1200 cal. diet = no wieght loss!!!!?

Question

I am eating a 1200 calorie diet. The minimum for my height and weight. I lost 5 pounds the first week, and nothing for the past two weeks! In addition to the diet I go to the gym at least 4-5x a week. I normally do 40-45 minutes of aerobic at or above my target heart rate, and 30 min of weightlifting. Help!!! What more can I do?? This is alot of hard work, with out seeing any results!

Answer 1

The weight lifting might be building muscle which weighs more.

I'm in the same positition as you except I'm eating about the same amount of cals and I have GAINED 5 lbs!!!!
And I exercise just as much. So I don't know what I'm doing wrong...

Answer 2

While this may seem counterintuitive, you might actually be not eating enough. You are certainly toning your body and adding muscle, but that alone might not explain your stalled weight loss. If you create too large of a calorie deficit, your body can go into what is known as "starvation mode." Basically, it is an evolutionary mechanism that came about thousands of years ago to help the body better store energy during times of famine. If you create too large of a calorie deficit, every time you eat, your body thinks that it might not get anything else for quite some time, so it immediately stores away the calories instead of metabolizing them completely.

I think it would be very helpful for you to find out exactly how many calories you burn each day, through normal activity, basal metabolic rate, and through exercise. Then compare that to how many calories you are eating. If the difference is greater than 500-750 calories per day (on average for a week), you are likely creating an unhealthy calorie deficit that your body is reacting against. One website that can help you figure these numbers out (for free) is www.fitday.com.

If your calorie deficit is not too large, then you should take a hard look at exactly where your calories are coming from. Are you meeting your requirements for 5 fruits and vegetables? Are you drinking plenty of water? Are you eating complex carbs and not refined ones? Are you getting enough lean protein? Try to avoid highly processed foods, even those masquerading as healthful - such as 100 calorie packs, most granola bars, etc. Are you eating frozen meals? Those can have a large amount of sodium, which you would need to drink a lot of water to offset. It would be best to limit those to only a few times per week. Are you completely avoiding fat? That can actually be counter-productive; your body needs some fats (from healthful sources such as olive oil) to function properly.

I hope that this helps, and that you are able to figure out where your plateau is coming from. Best of luck to you!

Edited to add: Oh, and one more little thing: don't let people tell you that muscle weighs more than fat. That's not true. A pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat, and the same as a pound of feathers even! What is really meant is that if you have a pound of muscle and a pound of fat, muscle is more compact so it will take up less space than the pound of fat. This is why you might lose inches without losing pounds.

Answer 3

I noticed that when starting out, usually weight loss is greater and this can be attributed to initial water loss. I have read some info on "starvation" mode or your body adjusting to what you are taking in and that by changing it up a bit, can actually keep your body from going into this mode. Also, I have a rule of thumb, anything you indulge in doesn't show up for a couple weeks and anything you do without won't show up for a couple weeks.

Keep up the good work. And remember, you will start feeling so much better by working out that it will become more a lifestyle than a worry about weight. We're not all made to be swimsuit models.

Answer 4

Are you already at a healthy weight and just want to lose weight for vanities sake. If so diets do not always work because your body wants to do everything in it power to keep you at that weight.. If not than that may be too few calories for you personally and your body may have gone into starvation mode try upping it to 1400 calories and see if you start losing weight. Ideally you should lose 1 to 2 pounds a week.

Answer 5

The fact that you have lost 5 lbs in one week tells me that you are in starvation mode and here is why:

It takes a 3500 calorie deficit to lose 1 lb of fat which means that trying to lose 5 lbs of fat in one week is to maintain a 2500 calorie deficit per day. Based on your workout, I really do not think that burned 3700 calories per day (1200+2500).

The 5 lbs that you lost was mostly muscle (sign of starvation mode). The lost muscle caused your resting metabolic rate to plummet after which you stopped losing weight. Your body will enter starvation mode if your carbs or protein drops too low.

You should make sure that your meals are balanced based on your lean mass.

Here is some info on caloric requirements and fat loss.

http://www.spartafit.com/articles/requirement%20for%20calories.html
http://www.spartafit.com/main/fat%20loss.html

Answer 6

Yes, your weight-lifting is probably building muscle which weighs 4 times more than fat. If you want to focus on losing weight, drop the weight-lifting for now until you hit your target weight. Try that for 2 weeks and see if the scales budge any (I'm betting they will). Just focus on your diet and cardio activity.

Answer 7

just wait!!! it will go down after that. when i was on a diet.. just started it, i lost 5 lbs the first week and then like 1lb after the second one, but then it just stopped losing weight and after a month, you will lose more weight. remember, when u exercise your fat is burning and the stomach gets softer when u lose weight, it becomes hard again.. and so u gotta exercise to make it soft again and then u will drop the weight. keep doing what u r doing bcuz u r doing it right.

Answer 8

What are you drinking? Are you drinking sugar free drinks? Are you drinking alcohol? Alcohol will kill a diet.

Sometimes you reach a plateau and you have to cut down the calories to 800 or 900 and continue the exercise.

Answer 9

if I eat too few calories, I don't lose weight. I have to eat at least 1500 calories to lose anything. lately I've noticed that I'm losing inches and not pounds. measure yourself to see if you're losing inches and not losing weight because of the aforementioned muscle gain. do your clothes fit better or looser?

Answer 10

It sounds like you maybe turning fat into muscles, or you can be loosing inches as well. Stay off of the scale this can drive you crazy. i do the same thing. (lol) Don't worry keep it up in the end it will show I promise.