Can't lose weight on 1200 calories per day ... What the heck is going on?

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judihurd
judihurd Posts: 3 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I have been following the Mediterranean diet for over a month and consuming about 1200 calories a day. I feel confidant about the actual calories I'm consuming. Because I have a torn rotator cuff, hip labral tear, herniated discs with nerve impingement and two bad knees, I am limited to the amount of exercise I can do. (Everything hurts!) I am frustrated as I am the same weight week after week. (I have only 10-15 pounds to lose in total.) Yes, my metabolism is slower than when I was 18, but it seems to be at a standstill! Any ideas?

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  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Do you weigh everything with scales?
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,526 Member
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    Feeling confident about calories and actually knowing the true value are 2 different things. If you don't know for sure, weigh it.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • size102b
    size102b Posts: 1,370 Member
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    You would lose weight on 1200 weighed and measured calories unless your ill or on medication that effects water retention

    You can gain weight eating any food if your eating more than your body burns even really healthy foods
  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,339 Member
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    Food scale. It's the only way to know for sure how much you are truly eating.
  • debrapatchett
    debrapatchett Posts: 3 Member
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    I am the same, been on 1200 calories more or less for around a month now. The weight doesn't seem to be getting any lower but I am feeling more energetic. I have started walking during my lunch break, 2 laps around the shopping centre each day! I would recommend you try this and gradually walk a little further each day. Not too stressful on the body but it is exercise! Good luck.
  • JasminPetals
    JasminPetals Posts: 30 Member
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    Women often struggle with water retention issues. Make sure you're drinking enough water during the day (i know that sounds counterintuitive but that's how it works) and make sure that you're getting an adequate amount of sleep.
    Also, yes, food scales are very important because often packaging is wrong about how much food is in there and eye-balling the amount is also very difficult.
  • judihurd
    judihurd Posts: 3 Member
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    Thanks for all of your insights and ideas. I agree about using a scale and actually have one on order with Amazon. Also drinking lots of water, curtailing the salt intake and trying to walk ... although it kills my lower back. Not on any meds except for ibuprofen. I do not sleep well at all .... wish I could! I know it would help. I may try to cut back on the carbs, although they're "healthy" carbs, and increase my protein. Sigh
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    judihurd wrote: »
    Thanks for all of your insights and ideas. I agree about using a scale and actually have one on order with Amazon. Also drinking lots of water, curtailing the salt intake and trying to walk ... although it kills my lower back. Not on any meds except for ibuprofen. I do not sleep well at all .... wish I could! I know it would help. I may try to cut back on the carbs, although they're "healthy" carbs, and increase my protein. Sigh

    When you start weighing your food you'll probably find you were eating more than you thought.
  • 2essie
    2essie Posts: 2,863 Member
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    I am in the same boat as you. I have osteoarthritis in both my knees and a very painful back. I walk as far as it is possible for me to walk. I have two other problems when it comes to losing weight, one is I am only 5ft tall and the other is I am 66 years old. None of these things stop me losing weight. Since January I have lost 13lbs. Not a lot, but it is steady. Overall I have lost about 35lbs. I weigh everything I eat and I eat back a portion of my exercise calories (sometimes all of them if I am feeling greedy lol).

    So, if I can do it, so can you, but if you aren't getting much exercise you need to weigh all your food. That is a must I think, so good for you ordering a scale. I think you will find you have been over estimating how much you eat. At 1200 calories, you should lose weight.

    Good luck with the new scales. I know you will fathom it out
  • lbrush
    lbrush Posts: 5 Member
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    I feel you! Sometimes calorie counting isn't the end all be all. All calories are not created equal. You may want to play with the ratio of macros. I've had the same issues over the years, and I find that when I focus on 50% protein and 25% carbs and fat, my body reacts much much better. You can change these states very easily in My Fitness Pal. Another thing is that you body might NEED more than 1200 cals day and by going down to 1200, you could be putting yourself in starvation mode. Take a quick test here: https://www.choosemyplate.gov/. There are also resources to help you determine which metobolic type you are. Feel free to google, but here is an easy one I just found:http://www.drphil.com/advice/determining-your-metabolic-type/. Just some ways to make it up and try something new! I agree with everyone on buying a food scale!
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    lbrush wrote: »
    I feel you! Sometimes calorie counting isn't the end all be all. All calories are not created equal. You may want to play with the ratio of macros. I've had the same issues over the years, and I find that when I focus on 50% protein and 25% carbs and fat, my body reacts much much better. You can change these states very easily in My Fitness Pal. Another thing is that you body might NEED more than 1200 cals day and by going down to 1200, you could be putting yourself in starvation mode. Take a quick test here: https://www.choosemyplate.gov/. There are also resources to help you determine which metobolic type you are. Feel free to google, but here is an easy one I just found:http://www.drphil.com/advice/determining-your-metabolic-type/. Just some ways to make it up and try something new! I agree with everyone on buying a food scale!

    Starvation mode is not going to happen at 1200 calories, nowhere near.

    And a calorie is a calorie, it is just a unit of energy.
  • SuzeQFIT
    SuzeQFIT Posts: 6 Member
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    I find that when I am mostly sitting all day that my burn doesn't get above 1100 or even lower sometimes... (fitbit) because you are never increasing the heart rate - if you can stand it, even when I am not walking and just sitting here, I try to get some arm circles in - like air boxing a small boxing bag - it helps get the heart rate increased and burns more calories... no matter how you look at it, at the end of the day it's how many going in verses how many are being burned
  • MaryYoungmark
    MaryYoungmark Posts: 66 Member
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    You are probably not eating enough. Sounds crazy, but when you are not feeding your body enough calories it starts holding on to everything and storing it. Try upping to 1500. I started clean eating recently was only eating 1200ish calories because I was full all the time and was losing pretty slow, but the weight is coming off faster with more calories. I started incorporating more nutrient dense foods into my diet... oils, seeds and nuts, etc... Also make sure you give yourself a cheat meal or 2 every week to give your metabolism a little boost.
  • Jessicaabigalc
    Jessicaabigalc Posts: 1 Member
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    I'm also on the same 1200kcal and feeling hungry a lot of the time
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    MaryYoungmark wrote: »
    You are probably not eating enough. Sounds crazy, but when you are not feeding your body enough calories it starts holding on to everything and storing it. Try upping to 1500. I started clean eating recently was only eating 1200ish calories because I was full all the time and was losing pretty slow, but the weight is coming off faster with more calories. I started incorporating more nutrient dense foods into my diet... oils, seeds and nuts, etc... Also make sure you give yourself a cheat meal or 2 every week to give your metabolism a little boost.

    If your metabolism needed boosting you'd be dead.

    Starvation mode is another myth in this context.
  • yellingkimber
    yellingkimber Posts: 229 Member
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    So here's the thing. I don't know your weight or height, but I do know mine, so I'll share something that might make you feel better. I'm 5'5 and 155.something lbs as of this morning when I weighed. I started using MFP again 21 days ago at 159.8 lbs. I eat 1200-1400 calories a day depending on how much chocolate I'm craving and my Fitbit says that I walk an average of 14,500 steps a day. I weigh myself (naked, after going to the bathroom) at about the same time of day just about every day and only record my weight twice a week. I even step on the scale 3 times to make sure everything is reading right.

    Looking at it like that, I know what you're thinking- "You're having success on the scale, you don't get it at all!"

    Yesterday when I weighed myself, I was at 155.8 lbs. The day before, I was at 158.5 lbs. More often than not, it looks like absolutely nothing has changed with my weight except that every 7 or so times on the scale, there's a perfect storm and the number goes down and it looks like a fluke (it's not, the trend is downwards over time). It's super discouraging when it looks like nothing has changed after diligently weighing all of my food and logging properly!

    What you don't get from this story is that in those three weeks, I've had my period twice (10/21 days!) because of a problem with my birth control = retaining water. Probably getting it again in two weeks, too. Sometimes in the morning after I've gone to the bathroom, I realize I have to go again a little later. Just because you "go" doesn't mean your intestines have gotten with the program and expelled all the stuff they're holding on to and extracting nutrients from. There are tons of reasons that it could look like you're not losing weight. I know that if I stepped on the scale only two days ago and at the start of my journey, it would have looked like all of my work was for nothing.

    In summary, get that food scale. I know exactly what I'm eating, so I can feel certain that it's water and *kitten* bloating up my numbers, but you could just be eating more than you realize. If you're still having problems after you get that scale, consider what I've said above and maybe just try weighing in more frequently. When you don't have a whole lot to lose, it's hard to pull off big numbers and it's going to come off slower than someone that has more to lose. .5-1 lb of loss can very easily be hidden by water or intestinal waste that hasn't mosied its way to the rectum yet.
  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,339 Member
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    lbrush wrote: »
    I feel you! Sometimes calorie counting isn't the end all be all. All calories are not created equal. You may want to play with the ratio of macros. I've had the same issues over the years, and I find that when I focus on 50% protein and 25% carbs and fat, my body reacts much much better. You can change these states very easily in My Fitness Pal. Another thing is that you body might NEED more than 1200 cals day and by going down to 1200, you could be putting yourself in starvation mode. Take a quick test here: https://www.choosemyplate.gov/. There are also resources to help you determine which metobolic type you are. Feel free to google, but here is an easy one I just found:http://www.drphil.com/advice/determining-your-metabolic-type/. Just some ways to make it up and try something new! I agree with everyone on buying a food scale!

    Ugh. There is no such thing as starvation mode. It's a myth. Like unicorns.
  • nrbutton
    nrbutton Posts: 165 Member
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    JustMissTracy wrote: »
    lbrush wrote: »
    I feel you! Sometimes calorie counting isn't the end all be all. All calories are not created equal. You may want to play with the ratio of macros. I've had the same issues over the years, and I find that when I focus on 50% protein and 25% carbs and fat, my body reacts much much better. You can change these states very easily in My Fitness Pal. Another thing is that you body might NEED more than 1200 cals day and by going down to 1200, you could be putting yourself in starvation mode. Take a quick test here: https://www.choosemyplate.gov/. There are also resources to help you determine which metobolic type you are. Feel free to google, but here is an easy one I just found:http://www.drphil.com/advice/determining-your-metabolic-type/. Just some ways to make it up and try something new! I agree with everyone on buying a food scale!

    Ugh. There is no such thing as starvation mode. It's a myth. Like unicorns.

    Sometimes logic takes a backseat to Bigfoot riding a unicorn to the end of the rainbow where they find a pot of gold protected by the loch Ness monster

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