Eaten 1200 cals all week and not lost even one ounce - can anyone explain?

[Blondiebeachbabe]

Just that really. In the last 7 days, I've only eaten 1200 cals a day, plus I've been walking loads. On 2 of the days I had some wine (but still stuck to 1200 cals on food). I haven't even lost one ounce. How can this be right?

In case it makes a difference, I'm 12 stone 3, and 5 ft 1.

It’s not for everyone (and only you will know if this will be good or bad for you) but I find daily weighing helpful. I track on Happy Scale and then it shows trends. Sometimes you can be a few pounds higher one day for no reason.

You’ve lost an average of 1.5 pounds a week over the last 2 weeks. I am also short and would be delighted to lose that much weight per week! (It’s even slower for me, as I’m already a ‘healthy’ weight/BMI but just trying to lose a few pounds.)

Keep going!

Wine has loads of calories. Stop drinking.

My Mum used to say that you need to stop gaining before you start losing. It makes sense so trust the process and see what happens next week.

i only lose wvery other week

its a hard slog

Thanks everyone! I'm definitely not giving up, I look like humpty dumpty right now!

Ditch the UPFs, so the crisps and cup soup, and instead of the crisps have a sliced red pepper, and instead of the cup soup have a cup of matcha tea or dandelion root if you want to avoid caffeine.
The normal meal might be sabotaging you with additives, sauces, salt, ... Try to go whole foods there and go easy on sauces if you add them. Even in your salads, hams and sliced deli meats are not your friend. Try chickpeas, beans, quinoa, sliced chicken breast you have cooked the night before in the oven, ... really cut on the processed food, and also industrial food.

Not all changes or lack of changes on a scale are linked to fat. We constantly change our water content based on inflammation or what we have eaten. Increase the number and variety of plants to increase fibre.

Be also mindful that MFP has quite a wide range of error, since many entries have been done by users. Cronometer might be a better option. It is free and done using government agencies database for the whole food.

You've lost 3lbs in 2 weeks. That's very normal and expected loss.
When you create a calorie deficit there is a predictable amount of fat you will lose. You (at your weight and calorie deficit) cannot lose 3lbs of fat in a week, it's physiologically impossible. But when dieting people like to ignore this and when they see a big loss they view it as an unexpected bonus, forgetting that the 'extra' weight needs to be paid back! The extra 1.5lbs you lost in the first week was water, and over the second week your body replenished its water stores, leaving you with an overall loss of 1.5lbs a week on average.

I'd guess time of the month. I definitely retain fluid before periods, my boob's weight a ton each.

But I also remember doing a Slimming World class where they said it takes 4 days for diet changes to show up on the scales.
So keep at it.

Thanks for this. I'll try chicken breast rather than upf. I do love my mackerel though (high in salt). I'm defo putting the right calories in to MFP, because I am selecting the entry that matches what's on the packet.

The extra 1.5lbs you lost in the first week was water, and over the second week your body replenished its water stores, leaving you with an overall loss of 1.5lbs a week on average

I had no idea!

It's really helpful to learn about what's happening in the body when you lose and gain weight. I find it helps me to stay focused if I can actually connect my actions to what's happening to my body.
it's good to understand TDEE, calorie deficit and the effect of reducing calories, reducing protein and increasing exercise on the body. All have different short and long term impacts that affect the number on the scales!

Oily fish are good for you, and we do need some salt in our diets especially in warmer weather. It’s the nitrites in ham etc which are the no-nos more than the salt.

I maintain on exactly 1200 calories. I'm 5'3 and only 40kg. I know it's precise because I'm tube fed due to a life limiting condition (no ED). I lead a sedentary lifestyle too. If you're active and that's accurate I'd keep going for another couple of weeks then look to a medical explanation.

Switch to nutricheck or chronometer many entries in mfp are wrong. Use a food scale.
At 5’1” 1200 might be very close to maintenance.
Alcohol/water retention and your hormonal cycle will affect the scale.

Completely agree with this. My weight loss was often ‘stepped’ with a steady weight for so long and then a decent amount lost… keep going and just be sure to keep counting everything.

At you age and height, you may not be in much of a calorie deficit depending on activity level so loss will be slow.

I tend to lose weight every other week. It can be demotivating though.

Hey well done!! You lost in the first week and not shown any loss in the second week but that’s normal. Totally normal.

weightloss is not a straight downward line on a graph. As you go on through the weeks you will even likely to have an odd up tick in the graph. It’s about overall direction not a day by day weight.

there will be periods of no change. You will feel crazy with frustration but trust the process. If you get truly stuck for a while, increase the activity and drink more water.

personally I have to eat less than 1200 to lose weight but that’s just my reality. 1200 is a good place to start to see what you need. Make sure you eat lots of protein. Very important when post menopausal and losing weight. Also do weight bearing exercises. Even body weight. Press ups, lunges, squats etc. it’s VERY important as women’s bodies lose a lot of muscle during and after menopause and if you are restricting calories it can make it worse.

you need to rebuild your lost muscle mass. This will keep you burning calories more just living.

I’m on 1200 cals too, though I’m using Mounjaro to help me stick to it. Some weeks I stall, and I read that it can take three weeks to reset, so I push through and the three weeks is the max I stall. Push through it and give it longer.

There’s a lot of calories in wine so you need to include it and measure accurately. Are you weighing and measuring your food accurately or just guesstimating? Are you logging everything you eat after you’ve eaten it (very easy to forget and underestimate how much we’ve eaten). Are you including milk in tea/coffee? What else do you drink (non alcoholic)? Are you remembering to include things like salad dressing, mayo, sauce, butter, cooking oil etc?

Mackerel is so good for you, would be a shame to give it up.
I bet you catch up with a bumper Los next week.

A bottle of wine can have up to 800/900 calories and given your height and age, could easily tip your weekly calories into maintenance.

A few comments on your post. Manufacturers are allowed a 20% error in reporting calories so you might be way off and they never seem to err on the high side of calories, but the important fact is that if you are putting in mfp what you read on a label, you are eating the wrong food, unless it is a can of bean or packet of frozen berries. Eat whole food. A steamed cauliflower, a tomato salad with slices of read onion, ..
Can you go UPF and label free-ish for a week within your calorie allowance. Look at the labels, anything that has sugar in it, you ditch, anything that has a combo of letter and numbers, such as 415, 341, E, ...emulsifiers, preservatives, leave on shelf....
Deli meats, such as ham and sliced beef have plenty of stuff in it. I didn't mention the mackerel or say you shouldn't eat it, however too much salt will not help your weight loss. Have you tried poaching frozen cod? Cold in salads, it is delicious, low in calories and high in protein.

Your next shop, buy in the fruits and vegetables section, fresh meat and fish, even fresh dairy, skip the bakery section, and if shipping in the middle aisles, only stick to whole foods, such as brown/wild rice, steel cut oats, legumes, frozen spinach cubes, frozen prawns (nothing else in the packet) ... minimally processed.

The quality and source of your calories matter. The same ingredient processed in different way will be accessed in different way and your body will extract a different amount of calories from the same food. As an example, whole almonds : 579 calories per 100 gr. But the body will use a fair amount to break the cellular matrix, so in the end, you can cut 30% off those calories, just to break the almond down and make it accessible to the body. Almond flour, same calories, 100% available. No break down necessary. Two foods, same ingredient, same calories on packets, not the same calories accessed by your body.

Might be going against the grain here as there is a massive anti UPF movement on mumsnet but she’s only not lost weight for one week..
the average person looking to lose a bit of weight doesn’t need to demonise entire food groups and will be way more sustainable if she can still enjoy previous vices within a calorie deficit.
You are obviously very knowledgable about this which is great and absolutely no hate intended just feel like for the general public it can make weight loss and healthier eating way more complex than needed to think they have to cut out everything processed.

Of course a week is nothing but the reason most diets work, be it low fat, low carb, or low whatever is because you are forced to ditch many pre-made foods in favour of homemade.
Given OP is at the beginning of her weight loss journey, we might as well give her a map and good directions.
You can totally lose weight by eating UPFs as long as calories are low enough . A packet of 25 g crisps for breakfast lunch and dinner, and a mini tube of smarties in front of the telly in the evening. You lose, because you are under 1000 calories with the wonder of food engineering.

I am not demonising food groups, I am demonising food-like groups. Totally edible, safe, loved by the masses, advertised on buses. You get more for your bucks in weight loss if you leave certain foods on the shelves.

UPFs are not food groups. You will never see them on any food pyramid , plate or other national guide. They are out, rightly so.