12-1400 calories lose fast, 16-1800 lose none?

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tylerbark89
tylerbark89 Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello, during the past 3 months ive went on a 1200 diet for 1 1/2 months losing about 4 lbs on avg a week. the next month i went to 1400-1500 calories on the same type of foods and lost about 2 lbs a week on avg. i started getting dizzy spells so i wanted to up it to 16-1800 cals but i have seen no loss in 5 days which i know might not be quite enough time to tell but im 6'2 and now 217 lbs so is it possible 1600 calories is too much to lose 2 lbs a week?? Btw i am very strict calorie counting

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  • tylerbark89
    tylerbark89 Posts: 7 Member
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    just to clarify a little more..i want to stay at 1300 most days but a couple days up to 15 or 1600 to stay sane lol..but it seems like when i do have the higher day it always adds weight..
  • vespiquenn
    vespiquenn Posts: 1,455 Member
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    I'm assuming you're male, so you shouldn't be dipping below 1500 calories per day in order to preserve as much lean muscle as possible.

    With that being said, 4lbs a week is incredibly aggressive, and 2lbs is bordering aggressive at this point. What is your goal weight? If you find that you're having a hard time sticking to your goal, drop your weekly loss to a pound a week to get yourself more daily calories.
  • tylerbark89
    tylerbark89 Posts: 7 Member
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    i know it was really over the top but i read minimum calories for safe eating and i think i read 1200 but it turns out that is for females...lol so thats why i upped it. i was 270 march 1st and now im 217 and my goal weight is 200 so im trying to eat enough 1500 or 1600 but when i do it seems like the scale doesnt budge and sometimes rises...but again ive only done it for a few days and saw no loss so went back to 1300. Do you think i should go to 1500 and wait a couple weeks even if im gaining?
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,981 Member
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    tylerbark89 wrote: »
    Hello, during the past 3 months ive went on a 1200 diet for 1 1/2 months losing about 4 lbs on avg a week. the next month i went to 1400-1500 calories on the same type of foods and lost about 2 lbs a week on avg. i started getting dizzy spells so i wanted to up it to 16-1800 cals but i have seen no loss in 5 days which i know might not be quite enough time to tell but im 6'2 and now 217 lbs so is it possible 1600 calories is too much to lose 2 lbs a week?? Btw i am very strict calorie counting

    1600 might be a bit too too much to lose 2 lbs a week if you're sedentary and don't work out, but it's sure not maintenance at 217 lbs and 6'2". Plus, if you were losing 2 lbs a week at 1400 to 1500 calories, you shouldn't expect to continue to lose that much when you've increased your intake by 100 to 400 calories a day (going from 1400-1500 to 1600-1800). Depending on how often you were eating at the high and low end of your old range, and how often you're eating at the high or low end of your new range, you could reasonably expect to lose anywhere from slightly under 2 lbs to just over 1.5 lbs.

    Your 4 lbs a week average in the first 6 weeks almost certainly included a substantial amount of water weight loss, as well as muscle -- plus the fact that you have lost some weight, making your current calorie needs a bit less than when you started.

    And it's only been five days at this new intake level. You need to be more patient.



  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,981 Member
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    tylerbark89 wrote: »
    i know it was really over the top but i read minimum calories for safe eating and i think i read 1200 but it turns out that is for females...lol so thats why i upped it. i was 270 march 1st and now im 217 and my goal weight is 200 so im trying to eat enough 1500 or 1600 but when i do it seems like the scale doesnt budge and sometimes rises...but again ive only done it for a few days and saw no loss so went back to 1300. Do you think i should go to 1500 and wait a couple weeks even if im gaining?

    Yes. Or better yet, go to 1800 and wait a couple weeks, even if you're gaining.
  • vespiquenn
    vespiquenn Posts: 1,455 Member
    edited June 2017
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    tylerbark89 wrote: »
    i know it was really over the top but i read minimum calories for safe eating and i think i read 1200 but it turns out that is for females...lol so thats why i upped it. i was 270 march 1st and now im 217 and my goal weight is 200 so im trying to eat enough 1500 or 1600 but when i do it seems like the scale doesnt budge and sometimes rises...but again ive only done it for a few days and saw no loss so went back to 1300. Do you think i should go to 1500 and wait a couple weeks even if im gaining?

    I think you should wait it out, yes. And you shouldn't be aiming for 2lbs a week with only 17lbs to go. You're looking more at the .5lbs-1lbs a week range. Even if you're protein levels are spot on and you are strength training, neither that you mention, too quick of weight loss will result in skinny fat, or essentially having a high body fat percentage while being within a healthy BMI. You didn't gain it quickly, so you can't expect it to come off quickly without consequences.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    vespiquenn wrote: »
    tylerbark89 wrote: »
    i know it was really over the top but i read minimum calories for safe eating and i think i read 1200 but it turns out that is for females...lol so thats why i upped it. i was 270 march 1st and now im 217 and my goal weight is 200 so im trying to eat enough 1500 or 1600 but when i do it seems like the scale doesnt budge and sometimes rises...but again ive only done it for a few days and saw no loss so went back to 1300. Do you think i should go to 1500 and wait a couple weeks even if im gaining?

    I think you should wait it out, yes. And you shouldn't be aiming for 2lbs a week with only 17lbs to go. You're looking more at the .5lbs-1lbs a week range. Even if you're protein levels are spot on and you are strength training, neither that you mention, too quick of weight loss will result in skinny fat, or essentially having a high body fat percentage while being within a healthy BMI. You didn't gain it quickly, so you can't expect it to come off quickly without consequences.

    even 1lb may be too aggressive with so little to lose.
  • tylerbark89
    tylerbark89 Posts: 7 Member
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    thanks for the replys! i will up my calories to 16-1800 a day and go from there for a couple weeks. it just seems like i go from losing 2 lbs a week at 1400 to 0 loss at 16, but i havnt started 16 long enough to see the change i dont think. because i do want to aim at .5 to 1 lb a week. ill try it out.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    it can take more than a couple of weeks to see a loss though. give it a month or so and if you arent losing weight then get a food scale and weigh all solid and semi solids in grams, the scale for me was a real eye opener
  • jenniferinfl
    jenniferinfl Posts: 456 Member
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    tylerbark89 wrote: »
    thanks for the replys! i will up my calories to 16-1800 a day and go from there for a couple weeks. it just seems like i go from losing 2 lbs a week at 1400 to 0 loss at 16, but i havnt started 16 long enough to see the change i dont think. because i do want to aim at .5 to 1 lb a week. ill try it out.

    Look, if you've gone from 1400 calories to 1600 calories, there's a good chance you are consuming at least 6 more ounces of food. If those 200 calories are in vegetables, you could be consuming 16 more ounces of food. Do you understand what I'm getting at?

    I radically increased how many vegetables I eat at the beginning of this month. I went from eating a vegetable here and there to eating 28 ounces per day. I'm still eating at the same deficit, but, the amount of ounces of food I intake has gone up drastically. Additionally, food needs fluid to digest. For each gram of carb, your body retains 3-4 grams of water during the course of digestion. Eating the same amount of calories, I 'gained' 2 lbs because I changed where my calories came from. Of course, I didn't actually gain 2 lbs, I just have more food volume in me at any given point. I'm only starting to see loss again 2 weeks later.

    Whenever you change stuff up, you really gotta wait at least 2 weeks to give it a chance to work itself out. If you tend to switch from low carb to normal or high carb on a regular basis, you will get crazy fluctuations. That's why people say they gained 2 lbs eating a piece of pizza. They didn't really, they were just low carb and so as soon as they ate carbs they retained a bit more fluid than they usually do. Use a site like trendweight and just worry about the trend, not a couple days worth of weights. (Easy to say, but, if my scale doesn't move tomorrow I'll be cussing and swearing at it, so, I know the feeling)
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,659 Member
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    In the beginning you lost weight easily and rapidly at a very aggressive deficit.

    You have less fat stores and your body is now fighting back against the aggressive weight loss of the past few weeks.

    Your weight loss will NOT continue to be linear and rapid and if you continue to try to fight to achieve rapid weight loss you will continue to run into problems and grief.

    Concepts to look into: weight loss is not linear and water weight vs fat level; trending weight apps or web sites; long term weight maintenance and long term sustainable eating and exercise habits.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,126 Member
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    tylerbark89 wrote: »
    Hello, during the past 3 months ive went on a 1200 diet for 1 1/2 months losing about 4 lbs on avg a week. the next month i went to 1400-1500 calories on the same type of foods and lost about 2 lbs a week on avg. i started getting dizzy spells so i wanted to up it to 16-1800 cals but i have seen no loss in 5 days which i know might not be quite enough time to tell but im 6'2 and now 217 lbs so is it possible 1600 calories is too much to lose 2 lbs a week?? Btw i am very strict calorie counting

    No, for a 6'2" male 1600 to 1800 calories are not too much to lose weight. We really need more information, but I am a 50 year old 5'10" male who is at best lightly active and I can lose at 2000 calories, albeit slowly at about a pound or a little less a week. Five days doesn't tell you anything because weight loss is not linear. Three weeks would be far better to make sure weight loss is not masked by other things like water retention.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    tylerbark89 wrote: »
    Hello, during the past 3 months ive went on a 1200 diet for 1 1/2 months losing about 4 lbs on avg a week. the next month i went to 1400-1500 calories on the same type of foods and lost about 2 lbs a week on avg. i started getting dizzy spells so i wanted to up it to 16-1800 cals but i have seen no loss in 5 days which i know might not be quite enough time to tell but im 6'2 and now 217 lbs so is it possible 1600 calories is too much to lose 2 lbs a week?? Btw i am very strict calorie counting

    No, not possible that 1600 at your stats is too many calories for weight loss. It IS possible that you are retaining water for a variety of reasons that would cover up a drop on the scale. You will not lose weight every day/week. The body is not that efficient, and water weight plus the amount of food mass in your body (timing of bowel movements, etc.) plays a factor.
  • justinplanck
    justinplanck Posts: 1 Member
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    1400 - 1500 calories is working for me right now. I'm very active at work, not a sit down kinda job. I don't eat after 5pm and have meals between 6am and 4:30pm.

    I'm 5'10 and was at 221-225lbs normally. Lost about 13+ lbs in last 3 weeks.

    Maybe you need to break your meals down smaller and spread them out. I have about 2-3 hrs between meals beside breakfast and about 300 calories a meal
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    tylerbark89 wrote: »
    Hello, during the past 3 months ive went on a 1200 diet for 1 1/2 months losing about 4 lbs on avg a week. the next month i went to 1400-1500 calories on the same type of foods and lost about 2 lbs a week on avg. i started getting dizzy spells so i wanted to up it to 16-1800 cals but i have seen no loss in 5 days which i know might not be quite enough time to tell but im 6'2 and now 217 lbs so is it possible 1600 calories is too much to lose 2 lbs a week?? Btw i am very strict calorie counting

    If you were losing 2 lbs a week at 1400-1500 calories then you should lose 1 lb a week at 1900-2000 calories.
    If you have not lost anything at 1600-1800 calories:
    1. Wait a few weeks before making changes. It has only been 5 days.
    2. Check the accuracy of your logging. Use a food scale. Check that the entries you use from the database are correct.
    If you are logging exercise eat less of the calories earned from exercise- lots of people eat half to account overestimated burns.

    Your calorie goals are probably too aggressive to be healthy and sustainable. You are not that far from your goal. Trying to lose .5 lb a week might be more appropriate. Don't eat below 1500 calories. You have already been getting dizzy spells. You need to nourish and fuel your body properly.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    justinplanck wrote: »
    1400 - 1500 calories is working for me right now. I'm very active at work, not a sit down kinda job. I don't eat after 5pm and have meals between 6am and 4:30pm.

    I'm 5'10 and was at 221-225lbs normally. Lost about 13+ lbs in last 3 weeks.

    Maybe you need to break your meals down smaller and spread them out. I have about 2-3 hrs between meals beside breakfast and about 300 calories a meal

    1400 is not enough for a man and meal timing has no effect on weight loss,nor does the number of meals
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,126 Member
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    justinplanck wrote: »
    1400 - 1500 calories is working for me right now. I'm very active at work, not a sit down kinda job. I don't eat after 5pm and have meals between 6am and 4:30pm.

    I'm 5'10 and was at 221-225lbs normally. Lost about 13+ lbs in last 3 weeks.

    Maybe you need to break your meals down smaller and spread them out. I have about 2-3 hrs between meals beside breakfast and about 300 calories a meal

    I am the same height as you, and far from as active, yet I lose on 2000 calories. If you are really only eating 1400-1500 calories a day, then you are massively under eating, especially at a higher activity level. I know weight loss of 4+ pounds a weeks seems so wonderful, but at 221-225 pounds it is far too aggressive. It will result in excessive muscle loss, and trust me it is far more difficult to put that muscle back on than it is to hold on to it in the first place. Slow down, eat more. You will be much happier with the final results.

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