Eating 1200kcals and exercising everyday for 1 month...no we

Working out WITHOUT sustaining the energy needed to do it and supply the body for regular function is usually an error on the newbie.
EAT YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
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Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Use the tracker... if it adds calories to your goal due to exercise you should eat them, at least a good portion of them.

Sounds like you are burning off most of the calories you intake, so your body stays in starvation mode as long as it stays there you won't loose the weight. Are you logging you meals and workout here in MFP. Have you measured your waist, hips, neck? you maybe loosing inches which does not always show on the scale.

Try also more veggies. The day that I started eating more veggies and and maybe less dairy/meat/carb/fruit the more weight i lost. It was REALLY hard to change that, and I still love fruits and carbs etc... and eat them... but its important to get a LOT of veggies into your diet. Also make sure you give your body a rest day. It needs to recoup!

are you eating your exercise calories? are you drinking enough water?


Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle building, and reducing fat. This means it is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode).

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

Someone please help me, i have been eating 1200kcals a day since christmas (apart from my bday weekend 20th jan) and i exercise everyday for atleast an hour sometimes two hours, either an aerobic class, strength class, swimming or general gym workout. What am i doing wrong? its so depressing i was hoping to lose 10lb atleast this month x

I was in the same place as you, and I know it sounds crazy but you should up your calorie intake. I was at 1200 a day for two months, working out five times a week with no weight loss whatsoever. I upped my calorie intake, and it's starting to fall off. I basically still work out the same, but adding weights into my routine definitely made a difference as well. Cardio is important, but it's super important to build up your muscles. Good luck and don't let this get you down!!

As has been said, you need to eat more. Your body has most likely entered starvation mode and your metabolism has slowed to a snails pace to preserve the calories you do take it. Cheat meals are a valueable tool! It sends the signal to your body to get out of that starvation mode. Have a cheat meal full of carbs and fats once a week... on the other days focus on high protein foods and veggies. You need to outsmart your body, it takes a while to fully understand what works for you. Good luck and keep it up!

There is no question you are not eating enough of a variety of foods and need to change it up both to loose weight and stay on track - you can't eat what is on the list the rest of your life so you need to learn to loose weight while eating a variety of foods. Just eating them in proper portions.

I agree with the suggestion of changing the breakfast to more protein and less starch. If you are working out that hard everyday you are not helping your body recover. It looks like you have pushed your body into starvation mode and are storing fat. That much exercise with only 1200 calories is definitely sending your body there - if you are working out that hard you are burning nearly that many calories and your body is going to do what it needs to survive.

I admire your work effort but you are not doing yourself any favors. It may have worked the first few weeks but now your body has taken over and is shutting down.

Good luck

I would suggest cutting out the bread and pasta. I know when I eat bread it totally stalls my weight loss. Eat more protein before workouts. I think this would help.

I think you are not eating enough for the amout of exercising you are doing.

This!!!! If you are exercising that much, your net calories are too low. Try adding in another 200 or so calories (at least) and see what happens. You might even add in more calories. I know when I exercise a lot, I need more calories to fuel my workouts. That's when I see a loss on the scale.

I've also been told that excercising too much can cause your body to "freak out" as well. It's good to give yourself at least one off day...so maybe that day you just take your dog for a walk instead of a strenuous workout. Also, from my experience, swimming will tone you up, more than help you lose weight. I would suggest replacing swimming with cardio such as treadmill, eliptical, bike, or row machine. Get that heart rate up, stay up, and you'll burn fat.

it sounds like your body is "stuck".. you need to change something, maybe eat smaller meals more often to boost your metabolism, and try a different wokout routine

Also increase your protein intake. Add more to your breakfast. Maybe in addition to your flakes have a protein bar or shake. Your muscles will love you for the extra protein.

I've been doing the same thing plus I exercise 6 days a week. I have lost 16 lb so far. One trick: eat very light dinners, like a salad, low on dressing, etc. Also, make sure you eat a LOT of protein. Your body needs 2.5 grams of protein per 1 BMI point to lose weight. I've been doing high protein and lower carb intake and it's working for me. Sometimes I just have a protein shake for dinner or some chicken breasts, but I always have a heavy breakfast.