Not losing weight on low cal/low carb
Replies
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WhitneySinghSpillers wrote: »I’ve used it plenty, and it doesn’t do what I want it to. I’m sorry that that’s the case. I actually used it exclusively for years, but calories alone never worked unless I cut a lot of carbs, and it doesn’t easily show those, so I switched. But now, cutting carbs and calories together isn’t even working, and I do not have a solution.
I do. Food scale. Use it religiously, and log everything, no skipping, cheating or forgetting.11 -
I haven't read the entire thread yet. But. If you are still a lactating mom 1200 calories a day is way too low! Please talk to your doctor about a reasonable calorie intake for losing weight. This affects your baby's health. Chances are you are definitely eating way over 1200 calories if you're not losing weight. But being a breastfeeding mom your caloric needs are way different than others. Please consult your doctor or nurse practitioner. Or lactation consultant.8
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diannethegeek wrote: »Are you adding in the calories you burn while nursing? I doubt that's the problem with your weight loss, but I was always under the impression that 1200 calories while nursing is dangerous.
These would be my generic tips:
1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.
2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.
3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.
4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.
5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.
6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.
7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.
8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.
9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.
OP, you said that no one is giving you advice, but you got a very extensive, well thought-out post early on. I'm quoting it to bring it back to your attention.
Quick edit: you might want to take a peek at this thread as well. It may provide some insight for you.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale#latest8 -
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I haven't read the entire thread yet. But. If you are still a lactating mom 1200 calories a day is way too low! Please talk to your doctor about a reasonable calorie intake for losing weight. This affects your baby's health. Chances are you are definitely eating way over 1200 calories if you're not losing weight. But being a breastfeeding mom your caloric needs are way different than others. Please consult your doctor or nurse practitioner. Or lactation consultant.
I couldn't believe it took near the bottom of page 2 for someone to say this! I sure hope her logging is grossly inaccurate
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I haven't read the entire thread yet. But. If you are still a lactating mom 1200 calories a day is way too low! Please talk to your doctor about a reasonable calorie intake for losing weight. This affects your baby's health. Chances are you are definitely eating way over 1200 calories if you're not losing weight. But being a breastfeeding mom your caloric needs are way different than others. Please consult your doctor or nurse practitioner. Or lactation consultant.
I couldn't believe it took near the bottom of page 2 for someone to say this! I sure hope her logging is grossly inaccurate
I mentioned it in the 3rd comment.9 -
diannethegeek wrote: »Are you adding in the calories you burn while nursing? I doubt that's the problem with your weight loss, but I was always under the impression that 1200 calories while nursing is dangerous.
These would be my generic tips:
1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.
2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.
3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.
4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.
5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.
6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.
7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.
8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.
9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.
OP, you said that no one is giving you advice, but you got a very extensive, well thought-out post early on. I'm quoting it to bring it back to your attention.
Quick edit: you might want to take a peek at this thread as well. It may provide some insight for you.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale#latest
9 bullet points? Are you kidding me? That's far too much reading to expect of anyone. :drinker:12 -
diannethegeek wrote: »I haven't read the entire thread yet. But. If you are still a lactating mom 1200 calories a day is way too low! Please talk to your doctor about a reasonable calorie intake for losing weight. This affects your baby's health. Chances are you are definitely eating way over 1200 calories if you're not losing weight. But being a breastfeeding mom your caloric needs are way different than others. Please consult your doctor or nurse practitioner. Or lactation consultant.
I couldn't believe it took near the bottom of page 2 for someone to say this! I sure hope her logging is grossly inaccurate
I mentioned it in the 3rd comment.
I saw you asked about adding calories in, but I was looking for a big red "don't do that!" flag for nursing moms!2 -
After trying to loose weight and get fit on my own I gave up and have a wonderful trainer and am working out 5 x week. Imagine my amazement when she told me (and explained why) I was not loosing weight. NOT ENOUGH CALORIES. You can google it but think "concentration camp". When you don't get enough calories, your body goes into starvation mode and holds onto every bit of fat it can. Once it finishes canabalizng your muscle, only then does it start using fat. Nursing uses a lot of calories so check that out too,47
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After trying to loose weight and get fit on my own I gave up and have a wonderful trainer and am working out 5 x week. Imagine my amazement when she told me (and explained why) I was not loosing weight. NOT ENOUGH CALORIES. You can google it but think "concentration camp". When you don't get enough calories, your body goes into starvation mode and holds onto every bit of fat it can. Once it finishes canabalizng your muscle, only then does it start using fat. Nursing uses a lot of calories so check that out too,
Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope. Starvation mode in this context is not a thing. And any trainer trying to tell you that you were not losing weight because of starvation mode probably needs to be fired.12 -
diannethegeek wrote: »I haven't read the entire thread yet. But. If you are still a lactating mom 1200 calories a day is way too low! Please talk to your doctor about a reasonable calorie intake for losing weight. This affects your baby's health. Chances are you are definitely eating way over 1200 calories if you're not losing weight. But being a breastfeeding mom your caloric needs are way different than others. Please consult your doctor or nurse practitioner. Or lactation consultant.
I couldn't believe it took near the bottom of page 2 for someone to say this! I sure hope her logging is grossly inaccurate
I mentioned it in the 3rd comment.
Yeah I hadn't seen it when I commented; I just freaked out at the first post mentioning nursing and only 1200 calories. Yikes!!!2 -
After trying to loose weight and get fit on my own I gave up and have a wonderful trainer and am working out 5 x week. Imagine my amazement when she told me (and explained why) I was not loosing weight. NOT ENOUGH CALORIES. You can google it but think "concentration camp". When you don't get enough calories, your body goes into starvation mode and holds onto every bit of fat it can. Once it finishes canabalizng your muscle, only then does it start using fat.
Nope.
Ever see any obese people in concentration camp pictures? Please13 -
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Think "concentration camp?!" I can only suspect that both you and she must be very young and very ignorant!After trying to loose weight and get fit on my own I gave up and have a wonderful trainer and am working out 5 x week. Imagine my amazement when she told me (and explained why) I was not loosing weight. NOT ENOUGH CALORIES. You can google it but think "concentration camp". When you don't get enough calories, your body goes into starvation mode and holds onto every bit of fat it can. Once it finishes canabalizng your muscle, only then does it start using fat. Nursing uses a lot of calories so check that out too,
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I haven't read the entire thread yet. But. If you are still a lactating mom 1200 calories a day is way too low! Please talk to your doctor about a reasonable calorie intake for losing weight. This affects your baby's health. Chances are you are definitely eating way over 1200 calories if you're not losing weight. But being a breastfeeding mom your caloric needs are way different than others. Please consult your doctor or nurse practitioner. Or lactation consultant.
My guess is that her 18-month old, while still nursing is also eating other foods. Her actual milk production may have already been reduced as a result of that.... I do agree with you, just pointing out that her body is likely not providing the full nutrition for her child. I agree that a chat with her lactation consultant is in order.0 -
You said you are eating around 50-60 carbs I’m assuming from vegetables. Am I wrong? I’m also curious on how regular are you? How is your fiber intake? To low and you won’t go, however drastically upping intake causes issues as well. It takes a while to adjust to fiber which could be your issue. Honestly at this stage I’m just guessing since you didnt say where your carbs are coming from.1
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Get yourself a food scale and weigh everything girl. Eyeballing doesnt work. Volume measuring is *kitten* too. Weigh everything by the gram. Come back again in 2 weeks after doing that and following 1200 calories and report. Otherwise I'm calling you out that your simply either not measuring what you eat and underestimating the calories in each item, or your not logging everything because a lot of people run the mental gymnastics that if it's not logged then it doesn't count (except it does because your body will count it if you don't).2
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The only thing I can think of is that you're not eating enough. The recommended amount for nursing mothers is 1500-1800 per day. It's also saying that you burn 380-600 cals while making and nursing. (Its a great time to lose weight!) The body will hold on to reserves if it feels malnourished. Try eating more?
One last point, the high weight loss you first see when cutting carbs is just water weight. So dont get too anxious about not seeing a fast drop, perhaps you weren't storing much water to begin with due to nursing? Please do some reasearch as I think the nursing is a crucial aspect to why it's not working as it was before.16 -
The only thing I can think of is that you're not eating enough. The recommended amount for nursing mothers is 1500-1800 per day. It's also saying that you burn 380-600 cals while making and nursing. (Its a great time to lose weight!) The body will hold on to reserves if it feels malnourished. Try eating more?
One last point, the high weight loss you first see when cutting carbs is just water weight. So dont get too anxious about not seeing a fast drop, perhaps you weren't storing much water to begin with due to nursing? Please do some reasearch as I think the nursing is a crucial aspect to why it's not working as it was before.
Your body cannot and will not hold onto weight when in a caloric deficit. See every human being ever who has starved to death, or anyone in a concentration camp. It's not physiologically possible. I do agree with your point about the water weight, as cutting carbs does lead to glycogen leaving the muscles.
Telling her she's not losing weight because she's not eating enough will not help, her logging needs to be more accurate.7 -
I second, third and fourth the food scale advice! It's really hard to measure accurately without it and it's the only way I've been able to lose weight at a good pace, personally.1
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It would be nice to see a little of the OP's reactions, to some of the splendid advice posted here. Namely, weigh and track honestly.1
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After trying to loose weight and get fit on my own I gave up and have a wonderful trainer and am working out 5 x week. Imagine my amazement when she told me (and explained why) I was not loosing weight. NOT ENOUGH CALORIES. You can google it but think "concentration camp". When you don't get enough calories, your body goes into starvation mode and holds onto every bit of fat it can. Once it finishes canabalizng your muscle, only then does it start using fat. Nursing uses a lot of calories so check that out too,
Your 'wonderful trainer' sounds like they have no clue whatsoever.
Not eating enough calories is never a reason to not be losing weight, its always because we are eating more than we think.
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Wait OP said she lost 10lbs in a month which is amazing! How is losing 10lbs not losing weight?3
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