Why can't I lose weight like everyone else?

Okay, so for my "Cheat Day" I went to Panera Bread yesterday, and I ate lunch around 1:00p.m, and I ate a bowl of chilli, and half of a cuban panini, and topped it off with a lowfat mango smoothie. The rest of the day I was good, and because I was still full from lunch, I barely ate anything the rest of the day.

I wake up, and I couldn't resist weighing myself on the scale, only to find out I gained a whole 2 pounds. Now, I know we're supposed to have a "cheat day" for keeping us from going crazy, but when I try it, this is usually the end result... I gain weight!

Oh, and I didn't calculate my calories, but I'm sure between my cereal for breakfast, and just what I had for the lunch at Panera Bread, or the few things I ate after, that I didn't make it more than 1,400 cal.

Does this happen to anyone else? I hear that some of you actually lose weight after eating out one day?

Most restaurant foods are full of sodium. It will cause you to retain water for a day or two.
Is this what you had?
Panera Bread - You Pick Two Half Cuban Chicken Panini & Half All Natural Steak Chili W/ Cornbread
It has 1800mg of salt. So that could explain it.

I was having the same trouble - went to a Metabolic Center where they said I had an "overgrowth" of bacteria in my gastro track causing malabsorbtion - put me on a program that is very restrictive in phase 1; no dairy, no starchy products, no sugar,no caffeine, no black pepper, no beans, - all things that can be irritants to your gastro track - you can have unlimited veggies(no butter, margarine though - only small amounts of organic EVOO), 2 fruit servings a day for snacks, and unprocessed meats at all meals - also no eating after dinner (12 hrs of rest for your gastro track). Though it was really tough in the beginning, I got used to it and a lot of previous problems that I hadn't really payed attn to disappeared (bloating, gas, water retention, gastro stuff). My weight loss really took off (25 #'s the first 6 weeks) and now I'm in phase 2 where a few of the things have been added back - corn but no other starches, beans, 1 cup of coffee a day, a few other things, slowly will add other foods to determine what things are causing the irritation (I think it's dairy). Also, I agree with everyone else - do not be too restrictive with calories - it slows your metabolism down - Good luck - i know t's frustrating!!

Diet is a major part of weightloss. Try to eat as few packaged and processed foods as possible and fill up on fruits, vegetables, lean proteins etc. I used to think I was eating healthy and I totally changed my diet around. Over the past month sin I really changed my eating habits I've lost about ten lbs.

I think I'm eating pretty healthy, I usually eat multi-grain cheerios for breakfast, with skim milk, some fruit. For lunch I have some whole grain bagel slims, with some Boars head low sodium cold cuts, and lowfat cheese, if any. Or I might have a salad. For a snack, usually some yoplait yogurt, and blueberries, or another type of fruit. For dinner I will have some whole grain rice, chicken, and veggies. So I think I'm eating healthy?

sounds decent except the bagel, cold cuts and cheese which are useless. Personally I stay away from dairy- it does nothing for me. Also add more healthy snacks as well.

I will try cutting the cold cuts our, I figured since their Boars Head brand that maybe their healthy, I figured if I eat chicken, and turkey for lunch, that I'm getting the protein that I need. You suggested cutting this out, but wouldn't it be the same if I eat salad and pieces of chicken in it, as opposed to a whole grain bagel, with chicken, or turkey cold cuts?

I have no idea what Boar's Head is.
I've heard the bagel thins are a little lower in calories if you like the sandwhich thing. If you want meat, and have time one of the best things you can do is just buy some raw chicken, season it yourself (I prefer a simple black pepper and garlic rub) cook it how you like (I don't have an oven so I grill everything on the George Foreman grill. Slice that up and have it as a sandwhich. There's a lot of sodium in the cold cuts and it pretty much outweighs the protein you get. But making it homemade you get the protein, but not all of the additives and crap that comes from packaged food.

A salad is not the same as a bagel. Maybe you should talk to a nutritionist.

I don't understand this obsession with 1200 calories. It's not a magic number that every woman on earth should be at to lose weight. If you're around 200 lbs you need to eat a lot more than 1200 cals to maintain your weight. Start eating at your maintenance level to restore your metabolism to the proper level. Take your maintenance level, subtract 500 from it, and eat that much every day except on one day of the week where you eat at/slightly above maintenance to keep your metabolism high.

The best thing about this is that you don't need to exercise. In fact, it's probably hurting you because you're exercising too much. Go lift some heavy weights and get stronger.

I will speak for myself. I have used 1200 to show that a person (woman/man) shouldn't eat below 1200 calories a day period.

As for exercise, weight training is exercise and no one should only do weight training. Cardio is good for the body.

1) the poster above you said dairy is useless, but I read a paper that showed the best diet for weight loss (even more specifically fat loss) is a high protein high dairy diet.

2) there is nothing magical about 1200 calories, everyone is different, so absolutely any time you say something is absolute, you are absolutely incorrect. Especially if a person is obese, the body has enough fat stores to compensate for a low calorie intake.

To the op:

1) you should try talking to a nutrition professional, you may be a special case, where the norms that work for us average people do not work for you.
2) how long do you try something before you say it doesn't work? If you are upping your calories for a week, that's probably not long enough to know whether or not that intake is good for you. You should give any changes a month to see how they are. Also, don't just look at your average intake. I was in a "plateau" for a month and I realized from my diaries that I was going into my deficit almost half the time. And one night at applebees I ate my whole weeks deficit. But I kept saying "I'm really good most of the time, why isn't it working!?" it wasn't working because a net of 1200 works for me... More than that doesn't, and I wasn't low enough
3) you should get a food scale to make sure you are precise about what you eat. And log like 100 calories if your friend pressures you into trying their amazing desert/ whatever. Those things you don't intend to eat can add up and you have to be honestly accountable for what you eat. Also, you should have a hrm to gauge your output. People have a documented tendency to over estimate how many calories they burn and under estimate their intake
4) unpopular view: if you tried upping calories for a month and gained, you really might have to lower your intake. 1200 isn't magical and doesn't work for everyone.

Bump

When you are burning calories and consuming very little your body believes that there isn’t enough food sources available and so it’s trying hard to store fat for the next lean times, sure a low cal intake day is ok here and there but we should try and eat/drink at least 1200. I agree with a lot of what every one else is say with some exceptions just keep going and try to maintain the same general calorie intake and eat back some of your exercise calories. Incorporate strength training and measure your self once in a while. I didn’t want to know how big I was around the middle at first but one day I will be able to look back and be glad that I am not that big any more.

Remeber you can do it.

First find out what your BMR is. At the very least this is what you should be eating if you exercise. IMO, your calories are too low.

The commonly recommended minimum for men is actually 1500 but it really depends from person to person. If you weigh 200 lbs, you have different a calorie requirement than someone who weighs 120 lbs.
Why should no one only do weight training? That's a pretty bold statement.

Why should a person only weight train and not do any cardio?

You're not answering my question.
Cardio is detrimental to recovery and I would prefer to get stronger and bigger. Also, cardio plays no role in both weight change and composition change.

The commonly recommended minimum for men is actually 1500 but it really depends from person to person. If you weigh 200 lbs, you have different a calorie requirement than someone who weighs 120 lbs.
Why should no one only do weight training? That's a pretty bold statement.

Why should a person only weight train and not do any cardio?

You're not answering my question.
Cardio is detrimental to recovery and I would prefer to get stronger and bigger. Also, cardio plays no role in both weight change and composition change.

But cardio is definitely good for your heart....

I don't see why either one is useless...a combo of strength training and cardio is a great idea for the majority of people who are not only looking to get bigger.

The commonly recommended minimum for men is actually 1500 but it really depends from person to person. If you weigh 200 lbs, you have different a calorie requirement than someone who weighs 120 lbs.
Why should no one only do weight training? That's a pretty bold statement.

Why should a person only weight train and not do any cardio?

You're not answering my question.
Cardio is detrimental to recovery and I would prefer to get stronger and bigger. Also, cardio plays no role in both weight change and composition change.

But cardio is definitely good for your heart....

I don't see why either one is useless...a combo of strength training and cardio is a great idea for the majority of people who are not only looking to get bigger.

Sure, mixing the two can give good improvement in cardio at the expense of strength gains. My point was that there is a good reason to only weight train (e.g. limited time, focus on strength gains, etc.) but there is no good reason to only do cardio.

Going to reiterate what you've heard from many: be scrupulous and ruthless and honest in your food logging. Restaurant meals are killers and add up so quickly it's ridiculous. Even "light" or "fit"choices are more calories than I usually eat for a meal and that's not counting any pre-meal bread, etc. Prepared and processed foods are often empty calories even if they seem nutritious. If you haven't been using MFP to review your daily nutrient intake, you should start doing so. You'll be able to see where your protein intake is, sodium, etc. For many of us, MFP protein goal is too low-my dietitian wants me closer to 55 than 45 for my age and weight.

Be brutally honest about your portions and your exercise calories. Round up your portions in MFP if in doubt and round down your exercise calories. Weigh and measure everything you put in your mouth. If you are guesstimating, odds are you're wrong a good portion of the time.

And as for gaining weight and fluctuations: ignore short term stuff, it's meaningless, esp. if you have been honest about logging and you're close to net calorie goal.. For example, on Thursday I weighed 183. Yay!! Friday I weigh 182.6--yay again, but too close to just hitting 183 so I know it's not a real loss. Saturday I attend a several hour tailgate where I don't drink much alcohol but I eat a lot of salty stuff; exercising after I come home, gets me to 1200 net for the day. Sunday I weighed 187, this morning I weighed 188 and my rings were tighter than usual and I can tell I've retained a lot of fluid from the carpal tunnel symptoms acting up. After work I weighed myself while I'm changin my clothes, I'm at 185. I can tell from the way my rings fit now that I would probably weigh less if I were to weigh myself now because my fluid retention is decreasing.

I tell you this boring story to illustrate how the short term weight loss and gain isn't the measure to use. You don't magically "gain" a pound of permanent weight overnight, and you also aren't going to magically lose it that quickly either.