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

Options
13567

Replies

  • Labcoathipster
    Options
    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!!
  • Onesnap
    Onesnap Posts: 2,819 Member
    Options
    I think you are not eating enough for the amout of exercising you are doing.

    Agreed.
  • tank2260
    tank2260 Posts: 10 Member
    Options
    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!
  • ViSabbi
    ViSabbi Posts: 120 Member
    Options
    There's no secret here. You drink enough water, but you need to boost up your calories because you are way more active than someone who does nothing and you go over your 30% calorie down. Get an approximation of your lean muscle weight and fat %, there is some websites where you can calculate it based on your mesurements. Another awesome thread that might help you, it sure helped me:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/447397-my-plateau-nutrition-story-learn-from-my-mistakes

    Also, go for smaller fruits or fruits with lower carb than bananas. It's healthy to eat fruits but it depends on which ones and the quantities. Boosting your protein intake, lowering your carb one is a way to help your weight go down. I hope this helps! :)
  • jackfishjm
    Options
    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
  • jujuwoome
    Options
    I might even suggest taking a day or two off from exercising. You work out hard every day. Give those muscles some time to rest and recover!
  • gnrshelton
    gnrshelton Posts: 358 Member
    Options
    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.
  • editress
    editress Posts: 25 Member
    Options
    I know how frustrating is is but I do believe you are eating too little. You should be eating you workout calories.

    There are people who have lost constantly on what is called "zig-ging".
    You eat high and low calorie days . It supposedly keeps your metabolism going.
    Here are two sites.

    http://www.naturalphysiques.com/64/zig-zag-calculator-for-fat-loss-andor-muscle-gain

    http://www.maxdiamondelite.com/zig-zag-calories-for-weight-loss
  • Amy_B
    Amy_B Posts: 2,323 Member
    Options
    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.
  • Skeemer118
    Skeemer118 Posts: 397 Member
    Options
    I agree with the others. Think about having a higher calorie cheat meal once a week to shock your body. To me a cheat meal is going to our favorite Asian place & ordering what I want. I usually can't eat it all anyway & end up taking half home. But the calories I did eat are enough to send a message to my body that we're off the routine. Also, try some healthy fats. Like almonds, walnuts, avacodos, salmon. These are higher in calorie but still healthy choices for bumping up your caloric intake. Good luck!
  • skinny4summer12
    Options
    Thanks again everyone

    Im 5 ft 8 inches

    size 16 clothes

    i dont drink fizzy pop (soda) as i dont like it but i do drink water and then tea, coffee and green tea

    the french fries are crisps 97kcal however i know they are no good for me as they arent natural

    apologies i cant reply to each individual person this is my first post and i havent figured out how to do this yet :)
  • WhyeatKachra
    WhyeatKachra Posts: 404 Member
    Options
    Time to yo-yo up the calories a bit.
    Make your loss settings to 1lb a week. And customize your macros to:
    carbs:40%
    protein:30%
    fat:30%.

    And you will definitely see a movement on that scale...the downward points i mean!
    :)
  • hsharper
    Options
    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.
  • magicalamanda
    magicalamanda Posts: 35 Member
    Options
    When you exercise long enough doing the same amount of time and the same amount of things your body gets used to it. You have to work out harder than what you've been doing. I do some exercise videos and they always say "don't ever get comfortable in your routine you always have to push yourself." Also in the health magazines I've been reading if you can talk but not sing you're working out at a moderate difficultly, and if you can't even talk that's when you're doing the max. I had the same problem and I'm having that problem right now.... SOoooo I'm going to start working out harder and longer!

    ALSO it is good to let your body rest. Having hard work out days and no work out days is better for your muscles and you'll burn more calories..

    Hope that helps
  • jennifat2012
    Options
    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
  • eagle_01
    Options
    I like listening to Fat to Fit radio and there's two podcasts that deal with plateaus. Not a quick fix by any means, but it may give you the reason behind why eating so little and doing so much exercise has caused the weight loss to stall. I only listened to this last week and have upped my calorie intake, and not had any weight gain, but am feeling better generally and hope the weight starts going down.

    Episodes 45 and 121 are particularly good, hope you find them useful

    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/2008/10/fat-2-fit-show-45-breaking-weight-loss-plateaus/
    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/2011/03/fat-2-fit-121-running-and-weight-loss-plateaus/
  • DiannaMoorer
    DiannaMoorer Posts: 783 Member
    Options
    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.
  • Kristinemomof3
    Kristinemomof3 Posts: 636 Member
    Options
    Rest some too. Your body needs to recover.
  • darina23
    darina23 Posts: 114
    Options
    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.
  • Charmetrabailey
    Options
    Hi,

    I haven't used this list yet that I saw on Dr. Oz but it's supposed to be a quick reference of healthy foods . Maybe you could pick a few things off of here to change up your meals....or add some of these foods into your meals? I plan on purchasing a few things off the list this weekend myself! :smile:
Do you Love MyFitnessPal? Have you crushed a goal or improved your life through better nutrition using MyFitnessPal?
Share your success and inspire others. Leave us a review on Apple Or Google Play stores!