Why haven't I lost weight in 2 weeks ??

rachelilb
rachelilb Posts: 179 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started my weight loss journey about 3 months ago and lost 47 pounds during that time. I have been eating about 1000-1200 calories a day with a few "cheat days" a month and working out about 6 days a week, usually burning all of my calories for the day. I recently started doing 30 Day Shred in addition to my normal workout (40 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of circuit training). Everyone is telling me I need to eat more but If what I was doing in the past was working then why isn't it working now?? Help!

Feel free to look at my food diary
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Replies

  • angiezturn
    angiezturn Posts: 49
    Sounds like you need to break through a plateau. I see the keyword in your post as 'your normal routine". That might be the issue. Our bodies will self adjust to patterns. Mix up your routine, don't do th same thing anymore. Muscle confusion helps break that plateau barrier.
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
    . I have been eating about 1000-1200 calories a day with a few "cheat days" a month and working out about 6 days a week, usually burning all of my calories for the day.

    This might be your issue. If you are eating 1200 calories, and burning off 1200 calories, what is your body surviving on? You should be NETTING 1200 calories a day so your body has the energy for normal functions. Either eat a heck of a lot more, or cut your workouts down drastically, and I think you'll see a change.
  • swkittrell
    swkittrell Posts: 48
    Very interesting
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    Food diary isn't open.

    Not sure what you mean by you "burn all your calories for the day"? Do you mean that through exercise, you aim to burn as many calories as you eat in a day? If so, you are seriously undereating. If that's not what you mean, then it still looks like you aren't getting enough calories. You're doing quite a lot of exercise, so you need to eat to fuel your body. Additionally, from your ticker it seems that you have about 20 lbs to lose, so it would probably work better for you to have a smaller deficit. You've lost a lot in 3 months (congratulations!) but it's not realistic to expect to keep up that rate of weight-loss now that you're closer to your goal. You also risk losing muscle mass from having too large a calorie deficit. (Most people lose a little as they lose weight, but most people want to keep that to a minimum).

    Why don't you try eating a bit more for a few weeks and see what happens?
  • rachelilb
    rachelilb Posts: 179 Member
    I opened my food diary :) ..... Thanks for the tips. I'm just scared that if I eat more I will gain weight. I know it's not right so I just need to get over that fear.
  • peachyxoxoxo
    peachyxoxoxo Posts: 1,178 Member
    Based on your food diary I think you definitely need to be eating more. And in my opinion two weeks isn't a plateau.. weight loss isn't always linear, so keep exercising and eating the right foods and I'm sure you'll start seeing more changes again soon. But please eat a little more. <1000 calories a day isn't healthy especially if you're exercising so much.
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
    I had lost 40 pounds and then hit a wall. Go to the search setting above and type in ipoarm (in place of a road map). Check out all the info in that post and then you may decide (like I did) that my body can not sustain itself of 1100 - 12 00 calories a day +_ exercise. I am on day 1 of eating at 1600 calories (my TDEE - 30%). Hope this helps. Hope this works!!!
  • mibrewer413
    mibrewer413 Posts: 78 Member
    You need to eat more in my opinion just like the above people said. When you eat a very low calorie diet, yes you are going to lose weight fast but are you going to do that the rest of your life? Then when you start eating again, you'll gain weight and that's what causes yo-yo dieting. I base my calories on TDEE minus 500 calories. That way I'm still eating at a deficit to lose weight but I'm not starving my body. And when I do lose all my weight, I'll basically be eating the same amount of calories to maintain my weight.
  • ocukor1
    ocukor1 Posts: 66
    Hi, I've looked at you diary. I think you are eating good things, just I think you should probably have more calories throughout the day, especially breakfast. I also think your protein intake is too low. Protein is important if you workout a lot, protein is a building block that rebuilds your cells, you need some healthy fats too. The weight loss is not so much about working out a lot, it is more about eating right. Each meal should have enough carbs, fats and protein, vitamins and minerals, each one of those are equally important. If you exercise too much and not eat enough or missing some nutrients, your body will stop responding in the way you expect it to. A change in diet perhaps a change in workout routine, doing something different might help you break the current state. Some people get upset when I tell them they need to eat more, and more often, but there is some truth to that. By eating more often, you're also speeding up your metabolism, so whatever you eat also gets metabolized faster. Every day should start with a good breakfast, not just 150-200 calories or a cup of coffee, a breakfast should be 400-500 calories, lunch probably about the same and then some snacks in between leading to less eating in the pm. I don't know your diet that well so I'm not saying that you're doing it wrong, I'm just pointing out things that you might have not thought about, just trying to help, anyway, good luck.
    I started my weight loss journey about 3 months ago and lost 47 pounds during that time. I have been eating about 1000-1200 calories a day with a few "cheat days" a month and working out about 6 days a week, usually burning all of my calories for the day. I recently started doing 30 Day Shred in addition to my normal workout (40 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of circuit training). Everyone is telling me I need to eat more but If what I was doing in the past was working then why isn't it working now?? Help!

    Feel free to look at my food diary
  • rachelilb
    rachelilb Posts: 179 Member
    What is TDEE?? I guess I still have alot to learn :(
  • ocukor1
    ocukor1 Posts: 66
    Total Daily Energy Expenditure, which means the energy required for your body in order for you to gain or lose weight. It is based of BMR - base metabolic rate which is the energy required by your body to function normally even if you just sat around and did nothing.
    What is TDEE?? I guess I still have alot to learn :(
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    What is TDEE?? I guess I still have alot to learn :(
    Read this thread:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    Helloitsdan provides an excellent explanation and offers practical, sensible information regarding calorie intake/weight loss. Probably the most useful post ever on MFP.
  • rachelilb
    rachelilb Posts: 179 Member
    Ocukor1...Thanks for all of your tips. I really appreciate it. I will start eating more for breakfast and try toi work my way up from there. I'm sure eating more will take some time for my body to get used to because of the way I have been eating for the past few months. My TDEE is 1567.





    Hi, I've looked at you diary. I think you are eating good things, just I think you should probably have more calories throughout the day, especially breakfast. I also think your protein intake is too low. Protein is important if you workout a lot, protein is a building block that rebuilds your cells, you need some healthy fats too. The weight loss is not so much about working out a lot, it is more about eating right. Each meal should have enough carbs, fats and protein, vitamins and minerals, each one of those are equally important. If you exercise too much and not eat enough or missing some nutrients, your body will stop responding in the way you expect it to. A change in diet perhaps a change in workout routine, doing something different might help you break the current state. Some people get upset when I tell them they need to eat more, and more often, but there is some truth to that. By eating more often, you're also speeding up your metabolism, so whatever you eat also gets metabolized faster. Every day should start with a good breakfast, not just 150-200 calories or a cup of coffee, a breakfast should be 400-500 calories, lunch probably about the same and then some snacks in between leading to less eating in the pm. I don't know your diet that well so I'm not saying that you're doing it wrong, I'm just pointing out things that you might have not thought about, just trying to help, anyway, good luck.
    I started my weight loss journey about 3 months ago and lost 47 pounds during that time. I have been eating about 1000-1200 calories a day with a few "cheat days" a month and working out about 6 days a week, usually burning all of my calories for the day. I recently started doing 30 Day Shred in addition to my normal workout (40 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of circuit training). Everyone is telling me I need to eat more but If what I was doing in the past was working then why isn't it working now?? Help!

    Feel free to look at my food diary
  • charanne52
    charanne52 Posts: 88 Member
    TDEE stands for Total Daily Energy Expenditure and basically means that if you eat at your TDEE level your body will maintain its' current weight. I try to eat above my BMR (which is the amount your body needs for survival) and below my TDEE every day. There are several web sites which help you calculate your TDEE level but when it asks your exercise level it is asking you about your lifestyle (as in type of job) not what you do for daily exercise.
  • rachelilb
    rachelilb Posts: 179 Member
    My TDEE is 2407 not 1567
  • ocukor1
    ocukor1 Posts: 66
    You need to look up your BMR first (google base metabolic rate formula) then that's going to be your lowest calorie intake, to get TDEE you need to add your activity level to BMR, you can find some formulas on the net to help you with that too. MyfitnessPal actually does that for you, the recommended calorie intake that it gives you based on your weight, activity level and goal is your TDEE.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    Normally I say people suggesting eating more are wrong, but in this case they are indeed right.

    Your calorie intake has been exceptionally low, so what has happened is that over the course of a few weeks of having such a low calorie intake, your body has probably entered starvation mode and has begun doing everything possible to keep it's weight.

    I would suggest not eating fewer than 1200 calories a day. Sometimes this is okay, but try to keep most days above this amount.

    You should do some math here... http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/

    At that site, use the military body fat calculator and also the Calories and BMR calculator there too. Between those, you should see how many calories a day you need as well has how many pounds of body fat you have.

    You should not burn too many calories. From what I have read, theoretically you can only burn 77 calories per kg of body fat. So, take your body fat in pounds as determined by the Military Body Fat Calculator, and divide it by 2.2 to get the kg. From there, multiply it by 77. That is how much you can burn in a day of fat. Now find your TDEE as listed in the other calculator I mentioned and subtract the number of calories of fat you're allowed to burn in a day. That is the number of calories you should not go under.

    This information might not be 100% correct, but I have found it to be very reasonable and reliable.

    ALSO... remember... muscle weighs more than fat... it is possible to GAIN weight while dieting. Just remember that you'll look MUCH better because of the muscle!
  • ocukor1
    ocukor1 Posts: 66
    I hope this helps, but when I started losing weight earlier this year I used the rule of thumb I've found online and it was my weight times ten times 20-40 pct depending on level of activity and it worked out fine for me, I've lost almost 40 pounds in about 3 months.
  • victorialkay
    victorialkay Posts: 70
    I watched an episode of biggest loser once where a father and son where losing weight rapidly and then it came to a holt; Bob their trainer said " you need to eat more" so they followed his advice. That week they lost weight and they could not believe it! If u eat too much then you gain weight but if u don't eat enough your body stores the food like it's in starvation mode. Just try it for a week,my trainer says between 1600 and 1700 a day when exercising for me and I weigh 13.11.5. Search Online for your metabolic rate, see what it says and do not starve your body. Also think of taking a rest week off the exercise if u have not had a week off for a while as your muscles may need a rest. Xx
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
    My TDEE is 2407 not 1567

    If you'll search for IPOARM (In place of a road map) on this site (someone above just gave you the link) , it will tell you how to figure all this out. It is a really good source so you don't have to search all over for the right calculators.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    ALSO... remember... muscle weighs more than fat... it is possible to GAIN weight while dieting. Just remember that you'll look MUCH better because of the muscle!
    Some people consider it pedantic to point it out, but a pound of muscle weighs exactly the same as a pound of fat - 1 pound. Also, given that the OP is eating 800-1000 calories a day and doing cardio/circuit training six times a week, there's not much of a chance that she's building any appreciable muscle.
  • rachelilb
    rachelilb Posts: 179 Member
    TDEE-2407
    BMR-1436
    BMI-33.8

    Current weight 173
    Goal weight 150
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    ALSO... remember... muscle weighs more than fat... it is possible to GAIN weight while dieting. Just remember that you'll look MUCH better because of the muscle!
    Some people consider it pedantic to point it out, but a pound of muscle weighs exactly the same as a pound of fat - 1 pound. Also, given that the OP is eating 800-1000 calories a day and doing cardio/circuit training six times a week, there's not much of a chance that she's building any appreciable muscle.

    Of course 1 POUND weights the same as 1 POUND. You can stay the same weight AND get thinner (and I have a feeling nobody here will complain about getting more toned while losing fat...). That was what I was referring to. Also, depending on her previous activity level, she could be gaining some muscle in the legs (not nearly as much as if she was weight lifting though)
  • Robin_Bin
    Robin_Bin Posts: 1,046 Member
    When you don't eat enough your metabolism does everything it can to slow down (sometimes called starvation mode). It works for awhile, but once your body's metabolism slows, it stops working so well. Then when you eat more, you gain at first because your metabolism is so slow. That's why multiple people have been telling you that you aren't eating enough. Try reading some of the "stuck" posts that explain how that works in more detail.
    Also, don't expect to lose weight all the time. In your case, I expect that the problem is not eating enough, but even if you were doing everything perfectly, sometimes our bodies react to things like weather or hormones (especially monthly cycles) by holding onto water. And there's another possibility. Are you drinking enough liquids.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    TDEE-2407
    BMR-1436
    BMI-33.8

    Current weight 173
    Goal weight 150

    Yep. You need more food per day. Try to add in some extra protein and some good carbs.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    The eating more has already been addressed so I will not comment on that, but you need to remember that water weight can flutuate significantly, especially for women. While weighing weekly is fine in itself, you need to look at the progression over four week periods rather than two (to negate the effects of your cycle).
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    Plain and simple. All this long term under-eating has caught up with you. Time to slowly raise your calories up to your target level.
  • rachelilb
    rachelilb Posts: 179 Member
    Thank you all for taking the time to help me out ! I will slowly start to add more calories and hope that does the trick.
  • Prahasaurus
    Prahasaurus Posts: 1,381 Member
    Oh God please not the "starvation mode" argument. Jeez Louise. You are not in starvation mode!!!!!!!! And ignore anything about "confusing your muscles," which is ridiculous.

    Although I do agree you need to eat a bit more. Although don't force yourself to eat more if you're not hungry. Listen to your body! And be patient. :-)

    And good job on your weight loss to date.

    --P
  • Prahasaurus
    Prahasaurus Posts: 1,381 Member
    Oh, one more thing: two weeks is not a "plateau."

    --P

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