What am I doing wrong?

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I feel like I'm missing the secret to losing weight here. I am doing Turbo Fire and working out 6 days a week, busting my butt. I have changed my diet to clean eating, making the best choices I can without going extreme. My calories stay around 1200 net daily, with only a few slips-ups. So what's wrong? What isn't the scale or the tape measure moving? I'm not expecting overnight miracles, but I've been trying for a few months, and it's frustrating to see my daily diary results say expected weight in 5 weeks to be .,... and then not reach it, when I'm doing the same things over and over. Anyone have any suggestions on what else I can do?

Replies

  • methetree
    methetree Posts: 381
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    I had to eat more... 1200 isn't that much. Even when you are netting 1200 sometimes it isnt enough. You are working your body hard, it needs more fuel... possibly. I know that worked for me. I looked a lot of things up, searched in MFP forums for the same answer to your question. I did the math for BMR, etc etc etc.....

    I just needed to eat more.

    Good luck with your journey, and slow and steady is a healthy way to lose it. As long as you are still losing, albeit slowly, you are still losing...
  • rat70
    rat70 Posts: 129 Member
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    I had more success when I realised I was chronically eating below my BMR and started eating more - yes, more! I try to eat no less than 1550 - 1600 NET each day (I'm 5'3" and weigh 180lb).

    Check out http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

    There are some threads on the forum discussing this if you go looking.

    Hope you find the answer. So frustrating not to see results. Best of luck.
  • belleflop
    belleflop Posts: 154 Member
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    Doesn't sounds like your doing anything wrong with your lifestyle. Your eating healthy so your body loves you. Your working out a lot so your body is healthy. What are your Net calorie intake during that time each day? You can pump out a report if your uncertain. Thing is if your eating 1200 calories TOTAL and working out 6 days a week you might be eating to little and that could be your only problem.
  • SallieBeige
    SallieBeige Posts: 341 Member
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    YOur weight ticker is showing a healthy loss! (Well done)
    Approximately how much are you loosing a week?
    Is it possible you are expecting too much?
  • Tracy184
    Tracy184 Posts: 74
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    Are you drinking enough water? I noticed your diary said 0 on the few days I looked at.
  • azzalene72
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    Hello! I've been on a plateau for months too - and I just started losing again.

    I was eating around 1200 cal / day - some days as low as 800 cal. No change. I play netball, and see a personal trainer 3x a week and do other stuff too. No change.

    THEN. I read this, and things started to move for me: "http://calorie-count.us/lose-weight" I'm eating more. On active days I eat 1708 cal/day. Inactive days i eat 1500 cal / day. And one day a week I have 1900 cal / day (but NOT rubbish or junk food - just more of the good stuff). Plus - I'm eating more protein than is recommended.

    THEN I heard a news story about fructose. Which realllly got my interest. I was desperate to get off my plateau - so last Friday - I cut WAY down on sugar and fructose. I'm using MFP to track my sugar to keep the calories from sugar down.

    Since Friday - I've lost 1kg - and 1cm from my stomach and 1cm from my butt!!!!! in DAYS!! This is massive for me - because the weight has been extremely slow to come off.

    This is the article that triggered me to experiment: au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/.../sugar-fructose-weight-gain/

    Learn more: http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-fructose-bad-for-you-201104262425

    If I can do it so can you. I'd really like someone to try cutting down their sugar for at least 4 days to see if they get the same result as me. You're not doing anything wrong - keep experimenting and trying different things.

    Are you willing to try the 4 days "down with sugar" idea? Or would you like me to let you know if I lose any more weight doing that over the next week?

    Best of luck!
  • breezad
    breezad Posts: 237 Member
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    yep eat more!!!!
    if you arent hiungry then add nuts to the mix which are good fats and high in cals!
  • breezad
    breezad Posts: 237 Member
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    Hello! I've been on a plateau for months too - and I just started losing again.

    I was eating around 1200 cal / day - some days as low as 800 cal. No change. I play netball, and see a personal trainer 3x a week and do other stuff too. No change.

    THEN. I read this, and things started to move for me: "http://calorie-count.us/lose-weight" I'm eating more. On active days I eat 1708 cal/day. Inactive days i eat 1500 cal / day. And one day a week I have 1900 cal / day (but NOT rubbish or junk food - just more of the good stuff). Plus - I'm eating more protein than is recommended.

    THEN I heard a news story about fructose. Which realllly got my interest. I was desperate to get off my plateau - so last Friday - I cut WAY down on sugar and fructose. I'm using MFP to track my sugar to keep the calories from sugar down.

    Since Friday - I've lost 1kg - and 1cm from my stomach and 1cm from my butt!!!!! in DAYS!! This is massive for me - because the weight has been extremely slow to come off.

    This is the article that triggered me to experiment: au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/.../sugar-fructose-weight-gain/

    Learn more: http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-fructose-bad-for-you-201104262425

    If I can do it so can you. I'd really like someone to try cutting down their sugar for at least 4 days to see if they get the same result as me. You're not doing anything wrong - keep experimenting and trying different things.

    Are you willing to try the 4 days "down with sugar" idea? Or would you like me to let you know if I lose any more weight doing that over the next week?

    Best of luck!

    im cutting my sugar this week! til sunday! :)
    i have clean eating so hardly any sugar! ill join you and let yu know... :)
  • rmwade1786
    rmwade1786 Posts: 1 Member
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    Some things you might want to try that worked for me:

    South Beach/ Low Carb Dieting - I reached my goal weight fairly quickly by following the South Beach Diet, which consists of 3 phases of cutting simple carbs completely for 2 weeks, then adding them gradually back in. One problem with it though is you can fall down the slippery slope of not eating enough calories daily.

    Carb cycling - this is a relatively new concept for me, and I am in the process of trying it. Basically you eat super low carb for five days a week, then eat heavy carbs for two, but only good carbs, like whole grains, sweet potatoes, and fruit. Then you go back down. My boyfriend did it while he was competing in bodybuilding and it really helped him get off the plateau.

    Stick with it, you've already done a tremendous job with how much weight you've lost and making a commitment to having a healthy lifestyle. I hope things work out for you!
  • m4wbag
    m4wbag Posts: 8 Member
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    Um you guuuys! A 4oz chicken breast is way more than 87 cals. Also, if you look back at your diary you appear to be eating a lot of crap. Eat more, good food and check what the calories really are instead of guessing.
  • Fight2bFiT
    Fight2bFiT Posts: 48 Member
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    yes you got to make sure to eat all your exercise cals. 1200 is the lowest to eat, so when you put exercise burning caloring, you have to eat more. i love turbo fire but didnt noticed much weight loss, rather toning and tightening.
  • Briannah
    Briannah Posts: 50
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    Hello! I've been on a plateau for months too - and I just started losing again.

    I was eating around 1200 cal / day - some days as low as 800 cal. No change. I play netball, and see a personal trainer 3x a week and do other stuff too. No change.

    THEN. I read this, and things started to move for me: "http://calorie-count.us/lose-weight" I'm eating more. On active days I eat 1708 cal/day. Inactive days i eat 1500 cal / day. And one day a week I have 1900 cal / day (but NOT rubbish or junk food - just more of the good stuff). Plus - I'm eating more protein than is recommended.

    THEN I heard a news story about fructose. Which realllly got my interest. I was desperate to get off my plateau - so last Friday - I cut WAY down on sugar and fructose. I'm using MFP to track my sugar to keep the calories from sugar down.

    Since Friday - I've lost 1kg - and 1cm from my stomach and 1cm from my butt!!!!! in DAYS!! This is massive for me - because the weight has been extremely slow to come off.

    This is the article that triggered me to experiment: au.news.yahoo.com/today-tonight/.../sugar-fructose-weight-gain/

    Learn more: http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-fructose-bad-for-you-201104262425

    If I can do it so can you. I'd really like someone to try cutting down their sugar for at least 4 days to see if they get the same result as me. You're not doing anything wrong - keep experimenting and trying different things.

    Are you willing to try the 4 days "down with sugar" idea? Or would you like me to let you know if I lose any more weight doing that over the next week?

    Best of luck!

    im cutting my sugar this week! til sunday! :)
    i have clean eating so hardly any sugar! ill join you and let yu know... :)

    An awesome book has been written about this exact concept.. - Sweet Poison, why sugar is making us fat - by David Gillespie..
  • Givemewings
    Givemewings Posts: 864 Member
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    Hi. I took a look at your diary and I think ( I am not an expert!)
    1. As people have already said, your calories are often too low.
    2. You are eating too much sugar and refined products. I would also limit high fat items like cheese.

    As you are exercising your body needs more calories, but they should be healthier choices. Try to eat more natural foods and don't get too hung up on staying within calories. It's just as important to eat the right thing.
  • veganbaum
    veganbaum Posts: 1,865 Member
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    That close to your goal weight, it seems like you might need to change your settings to .5lbs/week, which would give you more calories than 1200 (unless you are really, really tiny), and then you neet to eat those NET calories, as several have mentioned.

    This is of course assuming your weekly goal isn't already set at .5, but the vast, vast majority of us will have a higher calorie allocation than 1200 if it's set at .5, so that's just a thought.
  • M12e31g
    M12e31g Posts: 38
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    Thanks for the tips everyone. I just started clean eating this past week. So I've been cutting out white grains, fructose, and processed foods. I really didn't think I've been eating "crap" lately, guess I'll go look again.

    I've been eating about 1200 "net" calories, and I do drink my water each day, just don't track the water. I will try bumping up the calories and see what that does.