Not losing weight at 1,000 calories a day

CeeGu · January 2021

I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I have been eating on average 1,000 a day for the last two weeks and I have not lost a single pound.
That's just my food intake. I'm not counting that I take a 30 to 40 minute walk almost every day.
I am 5'6" and 270 pounds.
I have been tracking my calories religiously every day. I drink lots of water. I am not cheating.
Here are my calories for the last 14 days:
1512
730
883
1118
1041
1221
1138
771
1001
816
737
1616
762
1047
- - -
14393 total for 14 days

NJCJF · January 2021

are you measuring/weighing your food?

Laughter_Girl · January 2021

I'm no expert, but based on the number of calories you're consuming plus the activity you're not counting, it appears you are not eating enough. You're starving yourself, and your body is holding on to anything it can get.

I had to remind myself that I didn't gain weight overnight, and I won't lose it overnight either. I'm sure once you increase your caloric intake to something reasonable, the scale will begin to move.

Wishing you all the best!

L1zardQueen · January 2021

NJCJF wrote: »

are you measuring/weighing your food?

This

MidlifeCrisisFitness · January 2021

eat more and be consistent

The fluctuations and lack of sufficient food is causkng your body to store.

callsitlikeiseeit · January 2021

If you do not open your diary, we can not help you. More than likely, you are logging incorrectly and eating more than you think you are.

The amount of people who would gain weight at 1000 calories a day is so statistically small, its almost never seen. Especially with your current stats.

welshbabe89 · January 2021

Hey if ur exercising as well ur body will be storing fat, u need to be eating more calories

TeaBea · January 2021

OP - not losing weight at 1,000 calories would indicate that you're are eating at maintenance. But I don't think this is your issue at all.

Two weeks is not a great deal of time, but I would think you should have lost something by now. Water weight can fluctuate wildly. Women especially can hold water weight at certain times of the month.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

Chef_Barbell · January 2021

NJCJF wrote: »

are you measuring/weighing your food?

This. Also double checking the entries to make sure they are the correct ones via packaging or USDA website.

Ddsb11 · January 2021

welshbabe89 wrote: »

Hey if ur exercising as well ur body will be storing fat, u need to be eating more calories

Starvation mode is a myth. Best news ever right!

AnnPT77 · January 2021

TeaBea wrote: »

OP - not losing weight at 1,000 calories would indicate that you're are eating at maintenance. But I don't think this is your issue at all.

Two weeks is not a great deal of time, but I would think you should have lost something by now. Water weight can fluctuate wildly. Women especially can hold water weight at certain times of the month.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

Absolutely this.

Also that UNDEReating doesn't cause extra fat storage**, but it can cause fatigue (so lowered calorie expenditure) and more importantly, can cause gradually increasing water retention . . . potentially many pounds of it, over time . . . from the stress of undernutrition/underfueling. Some stress hormones (like cortisol) can increase water weight. Water weight can hide fat loss, on the bodyweight scale.

** If it did, some of those many who sadly die daily from starvation would be plump, and they aren't. Distended belly, maybe, but no fat.

Kaysmile012015 · January 2021

I'm having the same issue, Measure your waist..Thats what worked for me, the scale does not move for me either, I have to be eating only, a rice cake per day and also running 4miles, before the scale will make moves for me Lol, just kidding (but not) However the Measuring tape shows my waist reduced consistently, the results I expect from the scale IT'S GIVING ME!!

*Ps.. Just measure one body part(that you really want smaller) idk, why but it's better to see the steady decrease of one number instead of tracking multiple, for me it's more..satisfying. I just need to know my efforts are working.
Trust me,I know your pain, once you know your efforts actually do pay off, you will see that it's not entirely necessary to reduce calories so low.
ALSO good tracking, keep at it, don't give up👍

Kaysmile012015 · January 2021

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

If you do not open your diary, we can not help you. More than likely, you are logging incorrectly and eating more than you think you are.

The amount of people who would gain weight at 1000 calories a day is so statistically small, its almost never seen. Especially with your current stats.

Disagree I know exactly what they're going through I've been around their size in LBs ate 1200 calories and worked out everyday..after two weeks I had gained weight, believe it or not and continued to hover around the same weight..We shouldn't dismiss the fact they say they accurately tracked calories...plus they listed their daily calories; To insinuate that they're eating at maintenance likely 2000+ calories (know from experience) is kinda rude (to say the least) and don't blame them, if they disregard these type of responses. Its very frustrating to eat such low calories and still not lose weight, its draining mentally and physically, and it sucks for people that experience this.

RockingWithLJ · January 2021

Weigh your food and measure yourself instead if relying solely on the scale. You could simply be building muscle which weighs more than fat.

sugaraddict4321 · January 2021

Welcome to the MFP Community. It's really frustrating to start a new program and not see quick results. We all know someone who did something similar to what we try, and they lost a bunch of weight while we did not!

The good news is that you don't need to restrict your calories so much. At 5'6" and 270 pounds you have a lot of wiggle room. A quick check of an online TDEE calculator shows that you can eat rougly 2,300 kcals per day in order to maintain that weight. Give or take.

If you want to lose weight, eat under that number consistently but not dramatically under. For example a realistic, achievable deficit that shouldn't feel like starving yourself is about 500 kcals a day. If you ate 1,800 kcals per day for a week then you'd expect to lose about a pound per week.

I know it seems slow, but quick/crash weight loss programs tend not to be successful over the long haul. It takes time to develop better eating habits so that we don't bounce right back to the higher weight and start over again. Be patient with yourself. Double-check your logging to make sure you've using correct entries. A lot of the database is user-entered, so there are some errors in there. Make sure you're measuring foods with a scale if possible. A lot of packages have serving sizes of "1 cup". But how you and I fill up a cup could be very different.

Also remember that weight loss is not linear. We retain water when we start new exercise programs, when we eat salty foods, and at different times of the month, etc. Sometimes we won't see a change on the scale for weeks and then it starts to move again.

Here's a thread that you may find helpful:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

springlering62 · January 2021

There’s a reason this is called “crash” dieting.

The crash comes when you are fatigued, are so hungry you binge, and in a few months when your hair begins to thin or fall out from lack of nutrition,your body goes flabby as it cannibalizes muscle to carry on, and even your heart can be affected.

This needs to be a maintainable plan, not Starve N’Binge, which I promise you, it will turn into.

As @sugaraddict4321 says, choose a more reasonable calorie goal for a more reasonable rate of loss.

If you were like me, your weight crept up over a number of years. Don’t attempt to get it off overnight at the risk of long term harm to your body.

If you’ve not exercised before, and are sore, the “lack” of loss could simply be your body retaining water. Your body directs water to hydrate and repair sore muscles. If you are particularly sore-as was I at the beginning- that can be a LOT of water weight hanging around. Now double that if you are leading up to or had a monthly during that period.

Measure and weigh meticulously. It’s a PITA at first but learn to convert to grams. Waaaaaay more accurate than cups and tablespoons. Log every bite you eat.

Up your calories to something more reasonable, and that you can see yourself doing for a year or two before going into maintenance.

I promise you that you’ll see results, in spite of current weight lose myth that you have to punish yourself to lose. You do not.

I was 5’7” and in excess of 222 (embarrassed to weigh) when I started. I began at 1470 calories and was under eating at that level. I bumped it up within a couple of months and again a couple of months after that. I am currently low 130’s, and am currently averaging, if I care to be honest with myself, probably around 2700 per day, but I am extremely active. It took me (again, extremely active, which makes me an outlier) about six months to lose my first 50-60 pounds.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10569458/why-eating-too-little-calories-is-a-bad-idea/p1

There is a thread somewhere by a young woman who frequents these boards, relating how she ate similar to your plan, for months. She lost her hair, lost muscle, developed a heart problem (your heart is a muscle, too), and more. Personal relationships suffered because she was so unhappy.

I get it. It’s tempting to “get there” tomorrow, or for a wedding in three months, but is misery really a great path? You’ve abused you body this long (at least, I did). Choose a kinder path.

Much success to you! I sincerely hope you’ll rethink this plan.

springlering62 · January 2021

I am also going to be a smart *kitten* to make a point here.

These posters with multi “disagrees”, encouraging you in a very low calorie diet? Click their user name. Most have very few posts, and sad to say, 90% will be gone in a few days or a month because they just didn’t pay attention.

The ones offering reasonable suggestions and help generally have thousands or tens of thousands of posts. They’ve been here, they’ve done what you’ve done, they’ve corrected, learned, and are still here and successful. They’ve chosen the kinder path, the sustainable one. Yeah, we have our moments (as you can tell from my own diary the last two months) but have done it for the long haul.

Who do you want to take advice from?

In a nutshell, how serious are you?

Sermon of harsh love complete. Carry on.

pfeiferlindsey · January 2021

Kaysmile012015 wrote: »

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

If you do not open your diary, we can not help you. More than likely, you are logging incorrectly and eating more than you think you are.

The amount of people who would gain weight at 1000 calories a day is so statistically small, its almost never seen. Especially with your current stats.

Disagree I know exactly what they're going through I've been around their size in LBs ate 1200 calories and worked out everyday..after two weeks I had gained weight, believe it or not and continued to hover around the same weight..We shouldn't dismiss the fact they say they accurately tracked calories...plus they listed their daily calories; To insinuate that they're eating at maintenance likely 2000+ calories (know from experience) is kinda rude (to say the least) and don't blame them, if they disregard these type of responses. Its very frustrating to eat such low calories and still not lose weight, its draining mentally and physically, and it sucks for people that experience this.

They are eating at maintenance. Period.

And I was their size too and only an inch taller. It was many years ago, but I can tell you I lost more weight the weeks that I was meticulous about logging every bite and weighing everything vs. the weeks where I eyeballed it/was half-butted about it. Not to mention, I would have been unable to function at that size eating 730 calories and walking 3-4 miles in a day.

Weight loss for the vast majority of people boils down to calories in vs. calories out.

OP, you are eating more than you think. Weigh everything, create recipes, and don't rely on the user created foods in the databases.

elisa123gal · January 2021

I find the more I eat throughout the day.. the easier I lose... maybe you're shocking your body with extreme dieting and exercise all of a sudden.
Set your calories to what MFP recommends.. weigh and measure... moderate exercise..and give it time.

ninerbuff · January 2021

Not buying it. At your current weight and eating that low, if you're not losing it's because your counting is off. Sorry, but math doesn't lie. And if it's REALLY that extreme, then you may have a health issue that needs to be addressed.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

quiksylver296 · January 2021

Get a food scale, weigh everything, and log it all religiously. No skipping, cheating, or forgetting. Then report back, @CeeGu, and tell us how many calories you have per day.

Not losing weight at 1,000 calories a day

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