Am I not eating enough?

[Sammysees]

I have a huge amount of weight to lose. I am currently 283lbs (128kgs). I have been calorie counting for 9 weeks and have lost 12lbs. However, the last 2 weeks I have stayed the same weight. I write everything down and am eating between 1200 to 1400 calories per day. Why am I not losing weight? Am I not eating enough?
It is so disheartening and I feel like giving up. The only reason I haven’t is because my weight is now affecting both my physical and mental health. I have to lose weight somehow.
Any tips or ideas anyone can share?
Thank you!

Sometimes with weight loss, you just stagnate and have to push through it.

It does also depends on what you're eating (rather than calories). If you're eating 1400 calories of rubbish/junk/processed food (with lots of unhealthy fats and sugars) then the weight loss will be slower than if you're eating 1400 calories worth of salads.

What are you eating? And how much exercise? Dieting alone doesn't always work. You need to push your body as well.

This is really normal IME. Who knows why. Push on through the plateau and you will start losing again, I promise.

12lbs in 9 weeks is good. I've lost around 15-16lbs in 14 weeks. I say 15-16 because the scales won't quite commit this week 😆I step on the scales most days and there is massive variability (even under the same conditions), so I only actually record my weight weekly. So long as the general trend is downwards, I'm pleased.

Do Slimming World, you are never hungry and I’ve lost over 4 stone in a year and it was relatively alright

I eat porridge for breakfast with a banana. Lunch today was a bag of fridge raiders and a plum (out and about so needed something on the go). I had a nectarine and a 70 calorie bar this afternoon and dinner was a cod fish cake with asparagus, cauliflower and green beans. My diet isn’t great. I live alone and eat for convenience.
Exercise is hard when you are so big. Even walking I am out of breath after 5 minutes. I am hoping it will become easier the more weight I lose.
Thanks for the encouragement. I will keep going and hopefully next week will see a loss.

I also live alone and eat for convenience. I loathe /am completely bored by food planning, prep and cooking. I only like the eating!

Try to increase your protein intake, that will keep you fuller for longer. Your dinner sounds lovely.

On the exercise, I feel your pain there too. Everything I like doing involves sitting down!

I go to a yoga class once a week, have done for decades. I've recently tried an aquafit class which was actually good fun - being in water really takes the load off, I feel I've exercised w/o being wiped out, it's not competitive and you do what you can - so will continue with that. I've also found a couple of local wellbeing walks that I can sometimes join (work permitting) - have a look and see if any near you; these do tend to be in the day and aimed at older people. Again very welcoming and walk leaders ensure pace suits the group. I also find being on my bike easier - I can cycle further than I can walk.

I'm taking the 'every little helps' approach. A short walk is better than no walk, and over time can get longer/faster.

I'm no fitter than I was 15lbs ago (have only added in exercise in last few weeks) but I definitely move more comfortably. You will too 🙂

Those calories are low. I was 15 stone 3 weeks ago and I've lost 10lb on Weight Watchers.

I'm eating well and honestly do not feel like I'm dieting. If you use the app it's so easy to keep track. I'm only paying £8 a month for online, it might be worth a try.

Or trying upping your calories to 1500 or 1600 for a week or so. Good luck.

I am the same. By the time I get home from work I am exhausted. The last thing I want to do is go back out again. And getting me in public in a swimming costume? Not a cat in hells chance 😂
Now the weather is getting warmer I am going to try and have a walk straight after work before I get comfortable in my pj’s at home. Hopefully I can go further the more I get used to it.
I think I may try upping my calories for a couple of weeks because what I’m doing now isn’t working.

I've lost 5 stone in the last year, did it by fasting, no upfs and low carb. Not sure how many kcals I was eating, but probably not enough and probably not getting enough nutrients which is highlighted by the fact that my hair is growing more and my nails are not breaking since I've gone back to eating more normally to maintain. So I'm by not means an expert, I just wanted to offer my experience.

You've done great so far and plateaus are definitely normal!

However, if you're definitely tracking calories accurately (weighing food out etc) then 1200-1400 is far too low. You could end up slowing your metabolism and having 0 energy (which also makes falling off the bandwagon way more likely).

Have you used one of the free TDEE calculators to work out what your calorie goal should be? If not I'd recommend this one: www.seancaseyfitness.com/calorie-calc

I've gone from 10st to currently 8st11 (I'm very short!) on 1400-1500 cals a day, I think I'd be starving on 1200!

Just keep going. Have a really careful look at your food diary and check that absolutely everything is counted. It’s going to take time but if you give up now all your progress so far will go wasted. Keep at it!

Focus on the quality of those calories and get rid of the packaged food. Companies are allowed to be wrong with a 20% margin when it comes to calories and they play with that.
In addition to the calories, the additives will change the way your process the food you eat. Going for whole foods can only be at your advantage.
Do meal prep. Wash and cut veggies in boxes ready for you to combine. Coat chicken breasts with a ton of herbs and smoked paprika and cook them in the oven and then cut them in slices. Instead of cod cakes, boil some frozen cod, and keep in fridge to add to salads. Hard boil some eggs. Have some cooked quinoa. You can make poké bowls, but instead of rice, use cabbage as a base.

And remember that the body fluctuates in water as well, some days you have more water retention (because of all the ultra processed foods) others you have less. A walk or some other movement is nice, but diet matters more and you can do it.

How are you this morning @Sammysees 12lbs down is a fantastic achievement. I agree with this others, this is a plateau so don't give up.
Do you keep a regular food diary? It might help you identify if you're eating enough of the right foods for weight loss.

Make sure your drinking plenty of water too, or flavoured water it really helps. Otherwise it sounds like you're doing everything right!
Get out for a walk if you can & don't eat back the calories you walked off.
Also don't weigh yourself too much. I only weighed myself every few weeks & that helped so as to not get disheartened.
Best of luck.

It says 1546 calories per day to lose weight. I only ended up on 1100 yesterday which obviously isn’t enough. I will try for 1500 every day for a week and see what happens next Saturday when I weigh again.

I am keeping a food diary and weighing/measuring everything I eat/drink. From the advice given I think I need to be eating more ‘cleanly’ rather than processed which I do because of convenience.
I am going to use today to do some menu planning/shopping and hope that gives me the kick start to losing again.

Plateau is normal and can lay 2-3 weeks but keep going and suddenly you’ll see a drop and be back to regular losses. Well done and keep going!

Can I ask why you are eating 1200-1400 cals? Are you exercising? You need to work out your TDEE - use a calorie calculator. That amount of cals is extremely low and not sustainable.

I am not exercising. Unfortunately I am inherently lazy, have long busy days at work and flop on the sofa when I get home. Hence convenience food.
I checked a calorie counter and it said 1546 to lose weight so I am going to try that for a week and see what happens.

Have you used your current weight for the online calculator or your adjusted weight? You shouldn't use the current weight.