To think I don't need to eat more

[user1489592537]

I am on a journey to losing weight, I have been eating between 1,200-1,400 calories with everything tracked and written into my fitness pal (including oil and cooking prep). I work out three times a week at the gym and walk a lot and have an active job. I drink two litres of water a day, all my meals are healthy and I've been doing this for about one and a half months. I have not lost any weight and seemed to have gained this week, my DH says it's because I'm not eating enough and need to eat over 1600 calories a day but at my height (5ft) and weight (11st) I would just be gaining rapidly?! He's now in a mood with me because I said I wouldn't do it.

If you aren't losing on 1200-1400 calories at your height then you are definitely not counting your calories properly. You need to weigh everything. At your height your maintenance level probably is 1600-1700 and so 1200-1400 should give you a moderate weight loss.

@groupie123 I definitely AM counting my calories correctly thank you.

@simon50 I'm 25 years old I think I can have bread 4 times a week when I work out and have an active job

I'm not complaining about not being able to lose weight I'm saying that it was UB for me to be expected to eat more to rectify.

Are you 5ft?

@tooextramaturechedder yeah I am

I'm not putting this here to offend, or accuse anyone. Just as food for thought, if you will pardon the pun. I do it myself too.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=KA9AdlhB18o

Some people just respond different to different diet types op, no one is trying to offend you. I find I need to cut carbs quite a lot to lose weight to whereas some friends of mine can eat loads of carbs and lose weight. Very annoying but just the way it is.

Read Tim Noakes Real Meal Revolution

He explains very clearly why calorie counting doesn't lead to weight loss, cutting back on carbs does.

Bread and pasta spike your insulin levels and when insulin is high you won't burn fat. You just won't.

If at 1200 Cal's your not losing the problem is your carbs.

Also, just seen your photo. You have a beautiful figure. You appear to be solid muscle (v jealous of your abs)

Honestly maybe you aren't losing cos you don't have much to lose :)

Muscles weighs more than fat. Erm ... yeah it does but you've got to bloody build up the muscle first.

Are you pushing yourself at the gym? I'm close to being sick when I do mine. Not saying you need to but working out doesn't burn as many calories as you think.

You need to work out your bmr.

There is some pseudo science on this thread.

If you aren't losing weight you need to cut your calories further.

Ignore comments about carbs or about you being solid muscle (sorry, you aren't, but maybe one day you'll look muscular when you have lost the fat)

You might seem to be losing more slowly and be bloated if you have water retention, so watch the salt you consume.

You don't need to eat more, just ignore that rubbish advice!

"Muscles weighs more than fat. Erm ... yeah it does but you've got to bloody build up the muscle first"

No, it doesn't. 1lb of fat weighs exactly the same as 1lb of muscle

Fat is less dense and therefore takes up less physical space than the equivalent muscle amount but does not weigh more.

OP you're not the poster who asked if DH was being unreasonable for not knowing exactly how many mushrooms he'd included in your portion of tea so you could track the calories exactly are you?

I would personally ignore the people telling you to dismiss the carb thing, it is definitely something that works for a lot of people. The thing is everyone is so different, so people saying blankly ignore this and that is quite frankly a lot of absolute rubbish. Some people do fine just limiting calories and not caring about carbs but there's plenty of people who really do need to limit their carb intake or at least watch it to see any weight loss. Dieting is just not simple, it took me years to work out what works for me.

If you eat a surplus of 3500 calories you gain a pound, whether you eat pure carbs or zero carbs. If the OP wants to lose weight and eat loads of carbs, that can happen.

I lost 6 stone and kept it off via counting calories. I was / am munching carbs all the time.

Caloric deficit = weight loss

Science

You need to work out your tdee and Bmr that will give you a basis for your calories and your macros muscle also doesn't weigh more than fat a pound of fat is the same weight as a pound of muscle it's the volume that's different. Try Looking at Chloe Madeleys diet plan no fads just simple foods

Yes Nancy, me too (5 1/2 stone so far). You just need to be in a deficit. Wether you create that by lowering your calorie intake, or upping the calories you burn, or a combination of both. A deficit = loss.

Some people who know very little about fitness like to believe in 'starvation mode', whereby if you eat too little you gain weight. Absolute poppycock, usually said by people spitting cake crumbs out you. If it were true, there wouldn't be thin people.

At five foot - I'm a similar height - your basic calorie rate will actually be quite small, and 1400 could be your maintenance figure. Do ensure you're logging accurately, some people love to 'guess' at dinnertime or not bother logging their cooking oils, nibbles of cheese while preparing and so on. With workouts, 1400 really should be OK but it's weird you're gaining on that. Honestly? I'd say dodgy logging. Use scales. Weigh raw.

Get tape measure out - much better than scales

You need to basically find out what your BMR is - the amount of calories you use daily just living - you can find this online. Then to lose 1lb fat per week you need to reduce the calories by 500 a day.
If your BMR is 1700 cals then you need to eat 1200, but it may only be 1500 in which case you only need 1000 a day to lose a pound a week. It's not recommended to eat less than 1200 cals a day though, so in that situation you would have to eat 1200 and burn 200 a day to reach your target.

thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-calories-on-a-non-fast-day/

Calculate your bmr and Tdee here.

Your deficit should be subtracted from your Tdee, not your bmr (your Tdee is your bmr scaled up to account for your activity level).

See my BMR is 1760 cals. But I don't lose unless I drop to around 1200-1400

You may have hit plateau, try altering your diet to include more fat and calories, do it for a week or two and don't go to the gym in that time, then go back to your original diet plan. It shocks the body so you should start to losee weight again. Hope that helps!

Sorry I didn't read all the comments, he's probably just trying to help but he could be right, sometimes it helps to up your calories briefly and then go back to your original plan (:

Hi Op. Sorry you didn't like my suggestion on cutting out the bread?
I didn't start to loose much weight, despite being on a 1500cal (for a man) diet and working out 3 times a week until my trainer went through my diet with me and told me to up my fat intake and cut out the bread.
Due to my shift work I always took a sandwich or wrap to work.
My present diet is :-
Breakfast. Strip shake with full fat milk.
Rage + carbs on gym days and Protein after work out.
Lunch. Mackerel with wild rice.
Protein Shake with full fat milk.
Snack. Rice cakes with peanut butter.
Packed lunch/dinner. Large chicken salad with dressing.
Before bed. Protein Shake with full fat milk.
In under a year I lost 16kg and went from 38 to 32 inch waist.