that with exercise would do better than one pound! This is really frustrating. I don't think I'm too low on calories because I haven't been hungry.

    You need to look at your sodium and potassium intake. Even a little junk can sky rocket your sodium causing you to retain water. Potassium counteracts the effects of the sodium so even if you reduce your sodium, if you are potassium defecient, you will still retain water.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    Well - everyone else has already said this, but your body is in starvation mode. If you do not eat 1200 calories a day at least, you are putting your internal organs in danger. they are strained. You can have failure of your organs. Eat more PLEASE!!! At 1000 cals, you are anorexic.

    This is debatable. It is not fair to say that she is anorexic. Everyone's body is different. Some can survive on as minimal as 700 calories a day. 1200 calories is believed to be an AVERAGE of the required level of caloric intake to satisfy nutritional needs.
  • fergalizcious
    fergalizcious Posts: 42
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    Just got started, but in the same boat! I'm on 1200 calories, and they have been mostly GOOD calories, with just a little junk thrown in. Still...that plus way increased exercise should have yielded better than a one pound loss this week, right? I cut out sodas, and I would think just that with exercise would do better than one pound! This is really frustrating. I don't think I'm too low on calories because I haven't been hungry.

    You have to burn 3500 Calories in order to lose one pound. If you burn 500 Calories/day you'll lose one lb a week. This is a very good pace to lose weight if you want to keep it off long term. Also, if you lose more than two pounds a week you are losing lean muscle mass and glycogen stores. Give your body time to adjust. If you aren't hungry, your metabolism hasn't kicked in to high gear. Just give it time. My first week I wasn't very hungry at all, but now in my second week, I'm hungry constantly. Give your body 3-4 weeks to figure out what it needs to do. Just keep at it!
  • fergalizcious
    fergalizcious Posts: 42
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    Just got started, but in the same boat! I'm on 1200 calories, and they have been mostly GOOD calories, with just a little junk thrown in. Still...that plus way increased exercise should have yielded better than a one pound loss this week, right? I cut out sodas, and I would think just that with exercise would do better than one pound! This is really frustrating. I don't think I'm too low on calories because I haven't been hungry.

    You need to look at your sodium and potassium intake. Even a little junk can sky rocket your sodium causing you to retain water. Potassium counteracts the effects of the sodium so even if you reduce your sodium, if you are potassium defecient, you will still retain water.

    I added potassium as one of the nutrient that I see in my food diary. When I did, I realized I was way under the needed levels. I've always been this way, and never knew how to fix it because I don't like banana's. I started drinking 1-2 cups of skim milk a day and a plain baked potato because they are rich in potassium. Also, if you look up info about Sodium-Potassium pumps (involved in the transport of substance across the cell membrane) it'll help explain why more potassium and less sodium keeps you from retaining water.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
    Options
    Just got started, but in the same boat! I'm on 1200 calories, and they have been mostly GOOD calories, with just a little junk thrown in. Still...that plus way increased exercise should have yielded better than a one pound loss this week, right? I cut out sodas, and I would think just that with exercise would do better than one pound! This is really frustrating. I don't think I'm too low on calories because I haven't been hungry.

    You need to look at your sodium and potassium intake. Even a little junk can sky rocket your sodium causing you to retain water. Potassium counteracts the effects of the sodium so even if you reduce your sodium, if you are potassium defecient, you will still retain water.

    I added potassium as one of the nutrient that I see in my food diary. When I did, I realized I was way under the needed levels. I've always been this way, and never knew how to fix it because I don't like banana's. I started drinking 1-2 cups of skim milk a day and a plain baked potato because they are rich in potassium. Also, if you look up info about Sodium-Potassium pumps (involved in the transport of substance across the cell membrane) it'll help explain why more potassium and less sodium keeps you from retaining water.

    Yes. I just learned this a couple of weeks ago. I was suffering from edema. I had before I changed my lifestyle but never bothered to pay any attention to it. Anyway, I cut way back on my sodium but the swelling wouldn't go away. Then someone on the boards here mentioned the relationship between sodium and potassium and I did my research. Turns out I was extremely defecient. Now I watch it very closely and the edema went away. I try to keep my sodium and potassium as equal to each other as I can.
  • emsieo
    emsieo Posts: 2
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    Thanks fr all the feedback guys, my doctor did say to me that I could safely drop down to 1000 as long as I made sure that I provided my body with the necessary levels of iron etc. I have had no problems with energy or feeling hungry which is why I did not see that it was a problem. However I will take all your comments into account and will up my intake to 1200 and see if that makes a difference.

    Please let me assure you that i am not anorexic as i have a 3 year old child who i obviously require a lot of energy to keep up with so i wouldnt do anything to put myself in danger of illness purposefully. I am new to dieting so any advice has been welcomed.

    Thanks again :)
  • janeite1990
    janeite1990 Posts: 694 Member
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    Thanks to all! This really helps! I had just told my sister yesterday that I don't pay much attention to sodium because I don't salt my food. Yes, I know prepared foods have lots of salt in them, but I don't do a lot of processed stuff, and I salt very rarely. You know, if you back off it, you don't miss it at all! But I'll re-examine my sodium just in case. And I hadn't thought about potassium.

    Yes, I know in the back of my mind that 1 pound is good for a week and that losing more than that just leads to rebounding sooner or later, BUT it does get discouraging! I guess I've fallen victim to all the crazy weight loss reality shows. Back on track I go!

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