Eating 1350 calories and not losing weight

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MAyne34
MAyne34 Posts: 1 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hi everyone,

I'm a 32 yo 5ft10 150lb woman. I've been trying to lose 10lbs by cutting my calories down to 1350 per day but haven't lost anything in the last 3 weeks. My calorie intake is accurate as I have been logging evething religiously but I do allow myself one cheat meal per week which I don't count.
Being in lockdown, I am not very active during the day but do workout videos online for at least one hour a day, 5 days a week.
Has anyone experienced this problem? It's discouraging and any tips would help.

Thank you very much!
Marie

Replies

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,204 Member
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    How did you arrive at this number of 1350? That seems low for someone weighing 150 lbs (I weigh 155lbs and I'm eating quite a bit more than that).

    You're already at a healthy weight, lower end of BMI even, so losing those last pounds will be (and should be) slow. If the exercise is new (or you've increased the frequency/intensity) water weight could be hiding fat loss on the scale.
  • charismapatel
    charismapatel Posts: 2 Member
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    I have no advice for you but I do have sympathy! I'm 36 5'5" 140lbs (after 10lbs gain over the last year - mostly COVID weight). I'm aiming for the 1300/day mark. My activity level has certainly dropped since lockdown. I used to bike to work and back (6 miles each way, 4 times a week) and yoga 4-5 times a week. Now I sit around working from home, trying to convince myself not to indulge myself in whatever weight loss hindering snack foods are hiding in my cupboards. A few weeks ago I bought a walking treadmill (so it could nicely tuck away under my sofa) and I'm now trying to do at least 5km/day @ 9min/km plus yoga at least 3 times a week. No weight loss yet.

    I have noticed a few things on my weight loss journeys over the years, age is a b****, cheat days usually snowball into a discouraging downward spiral and running (as much as I hate it) works the best and fastest. Finally, stick with it the tide does eventually turn.

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,478 Member
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    MAyne34 wrote: »
    Hi everyone,

    I'm a 32 yo 5ft10 150lb woman. I've been trying to lose 10lbs by cutting my calories down to 1350 per day but haven't lost anything in the last 3 weeks. My calorie intake is accurate as I have been logging evething religiously but I do allow myself one cheat meal per week which I don't count.
    Being in lockdown, I am not very active during the day but do workout videos online for at least one hour a day, 5 days a week.
    Has anyone experienced this problem? It's discouraging and any tips would help.

    Thank you very much!
    Marie

    Hi Marie,

    are you using a food scale in grams for everything, and are you making sure you use correct database entries? There are lots of downright wrong database entries. With so little to lose every little mistake adds up. Thus it's not a matter of logging religiously, but weighing everything religiously and religiously choosing database entries that are not wrong.

  • tiptoethruthetulips
    tiptoethruthetulips Posts: 3,364 Member
    edited November 2020
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    Lietchi wrote: »
    How did you arrive at this number of 1350? That seems low for someone weighing 150 lbs (I weigh 155lbs and I'm eating quite a bit more than that).

    And low for someone who is 5ft10.

    For the OP, your BMI is 21.5, close to the lowest end of the BMI, you are not going to lose a lot of weight quickly. It's going to be a fairly low weight loss over a long period of time, you are going to need patience, a lot of it.

    Something to bear in mind, if it is this difficult to lose it, how difficult is it going to be to maintain it?? Perhaps time to focus on body recomp...look visually smaller but the scales may say more.

  • Sonyaspringer
    Sonyaspringer Posts: 3 Member
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    Same boat! It’s frustrating but don’t give up!
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
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    You are already at a healthy weight for your height. Maybe consider body recomp instead. Your calorie goal seems awfully low for your height also.

    And have the cheat meal, but log it so you know how many calories your consuming. I can do a lot of damage in one cheat meal.
  • J72FIT
    J72FIT Posts: 5,948 Member
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    5'10", working out an hour a day 5 days a week, 1350 is not enough food.

    3 weeks is a dorp in the bucket.

    Patience...
  • njp0306
    njp0306 Posts: 10 Member
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    I’m 68 years old. My entire life I cannot lose weight over 1100 calories / day. I’m currently doing intermittent fasting 19:5 or 18:6. It’s slow going 5lbs in my 1st month. Focusing on health benefits of IF. I have journaled in MFP daily since 2015 but got sloppy with eating hours, exercise, water intake and pushing my calories 1500/day. I gained back 20 of the 40lbs I originally lost in 2015. But I’m here healthy, survived the stress of losing my Mom in 2017 and my husband’s open heart surgery in 2016, both of us retiring and now the stress of COVID. I’m back and going to get this done.
  • MsCzar
    MsCzar Posts: 1,042 Member
    edited November 2020
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    Were you obese when you were younger or have you yo-yo'd a lot in the past? I have done both those things and like njp0306 above, my weight-loss calorie threshold is also around 1100 calories. I know that at 1400-1500 calories, the scale won't budge.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    MsCzar wrote: »
    Were you obese when you were younger or have you yo-yo'd a lot in the past? I have done both those things and like njp0306 above, my weight-loss calorie threshold is also around 1100 calories. I know that at 1400-1500 calories, the scale won't budge.

    Very petite, sedentary and elderly?

    Maintenance for a 35 YO woman who weighs 90 pounds and is 4'8" tall is 1,366 calories. That's 1/2 pound a week at 1,100 calories.

    Check out a TDEE calculator.
  • njp0306
    njp0306 Posts: 10 Member
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    In response to whether I was obese in my youth. No I’m a 5’3” woman in the 120# and less in my teens, 130s in my 30s, 140s in my 50s and 150 to 170s in my 60s. Today I’m 154 and would love to see 130s - 140s again. It’s just tough. Funny thing I thought I was fat as a teenager.
  • MsCzar
    MsCzar Posts: 1,042 Member
    edited November 2020
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    TeaBea wrote: »

    Maintenance for a 35 YO woman who weighs 90 pounds and is 4'8" tall is 1,366 calories. That's 1/2 pound a week at 1,100 calories.

    Check out a TDEE calculator.

    That's an average calculation. Everyone's mileage will vary.

    We all know that stick-thin person who can eat and eat and not gain weight. It's not just an urban legend. Studies have shown that when twin young men with no family history of obesity were given 1000 daily extra calories more than they 'should' have for maintenance, weight gain for the extra calorie twin varied greatly - from 9 lbs. to 29 lbs. More than half the extra-calorie participants reported a higher maintenance calorie number one year later.

    Best to log your calorie intake as accurately as possible, watch the numbers on the scale and know what YOUR calorie maintenance/deficit-weight loss range is. One size does not fit all.


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