Low calorie requirement
Minkymoo2019
Posts: 6 Member
I used to be able to loose weight quite easily. Since I have had my children this has changed. I've tried slimming world and other diets with no success unless I cut out a lot extra, which I didn't find sustsinable. I've put this down to me not following the diet properly. The last 3 months I have started good old fashioned calorie counting, weighing, measuring & logging. It's clear I don't start to loose weight unless I stick to 1000 calories or below! This is discouraging! At 1500 or even 1200 I just stay the same. I am 5ft 3in and 98kgs so have lots to loose. I have a seated job but walk a few miles daily.
Anyone else in this situation?
Anyone else in this situation?
16
Replies
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are you weighing EVERYTHING you eat? at your weight if you were truly eating 1200 calories weight would be flying off. this is most likely a measurement error - tighten up your weighing/logging and you'll notice a difference.12
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When people say "I can only lose on extremely low calorie diets", I tend to think that they haven't given reasonable eating a good amount of time to work. (I.e - "I tried eating reasonably for a week and didn't lose a thing, obviously this means I must practically starve myself.")
Unless you have a medical issue, it's highly unlikely that you are unable to lose weight eating at a health deficit. If you've been at this a few months, and it sounds like you've been switching up your calorie goals during this time, it may just be that you need to stick with something and give it more time.13 -
Hi, yes. Have been doing this as I got so frustrated trying to work out why no budging on scales. Even if my measurements were slightly off it wouldn't come to more than 200 calories, so with a margin of error I couldn't be eating over 1200. You seem very sure I am getting it wrong, but I am certain I am not, this is the most organised I have ever been regarding my diet.19
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Has the scale not moved at all in three months? or just very little?
It's because 95%+ people who insist they eat 1200 over a long enough period of time and do not lose weight are actually eating more than 1200.
are you are weighing ALL foods on a food scale? carefully selecting entries in database? daily for three months?
The other 5% would be someone with medical issues or crazy short and/or sedentary. Have you had a health check recently with bloodwork?
Would you be open to making your diary public for a little bit to see if any of the more experienced users can see some possible issues?7 -
I tried 1500 for 3 weeks. Nothing, not even the initial drop you get when you first start a diet. So I tried 1200 for a month. I lost just over a pound. Weight is coming off now I am going for 1000 - 1100. This is not a satisfying result, especially as I love food & wine so dieting makes me completely miserable!15
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A lot of women have thyroid issues after pregnancy. Maybe look into that with your doctor.10
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I might share food diary in the future when I've got a few weeks on here, I've only just started with mfp this week. I used a different app before this.8
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I might share food diary in the future when I've got a few weeks on here, I've only just started with mfp this week. I used a different app before this.7
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When I first started logging, I found it irritating people would suggest I was weighing food incorrectly. Over a few months though I learned I was doing a few things wrong. Not counting cooking oils, trusting that a 'cup' on the package was actually a cup (it isn't, you need to weigh it) and other things like weighing the banana before removing the peel. Some of that can really add up, especially if you think you're within a band of 200 calories or so making the difference between weight loss and maintenance.
That said, I would definitely check with a Dr.
18 -
1500 VS 1000 is quite the drop. Being miserable means it's highly unlikely to be sustainable for very long, not long enough to reach your goal (and then there is the "then what" when you do reach goal, you need a plan for maintenance).
I'd start at 1200 for a few weeks. weigh regularly and don't look at individual numbers but trend over 3 weeks.
Get a check up with your doctor, check that your bloodwork is all good and everything is well.
Use a food scale for all foods. ALL. even packaged. Carefully select entries in MFP database as there are many errors. do not use database entries for recipes or "mixed foods" if you cook, use the recipe builder. always log individual ingredients unless you are eating out and can't (even then I try with some meals to take apart and log individual items in there).
I know it sounds like I am harping on the food scale because it SOUNDS super crazy simplistic that a toddler could do it. But there IS honestly and truly a learning curve. Over the year of using a food scale i've found errors. MANY errors. They didn't matter as much at first with more to lose but as I got closer to goal and had a smaller calorie deficit they DID add up to a significant number of errors. Issues with raw VS cooked. Issues with entries I selected. On lazy weighing. a whole number of errors.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10697068/how-i-stopped-kidding-myself/p1
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1
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A lot of women have thyroid issues after pregnancy. Maybe look into that with your doctor.
This. I was diagnosed a few years after my son was born and it took 3yr of doctors appointments and labs to get a proper diagnosis.
If you are 100% positive your logging is accurate you should see a doctor3 -
What was the change in your rate of loss between 1200 calories and 1000 calories?0
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Minkymoo2019 wrote: »Hi, yes. Have been doing this as I got so frustrated trying to work out why no budging on scales. Even if my measurements were slightly off it wouldn't come to more than 200 calories, so with a margin of error I couldn't be eating over 1200. You seem very sure I am getting it wrong, but I am certain I am not, this is the most organised I have ever been regarding my diet.
When I started here, I was POSITIVE I was eating no more than 1400 cals per day and not losing weight. After reading the advice over and over, I got a food scale and started double checking the database entries I was using. Turns out I was actually eating 1700-1800 calories per day, which is my maintenance,
Check these out when you get a chance, they changed everything for me:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p110 -
Weigh every last bite. EVERYTHING.
Your cooking oil. Your broccoli. Your onions. Everything.
You want three strawberries? Weigh them. I just found out that my estimates for strawberries, of all things, were way off, and I eat a lot of strawberries in the summer. That error may be negligible if I only ate three strawberries and no more, but when we go through a flat of strawberries per week, it adds up. Little errors can have big cumulative effects.11 -
Read this. Blunt but true. Gave me a good ol' fashioned wakeup call: http://physiqonomics.com/eating-too-much/6
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Minkymoo2019 wrote: »I might share food diary in the future when I've got a few weeks on here, I've only just started with mfp this week. I used a different app before this.
A week of data might be enough for us to spot common logging errors that cause people to not lose weight. At that point, do change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings4 -
No one has mentioned excercise?
Years ago I got back in gear. Lost 10 pounds, stalled. Eating low fat cottage cheese, one small healthy burrito, etc. Not much for a man 6'6".
Choosing to walk large flights of stairs at mass transit helped shed more pounds.
Upping cardio from 30 minutes to 1 hour was a big key for me.
Eating wise, one of my downfalls was large amounts of coffee creamer. Sometimes chips.
Good luck!2 -
TallGent66 wrote: »No one has mentioned excercise?
Years ago I got back in gear. Lost 10 pounds, stalled. Eating low fat cottage cheese, one small healthy burrito, etc. Not much for a man 6'6".
Choosing to walk large flights of stairs at mass transit helped shed more pounds.
Upping cardio from 30 minutes to 1 hour was a big key for me.
Eating wise, one of my downfalls was large amounts of coffee creamer. Sometimes chips.
Good luck!
It is better to have a solid eating plan in place and treat exercise as a bonus. Exercise can be interrupted by injury and temporary changes to schedules.16 -
TallGent66 wrote: »No one has mentioned excercise?
Years ago I got back in gear. Lost 10 pounds, stalled. Eating low fat cottage cheese, one small healthy burrito, etc. Not much for a man 6'6".
Choosing to walk large flights of stairs at mass transit helped shed more pounds.
Upping cardio from 30 minutes to 1 hour was a big key for me.
Eating wise, one of my downfalls was large amounts of coffee creamer. Sometimes chips.
Good luck!
OP says she's only eating 1000 cals. If that is an accurate figure, the last thing she should do is exercise more on top of that. She is either not waiting long enough to see results before changing things, or she is eating more calories than she thinks, or she has a medical condition. Whichever it is needs to be fixed before throwing another variable into the mix.16 -
TallGent66 wrote: »No one has mentioned excercise?
Years ago I got back in gear. Lost 10 pounds, stalled. Eating low fat cottage cheese, one small healthy burrito, etc. Not much for a man 6'6".
Choosing to walk large flights of stairs at mass transit helped shed more pounds.
Upping cardio from 30 minutes to 1 hour was a big key for me.
Eating wise, one of my downfalls was large amounts of coffee creamer. Sometimes chips.
Good luck!
OP says she's only eating 1000 cals. If that is an accurate figure, the last thing she should do is exercise more on top of that. She is either not waiting long enough to see results before changing things, or she is eating more calories than she thinks, or she has a medical condition. Whichever it is needs to be fixed before throwing another variable into the mix.
^^^ hit the nail on the head.2
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