Exercising too much with not enough calories so can't lose weight?
wfmiller13
Posts: 8 Member
I just finished week 4 of a 1500 a day calorie diet and I lost a total of .1 lb!! The previous three weeks I dropped a little over 12 lbs but this past week really sucked. Trying like heck to lose weight but maybe I am not eating enough or getting enough protein? For the week I do about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs. a day cardio. 1/2 hr Elliptical followed by 1/2 hour Treadmill and then later on in the day I will do another 1/2 hr Treadmill and also a 38 minute good walk outdoors when nice. Every other day I have a multi gym multi weight stacks where I work out most muscle groups for an hour. What say you?
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Replies
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You lost 12lbs in 3 weeks!! some weeks the scale won't seem to reward you...keep on going and have patience!11
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Ps losing weight is never because you need to eat more. Eating at deficit leads to weight loss. More calories = less deficit.9
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There is no "eating too little" to not lose weight, or else those with anorexia wouldn't be underweight.
How are you logging your food? Get a food scale, don't go by cups/etc.
Also, weight loss isn't linear! Water weight, hormones, all kinds of stuff affects it. You had a good loss for the first three weeks, was likely a major drop in water weight first.6 -
Tighten up your logging
Make sure you are using accurate entries
Use a food scale
Eat back at least a portion of your exercise calories.
Your initial loss was in part water weight, not all fat.
Read the most helpful posts at the top of each sub forum.
Cheers, h.6 -
You've lost 12lbs in 4 weeks... where's the issue, other than potentially looking too quickly?12
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I recommend this video below on why logging in grams versus cups/teaspoons/etc is really important.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjKPIcI51lU 5 -
It seems a lot of people missed the bit where OP lost 12.1 lbs.in four weeks!9
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Most of us commented on it, even stating that (depending) the quick loss may be water weight, that weight loss isn't linear, etc.concordancia wrote: »It seems a lot of people missed the bit where OP lost 12.1 lbs.in four weeks!
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It would help to know your current body weight and goal weight.
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That is not to answer your question because the others have already answered but how much do you weigh?
12lbs in 3 weeks.... Well even if I assume that 4 of these were the extra water in the first week, still 8lbs x 3500cal/lbs = 28000cal. 28000cal / 21 days = 1350cal per day average deficit for 21 consecutive days. This is a huge deficit and you should not be losing at this rate, it isn't safe.
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gebeziseva wrote: »That is not to answer your question because the others have already answered but how much do you weigh?
12lbs in 3 weeks.... Well even if I assume that 4 of these were the extra water in the first week, still 8lbs x 3500cal/lbs = 28000cal. 28000cal / 21 days = 1350cal per day average deficit for 21 consecutive days. This is a huge deficit and you should not be losing at this rate, it isn't safe.
I lost about the same when I first started losing weight (5'2", ~200lbs) - the amount of water weight on me was ridic. It did stable out immediately after that.2 -
Initial weight loss in the beginning of a diet can look dramatic due to water loss, less food in stomach, etc.3
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wfmiller13 wrote: »I just finished week 4 of a 1500 a day calorie diet and I lost a total of .1 lb!! The previous three weeks I dropped a little over 12 lbs but this past week really sucked. Trying like heck to lose weight but maybe I am not eating enough or getting enough protein? For the week I do about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs. a day cardio. 1/2 hr Elliptical followed by 1/2 hour Treadmill and then later on in the day I will do another 1/2 hr Treadmill and also a 38 minute good walk outdoors when nice. Every other day I have a multi gym multi weight stacks where I work out most muscle groups for an hour. What say you?
Based on the massive amount of cardio you are doing, you probably aren't eating enough at 1500 calories, though.4 -
StevefromMichigan wrote: »wfmiller13 wrote: »I just finished week 4 of a 1500 a day calorie diet and I lost a total of .1 lb!! The previous three weeks I dropped a little over 12 lbs but this past week really sucked. Trying like heck to lose weight but maybe I am not eating enough or getting enough protein? For the week I do about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs. a day cardio. 1/2 hr Elliptical followed by 1/2 hour Treadmill and then later on in the day I will do another 1/2 hr Treadmill and also a 38 minute good walk outdoors when nice. Every other day I have a multi gym multi weight stacks where I work out most muscle groups for an hour. What say you?
Based on the massive amount of cardio you are doing, you probably aren't eating enough at 1500 calories, though.
We need to know if they count that number as eating back a portion of their exercise calories. Example, Eat 1800, burn extra 300 for cardio, 1500 in post. Yadda yadda.
And eating too little doesn't stall weight-loss anyway. See above.2 -
I'm in a similar situation. I've just levelled out to a steady weight loss after I lost 11.5lbs in my first 3 weeks of dieting/exercise. I have eaten all my daily calories and some of those back from exercise. So I reckon it has slowed down because of water loss and it could be that with you too. As long as it keeps going in the right direction, although at a slower pace, it can't be bad!
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StevefromMichigan wrote: »wfmiller13 wrote: »I just finished week 4 of a 1500 a day calorie diet and I lost a total of .1 lb!! The previous three weeks I dropped a little over 12 lbs but this past week really sucked. Trying like heck to lose weight but maybe I am not eating enough or getting enough protein? For the week I do about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs. a day cardio. 1/2 hr Elliptical followed by 1/2 hour Treadmill and then later on in the day I will do another 1/2 hr Treadmill and also a 38 minute good walk outdoors when nice. Every other day I have a multi gym multi weight stacks where I work out most muscle groups for an hour. What say you?
Based on the massive amount of cardio you are doing, you probably aren't eating enough at 1500 calories, though.
We need to know if they count that number as eating back a portion of their exercise calories. Example, Eat 1800, burn extra 300 for cardio, 1500 in post. Yadda yadda.
And eating too little doesn't stall weight-loss anyway. See above.
I wasn't saying eating too little was the cause of him not losing weight in week four. His post seemed to suggest that he was adhering to a 1,500 a day calorie diet, then doing 1.5 to 2 hours of cardio daily. He asks if he is eating enough. He made no mention of eating back calories, and if that is the case, he is not eating enough for what he is doing.1 -
And besides, even if he was netting to 1,500 after eating back exercise calories, that's the bare minimum, and so he still probably isn't eating enough.3
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concordancia wrote: »It seems a lot of people missed the bit where OP lost 12.1 lbs.in four weeks!
Yes, depending on his starting weight, that is probably too rapid a loss.3 -
You're eating too little at 1500 calories and on top of that you exercise. That's way too low. When I start my cut, I start as high as I can for weight loss. What will happen at some point is that your forcing your body to adapt to those calories and once your weight plateaus...then what??? You get screwed and you will be spinning your wheels. With 12 lbs in 4 weeks, you're also eating your muscles away.5
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Actually I am on the JC rapid weight loss program eating 1500 Calories a day. 5'8" 198.1 trying to lose at least another 30-35 lbs. Their nutritionist wanted me to eat more protein that's why the questions I had. I do feel good and I am enjoying the exercise. I gained an inch in the chest but lost inches in the stomach, hips and butt!! I do worry a bit that I might not be eating enough and wasting my muscles away!!1
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At your size, 30-35 more pounds should be about 25-35 weeks or more....unless you want to lose a whole bunch of muscle. It does, of course, depend on what your goals are, but be careful. If you lose a bunch of muscle with whatever fat you lose, your body fat percentage won't change as much as you might want it to.
Based on your activity level, your deficit seems excessive. I would look more closely at your goals. Your initial loss was mostly water, and you won't lose weight every week even if you do your program perfectly. There are too many variables.0 -
StevefromMichigan wrote: »wfmiller13 wrote: »I just finished week 4 of a 1500 a day calorie diet and I lost a total of .1 lb!! The previous three weeks I dropped a little over 12 lbs but this past week really sucked. Trying like heck to lose weight but maybe I am not eating enough or getting enough protein? For the week I do about 1 1/2 - 2 hrs. a day cardio. 1/2 hr Elliptical followed by 1/2 hour Treadmill and then later on in the day I will do another 1/2 hr Treadmill and also a 38 minute good walk outdoors when nice. Every other day I have a multi gym multi weight stacks where I work out most muscle groups for an hour. What say you?
Based on the massive amount of cardio you are doing, you probably aren't eating enough at 1500 calories, though.
We need to know if they count that number as eating back a portion of their exercise calories. Example, Eat 1800, burn extra 300 for cardio, 1500 in post. Yadda yadda.
And eating too little doesn't stall weight-loss anyway. See above.
One week of not losing is not a stall, and they averaged 4lbs/week the first 3 weeks, so that tells me OP is not eating enough or they would have lost less the first 3 weeks2
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