Why am I losing so slow?

hicolleen723 · May 2020

I’m following a 1200 daily calories. I have been exercising twice a day. I don’t add the workout calories to what I eat. I have been diligently logging everything that goes in my mouth. I’ve only lost 3 pounds in six weeks. I lost 28 pounds from January to March before I started the app. I’m eating less then before and was only working out once a day then. Any ideas as to why? My starting weight in January was 205 now at 174 with goal of 140 or less.

Shortgirlrunning · May 2020

What you’re describing is dangerously unhealthy and sounds indicative of an eating disorder. 1200 NET (meaning eat back you exercise calories) is the absolute minimum a person should be eating.

That said, if you’re losing 0.5 lb a week then most likely you’re eating a lot more than you think you are. I can’t even imagine that 1200 calories would allow you to have the energy to do twice a day workouts. Do you weigh everything you eat using a food scale?

dbanks80 · May 2020

Maybe you should go back to what was working when you lost 28 lbs

Go_Deskercise · May 2020

hicolleen723 · May 2020

Thank You all. I saw Dr. Now on my 600 pound life and He always suggests 1200 cal a day. Before I just kept a calorie count in my head. I will start including my exercise calories back in and weigh everything more carefully.

Go_Deskercise · May 2020

hicolleen723 wrote: »

Thank You all. I saw Dr. Now on my 600 pound life and He always suggests 1200 cal a day. Before I just kept a calorie count in my head. I will start including my exercise calories back in and weigh everything more carefully.

Dr. Now suggests that kind of diet to those people because they are all over 600 lbs

niki012020 · May 2020

Hi there I’m doing the 800 calorie a day diet by dr Mosley. I’m worried now as you guys are saying 1200 calories should be the minimum

quiksylver296 · May 2020

niki012020 wrote: »

Hi there I’m doing the 800 calorie a day diet by dr Mosley. I’m worried now as you guys are saying 1200 calories should be the minimum

Unless you are under medical care, 800 calories per day isn't smart. You can't provide enough nutrients your body needs with only 800 calories per day. You'll start to lose muscle (your heart is a muscle), hair, feel weak/faint, nails will become brittle and so much more.

bmeadows380 · May 2020

niki012020 wrote: »

Hi there I’m doing the 800 calorie a day diet by dr Mosley. I’m worried now as you guys are saying 1200 calories should be the minimum

I read his book a couple of years ago when I first starting losing weight, and he does stress that it's not to be done long term. However, I figured I'd give it a shot, but all it took was 2 days and I was upping my calories vastly - there was no way I was going to survive even in the limited time the book suggested it.

It's got some decent recipes in it, but otherwise, I learned way more solid, fact based information on a much better way of losing than what is in that book - and here, the folks can provide the research to back it up and not ancedotes from his own patients and practice. Much of what I've learned here has made me rather skeptical of his claims, so the book is on my cookbook shelf solely for the recipes

friedpet · May 2020

Go_Deskercise wrote: »

I've seen this posted fairly frequently here. Do you have any links or information about where this advice comes from? I'd like to see the research behind it.

KrissFlavored · May 2020

friedpet wrote: »

Go_Deskercise wrote: »

I've seen this posted fairly frequently here. Do you have any links or information about where this advice comes from? I'd like to see the research behind it.

Not discouraging the research, however, mathematically, it makes sense..

Someone with 100lbs to lose with a maintenance of 2400, losing 2lbs per week could get away with it because 1400 is putting them over the 1200 minimum requirement. After that they can increase it if they find that too low..

Where as someone with a maintenance of 1800 tried to lose 2lbs per week, they would have to eat 800 per day, which is below the recommendation and unhealthy for many reasons..

That's why people with little weight to lose are advised to lose at a slower rate.. because 1200 is the minimum and they wont lose 2lbs per week. And by selecting the right rate of loss, expectations are put in place to be reasonable, rather then expecting 2lbs of loss and being disappointed by .5lbs

dsgoingtodoit · May 2020

Use a TDEE calculator and work from there. You will likely be shocked at the calories you burn daily. https://tdeecalculator.net/
Great job on your success to date.
Don't do a knee jerk adjustment. Do some reading on those that do eat calories back...and those that don't. Consider your eating habits and adjust for your lifestyle. Are you drinking enough water? Do you get enough sleep? Are you doing high impact cardio - or are you doing interval training? Perhaps you are eating too late, or eating the wrong things?
I'm just saying...don't give up on what has worked for you...
Just adjust...

KrissFlavored · May 2020

dsgoingtodoit wrote: »

Use a TDEE calculator and work from there. You will likely be shocked at the calories you burn daily. https://tdeecalculator.net/
Great job on your success to date.
Don't do a knee jerk adjustment. Do some reading on those that do eat calories back...and those that don't. Consider your eating habits and adjust for your lifestyle. Are you drinking enough water? Do you get enough sleep? Are you doing high impact cardio - or are you doing interval training? Perhaps you are eating too late, or eating the wrong things?
I'm just saying...don't give up on what has worked for you...
Just adjust...

There is no "late" time to eat or wrong things to eat..

NovusDies · May 2020

niki012020 wrote: »

Hi there I’m doing the 800 calorie a day diet by dr Mosley. I’m worried now as you guys are saying 1200 calories should be the minimum

You should not be looking at minimums at all unless you have a medical timeline (like an upcoming surgery) to meet. Otherwise aim for a sustainable amount.

AnnPT77 · May 2020

niki012020 wrote: »

Hi there I’m doing the 800 calorie a day diet by dr Mosley. I’m worried now as you guys are saying 1200 calories should be the minimum

Sometimes people can get away with eating very low calories for a very short period of time, especially if starting out substantially obese, and it's true that some studies have shown it to be helpful for some people (with like a 2-week-only duration, BTW). But under-nutrition is a health risk, and the longer a person does it, the riskier it gets. If there are bad effects, they don't necessarily show up right away. (Hair loss, for example, often happens weeks later . . . and that's one of the minor possible bad effects from serious over-restriction.)

The bigger issue, IMO, is what Novus is saying.

Losing any meaningful amount of weight is a long-term proposition. IMO, that puts a premium on finding a process that can be continued for weeks, months, maybe even years, without extreme stress or discomfort or inconvenience. Like Novus said: Sustainability.

For sure, it would be a Really Bad Plan for someone not under close medical supervision to be eating that little on a sustained longer-term basis.

mmapags · May 2020

dsgoingtodoit wrote: »

Use a TDEE calculator and work from there. You will likely be shocked at the calories you burn daily. https://tdeecalculator.net/
Great job on your success to date.
Don't do a knee jerk adjustment. Do some reading on those that do eat calories back...and those that don't. Consider your eating habits and adjust for your lifestyle. Are you drinking enough water? Do you get enough sleep? Are you doing high impact cardio - or are you doing interval training? Perhaps you are eating too late, or eating the wrong things?
I'm just saying...don't give up on what has worked for you...
Just adjust...

Most of this is just plain nonsense. In particular, what type of workouts, what time a person eats, eating the "wrong" things. You are just way off here. And you don't seem to understand the difference between MFP methodology of N.E.A.T., which is calories before intentional exercise and T.D.E.E.. With N.E.A.T. it is designed to eat exercise calories back or one could end up underfueling. That being said, some of the exercise burns in the MFP database can be overstated.

OP, you've gotten great advice. Mosley is irresponsible in my view and his advice should be ignored. Find a sustainable calorie level, weigh, measure and log accurately and have some patience. My guess is if you tighten up on the logging you will solve your problem.

kshama2001 · May 2020

hicolleen723 wrote: »

Thank You all. I saw Dr. Now on my 600 pound life and He always suggests 1200 cal a day. Before I just kept a calorie count in my head. I will start including my exercise calories back in and weigh everything more carefully.

1. Dr. Now's patients are closely monitored medically
2. They need to lose weight fast in order to save their lives. IMO, medical issues like that are the only legit justification for rapid weight loss.

New_Heavens_Earth · May 2020

Go_Deskercise wrote: »

hicolleen723 wrote: »

Thank You all. I saw Dr. Now on my 600 pound life and He always suggests 1200 cal a day. Before I just kept a calorie count in my head. I will start including my exercise calories back in and weigh everything more carefully.

To OP:

They're all over 600 lb, are trying to make a surgical deadline, and their lives are in danger. They need to lose fast, and they're medically supervised.

Why am I losing so slow?

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