1200kcal yet not losing weight?

ryaramfp · May 2018

MFP put me on a 1200kcal diet, which I follow and strictly keep. I put in every food, drink, even 0 calorie ones. I've been doing it for a month with 2 cheat days and only lost 2kgs (around 4lbs I guess). I am kind of panicking and stupidly put myself on 900kcals after a cheat day, but I know I shouldn't so back on track again. I know it takes time to lose weight but is this pace normal? I haven't lost a gram in around 1.5 week... Could it be that I'm not eating enough? Is it a thing? I'm in a bit of a mental breakdown... just kidding, yet I would love to know how others handled this situation. Should I just go on like this or should I change something?
Thank you!

TavistockToad · May 2018

you've lost 4lb in a month... that isn't 'not losing weight'.

weight loss isn't linear, you need to be more patient.

tinkerbellang83 · May 2018

If you weren't eating enough, you would not stop losing weight, no that is not a thing.

4lbs in a month is a perfectly healthy rate of loss.

Undereating after a cheat day is not a good idea, you just make yourself hungry and more likely to overeat in the coming days. Not sure what your idea of a cheat day is - eating with abandon, eating at maintenance or just indulging in foods you've convinced yourself you're not allowed to have but still eating with a deficit?

As others have mentioned depending on what your version of this is you may have eaten more than you burn and therefore not lost as much or you might have just retained some water as result of eating more carbs/sodium than normal.

What are your stats? 1200 calories is the lowest that MFP will go, you may be expecting a higher loss because you've set it at the most aggressive rate, but it will default to 1200 at the lowest.

jjpptt2 · May 2018

A couple of things...

4lbs in 1 month is really good. Adjust your expectations.
Weight loss isn't linear... you'll have some weeks where you lose a lot, some where you lose none, and some where you appear to gain (you're not). Again, adjust your expectations.
Cheat days can easily counteract some/all of your progress, so be sure to log them as completely and as thoroughly as you would log any other day. Then keep an eye on the math and make sure they aren't costing you in the long run. However, cheat days can also be more than fine if the numbers/math stay in your favor. "cheat day" can mean a lot of things, so again, watch the numbers and go from there.
overly restricting to make up for a cheat day can lead to problems. I'd advise against doing so. Trust the process.

Bigger picture... take a step back, take a deep breath, slow down. Progress will come if you let it. Trust the process, but expect it to take longer than you think/want.

fr33sia12 · May 2018

If you've lost 4lbs then you had a loss so your title is misleading. Maybe you mean you're not losing the amount you want or as fast as you want.
There's no such thing as not eating enough to lose weight. If you eat less calories than you burn you lose weight.
If you've had cheat days, how much over your 1200 calories did you eat, did you log the cheat days. It could be you ate more calories than you think and that's why you haven't lost as much as you thought you would.

roxybeer · May 2018

.5-2lb loss per week is recommended. Congrats. You've reached the middle of the road recommendations. Keep doing what you're doing.

susanpiper57 · May 2018

4 lbs is a good weight loss in one month! I would try to stick to cheat meals rather than cheat days, sometimes a day can set back a week's progress. It is actually possible for your body to hold onto weight if you are not eating enough, depending on your calorie burn. I'm pregnant right now, so this doesn't apply for the last few months, but am 5'1 and generally 115 lbs and MFP has me on 1200, but with my running, that usually doesn't feel like enough food and I eat around 1600 or so. How is your exercise?

NGentRD · May 2018

Make you cheat days around 3000 calories. The whole point is to shock your body. 4 pounds is great tho. Your averaging 52 pounds/year...That's pretty darn good. Like everyone else is saying, its not linear. Don't always go by the scale too. Go by how you feel..bloated, tired etc

jjpptt2 · May 2018

NickyGee2015 wrote: »

Make you cheat days around 3000 calories. The whole point is to shock your body.

What? No.

NickyGee2015 wrote: »

4 pounds is great tho. Your averaging 52 pounds/year...That's pretty darn good. Like everyone else is saying, its not linear. Don't always go by the scale too. Go by how you feel..bloated, tired etc

Better.

tinkerbellang83 · May 2018

susanpiper57 wrote: »

4 lbs is a good weight loss in one month! I would try to stick to cheat meals rather than cheat days, sometimes a day can set back a week's progress. It is actually possible for your body to hold onto weight if you are not eating enough, depending on your calorie burn. I'm pregnant right now, so this doesn't apply for the last few months, but am 5'1 and generally 115 lbs and MFP has me on 1200, but with my running, that usually doesn't feel like enough food and I eat around 1600 or so. How is your exercise?

No it won't hold onto weight if you're not eating enough, "starvation mode" is a diet myth, please take a read of this https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/

MFP gives you a calorie allowance based on the numbers/information you have entered, as you're in a normal weight range and baring in mind the fact you're pregnant you should be set to maintenance or 0.5lb loss per week really which would at 5'1" and 115lb put you at 1225-1475 calories before including any of your exercise if you are sedentary in your day-to-day life), so if you're running you should definitely be getting more than 1200 if you're using MFP as it is intended to be used.

tinkerbellang83 · May 2018

NickyGee2015 wrote: »

Make you cheat days around 3000 calories. The whole point is to shock your body. 4 pounds is great tho. Your averaging 52 pounds/year...That's pretty darn good. Like everyone else is saying, its not linear. Don't always go by the scale too. Go by how you feel..bloated, tired etc

Your body doesn't need shocking into anything and if OP is losing a pound per week on 1200 calories, all a 3000 calorie day is likely to do is half the expected loss.

ryaramfp · May 2018

I really might be just overreacting. I'm sorry, thank you for your advice! I think I will keep doing what I'm doing. Good luck for you too!

ryaramfp · May 2018

But I seriously need to lose weight since I am 82kgs (180lbs?) and just 163cms (5ft 4" maybe) tall. Even though my body fat percentage is in normal range (I am kind of muscular, been an active volleyball player), I feel like I have to drop weight to have a healthy BMI and to feel better.

NGentRD · May 2018

@tinkerbellang83 Okay well first...I read 2200 calories so an 800 calorie increase in a meal isn't hard or bad...and I'm speaking from experience, from coaching, from my clients and from what I see. It works. it doesn't have to be done but yeah shocking your nervous system does help because our bodies don't like to lose weight. If you find you arent getting results then sometimes you gotta switch things up. Our bodies are like bacteria and adapt to stress. That`s why it can be more difficult to lose weight the next time you try, once the first time doesn't work out. On a 1200 cal diet do an increase of 35% calories for that day.

JoAnna4731 · May 2018

ryaramfp wrote: »

But I seriously need to lose weight since I am 82kgs (180lbs?) and just 163cms (5ft 4" maybe) tall. Even though my body fat percentage is in normal range (I am kind of muscular, been an active volleyball player), I feel like I have to drop weight to have a healthy BMI and to feel better.

This all may be true, but you have to be patient and let the process work. You probably did not put the weight on in a single month - it's not going to come off in a single month (it probably takes twice as long to take it off!)

I had similar stats at the beginning of the year, and I am down 16 lbs. now 5 months into the process - not yet where I want to be, but it is significant progress in terms of the way I look and certainly how I feel. I set small 4 or 5 lb. mini goals, which helps me keep from being overwhelmed by the totality of what I have to lose. My advice to you is to enjoy the process, try not to adopt an all-or-nothing approach that causes binges and quitting, and celebrate little goals along the way (yay, you're already down 4 lbs!)

jjpptt2 · May 2018

ryaramfp wrote: »

I really might be just overreacting. I'm sorry, thank you for your advice! I think I will keep doing what I'm doing. Good luck for you too!

That ^^

+

This vv

ryaramfp wrote: »

But I seriously need to lose weight since I am 82kgs (180lbs?) and just 163cms (5ft 4" maybe) tall. Even though my body fat percentage is in normal range (I am kind of muscular, been an active volleyball player), I feel like I have to drop weight to have a healthy BMI and to feel better.

equals

jjpptt2 wrote: »

Bigger picture... take a step back, take a deep breath, slow down. Progress will come if you let it. Trust the process, but expect it to take longer than you think/want.

tinkerbellang83 · May 2018

ryaramfp wrote: »

But I seriously need to lose weight since I am 82kgs (180lbs?) and just 163cms (5ft 4" maybe) tall. Even though my body fat percentage is in normal range (I am kind of muscular, been an active volleyball player), I feel like I have to drop weight to have a healthy BMI and to feel better.

At your stats and eating 1200 calories, you're in a deficit of around 700 calories per day, if you're sedentary and before factoring in any exercise, that's about 1.4lbs per week, so bearing in mind your cheat days and allowing for a bit of inaccurate logging you're losing pretty much as you'd expect to. Stick with it and trust the process.

susanpiper57 · May 2018

@tinkerbellang83 What I meant by "it doesn't apply to me right now" is that I am not using MFP to do anything but track my calorie intake to make sure that I am getting enough to support my pregnancy. I haven't been able to run in a few months due to complications, so I was just commenting on what I usually do when trying to lose or maintain, not what I am doing right now. Thanks for the article, I will make sure to check it out!

amyepdx · May 2018

MFP did not “put you on a 1200 calorie diet”. It’s just an app - it can’t make you do anything.
You are making a choice to use MFP’s tools to calculate a daily calorie intake recommendation of 1200 to lose 1 lb a week (although I’m guessing you seiected 2 lbs a week which is probably too high and that’s why you are having several “cheat days.”)
Reframing your thinking so that you are an active participant and not a passive diet “victim” can really help.
Oh and recalculate to 1 lb a week to get a few more calories to avoid going over.
You are off to a great start!

ryaramfp · May 2018

I needed to get some sense punched into me. Thank you for all your help ❤

berky06 · May 2018

I do1200 calories a day. I've been doing that since mid-January. It hasn't always been perfect. But, I have logged everything-even drinks if I go out. I do try to exercise almost every day. I like to walk and I do Aqua Aerobics twice a week. I am down 26#. Yes, it has taken awhile, but I am so happy with myself for sticking to it. I have tried many ways to lose weight over my adult life-MFP has been the only thing I have stuck with and had great success. The best part is going to buy new pants and wearing a size I don't even remember the last time I wore it. Hang in there and keep at it. Four pounds in nothing to get down about! I think it is awesome. Good Luck to you and I hope you have much success!

1200kcal yet not losing weight?

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