1000 calorie deficit and not losing weight

[Amazona]

Hi everyone, need your help figuring this out because I'm at my wit's end 😩

I signed up with a trainer a month ago and have been following her excercises (+ more cardio) religiously 3x week. I've cut 90% of carbs and eating about 1,000 cal/day and drinking about 2lt liquid a day.

The problem is I have not lost a single gram (and even managed to GAIN weight somehow).

my BMI is at the upper limit of normal (24.8) so plenty of room to improve.

Thing is, before all this, I ate junk food like crazy, did not excercise at all and yet if I skipped a meal I would drop a lb or two... just like that.

What gives? I feel like there's no use and I'm broken. This makes NO sense. Please help?!

[_Lilac_]

Sometimes our bodies go into shock and 'keep' everything because it believes it's in mortal peril. It will let go! You are consuming only 1000 calories a day, which is under recommendations for any adult. Have you considered plugging in all the numbers to fitbit and choosing a deficit to run based on your stats and how much you want to lose? It does that for you. You might be surprised that you can eat more than you are since you are burning more than before. Also, I find 3X per week for exercise is not enough to jump start weight loss. I'm so sorry to tell you that. It's good for muscle building because your muscles need breaks in between workouts, but for weight/fat loss, 5X+ per week of cardio is best. Sigh...I know. It's a lot. But it gets 'er done. With those few tweeks and patience, you will see some change. Something else to consider...I don't know what 'liquids' you are consuming, but anything with bubbles and sweeteners (aspertame, splenda, stevia etc etc) can cause the body to 'think' it's getting sugars and help retain fluids too. My weight loss crawls or stops if I drink diet soda. I hope this helps in any way for you. 

[EmjayH]

1000 calories a day seems rather low to me. And if ur in the normal weight zone I don't think it's really smart to be using a 1000 calorie deficient. Seems extreme. Maybe ur body's rebelling 

[Amazona]

I am!

im logging everything into my Fitbit (I have an Alta) and the Aria logs my weight.

Stupid thing says I'm gaining body fat too 😭

I had read that many times people fail to properly log calories but I'm tracking everything to ridiculous levels (per my husband's standards, lol).

I've selected a 750cal restriction program but still keeping under the goal.

By liquids I mean tea or water or sparkling water sometimes.

I've upped the protein level and cut carbs a lot (I'm half Italian so you know how hard this is for me, haha).

Not sure if I should make an appt with my dr.

I'll try to increase cardio for now.

Pure water intake is terribly hard for me (hate water), so I try to find other ways of getting hydrated

[ToTullyNutri]

Hi Amazona,

It might be worth getting your thyroid function checked by your Dr. to be sure that isn't the issue. However, I would suggest 1000 kcals per day is far too low. Our bodies are really clever and when there is low energy available our brain will start to shut down all non essential biological processes to ensure you stay alive! As such eating far too few calories consistently can result in huge health problems down the line and actually hinder your attempt at weight loss as your metabolic rate will reduce hugely. Try upping calories to much closer to your daily needs and focusing on eating healthy, natural wholefoods as a start. You will hopefully find that by making health you number 1 priority rather than weight loss the latter will be a natural side effect. good luck 🙂

[Aleeesa]

Just curious about your 750 calorie restriction program and what it is? Is this an amount fit bit gave you based on your activity level or another formal weightloss program. 

Thanks!

[Mukluk4]

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@Amazona wrote:

I am!

im logging everything into my Fitbit (I have an Alta) and the Aria logs my weight.

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If you are using an non-HR model and adding in non-step based exercises as manual entries, you are probably not getting an accurate calorie burn number.

[justMonica]

A month without any weight loss would demotivate anyone but hang in there. With your low calorie diet, the exclusion of carbs and extra exercise, the weight should eventually come off. Calories in vs. Calories out. It's in the math.

It could be water weight that your body is hanging onto. I didn't lose much the first 2 weeks either but I stuck to my plan and eventually the scale moved. I would check with your doctor to make sure you don't have any thyroid issues. If you don't, hang in there. You will start seeing results. Don't let the scale mess with your head. You may have even lost an inch or two off your waist or thighs and you just don't know it yet! I highly suggest doing weekly body measurements. Weight is just one measure of weight loss.

[DavidSchneier]

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@ToTullyNutri wrote:

Hi Amazona,

It might be worth getting your thyroid function checked by your Dr. to be sure that isn't the issue. However, I would suggest 1000 kcals per day is far too low. Our bodies are really clever and when there is low energy available our brain will start to shut down all non essential biological processes to ensure you stay alive! As such eating far too few calories consistently can result in huge health problems down the line and actually hinder your attempt at weight loss as your metabolic rate will reduce hugely. Try upping calories to much closer to your daily needs and focusing on eating healthy, natural wholefoods as a start. You will hopefully find that by making health you number 1 priority rather than weight loss the latter will be a natural side effect. good luck 🙂

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I second the thyroid suggestion (I have hypothyroidism). Because of my personal situation, I need to subtract 600 calories from what FitBit forecasts as my calorie burn each day. That adjusted number gets me to where I can accurately manage my calorie consumption and achieve my weight loss goals.

[SavBlanc]

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@Amazona wrote:

I am!

im logging everything into my Fitbit (I have an Alta) and the Aria logs my weight.

Stupid thing says I'm gaining body fat too 😭

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I have found that when I'm doing muscle-building exercises that I get huge day-to-day body fat fluctuations that don't make any sense. I use Trendweight to track my progress, and I can see overall, over the last 5 months, I've definitely lost body fat, but from day to day, it varies wildly. 

[Esya]

Just voicing in to say I have the exact same experience as @SavBlanc regarding senseless body fat % fluctuating from day to day. I think this is due to water retention from your work outs. If you get a free account on trendweight.com you can see the trend over a period of time and ignore the fluctuations.

[Gregggg]

You are likely eating too many carbs.   Buy some ketone sticks, see where you're at.  

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@Amazona wrote:

Hi everyone, need your help figuring this out because I'm at my wit's end 😩

I signed up with a trainer a month ago and have been following her excercises (+ more cardio) religiously 3x week. I've cut 90% of carbs and eating about 1,000 cal/day and drinking about 2lt liquid a day.

The problem is I have not lost a single gram (and even managed to GAIN weight somehow).

my BMI is at the upper limit of normal (24.8) so plenty of room to improve.

Thing is, before all this, I ate junk food like crazy, did not excercise at all and yet if I skipped a meal I would drop a lb or two... just like that.

What gives? I feel like there's no use and I'm broken. This makes NO sense. Please help?!

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[SunsetRunner]

Some weight gain is to be expected when starting a new exercise program, but it should pass. If you're coming from a really crappy diet, you may have room to improve on your diet. From what I've seen, most people don't go from a crappy diet to a super healthy diet overnight. It took me about a year to really adjust my diet in a healthy direction. At the time I didn't know about things like sodium and really didn't know what worked best for me until I started experimenting. After learning about a few things as time went on, I realized there was a lot I need to work on with my diet. I just recently went on the paleo diet because I realized I don't handle carbs well. Before I thought I had a low carb diet, but it turned out I had to go even lower to see results. About 50 grams of carbs is my max before I start feeling tired and crappy. I lost about 110 pounds before I hit my plateau. Now that I'm only 17 pounds away from being in a healthy weight range, I have to watch my carbs more than I have to watch my calories. I don't even count calories anymore because watching my carbs helps me more now than it did in the beginning. I would pay attention to what you're eating. You really just need to experiment with your diet. Those calorie calculators and macro calculators are only a guide. It doesn't mean that's what will work best for you. My stats suggest I need 120 some odd grams of carbs, but as I got closer to a normal weight range, that number didn't work anymore. My maximum amount of carbs is now 50 grams. So experiment with your diet and see what works best for you.

[phoenixfitt]

I hope you realised your body was in starvation mode and holding onto water and all of its fat as reserves, burning only muscle and bone to keep you alive. 1000 calorie deficit is meant to be used for days only. Why would your body burn fat when fat is its mechanism to stay alive in times of famine - i hope any new people reading this thread see what a stupid thing this is and avoid it for themselves.

[sloproto]

I'm no weight loss expert but if you are only eating 1000 calories a day and upped your exercise your body is in starvation mode and it not going to let go of your weight - I would kick up my calories by 500 per day and see what happens if that doesn't do it another 200 until you start losing you can't lose weight by starving your body!!!! IMHO

[Pinocytosis]

(removed - double post) 

[Pinocytosis]

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@phoenixfitt wrote:

I hope you realised your body was in starvation mode and holding onto water and all of its fat as reserves, burning only muscle and bone to keep you alive. 1000 calorie deficit is meant to be used for days only. Why would your body burn fat when fat is its mechanism to stay alive in times of famine - i hope any new people reading this thread see what a stupid thing this is and avoid it for themselves.

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The human body does not burn bone for energy. Bone is a mixture of type 1 collagen (a type of proteinaceous connective tissue) and hydroxyapatite (a combination of minerals). Bone is not a fuel source.

When starving, your body will burn excess carbohydrates in the form of glycogen (in muscle and liver). It will then turn to muscle and adipose tissue (fat). Long-term fasting or calorie deprivation will actually turn off muscle breakdown and primarily use fat. This is why people who do keto diets report its efficacy and later get a fruity smelling breath (acetone, a fat "metabolite" when lipolysis is in abundant, is a keto acid - hence the diet's name). For completion sake, prolonged fasting will again lead to muscle breakdown.

I apologize if seems like I am attacking you, it is just that your comment may be misleading to those reading this particular post. However, I do agree with your comment that eating 1000 calories, especially someone who is exercising, is far too low for one's BMR to be maintained. 

[monosaccharide]

If you're only eating 1,000 kcals a day (and burning 2,000), that is WAY TOO LOW. I don't know your anthropometrics (height, weight, age, sex - I'm assuming female), but I would aim for consuming at least 1,500 kcals as your activity level seems high. 

[Lovenest]

I have a calorie intake of 1,500 calories a day, cardio 6 days a week an hour a session....a calorie deficit of 800 - 1,100 a day...

This is my third week & I haven’t lost anything this week, not a gram!

If my body has stalled how long approximately will it take to kick back in?

[Dominique]

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@Lovenest wrote:

I have a calorie intake of 1,500 calories a day, cardio 6 days a week an hour a session....a calorie deficit of 800 - 1,100 a day...

This is my third week & I haven’t lost anything this week, not a gram!

If my body has stalled how long approximately will it take to kick back in?

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OK, let’s round up the usual suspects:

• calories out from Fitbit is an estimate: for BMR, it uses a standard equation that assume you’re an average person; however, we are likely distributed around the average according to a bell curve (some individuals will have a faster or slower metabolism). For activity, Fitbit uses things like your heart rate, your arm moves etc. and it’s quite possible it overestimates your energy expenditure.
• calories in, as counted by you: there’s also a margin of error. It is not uncommon for people to underestimate their total intake, especially if they’re new to logging.
• stress is a potent inhibitor of weight loss: a sudden change in your lifestyle (e.g. switching from mostly sedentary to super-active, switching from eating whatever you please to restrictive eating, and having to count it) can result in extra stress, on top of the other possible stressors (work, family, lack of sleep etc.)

When you change everything at once (activity, diet, lifestyle) and things don’t go the way they’re supposed to, or the way you’d like them to, it can be hard to find out why.

What are your "anthropometrics" (nice term used by @monosaccharide !)? How much weight do you need/want to lose?