Down to the last few pounds. 1200 calories made me feel like crap, but not losing weight if I ate any higher. Advice please?

[matthewcox]

@notdone Be patient....How long? Because monthly cycles and ovulation and such staying at 1400 for a week and saying you're not losing g anything is very inaccurate. Stick at it for at least two weeks and see if you're down anything. Patience is key in weight loss and fitness.

 

[notdone]

@matthewcox It's been 3 weeks. But I have about 2 days a week when I go over by a couple hundred... so I think consistency and patience are what I need to go with. Thank you for your advice!!

 

[my_name_is_sarah]

@notdone For how long? Every time you change you're diet, your body changes how much water it retains temporarily. So how long have you been steadily doing one diet? Two calorie goals (rest and active days) counts as one diet, but you can't change either goal for a while

 

[notdone]

@my_name_is_sarah Thanks for this. It's been about 3 weeks that I've been consistent with the 1400. Since I'm not seeing weight change it's hard for me to measure if my body is changing. Thanks for the advice about patience though, I will take it to heart.

 

[inquirer2016]

@notdone

5'9"

You're a tall girl, I bet your TDEE on maintenance must be much higher than mine. What's your exercise routine like?

 

[notdone]

@inquirer2016 TDEE calculators tell me it's 1800 when not exercising. I do strong curves and a little cardio 3x/week (ish).

 

[stilllearning]

@inquirer2016 Please please think hard about going so low, especially since you're working out and attempting to lose while so thin.

I lived on under 1200 for a long time and lost forty pounds that way. However I was not undertaking strenuous exercise and I had a mostly sedentary lifestyle--I was a graduate student whose schedule let me sleep late. I'd always liked to sleep in and take naps so I didn't realize how much more fatigued I was than usual. I also experienced thinning hair. I am sure it had other effects.

I looked at your photo. There is nothing wrong with going for your preferred body type, but you still look healthy. You do not want to mess that up. I realize we all say that starvation mode is not a thing, but you might not want to make so many health compromises to get thinner. Weakness, fatigue, brain fog, and crappy hair are a sort of starvation mode.

I'm not trying to berate you. I'm 5'4" and currently back at 1100-1300 while doing a weakling weight routine and trying to burn 400 calories on the exercise bike a day. I want to lose weight that bad. It's hard now and I've only been at it for a couple weeks. We might both need to make some changes.

 

[inquirer2016]

@stilllearning This resonates with me a lot, thank you. I think I want to start looking to recomp, which allows me to add more calories while keep training hard. Go us! You can do it too!

 

[babyfaith]

@inquirer2016 Do you use caffeine or any preworkouts containing caffeine?

 

[inquirer2016]

@babyfaith I don't use caffeine in form of pills/supplements, but I always have coffee in the morning before workout and in the afternoon between lunch and dinner. Always black, ground from beans. Why?

 

[babyfaith]

@inquirer2016 I ask because caffeine is known to curb hunger in larger amounts. This though not for everybody is a temporary fix and is what helps some people eat less without feeling hungry.

 

[inquirer2016]

@babyfaith It's true! It has been a huge help for me to shake off desire to eat when I'm not hungry. However, when I started feeling weak and sluggish throughout the day, no amount of coffee could fix it