1200 calories and no loss.....

[fulltimeworkingmumof2]

So..... I work in an office, desk job, but walk between 12000 and 15000 steps a day. Sometimes more. I did 22000 yesterday! Since last Friday I started 1200 calories a day. And my weight has stayed the same?!?!?! Im Tracking on Myfitnesspal. My steps go over onto the app but I don't eat the extra calories it gives me as seems far too much! Is this where I'm going wrong? Someone please help or give me some insight where I'm going wrong.

My average day for food is

A homemade smoothie - no carbs
Salad with ham or eggs - no carbs
Fruit with fat free yoghurt
Some sort of meat with lots of veg and a very small amount of carbs

Help......

Get your thyroid checked out if that is all you are eating
Do you have any other under active thyroid symptoms ? I wouldGoogle it

Are you drinking lots of water? You need to. Is your fat free yoghurt flavoured? - lots of sugar if so... Sometimes it takes two weeks to register in the scales. Keep going but eating that little is not sustainable and sorry to say you will likely put weight back on if you eat normally. Are you being honest with your measurements and portions on MFP?

Also how does a smoothie have no carbs?

Smoothies are usually chock full of sugar so I wonder what’s in yours. Kale only?
The food sounds ok but not brilliant. You need a lot more fruit and veg.

Smoothie would be carbs if it’s fruit?

1200 isn’t enough. You need to eat more to lose

Eat more fat and protein. Lots of salad/veg but only a couple of pieces of fruit a day. Smoothies (if they have fruit in) are actually high carb. Cut sugar (‘natural’ and added) and don’t worry about fat.

A smoothie is full of carbs unless it is a pure green green.

If you are genuinely only eating 1200 you need to see a doctor. I would try 1500 a day though first though incase a super low diet of 1200 is putting your body into starvation mode

If you’re on Facebook take a look at team rh fitness. Man really knows nutrition!

What are your portion sizes like?
What is in the smoothie?
That is more than I eat generally, and I tend to be about 1600 cals. I don’t for example eat fruit. Fat free yogurt may contain a lot of sugar too, so I tend to avoid but have a smaller portion of full fat.

Are you drinking any calories in addition?

Maybe you need to vary the exercise as well so possibly swimming/ running or HIIT sessions.

Yes I agree with HIIT sessions, especially building muscle so do weights and strength training as that will help burn fat post exercise.

Actually, that wasn’t quite true! If I have a smoothie is has c20g of frozen black currents so i do have a little fruit. I guess that goes to show how it is easy to overlook things that might move the needle with weight loss. The most helpful thing I have found is to write down very precisely what I have eaten including drinks and water. It is also helpful to double check the calorie info given by apps. The Fitbit one is quite good but told me a Pret saad I was eating was 350 cals, which would be fine. In fact it was nearer 700 when I checked with Pret website.

Just wait a bit longer! 3 days is nothing

Why have you chosen 1200 calories? It sounds a bit arbitrary. You need to eat the correct amount of calories for you as everyone is different. It might well be 1200 but it might be more or less. You can work out your Total Daily Energy a Expenditure online at tdeecalculator.net this will give you a good estimate of what calories you need to maintain your weight. Be honest and conservative on the activity level though. Knock between 500 and 800 off your TDEE calories and you will lise weight. It’s all about the calories. You should keep your macro nutrients in balance (Fat, Carbs, Protein) for a healthy body but as far a losing weight, calories are all that matters.

I think you are getting carbs you don't realise (smoothie) and more sugar than you perhaps realise (smoothie and yoghurt). But really you need a well balanced diet with everything but in sensible moderation.

Also, are you using MyFitnessPal for number of calories in things? A lot of the foods are user added and not always terribly accurate.

If you are doing MFP one thing I have found is to stick to the calories they give you even with exercise - I find if I consistently go under a lot I don’t tend to lose! Also some weeks I don’t get a loss - usually make up for it the week after.

I'm not sure if you're still following this OP, but I've recently started doing the same, eating a similar amount and walking just about the same as you as well. Some weeks I lose hardly anything, other weeks I can lose a load almost overnight. Look up 'weightloss whoosh' for further info on this. Consistency is key I think, I've lost a stone so far and have quite a way to go but I'm getting there. :)

Are you low carbing or counting calories?
I find they don't tend to work together being completely different WOE.

Too early to tell. Weigh yourself in a fortnight then, every week.

You're not counting your calories very well. 1200 is fine for losing weight, worked perfectly for me. Easily dropped a stone eating all sorts of naughty things but sticking to 1200.

I measured weight loss within days it's not "too early to tell"

Starvation mode is a myth. You're probably eating more calories than you realise. Maybe try logging everything religiously for a week and see what happens? Also why 1200? Unless you have a huge amount you should be aiming at 1lb loss a week so 500 under your TDEE at most.

I eat 2000 calories a day but do lots of exercise and that works so much better I promise, 1200 is a miserable existence imo

"I eat 2000 calories a day "

Lots of medium-sized women would put on weight at 2k calories a day.

1. You can’t be sure about your calorie intake unless you weigh your food and use the nutrition info at the back of the packet to judge the calorie content. I’m convinced you must be eating too much.

1. Walking a lot suddenly can cause temporary fluid build up in your legs if you don’t drink water.