Aiming for 2lb pw - eating 1200cals - getting 1lb pw if I'm

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  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
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    I'm afraid I've no real advice to offer, but I'm interested to see what others say, as I seem to be in a similar position as you. And it's not as though I've already lost loads of weight! I still have loads to lose, but it's moving infuriatingly slowly. :frown:

    I really wonder sometimes about eating back the exercise calories - I know everyone says it's the right thing to do, but I think I might try NOT eating them back.

    Hope you find a way to get things moving again! (& if you do, let me know & I'll copy you! :laugh: )

    I've seen 3 dietitians who say if your not in a healthy BMI range but above it you DON'T have to eat your exercise calories back unless your hungry. When your closer to goal you have to eat more apparantly because the body will eat away at muscle around your organs if you don't eat enough. I don't eat my exercise calories back unless I'm hungry for them (I usually want a couple of hundred more if I've done a big work out) and I've lost 56lbs that way. X
  • mallory3411
    mallory3411 Posts: 839 Member
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    Try eating more. I'm 192 and eat a minmum of 1,700 calories a day and every week I have a loss.

    With anything though you need to give it some time. Just because you set the goal to 2lbs per week doesn't mean you will get that every week.
  • MountainMia
    MountainMia Posts: 242 Member
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    Looks like you've been at this for a while and doing well with building habits. I understand the frustration of working hard and not seeing results. Without seeing exactly what you are doing for exercise and nutrition, it's hard to say what little changes could bring more happy results for you. Bumping up your calories could help, but I suggest making sure they are healthy calories loaded with protein and good fats if you are really pushing your exercise.
    I'm 245 and my goal is about 1600 cals a day. I'm slightly active (stay at home mom) and don't log what I do to keep the kids, dog and house running smoothly, but I DO log my intentional exercise and eat back some or most of those calories. I'v averaged a 3.6 lb loss every week and I'm not hungry... and not taking appetite suppressents. I played with my protein levels a bit and upped them to about 120 g pd. That was a huge help! Everyone runs a bit differently, but I would suggest experimenting a bit with one thing at a time. If the caloric boost doesn't help, play with the composition of those calories in your 'customize goals' section.
    Good luck! Feel free to add me if ya wanna see what I'm up to.
  • csquirrel
    csquirrel Posts: 6
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    Remember that slow and steady wins this race. It's not a diet that you'll stop doing when you hit your goal weight and fitness level. It's a new life plan. Losing 1 lb per week is a healthy and maintainable goal. Also it will make it easier for you to keep the weight off in the long run as you will have more time to adjust to your new lifestyle.

    Do you have a food plan or are you eating just less of what you were before? Maybe change the foods that you are eating to more vegetables and lean protiens. Take a a good hard look at your food plan. Are you weighing and measuring all of your foods? Are you using heaping measurements or leveling off? Are you packing your measuring cups when you measure? Be really honest with yourself. You're the only one that will benefit or suffer from your actions.

    Stay positive and know that you are doing great. Celebrate your success of 1 lb per week.

    Cheryl
  • EatClenTrenHard
    EatClenTrenHard Posts: 339 Member
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    Make sure you do weightlifting.

    Cardio will not help it.

    There is no starvation mode. Its an excuse for people not to follow strict diet(to make them feel better)

    EDIT: Cardio will help it, but it needs to be at least 1 hour INTERVAL cardio.
  • MountainMia
    MountainMia Posts: 242 Member
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    Make sure you do weightlifting.

    Cardio will not help it.

    There is no starvation mode. Its an excuse for people not to follow strict diet(to make them feel better)

    EDIT: Cardio will help it, but it needs to be at least 1 hour INTERVAL cardio.

    Well, sort of.

    Weight lifting helps build muscle, which burns fat. It's really helpful for the long run. But it adds or maintains "weight" in the short run because muscle has weight too. Also, strenuous work that makes you sore, retains water which also has weight.

    Cardio burns calories and helps strengthen your heart and aid other body functions. Experts reccommend a minimum of 20 min a day and it can definitely help break a plateau if you change it up in intensity, frequency or time. It can also give you more of a deficit in your daily caloric balanc with out making you feel hungry or drained. This can be very helpful, but it is personal and depends on your body and lifestyle. It's not bad to mix it up, and interval training is fantastic.

    Starvation mode is a term too loosly used, but conveys a true principle that our bodies do naturally adapt to our conditions. If you are eating too few calories consistently over a long period, your metabolism and other chemicals in the body will adapt to this altered state and find a homeostasis or balance in this new condition. It's not starving... especially if you have fat stores. But it will slow down your weight loss progress as your body attempts to find balance. It's homeostasis at an uncomfortable altered condition, which is really hard to maintain... thus why 80%of "diets" fail. Mixing things up in the calorie department has been proven to help... but small adjustments and healthy choices are reccommended, not a Krispy Kreme bender.
    It's personal. Experiment with it. MFP is a great tool and you can customize it to get the results you want.
  • lauehorn
    lauehorn Posts: 183
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    I'm 224lbs aiming to get down to 154lbs and the weight's not shifting. I'm aiming for 2lb pw eating the recommended 1200cals pd - doing hard exercise and eating most of those cals back but only getting 1lb pw if I'm lucky. I was thinking about going up to 1400cals pd but then I might not lose anything!
    Any ideas anyone? please:angry:

    1200 calories is likely too low. Calculate your BMR and never eat below that. It's the minimum your body needs to survive. It may seem counterproductive, but you can't just cut 1,000 calories and automatically get 2 pounds/week. 1,000 off your diet may be more than your body can handle. Search for the Olivia method on MFP. I've found it to be the most successful way to achieve sustainable weight loss. Also, if you are eating whole foods and minimizing refined sugar and junk, your body will tell you when its hungry and you can eat for fuel, not for emotional reasons, boredom, or just because its around. Change your relationship with food!
  • dlcam61
    dlcam61 Posts: 228 Member
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    It could be from too low of calories, eating too many starchy carbs, not enough exercise (I did see you said you are working out hard, but didn't say your schedule) or too much sodium causing water retention. On the flip side, if these are all in check (can't tell, can't see your diary) then it could be added muscle and fat loss have been at equilibrium on your scale. Weight lifting is great for increasing your basal metabolic rate so I hope you are doing that along with a good cardio routine that gets your heart pumping, but not over your max heart rate. There's several calculators on the internet, just google them if you are unsure. But above all else keep up the great work. 1 pound loss is good!! Slower the loss the more likely it is to stay off :flowerforyou:
  • cantjustcant
    cantjustcant Posts: 1,027 Member
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    You have lost 5 pounds in 25 days!!! That is not too shabby.
  • Jesamess
    Jesamess Posts: 12
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    I completely feel ya! :( Frustrating..... I'm about 5'3" and am floating around 205-210 and MFP says 1200/day. And I hardly ever sleep cause I have 4 small kids and work graveyard while they are sleeping. I don't know....just feel like it still should be able to happen......
  • Bevbl3
    Bevbl3 Posts: 39 Member
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    Check out the Goals page.

    I'm 202lbs and if I set to lose 2lbs a week it gives me 1200 calories a day but the Projected loss shown on the goals page says to expect 1.6lbs so 1200 is clearly not worth doing.

    If I change to 1.5lbs a week it give me more calories and tells me to expect to lose 1.5lbs, same with 1lb a week etc..

    The 1200 is not a magic number an will only be appropriate when you are close to goal.

    Change your target loss to 1 or 1.5lbs a week and eat those calories and you will lose.

    I am set to 1lb a week and consistently lose more. I like to have the comfort that if I'm a little under but still over 1200 I may lose a bit more but also if I'm a little over but still in the 0.5lb loss range then I may still lose but not as much - it give me a lot more flexibility and a lot less disappointment. My daily calorie goal is 1480 at present and I'm set as sedentary as I have a desk job .

    Feel free to add me as a friend if you like xx
  • cantjustcant
    cantjustcant Posts: 1,027 Member
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    I'm 224lbs aiming to get down to 154lbs and the weight's not shifting. I'm aiming for 2lb pw eating the recommended 1200cals pd - doing hard exercise and eating most of those cals back but only getting 1lb pw if I'm lucky. I was thinking about going up to 1400cals pd but then I might not lose anything!
    Any ideas anyone? please:angry:

    I am guessing you are probably around 5'6 (this is about my goal weight too for my height) I am at 194 now and my base calories have never been less than 1330!!! That is set on light active bmr and 1.5 pounds a week.
  • Clarevmb
    Clarevmb Posts: 211 Member
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    Are you using a heart rate monitor to calculate your exercise calories? If you've just started working out, you may not be getting anywhere near the averages MFP calculates for exercise---and this seems to be especially true for the bigger people I work out with (and yes, they seem to be working HARD!) For example, I had a woman in my kickboxing class that MFP was calculating at over 1000 calories per hour, but when she finally got an HRM, it turned out to be more like 700....Her results had been like yours---doing everything right and more or less maintaining. Once she got her burn correct, she was able to hit the right intake and started losing "on schedule".

    I agree MFP only gives an average value for exercise done. I have just bought a HRM and found that the 300cals I was claiming for 30DS is only 197-200 in reality. Thinking about it though I'm doing ok with level 1 on the DVD but this would be no where near someone who is doing level 3 competently!
    I like the idea someone suggested to not do exercise but keep to 1200 cals per day for a week or eat fewer calories back if you don't have a HRM
  • jennbudden
    jennbudden Posts: 6
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    my little story is kinda like yours i started at 228lbs after i had both of my kids. i saw a horrible picture of me and then began ti look through all my recent photo albums . ewww was all i could say. the next day i gore my gym membership and threw away all the junk food and stocked up on spinach for a salad every night and eggs and toast for lunch fruit and yogurt for breakfast. it was very repetitive but it worked so i stuck to what i know would work. i went to the gym 6 days a week and 2 hours a day. 3 months later i was 50lbs lighter then i hit a plateau and switched everything up i did herbal magic for 5 months to help loose another 25lbs. it was expensive but a change. then i did ideal protein for 1 week for 10 lbs it was hard to stick ti then i took off my summer gained it all back except my 50 lbs now important back into the gym cause the other stuff was not permanent. i uped my protein intake with protein smoothies mixed with raspberries. its working again its only day 2 for my gym days again but down 2 lbs already oh and i drink 3 liters of water every day. try what u can cause different things work for different people as we r not made the same. i hope this helped some. good luck on urn journey to a new and happy u. it will be rough but price to yourself. and everyone your strong and determined
  • sharleengc
    sharleengc Posts: 792 Member
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    I started at 208 with a goal of 2lb pw and 1200 calories. I went to the gym everyday and ate back at least some of my calories. I didn't always loose the 2pw that I wanted but it was at least a lb.

    A few months into the 2lb pw, I changed it to 1lb pw and a goal of 1370. This works about the same for me as 2pw and I can eat a lil more without exercising (this is also good cuz I moved to an area with no gym)...I am still loosing which is fine with me.

    Also, check your measurements...sometimes the scale does not move for me but I can move my belt to a smaller notch.

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