Help it’s not working

bossmanbing2102 · November 2017

So I’ve been on a 1200-1500 calorie diet for a month now. I’m eating incredibly healthy, walking much more and generally exercising more and iv put 2lbs on ! Feel like I’m loosing my mind. Anyone have any tips or suggestions of what I could be doing wrong ?

kshama2001 · November 2017

There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

Also, what's your height, current weight, and goal weight?

bossmanbing2102 · November 2017

Im 5.2 and nearly 10 stone. My goal is 8.5. That’s when I’m normally at my most comfortable but was about 4 years ago. I log everything I eat and whilst 1200 calories is not a lot I’m not particularly struggling cuz I eat lots of healthy slow energy realising foods.

kommodevaran · November 2017

For anything to work properly, it has to be used correctly. Are you weighting everything you eat (and drink that has calories)? Do you log the exact amount you take in? Do you check all database entries before you log? Do you log everything you take in? Do you have cheat meals? Do you use the recipe builder?

You also have to measure your results properly. Do you weigh yourself regularly? How often? Do you use the same scale every time? Same spot, same time of day, same clothes? Have you started a new exercise? Are you constipated?

There is no such thing as an incredibly healthy diet - a healthy diet is balanced and varied and flexible. You can eay anything you want as long as you eat less. Exercise is good for you, but you don't really burn that many calories from exercise.

SezxyStef · November 2017

Logging the food you are eating doesn't guarantee weight loss.

Exercise does not guarantee weight loss.

Eating healthy does not guarantee weight loss.

Calorie deficit does.

Logging food is the first step...logging accurately and consistently is the actual step to ensure you are in a calorie deficit.

I expect if you are gaining you are either eating more than you think or retaining fluid...

or a combination of both...but without seeing your food log it's all a guess.

Muscleflex79 · November 2017

bossmanbing2102 wrote: »

Im 5.2 and nearly 10 stone. My goal is 8.5. That’s when I’m normally at my most comfortable but was about 4 years ago. I log everything I eat and whilst 1200 calories is not a lot I’m not particularly struggling cuz I eat lots of healthy slow energy realising foods.

you are logging, but are you weighing your food???

kshama2001 · November 2017

bossmanbing2102 wrote: »

Im 5.2 and nearly 10 stone. My goal is 8.5. That’s when I’m normally at my most comfortable but was about 4 years ago. I log everything I eat and whilst 1200 calories is not a lot I’m not particularly struggling cuz I eat lots of healthy slow energy realising foods.

More useful to us than seeing your stats is seeing your diary

Please change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

bossmanbing2102 · November 2017

Yeah I’m weighing everything and I’m fairly sure I’m being accurate. I’ve not eaten store packaged food for ages so I’m doing stuff from scratch. Maybe I have a very slow metabolism. I do suffer with constipation always have since being little so that prob doesn’t help. Argh

bossmanbing2102 · November 2017

I have an office job where I am desk based for 3 days which doesn’t help because I feel like I hardly move. I only reach about 6500 steps but on my 4 days off I’m going over the 10,000 steps.

lemurcat12 · November 2017

In addition to the diary, a useful bit of information would be how often you weigh yourself, how often you had weighed yourself before starting, and what kinds of exercise you've added and how recently. For me, weighing every day or two is better than going long periods in-between, because fluctuations can make any particular time on the scale an aberration. Time of the month can make a difference (what time of the month specifically varies by woman, I tend to be high the week before and low the week of); being dehydrated can make a scale weight low (you may have been unusually low when you started, masking progress); and new exercise especially something like hard cardio or weight training can lead to some water retention, and usually a weigh-in when sore will be a high one, IME. You also need to have been using the same scale under the same conditions -- if one is later in the day, it will likely read high. Stuff like this is why you don't really know results without a trend.

pogiguy05 · November 2017

I find it interesting how people are so concerned about their weight when they are trying to lose it. For me it took 25 years to put on over 50lbs and I know it is going to take time for it to come off.

What kind of exercise are you doing? For me I am doing strength training at the gym. I know that building muscle will help burn more calories. However, I also know muscle weighs more then fat so weight loss and gain can vary.

This might sound a bit crazy, but try weighing yourself several times a day for the next week and I think your going to notice just how much your weight fluctuates. My weight can swing 5lbs in a day, if I get busy and dont drink enough fluids.

Depending on how many calories you need if you were to just be sitting in a chair all day or doing regular activities BMR, you could be cutting your calories to much. Then your body thinks it is starving and stores anything it gets for future use.

bossmanbing2102 · November 2017

That’s really helpful. Now I think about it when I got weighed last I had just done a 16 hour fast for blood tests

ipmac22 · November 2017

If you are accurately logging and being honest with yourself I would consider speaking to a registered dietitian. Also, consider having your hormones checked. I battled for about two years trying to lose weight and no matter what I did, I was slowly gaining. It took me going to a registered dietitian who urged me to talk to my doctor, who then sent me to an endocrinologist. But I learned a lot about my body (thyroid and PCOS) and with some tweaks, some slight changes in foods I was eating that are normally considered healthy, but not processed as well in my own body, and I'm finally seeing the weight coming off.

So, be honest with yourself, and if you are truly logging accurately and honestly, you may want to speak to a professional.

Sharon_C · November 2017

Generally I tend to lose a few pounds, then my weight shoots up about 3 pounds and stays there for about a week before going to back down. It's frustrating but I know it's going to happen so I just keep plugging along. Not saying this is your issue, but it could be

dexjanelle · November 2017

This may sound totally weird but I suspect you aren't eating enough and therefore your metabolism dropped. It is extremely important not to not starve yourself. I'd do some research beyond myfitnesspal, for a recommended minimum. And it's a NET minimum that accounts for calories consumed. That's the first thing. Do NOT starve yourself below a "healthy" MINIMUM (net). I see you said 1,200 to 1,500. That's really good if it's a net but if you fall to 900 NET due to exercising then you are sabotaging yourself. The second thing is at least some strength training. I'm not talking about some neanderthal killer stuff. Just general weights. 2 reasons for that...muscle burns fat at a higher rate and it also helps with metabolism. But you must, again, offset calories burned, that day, eating to maintain that safe minimum. Otherwise, your body will consume muscle and your metabolism will drop further. Too low a net and you WILL plateau or gain. I agree with the water gain but I don't think that would still be happening after a month. It most likely is metabolism dropping. That is VERY dangerous because I've heard that it can drop for good. I do agree with checking thyroid. Also drink water. And log absolutely everything. Watch a good mix of food. I'm not a fan of high protein diets. I am a fan of whole foods, minimal processed and minimal sugar. Also spread meals out evenly so you don't spike insulin. Finally sleep is critical. 2 things, not enough sleep creates hormones that cause your body to store more fat due to stress that lack of sleep causes. Don't go to bed starving or you won't sleep deeply. I have no concern eating just a tiny snack before bed. I do it and I have had no issues. But not enough sleep ALSO causes my hunger to spike all day as I'm tired and seeking comfort. Is THAT enough to comprehend. Just know, doing this totally works for me. Mainly, keep your metabolism up. If none of this is working, do go to the doctor and do seek out a dietician. Good luck

janejellyroll · November 2017

dexjanelle wrote: »

This may sound totally weird but I suspect you aren't eating enough and therefore your metabolism dropped. It is extremely important not to not starve yourself. I'd do some research beyond myfitnesspal, for a recommended minimum. And it's a NET minimum that accounts for calories consumed. That's the first thing. Do NOT starve yourself below a "healthy" MINIMUM (net). I see you said 1,200 to 1,500. That's really good if it's a net but if you fall to 900 NET due to exercising then you are sabotaging yourself. The second thing is at least some strength training. I'm not talking about some neanderthal killer stuff. Just general weights. 2 reasons for that...muscle burns fat at a higher rate and it also helps with metabolism. But you must, again, offset calories burned, that day, eating to maintain that safe minimum. Otherwise, your body will consume muscle and your metabolism will drop further. Too low a net and you WILL plateau or gain. I agree with the water gain but I don't think that would still be happening after a month. It most likely is metabolism dropping. That is VERY dangerous because I've heard that it can drop for good. I do agree with checking thyroid. Also drink water. And log absolutely everything. Watch a good mix of food. I'm not a fan of high protein diets. I am a fan of whole foods, minimal processed and minimal sugar. Also spread meals out evenly so you don't spike insulin. Finally sleep is critical. 2 things, not enough sleep creates hormones that cause your body to store more fat due to stress that lack of sleep causes. Don't go to bed starving or you won't sleep deeply. I have no concern eating just a tiny snack before bed. I do it and I have had no issues. But not enough sleep ALSO causes my hunger to spike all day as I'm tired and seeking comfort. Is THAT enough to comprehend. Just know, doing this totally works for me. Mainly, keep your metabolism up. If none of this is working, do go to the doctor and do seek out a dietician. Good luck

While you can have metabolic changes from chronic undereating, it isn't going to happen after one month.

ladyhusker39 · November 2017

dexjanelle wrote: »

This may sound totally weird but I suspect you aren't eating enough and therefore your metabolism dropped. It is extremely important not to not starve yourself. I'd do some research beyond myfitnesspal, for a recommended minimum. And it's a NET minimum that accounts for calories consumed. That's the first thing. Do NOT starve yourself below a "healthy" MINIMUM (net). I see you said 1,200 to 1,500. That's really good if it's a net but if you fall to 900 NET due to exercising then you are sabotaging yourself. The second thing is at least some strength training. I'm not talking about some neanderthal killer stuff. Just general weights. 2 reasons for that...muscle burns fat at a higher rate and it also helps with metabolism. But you must, again, offset calories burned, that day, eating to maintain that safe minimum. Otherwise, your body will consume muscle and your metabolism will drop further. Too low a net and you WILL plateau or gain. I agree with the water gain but I don't think that would still be happening after a month. It most likely is metabolism dropping. That is VERY dangerous because I've heard that it can drop for good. I do agree with checking thyroid. Also drink water. And log absolutely everything. Watch a good mix of food. I'm not a fan of high protein diets. I am a fan of whole foods, minimal processed and minimal sugar. Also spread meals out evenly so you don't spike insulin. Finally sleep is critical. 2 things, not enough sleep creates hormones that cause your body to store more fat due to stress that lack of sleep causes. Don't go to bed starving or you won't sleep deeply. I have no concern eating just a tiny snack before bed. I do it and I have had no issues. But not enough sleep ALSO causes my hunger to spike all day as I'm tired and seeking comfort. Is THAT enough to comprehend. Just know, doing this totally works for me. Mainly, keep your metabolism up. If none of this is working, do go to the doctor and do seek out a dietician. Good luck

Many of your recommendations are solid, but based on faulty reasoning and a fundamental misunderstanding of basic human physiology regarding metabolism. You've been doing a lot of internet research, which is great but you don't yet understand enough about the subject to give such advice. It can lead the OP down the wrong path. I know it's not intentional, bit still.

Basically, if metabolism was that sensitive, the human race would have died out many, many generations ago.

dinadyna21 · November 2017

You can lose weight eating almost anything regardless of whether or not it's considered healthy what matters is the deficit.
While it's true that it's dangerous to have too low net calories you would still lose weight, it just wouldn't be safe, sustainable or healthy for your body in the long haul.
If you don't mind me asking what are your stats? Height? Weight? Do you exercise? Do you weigh your food with a scale? Digital is typically more accurate.
Are you checking to make sure that the options you're logging from the MFP database are correct?
Lots of the entries are entered by users and therefore can be incorrect, I've found entries that grossly understated the calories for the food I was eating. I'd recommend googling the calories per ounce or gram for the food prior to logging just to make sure you're finding the right cal/per serving entry.

leggup · November 2017

Your diary isn't open.

cmriverside · November 2017

leggup wrote: »

Your diary isn't open.

Yeah, if we can look at it, we may be able to spot issues.

@bossmanbing2102 - click here: (FOOD/Settings) http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

scroll to the bottom and click "Public."

Jigglypuff00 · November 2017

bossmanbing2102 wrote: »

So I’ve been on a 1200-1500 calorie diet for a month now. I’m eating incredibly healthy, walking much more and generally exercising more and iv put 2lbs on ! Feel like I’m loosing my mind. Anyone have any tips or suggestions of what I could be doing wrong ?

How are your clothes fitting? Any looser? Did you take measurements before starting? If not, start now.

Scales lie! Just joking...but they are just machines and can be defective. Don't give up! If you still have not lost any weight and your measurements haven't changed, or you've gained inches also, then you need to take another look at the foods you are consuming. You might be eating more than you think.

Help it’s not working

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