HELP working out and eating 1200 calories NO CHANGE

Your not eating enough apparently..try adding some more calories ..good ones (fruit,veggies,grains)

Gosh, thank you for all your responses. SO nice to see all your helpful information. Will start measuring myself, and eating back my burnt off calories. Also, should I continue lifting weigths? I do chest press, leg press, and 10 pound weights with lunges??

always lift weights

Are you using a HRM when you work out? I didn't get one until about three weeks on MFP and realized MFP's calories burned estimates were way high. I would work out for hours and eat back my calories... only to find out I was eating back way more than I should have been. Like, hundreds and hundreds over. The discrepancy was huge.

don't eat 1200 calories. simple. it's too little.

I've been working out and burning about 400 calories every other day, and eating 1200 to 1300 calories a day for the past 21/2 weeks and I haven't seen any change. Does someone have a daily regiment they follow that I could steal from. Need instructing here I think? Please help, getting married in October and tired of looking the way I do.

You may want to try eating your exercise calories back.

I can tell you how I dropped 25lbs in 6 weeks. I wasn't what anyone would consider heavy. I was musclular but not ripped. I thought there was no way I could lose 15lbs and not look healthy, but we all carry a lot more fat than we think, that aside, I did this:


Caffeine pills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wallmart sells them, $4 for 100 200mg pills, excedrine is also great for energy, one 15-20 minutes before a session, it will give you the energy you need when you are dieting.
weights and cardio (you can skip the weights or just do them once a day) 3 times a day, first session BEFORE ANY MEAL!!!!! LAST session after your last meal!!! Always do cardio after weights and in the morning on an empty stomach!! your body will burn tons of fat!
Carbs under 50,
salads with lettuce, spinach, brocoli.eggs and even shredded cheese(don't go crazy) are great
a teaspoon on peanut butter when you get a sweet craving
NO, NO, NO BREAD or pasta period!!! Wheat or white, none!!
NO NO NO Carbs until after 12 noon!
NO FRUIT!! but lots of vitamins, at the very least, one multi a day, preferrably two
EGGS! eat them, learn to love them!! My cholesterol actually went down and I was eating 6-9 a day! the trick.. your body needs carbs to make the bad stuff!!
Olive oil is ok too!
No fried food or starches!!!
DIET COKES????????????????? SURE, I drink them all the time. no problem, Another thing the "experts" are wrong about.The only thing is they will give you a little more cravings. I really enjoy one with a teaspoon of peanut butter and peanut butter is great for stopping cravings.
At night you might have cravings before bed, drink a protein shake with no more than 3 carbs in it, you should sleep fine.

Count those calories too!!!

Tell yourself you will do this for only one week and then look at yourself in the mirror and decide if you want to continue. This eliminates anxiety and allows you to make the choice without pressure!! Pressure causes anxiety and anxiety causes cravings!!!

You will hit a point at about week 3 or 4 when weight will drop so fast it will litterally scare you, but don't worry, your body will hit a point where it will level off and you will LOVE it!

I really hate when people give unwanted advice so please just ignore this if you don't want it. I did this and it has worked for me ever since. I got down to 5- 6% bodyfat on it and I didn't lose a lot of muscle like so many "experts" say.

I can tell you how I dropped 25lbs in 6 weeks. I wasn't what anyone would consider heavy. I was musclular but not ripped. I thought there was no way I could lose 15lbs and not look healthy, but we all carry a lot more fat than we think, that aside, I did this:


Caffeine pills!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wallmart sells them, $4 for 100 200mg pills, excedrine is also great for energy, one 15-20 minutes before a session, it will give you the energy you need when you are dieting.
weights and cardio (you can skip the weights or just do them once a day) 3 times a day, first session BEFORE ANY MEAL!!!!! LAST session after your last meal!!! Always do cardio after weights and in the morning on an empty stomach!! your body will burn tons of fat!
Carbs under 50,
salads with lettuce, spinach, brocoli.eggs and even shredded cheese(don't go crazy) are great
a teaspoon on peanut butter when you get a sweet craving
NO, NO, NO BREAD or pasta period!!! Wheat or white, none!!
NO NO NO Carbs until after 12 noon!
NO FRUIT!! but lots of vitamins, at the very least, one multi a day, preferrably two
EGGS! eat them, learn to love them!! My cholesterol actually went down and I was eating 6-9 a day! the trick.. your body needs carbs to make the bad stuff!!
Olive oil is ok too!
No fried food or starches!!!
DIET COKES????????????????? SURE, I drink them all the time. no problem, Another thing the "experts" are wrong about.The only thing is they will give you a little more cravings. I really enjoy one with a teaspoon of peanut butter and peanut butter is great for stopping cravings.
At night you might have cravings before bed, drink a protein shake with no more than 3 carbs in it, you should sleep fine.

Count those calories too!!!

Tell yourself you will do this for only one week and then look at yourself in the mirror and decide if you want to continue. This eliminates anxiety and allows you to make the choice without pressure!! Pressure causes anxiety and anxiety causes cravings!!!

You will hit a point at about week 3 or 4 when weight will drop so fast it will litterally scare you, but don't worry, your body will hit a point where it will level off and you will LOVE it!

I really hate when people give unwanted advice so please just ignore this if you don't want it. I did this and it has worked for me ever since. I got down to 5- 6% bodyfat on it and I didn't lose a lot of muscle like so many "experts" say.

I'm interested to hear what happened after the 6 wks?
Was it difficult to adjust to not taking caffine pills or do you just take them all the time now?
What's happened with your weight/body fat when you resumed eating normal balanced meals? Or do you continue to eat this way now?
How long has it been?
Curious.

Let me clairfy, I worked out 3 times a week, twice a week. 2 times a day every other day and I continue to do that now. I work out Mon - Sat and take off Sunday. Saturday I only workout once and I do legs that day. I originally did that April 2011 and my starting weight was 226 and my ending weight was 199-98. As of today I am 207 which is heavier than usual but I am doing very heavy lifts to get ready for a competition this summer. I am normally 200-204. I try to stay within 2 weeks of my goal wait all the time. I am attempting to go down to 190 for the competition.

Caffeine, yes I take it almost every day. normally only one tab a day but sometimes if I feel sluggish I will take one before each workout. Another thing I like to do is keep one next to my bed with a glass of water on my early jogging days(5:30am) I wake up and immediately take the pill, within 20 minutes, I cannot stay in bed and I amd ready for my run. This works great!!!!

Normally my diet is not 100% clean, only when I want to get ripped and then I will occasionally eat a candy bar or something else with simple carbs. I only do this about once or twice a week. I am not in that mode yet, I will start in 2 weeks. Now I keep it somewhat clean but I am doing a lot of lifting and cardio so my fat is not very high but I am not nearly ripped enough. It is not healthy to stay that way and I know this because my body will fight me very hard when I get real low on my fat %.

I hope I answered all your questions. One thing I found after years of trying everything is that you have to do cardio, or at least I do, Every diet that I have ever seen that guarentees rapid weight loss is LOW carbs and Lots of cardio, I have found that you can do anything with those two.

Just guessing, but this may be too many calories for your metabalic rate. Have you ever had it measured by an MD or figured it out on your own. MFP says my intake should be 1660 and that is way to much for me to drop pounds.

well you said it yourself 'working out and eating 1200/1300 cals'..you're body is starving, if you workou at least 3-5 times a week you should be eating aroudn 1400/1700 depending how much you excercise...

^ this. 1200 isn't a magical number & it's really low for MOST people (unless you're just really short or something it's most likely to be) You should almost always eat above your bmr or else you're just doing damage to your body whether you realize it or not.

ummm. I just want to say NOT ENOUGH INFORMATION.

From your post and your information available, you could be 180 lbs. Or you could be a 90 lb anorexic. I will say that if you are eating only 1200 and buring 400, you're netting 800 which isn't enough and can make your body cling to what it has for dear life. There's also a lot in terms of exercise that could be affecting you- when you begin a new exercise program, it's not uncommon for your body to hold on to extra water for a bit. There are just too many variables.

Yes, all of this. I say this all the time, but your body doesn't know the difference between a concentration camp and a diet. You're feeding it enough to survive, but not much else so its clinging onto every last pound.

Also, I follow this and it works: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/557201-how-to-lose-weight-correctly

I really believe it is about the food we consume. I compare my eating habits as I would putting fuel in a car. If the gas is crap then your car runs like crap right? Same with food if you eat crap then you get crappy results not saying that you do but a lot of people don't realize this. Food now a days is full of chemicals and well just plain crap! The first thing I did was cut out soda and fast food and I got almost instant results if you still eat this stuff give it a try. If not then don't worry not everyones metabolism is the same it took me almost 2 years the reach my goal gradual is better for long term results trust me

i have been having this same issue for five weeks so you are not alone hee hee