1200 calorie limit not working

janglov
janglov Posts: 6 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi Folks, Newbie here so please be gentle with me :)
Female
Age 57
Height 5ft zero
Weight 60kg
Target weight 55kg

I've been sticking to 1200 calories per day for 4 weeks now and the scales has barely budged. I'm not 'eating' my exercise points and exercise wise I'm cycling 60-80km and doing 2 fast walks of 30 mins during the week. At the weekends I'll do one bigger activity such as a 10km hike or tougher cycle. I am feeling rotten, really tired and lethargic with headaches. I was putting this down to new medication I'm taking but my family are concerned that I am not eating enough. I've set my activity to 'Not very active' as I'm at my desk for most of the day.
Any advice would be much appreciated
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Replies

  • Aislingta
    Aislingta Posts: 1 Member
    What kind of foods are you eating within the 1200 calorie plan?
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    Mfp is probably giving you very generous burns for that activity, how much of the exercise cals do you eat back?
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    Also an open diary would help
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    fascha wrote: »
    Mfp is probably giving you very generous burns for that activity, how much of the exercise cals do you eat back?

    She said she wasn't eating any of her exercise calories back:
    "I'm not 'eating' my exercise points"
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    fascha wrote: »
    Mfp is probably giving you very generous burns for that activity, how much of the exercise cals do you eat back?

    She said she wasn't eating any of her exercise calories back:
    "I'm not 'eating' my exercise points"

    My bad! Let's see the logging then, that's really the only other place it could be. Open diary pls
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
    Just off the top of my head without knowing any details, how much have you lost? Four or more pounds? If so, you are right on track. Logging errors perhaps, or maybe adherence problems. Again, I am spitballing without more info.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    Given your stats, you have a very small margin of error. Plugging them into a TDEE calculator, you have a calculated TDEE at lightly active of something like 1500 calories. If that's close to accurate for your actual TDEE, a 1200 calorie goal will only have you losing about half a pound a week or so. How much weight have you lost so far?

    Good point. The OP said "scales has barely budged" but this could equal a loss of a few pounds which wouldn't be bad for a month.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    With all of the exercise you're doing, you need to be eating back at least a portion of your exercise calories. You're probably feeling unwell because your body isn't getting enough fuel/nutrients for your activity level. MFP intends for you to eat back exercise calories, assuming they're calculated accurately. Unfortunately, MFP's exercise calorie estimates tend to be really high. Many people prefer to use a heart rate monitor to accurately calculate calorie burn. Some folks just decide to eat back half of their exercise calories to compensate for that overestimation, but because your calorie deficit is going to be quite small at your height and weight, you may want a more accurate calculation. I'm about your height and goal weight, and I've found that accurate logging is really important because there isn't much room for error with a small deficit.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    can you define barely moved? with only a 10lb weight loss goal - you may not see huge decreases

    what is your activity level set to?

    also like @janejellyroll said - opening your diary will help people who are trying to help you
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    All of the above. Plus the new medication - anything that might affect hormones, water retention (lots of medications do)?
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    janglov wrote: »
    Hi Folks, Newbie here so please be gentle with me :)
    Female
    Age 57
    Height 5ft zero
    Weight 60kg
    Target weight 55kg

    I've been sticking to 1200 calories per day for 4 weeks now and the scales has barely budged. I'm not 'eating' my exercise points and exercise wise I'm cycling 60-80km and doing 2 fast walks of 30 mins during the week. At the weekends I'll do one bigger activity such as a 10km hike or tougher cycle. I am feeling rotten, really tired and lethargic with headaches. I was putting this down to new medication I'm taking but my family are concerned that I am not eating enough. I've set my activity to 'Not very active' as I'm at my desk for most of the day.
    Any advice would be much appreciated

    Not eating enough.. and this is ruling out food logging errors.

    Eat back some of your exercise calories, this is a lot of exercise to be fueling your body with only 1200 calories and all the day to day activities you do outside of exercise.

    I also question what "not hardly budged " means?
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Yes, like others have said:

    How much have you actually lost and over what time? Even at 1200 it could be slow with your stats.

    Is the exercise new? Could be retaining water.

    Since you feel bad (the biggest concern), have you changed your diet at all? Could be lowering carbs, especially if you did nothing to increase electrolytes. Any other changes?

    Opening the diary is the most useful, and also letting us know about any major changes.
  • janglov
    janglov Posts: 6 Member
    edited April 2017
    Thank you all for the quick responses. Apologies for the closed diary, I've changed that now. When I say that the scales hasn't budge, I mean I haven't lost a single pound. You will see from the diary that I started using MFP in Feb but I wasn't taking it that seriously originally. For the past month I have been weighing and logging everything I eat. The only real blip was the weekend of my birthday (2nd April) when I went out for dinner twice. I've always done some cycling/hill walking but I've upped that in recent weeks. So while exercise isn't new to me, the frequency and intensity has increased.
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    you really have been eating 1oz of bread? that seems like a tiny sliver...
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    edited April 2017
    yeah there are some very sketchy entries, your cooked chicken has the macros of raw chicken, the pork chop and also 1/8th of a pack of tagliatelle seems really inaccurate. Try searching by the gram for USDA entries, as tempting as it is to find the lowest calorie entry for any given food the body keeps a very accurate journal of what you ate. I think you're just off on the logging; an easy fix!
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    edited April 2017
    Also entries like "1 rib" at 150 calories gives me the heebs. I'd weigh something like that personally
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    @janglov your weight starting is close to what mine was, 130lbs. 5'1, 54, when I started. I have been maintaining 7 years now at 100-105.

    All of the above advice is spot on.

    I lost 30lbs over a year. Weight loss when there is little leeway is slow and depends upon meticulous logging. Weigh everything.

    1200 is the correct calorie amount that should have you losing just over .5 lbs to 1 lbs a week without exercise. As it is unwise to eat less than that your loss could possibly decrease to .5 lbs or less. You just have to stick with it even though the scale doesn't look like it is moving. Did I say it is slooooow?

    You do need to eat back your exercise calories, that is the way MFP is designed. I worked out my average burn (I was walking, doing aqua fit, aerobics, and belly dancing at the time) to be about 200 cals per hour and just ate that back.
    You may want to start by eating back 50 or 75% and adjusting so that it is in line with your weight loss goal after 3-4 weeks.
    If you don't eat back those calories now, what will happen if you decide to take some time off or have an lnjury? Your weight loss will stall unless you drop to an unreasonable calorie goal.

    Keep hydrated, straw coloured pee is good pee, it will help with headaches and lethargy.

    With your exercise increase it could. E water weight hiding the fat loss.

    Cheers, h.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
    janglov wrote: »
    Great to get feedback on my diary, thanks. Looking at my entries objectively now and they are a bit wonky alright. The 1oz of bread, I weighed at 30grams which is about right. With regard to the meat entries, I probably hit what I thought was nearest in the search results. The calories seem low but I usually eat tiny portions of meat. I think I put that pork chop on my plate and only ate half of it. I can see now that I haven't really been logging accurately at all.

    We've all done it, at least you know how to correct it :) keep us posted!
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    edited April 2017
    @janglov: I am sorry to hear that you have been trying hard, but not losing weight and not feeling well! Don't give up!

    I think you should keep your diary closed. What you eat and how you log are personal choices and you are only beholden to yourself.

    Weight loss comes down to just a few things:

    Getting the right plan (MFP is quite good at that). Unless you are on your feet all day, set for sedintary.

    Start weighing all calorie dense foods and otherwise measuring all your portions, at least for a few weeks. Eventually, you get good at eyeballing, but only after significant practice.

    Careful with the exercise allotments, they are sometimes overestimated.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    High five! @janglov
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