1200 calories- not losing weight. How?!

[Caloriewoes]

So I need some help.

Baby is 6 weeks old and from about 2 weeks, I've been counting calories.
To start I was logging about 1400- felt this was a huge decrease compared to what I was consuming during the end of pregnancy . Did lose to start but slowed right down to 0.5 - 0.25 of a lb a week- so reduced again to 1200.

Despite this, I'm still only losing very little. To put into context, since 20th November I have lost 2/3s (that's two thirds!) lb

I'm at a total loss. I'm actually going to bed hungry and did a 5km walk this week. I am not the most active when I have my baby at home alone (doesn't sleep and I have a toddler at nursery so I do use some time to recoup) but I am active on the days I have them both and do all the housework, etc. I have never had this issue before and would normally lost weight on 1200 calories.

What do I do? It is really starting to get me down as I can't fit into my clothes so I'm rotating 2 pairs of jeans. Do I cut to 1000? I daren't go up as I wasn't losing much on 1400. Could it be my cycles stopping me losing (not had a period yet but not breastfeeding).
All help appreciated! I'm considering some sort of exercise boot camp but I'm so bloody tired!

I also found using My Fitness Pal handy for not just counting calories but making sure I didn't just eat sugar and carbs.

I think you should give yourself a break though, it's early days and tiredness makes eating properly and exercising so hard to do.

@Disfordarkchocolate

Assuming your bottle feeding and from my own experience it's because your are eating more calories than you are logging.

Yes- this is my previous experience too but I can't see how this is the case on 1200. It has thrown me! I'm not totally still all day. I'm up and down, cleaning, hoovering, etc. Surely 1200 across a week should be result in a 1lb weight loss. I did a 5k walk this week and have baby in a sling on me a lot. I also take my 2 yr old to groups, soft play, etc.

Sorry I've just read that again. I thought it said eating more than you're burning.

I'm logging and weighing. I am definitely not. I've got an app I pay for that's more accurate the MFP.

Are you religiously tracking your calories? It would be worth making sure you're measuring and tracking absolutely everything as the amount of calories in little bites here and there, condiments, drinks etc. can really build up. Please don't go down any lower on calories; with sleep deprivation and limited energy from food you will be absolutely exhausted!

Go and have a look for the schofield method to work out your BMR (daily calorie requirements without adding exercise etc), the. Remove 500 from that number. This should be your daily target and I promise you if you stick to that, track everything properly etc. the weight will absolutely come off.

For context, 1200 is almost certainly far far too low to remain in a nearby energy balance. That's the same amount of calories a 2 year old needs to survive.

Good luck

Yes. Confident I am. I even log diet drinks (I.e 3 calories) and anything like mayonnaise etc is accounted for. I've always tracked to maintain so I'm normally very good at it.

I know this is in calorie counting but OP you really need to give yourself a break. Your body will hang on to some weight after birth, it's just natural. Your baby is 6 weeks old and you've oy been tracking calories for 4 weeks. It took me months to lose 2 stone to get back tk my pre baby weight. Cutting more calories will not be good for your body at this point. It's trying g to repair itself after pregnancy and birth.

Coming out at 1258 for weight loss on that method.

OP - I don't think you can seriously lose weight unless you're getting enough sleep. Tiredness messes with your hormones (ghrelin and leptin) and increases appetite.

www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-health/weight-loss-and-sleep

Also weight loss isn't linear. It's more like a rollercoaster with ups and downs and plateaus (which can last as long as 8 to 12 weeks).

Give yourself a break and don't worry about weight loss for a bit. I know how important it can be for self-esteem but you will get there. My body is very different after two children (despite my weight now being the same) but that's life!

@Gearedtoyou

Enjoy your baby. 6 weeks is far too early to be stressing over this

Eat well and avoid snacking. Get out with the pram when you can.

Eat real porridge not the powdery instant stuff!

See where you are in 6 months' time

This!!! It actually makes me feel sad that you started restricting what you were eating just 2 weeks after given birth. What’s happened to society’s treatment of women that makes us hate ourselves this much. A healthy attitude to weight and healthy eating is great, but you’ve just had a baby for crying out loud and you’re going to bed hungry?! You need to be so much more kinder to yourself. There’s plenty of time to lose weight, so just eat healthily and enjoy your precious new little one

Thanks. Sleep is definitely off the cards. Both of mine still wake in the night.

Depressing I will be like this for some time. Maybe I'll admit defeat and head to Primark this PM and buy some bigger jeans. I resent spending money on clothes I'll feel awful in.

I really do just want to fit in my clothes. How does everyone else manage this? Do they literally buy new clothes for this bit? My maternity bits are too big.

OP, I'm struggling with anorexia and eat more than you do! 1200 is way too low, especially given your current circumstances.

Eat healthy whole foods only, no processed stuff, do gentle exercise like lots of walking and some form of weights or yoga, and watch as the weight shifts a bit or you just become more muscled and toned.

You won't feel like this forever! This time next year, you will be back in your old jeans and feeling tip top! Just be kind to yourself for now.

Maybe in a few months try Noom. You can get a 2 week free trial and I found it really helpful.

This is such a sad post, you've had a baby 6 weeks ago and worrying about your size is not healthy.

Please give yourself a break, eat normally and take the pressure off. Your body needs time to recover.

Point taken and thank you. It is normal in my circle so I didn't realise it looks so bad to want to get rid of the baby weight ASAP. Genuinely just looking forward to getting in my clothes and feeling nice. Nothing sinister or anything.

By eating really low calorie continuously, you could wreck your metabolism and consequently not lose at all. Your body adapts to working with fewer calories and just keeps going. You can't keep on reducing them endlessly so in the end, you give up but as your metabolism is wrecked, you put on weight. If I were you, I would do some research into low carb, as a life style, not as a diet.

Probably not what you want to hear but after both my pregnancies my weight seemed to ‘settle’ at a few pounds more than my pre-pregnancy weight. About 4-5 pounds more each time.

Yes, you could always restrict more severely, count calories obsessively etc. But is this really worth it? Especially when your baby is still so young? Maybe it is worth it especially if eg you’ve moved from overweight to obese category or something. But if you’re essentially a normal sized woman with a newborn please please cut yourself some slack. Your amazing body has produced a whole new human!

On a separate point the arguments about good calories v bad calories, calories from protein v carbs etc that always crop up on threads like this always make me laugh. A calorie is a calorie is a calorie. As a teenager I had a (pretty mild) dabble with anorexia, eating 500-800 calories a day for a while. Something this was healthy food, sometimes it consisted of a chocolate bar and crisps. Didn’t make a shred of difference weight wise. Healthy food per se doesn’t make you lose more weight than non-healthy food.

"Healthy food per se doesn’t make you lose more weight than non-healthy food."

No, but it's better for you generally. One chocolate bar might have the same calories as 2 boiled eggs and a bowl of spinach, lettuce, cucumbers and carrots.

One is more filling than the other, and better for your gut bacteria.

@Frankii well of course healthy food is healthy food, and will be better for you generally. I’m not debating that.

But I just think threads like this sometimes get so bogged down in ‘don’t eat carbs after lunch’ ‘only eat protein x times a day’ or whatever random pronouncements, that sometimes it’s worth taking a step back from all that. And saying that yes - a calorie is a calorie.

I really do just want to fit in my clothes. How does everyone else manage this? Do they literally buy new clothes for this bit?
Absolutely not. I did that once when my weight went up and it became easy to stay there!
I don't think it's sad to want to get back into your normal clothes and dont buy this 9 months to out it in nime months for it to go. How you feel is important. You can look after a baby and look after yourself at the same time!
Personally I went back to doing workouts when ds1 was 7 days old. I also walked a minimum of 5 miles 5 days a week ( Monday to Friday when Dh was at work) I did a particular route each day with him in the pram. I walked at a fast pace rather than strolling. I went swimming on Saturday and sundays.

I had very little processed food or drink I was back in my clothes within 5 weeks. I was slightly older than first time mums in my area at the time and expected it to take longer to lose.
Getting into shape quickly did my confidence a lot of good.
The exer use also made me feel ' alive' and happy.
Not everyone will approve of my approach but it worked for me both times.

It might just drop off suddenly.

My weight always did, a few months after birth (not all of it though!)

I even put on 8lb before I had a miscarriage (at 8 weeks) and that weight hung around and wouldn’t go even with counting calories, then it all came off in just a couple of weeks about 6 weeks later so much have been hormone related I think

I use the NutraCheck app, and I always make sure I go over the protein allowance because it helps me to not feel hungry.

I have always found that the main thing that makes me lose weight is massively upping my water intake.

There are calculators online that tell you how much you should be drinking for height/weight/activity level but the sweet spot for me is 2-3 litres a day.

You feel less hungry if you're hydrated and the process of breaking down fat needs water to work.

Beyond all that though, you really do need to account for hormones which at the moment are still in post pregnancy mode, they are telling your body to hang on to the fat to make milk and to combat the tiredness.

Yes I just bought some new clothes for a while to be comfortable and have something to wear until my old clothes fitted - which they did eventually even without calorie counting.