Not losing weight on 1200 cals a day now.

bhanvi · March 2019

Hello everyone!
I’ve been strictly eating around 1200-1400 calories a day (weighing, measuring every single bite) for almost 3 weeks now and have not lost even 0.1 lbs of weight. My weight is exactly the same as it was before. I’m not sure what to do at this point. I’ve lost weight before (40 pounds) following the same diet I’m following now. I gained my weight back (35 pounds) in a span of 1 year and now I’m trying to lose it again. The only difference is what worked for me back then is not working for me now and I don’t know any other way to do it.
I don’t think I can eat less than 1200 cals a day, I’m planning on joining crossfit but seeing at least a little bit of progress would have been motivating.
Please guide.

NovusDies · March 2019

If you are sure you are in a deficit you are losing fat weight regardless of what the bathroom scale says. I would stay the course for another week and see if the scale doesn't catch up in full or part in that time.

Definitely do not eat less food. If 1200 is the number that MFP gave you based on your stats that is fine but if not please read:

https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/

snickerscharlie · March 2019

How often do you weigh yourself? It's odd that you say your weight is *exactly* the same each time. Have you checked the batteries on your scale?

VeroniqueBoilard · March 2019

I've said it before this week, but I often only see lost on the scale after my menstruation! Hold tight, hormones and water can make it seems like you lost nothing and one morning you will weight 3 pounds less. I like to add some activities in my day to offset any calories I might have wrongly log. I'll put music when I clean dishes or fold laundry and I try to keep my heart beat way up for at least 15 minutes per day, stuff like that. I don't count it as exercise per say. It's like my insurance policy!

CrossFit is great, but you can also just add a good 30-45 minutes brisk walk if an heavy program is too much to begin.

Libby81 · March 2019

Are you weighing your food or just guesstimating your portions?
You must not be in a calorie deficit if you are not losing any weight at all.

JaimeJaimeM · March 2019

Definitely what someone said up top, I wouldn't recommend taking much stock in your weight or body fat percentage the week prior to maybe the first couple days into your period. I would however recommend weighing yourself those days, just so you can get a good feel for when your body starts to retain water and then level back out.
On a separate but more important note, what it sounds like you described is a classic yo-yo diet. 1200 calories a day is NOT sustainable, and likely why you lost all that weight and then gained it all back. Track your macros, pay attention to your carbs. Aim for what MFP recommends for -0.5 a week and you'll find yourself able to keep the weight off for good.

NovusDies · March 2019

snickerscharlie wrote: »

How often do you weigh yourself? It's odd that you say your weight is *exactly* the same each time. Have you checked the batteries on your scale?

Good catch. I am so accustomed to my wife who was a weekly weigher somehow managing to stay almost the exact same for 2-3 weeks I did not think about it. What is crazy is that since she has been weighing daily we realize her weight is really erratic. She is up .8 - 1.2 pounds one day and down the next.

tinkerbellang83 · March 2019

whmscll · March 2019

MFP has me set at 1200 to lose .5 a week and I’ve set my own goal at 1300-1350. It can take me a MONTH for me to see any change, especially at the start. It just comes off really slowly sometimes. Don’t give up and definitely get some exercise in so you can eat back those calories.

lcoophou · March 2019

Are you weighing at the same time? My weight varies so much throughout the day, I've noticed I'm most consistent in the morning. So I weight at the same time after I pee each AM. If I weigh myself the same day in the evening, I can be 2-3 lbs heavier from food and bloating.

Also, I would track your weight and your measurements and plot both for visual tracking. I got really discouraged over my first few weeks because 1. I was weighing in the afternoon and my weights were all over the place and seemingly not changing and 2. the weights I was measuring were erratic. So, I created an excel sheet that takes an average of the last 5 and 7 days of measurements. After about two & half months I'm down 10 lbs.

As for professional advice, after being tested for thyroid with no issues, my doctor said if I stay consistent with workouts 3-4x per week and steady calorie counting for three months and haven't seen any results, that's when to come back - and I can say I have seen slow results. Keep this in mind. Happy to share my excel sheet with you if you'd like.

Here's my "Weight Loss Results" notice that the gray are the real measurements and those alone look like I'm not losing, but it's clear that with the smoothing function, I am slowly losing - it's just being lost in the noise.

I hope this helps you - stick with it!

csplatt · March 2019

snickerscharlie wrote: »

How often do you weigh yourself? It's odd that you say your weight is *exactly* the same each time. Have you checked the batteries on your scale?

This. It’s odd to me that your weight hasn’t slightly gone up and down from day to day

Sbaphomet · March 2019

Hang in there. I’ve been the same weight to the ounce for the past week and I’m also on a 1200 a day diet.

Make double sure you are measuring your food and not relying solely on user-logged foods. User logged foods are not always accurate and you could be consuming more/less than you think. So be sure to check the nutritional facts and weigh everything- even condiments.

Avoid salt as well. I think the reason why I am maintaining to same weight is because I have had several meals with higher sodium than usual. Make sure you’re drinking addicate water and you can put lemon in it. Lemon is a dietetic and can assist with any extra water weight.

Keep it up. Weight can platue for several days/weeks. Don’t let it deter you.

Daisy_Girl2019 · March 2019

Have faith, it will take sometime. I have same issues for a while my weight has been flactuating 135 to 140 for like 3 weeks and also on 1200 cal, although I don't weigh my food.
Then one day I weighed myself and bam! 133 lbs. I work out 30 mins cardio 1.5 hours weight training from shoulders all the way down about 4 to 5 times a week. I change my work out for 2 weeks now I have been doing 1 hour cardio either eleptical or treadmill then spent 30 mins core then 30 mins arms or legs and that's when the weight drop.
I read that long cardio, after about 30 mins, your body starts using energy from stored fats.
I hope that helps.

PAV8888 · March 2019

If for 3 weeks your scale weight has stayed exactly the same every single day then I would inspect carefully the location of the scale and consider getting a different one.

If you have been seeing different numbers then I would plot everything using a weight trend app...

GranRuth · April 2019

I had gotten to where I was eating just under 1,000 calories but not losing weight.
Finally, the doctor had me bring my calories back up to 1500 because I was getting to where I could not hold up my body as I walked.
Then the friend of a friend (who had been two ton Tilley, her whole life, and always on a diet) abruptly died.
The coroner's report said that she did not have even an ounce of fat on her body; it was all edema.
That is part of my weight problem.

Water weight (not fat)
The Keto diet works for edema. (partly because it has adequate protein)
Soak daily in a strong solution of Epsom salt. (float therapy is the same but costs $50 to $100)
Drink 16 ounces of clean water 4 times a day, upon rising, mid-morning, afternoon, before bed. (not with meals)
Cupping therapy (pulls and pushes the facia and etc); commonly used for cellulite.
Sit in a steam room for 20 minutes, 3 times a week.
Walk 2 miles a day as quickly as you can.
Compression stockings and sleeves (not that effective for me)

It was horrible when no weight would come off and the doctor did not believe my diet journal.
Talk to the people in these forums. They have good advise.
One person might say exactly what you need.

Some people have the waterlogged or lymphedema tissue liposuctioned off because it does not come back.

brittlb07 · April 2019

I started my latest weight loss journey on Jan 2 at 146 pounds. I am 5’4. I got down to 129 by March 20. And I haven’t moved since. I had been at 1300 calories this whole journey. I feel that prior to now, if I ate over 1300 or didn’t weigh something perfectly I was still at enough of a deficit that I was losing. But now that I am to my last few pounds, I need to be super super precise, especially at only 129 pounds. Ideally I’d like to get to 115-120 pounds. I’m going to introduce more cardio as it gets warmer but know that this will cause me to be hungrier and gain possible muscle weight. I’m not sure my response is very helpful, but more trying to sympathize with you. For me, I need to be EXACT with my calories. To the point of skipping any foods that I can’t trace the exact calories. Someone our weight has to be much more careful to the calorie than someone weighing 250 pounds on a 1200-1300 calorie diet.

Not losing weight on 1200 cals a day now.

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