How do you know if you're undereating and/or working out too

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jrom22
jrom22 Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi Fellow MFP Community,

I wonder if I might solicit your input regarding my weight loss questions at a time when I am feeling very low about it...

I've been on a 1200 calorie a day regime for a 3.5 months now with pretty decent success. I try to work out 5-6 times a week, usually for between 50-70 minutes. However, about a month ago, around the same time I joined a gym, I started jogging for the first time in a while. Since then my weight loss had tapered off or I've even gained a pound or two some weeks (though I usually wait until I have a loss to post it). I am very frustrated since I'm working really hard at the gym, eating healthy and within a modest calorie range, and yet the scale isn't moving much or sometimes it even moves in the opposite direction.

I was wondering if maybe I'm over-training or not eating enough and whether my body went into starvation mode, but today when I saw my Dr. he said 1200 may be too many calories for me!!! I may need to eat more like 800. Help!!! I don't think I can do that, especially if I'm working out hard. Does that make sense to anyone? I know sometimes you hit plateaus, but I feel like I'm doing something wrong, not to mention that it's getting harder to stay motivated (although I haven't "cheated").

Has anyone else experienced this when you started working out more? Any ideas how to break the cycle? I know some people say muscle weighs more than fat so that may be what's going on, but that saying is only a myth so what am I doing wrong?

Any help, advice, and stories you can share would be much appreciated!

Thank you! :smile:
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Replies

  • karleen
    karleen Posts: 260
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    if you work out that hard every day and only eat 1200 calories you're really in the negative calories wise. you should eat your calories back that you burn off. the 1200 is just the base calories you'd need to say, lay in bed all day long..
  • webfootcajun
    webfootcajun Posts: 41
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    I am in the same boat, very frustrating. I changed my goal to 1/2 lb a week which upped my calories and i started at the gym, whiched upped my work out calories. Its only been a few days but i have gone from 1300 cals a day to 2000 - 2200. no changes yet (either way). Would love to hear input on this.
  • perdie7
    perdie7 Posts: 278 Member
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    I am not a medical professional, but I think 800, is not enough calories for anyone. Use the tracker here on my fitness, it will tell you how many calories you should have based on your weight and activity level, then add in extra for exercising.

    As for not loosing weight when you started the fitness, you are probably building muscle. Muscle weighs more that fat, and takes up less space. Measure your legs, waist, and hips...I'll bet if you keep track of that as well as weight you will find they are going down.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I knew when I started gaining weight and couldn't take it off to save my life. I tried lowering calories, exercising more, all the things one would think would work.

    In desperation, I upped my calories and now I'm losing.
  • hails62
    hails62 Posts: 16 Member
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    For one thing I can't believe your doctor said to eat arond 800 cals!! Anyone I've every spoke to has always said 1200 is the lowest benchmark to remain healthy..how can 800 cals mean your getttin all the nutrients u need?

    I'v been working out and eating better since March and its been verrrry slow going, some months lose few, others put on and others stay the same..so i can understand your fustration, recentally within the last 2 months though I've shaken up my diet and changing it around every 2 weeks or so, doing low carb some week, low fat some weeks, more cals some weeks etc, plus changing up my exercise in gym getting new programmes done up every 3-4 weeks to make my body work harder.....and finally it seems to be working! Weight is starting slip bit more and I can see myself toning and shaping up. Why don't you give it a go? Your body can become to used to eating less, and the same meals and it becomes used to working out the same. Also make sure your not working out too much....your body needs rest days! 3-5days a week should be plenty.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    It sounds like you may have hit a plateau. Try increasing your calories for a little while to see if that helps. And you should definitely make sure you're eating all of your exercise calories.
  • skingszoo
    skingszoo Posts: 412 Member
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    When I would get into my ruts like that I would have a cheat day. Not log anything and eat what I wanted. It usually jump started the loss again. You might want to up your calories for a week to see but yeah if you are working that hard you should probably eat more. Maybe set your option (if sedetary) to active. But NO 800 is not enough!!!
  • SabrinaJL
    SabrinaJL Posts: 1,579 Member
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    I was sticking to 1200 cals and working out for 90 minutes, 6 days a week. 2 weeks of no loss. 2 weeks ago, I upped my calories a bit, worked out a little less and I lost 2 lbs the first week and 3 last week.
  • skingszoo
    skingszoo Posts: 412 Member
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    Also another thing when I was training for my half marathon the only excersise I was getting was running and I would not loose weight at all. My body has to have strength training in there to loose the weight which means I must have a healthy heart if just cardio wont do anything for me :-)
  • hails62
    hails62 Posts: 16 Member
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    oh and try stay clear of scales! they are the devil :) go be measurements and how your clothes fit, as others have said muscle weighs more than fat and if your toning and shaping up you'll notice
  • Tegan74
    Tegan74 Posts: 202
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    Set your activity lvl up to reflect how much exercise you do. Then be aware that if you log cardio in you will be really under on calories, but that will give you a better idea of what you need to eat. 1200 is a base line, the least you need to eat, WITHOUT exercise to lose weight.
    I found a different calculator that put it in those terms, if you exercise 3 - 5 times a week, or not at all etc. For some reason I had to see it THAT way as opposed to 'what do you do during a normal day' for it to make sense to me :)
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
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    Is your dr. specifically trained in nutrition and weightloss? Some are, some aren't...... Dr's that don't specialize in nutrition don't get a super-detailed education in it from what I hear. Plus if ALL he said was 'go down to 800 cal' and he didn't give you any advice on nutritional content, IDK but I'd wonder where he pulled that 800 number from. You'd think if he wanted you to go on a very low calorie diet and knew what he was doing, he'd give you some input into WHAT exactly those 800 calories should include (ration of protein, carbs, etc). Since it's harder to get in adequate nutritional values at a lower calorie restriction, you'd think that he'd give top prority to telling you how to manage the nutrition part of your weightloss efforts. IDK. Seems odd if he didn't do that.

    I'm no expert but for me personally, staying with my MFP-determined 1200-ish goal and eating back my exercise calories has worked really well. And the funny thing, which also agrees with what others have already said, is that sometimes when I go out of town and have NO time to exercise and go over on my calories, when I get back home and weigh-in I will have suddenly lost weight that I wasn't expecting. A lot of people say that having a day every now and then that's higher than usual is good for your body during weightloss. And so far I've experienced that to be true for me. I wouldn't do it multiple times a week and I wouldn't go WAY over, but if I were you I might try it and see what happens.

    Also, try taking your measurements and then during those times when the scale isn't doing what you want it to do, take your measurements again and see if there have been any positive changes. Sometimes you can see results in the mirror and in measurements but not so much on the scale. It might help keep you motivated if you track results other than what you see on the scale. :-)
  • Bella3119
    Bella3119 Posts: 104
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    That's scary...800 calories a day??? I had the same issue and I spoke with my nurtionist. She said that I was eating right and doing well excising. Her suggestion to me was to get more sleep (7-8 hours a night instead of my usual 5-6) and to eat my carbs earlier in the day as opposed to at night. It worked for me.
  • jrom22
    jrom22 Posts: 7
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    Thanks for your input, everyone! This is really helpful. I will try to add some calories, since usually I do NOT eat back what I exercise... I thought I may be eating too little, but then when my doc said to lower intake even more I was baffled. And no he didn't give me guidelines as to content, but generally he recommends and I follow, a low carb, low fat diet. I only eat breads or sugar on very, very rare occasions. Well, I just made an appointment to see a nutritionist too. I wish my gym had trainers that could guide me more regarding my exercise routines, but Planet Fitness around here doesn't have that. I wonder if sometimes my workout is too intense because my heart rate is up at the maximum for my age for most of the time.

    Thank you for sharing!
  • raige123
    raige123 Posts: 352
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    It could be your low carb diet. If I drop below 80 carbs a day I won't lose anything. Just a thought.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    Thanks for your input, everyone! This is really helpful. I will try to add some calories, since usually I do NOT eat back what I exercise... I thought I may be eating too little, but then when my doc said to lower intake even more I was baffled. And no he didn't give me guidelines as to content, but generally he recommends and I follow, a low carb, low fat diet. I only eat breads or sugar on very, very rare occasions. Well, I just made an appointment to see a nutritionist too. I wish my gym had trainers that could guide me more regarding my exercise routines, but Planet Fitness around here doesn't have that. I wonder if sometimes my workout is too intense because my heart rate is up at the maximum for my age for most of the time.

    Thank you for sharing!

    Common sense says the less you eat. the more you lose. Unfortunately (or fortunately!) our bodies don't listen to common sense and we're all different.

    Now, I"m not saying what worked for me WILL work for you, but I will say that it's at least worth trying.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Is that 50-70 min just aerobic?
    Or includes strength as either weight lifting directly, or weights in a class setting?

    You may be hitting a plateu, or tired system.

    Good to hear using HRM. Have you seen the need to lower the speed or intensity to keep the HR at the same high level?
    You can also do some self-tests for estimated max HR, which is much better than formula. My MHR is about 13 beats higher than age estimate.
    In fact, if your workout is mostly at what is calculated max, that is probably near your actual tested Lactate Threshold.

    You may need some recovery too at that kind of level.
    Do you measure HR every morning? If not, too late for a base level to be known, but you should try just noticing. If it starts going up, overtraining may be happening.

    But even now, take a week off. Adjust diet accordingly, or stick to it very well. And only exercise is walking.
    See if you don't come back stronger, and start some weight loss again.
    Though as others said, new muscle for new routine means more fat burning potential, even if weight does go down initially.

    You might also see about some intervals, which are known to burn fat much better than plain aerobic routines. But the day after intervals needs to be recovery.

    I find it incredible that a Dr would say 800 calories when you work out at your intensity, which is excellent.
  • jessicah0114
    jessicah0114 Posts: 2 Member
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    Hello! I have just come across your post and I see that it has been about a year and a half since you posted this, but....

    I would not take the advice that your doctor gave to you saying that you need to be eating around 800 calories.
    You could probably consider eating more fruits and vegetables and upping your calorie intake for a week and a half or two (maybe) and see if that makes a difference for you.

    Another thing that you should remember is that a scale only tells your your body weight, NOT how much fat you have on your body. It is not a BMI calculator, it is just telling you how much you weigh as a whole. It doesn't always mean that you are gaining weight after all of your training and exercise. If you think that you are gaining weight, see how much body fat you have and every week you can keep checking for differences, even if the scale says you are heavier.'

    Hope this helps! :)
  • jessicah0114
    jessicah0114 Posts: 2 Member
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    Another thing that I forgot to mention. I do not know what type of exercise you are performing for the 50-70 minutes, but is it aerobic (cardio) or weight and strength training? I have been doing the Insanity program for quite some time now and I hit a plateau also, but doing cardio isn't all that can help you lose those pounds. Weight training can too. That extra muscle will help your metabolism running faster and you can burn more calories throughout the day as well.
  • graceire
    graceire Posts: 323 Member
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    It could be your low carb diet. If I drop below 80 carbs a day I won't lose anything. Just a thought.

    Was about to say this, too! Low carb does not work for me at all. Add back in some good carbs when you up your calories and see if this helps.

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