It's a common question among women trying to lose weight: Why do I gain weight when I eat 1,200 calories? Unfortunately, the answer is not always simple. There are a number of factors that can mask weight loss, even if you eat a relatively small amount of calories. Here are some of the most common reasons why the scale goes up instead of down.
1. You may be eating more than you think. Keep track of what you eat and drink in a day
When it comes to keeping track of what we put into our bodies,researchshows us how easy it is to underestimate how much we eat and drink in a day. To truly understand where your nutritional intake comes from,follows correctlyis one of the most powerful tools for understanding how much you're currently eating and making better nutritional decisions. By tracking everything we eat and drink, we can monitor our diet, improve our overall health, and create accountability for the food choices we make every day. This need only be a temporary measure; Tracking shouldn't be something you do forever, but should help you become more intuitive with your eating.
2. The scale masks fat loss
It is important to recognize this distinction between weight and actual fat loss when planning a weight-loss program. The scale fluctuations can be due to many things other than fat loss, such as fluid changes, menstrual cycle, sodium and carbohydrate intake. So it's important to realize that the scale will fluctuate throughout the week, even if you're still consuming fat. That's why at Box Nutrition we look at trend lines over the week/month to understand whether fat loss is really happening.
3. You're not patient enough to see your weight loss goals
It can be discouraging when we don't see results as quickly as we would like, or when you hit a plateau. However, patience is key when it comes to weight loss. It can be easy to pursue quick fixes and be hard on ourselves when we don't see the results we want. To help overcome this, it's important to set realistic weight loss goals.
As a rule of thumb, you should aim to lose 0.5-1% of your body weight each week, but this will depend on your starting weight and composition. At Box we aim for between 5 and 10 pounds of weight loss per monthTo light. FAD diets will help you lose weight faster, but you'll almost certainly gain it back.
MetTo light, we aim for 0.5-1% weight loss per week, which may not be as fast as a FAD diet in the short term, but it will lead to sustainable change in the long term.
4. You don't lose weight because you eat the calories left over after exercising
Eating back the calories you burn while exercising can seriously hinder your weight loss efforts. Pinvestigations(1) have shown that people who go to the gym can often overestimate the calories they have burned by up to 70%. Other thingsinvestigations(2) Not surprisingly, research has shown that people consume more calories than they expend because their brains send them the message that they "deserve" it. Even if you track your training,research(3) have shown that trackers can deviate by up to 40%, which is a lot!
6. You won't lose weight on 1200 calories thanks to metabolic adaptation
Many people have trouble losing weight even when following a consistent 1,200-calorie diet. The reason this can happen is due to metabolic adaptation. This is a term used to describe the body's natural tendency to decrease its rate of metabolism (RMR) in response to calorie restriction, leading to slower than expected fat loss. Additionally, each calorie consumed provides less energy as metabolism slows, resulting in inadequate nutrition for an individual's body composition and health needs. To combat metabolic adaptation and achieve effective weight loss, it is important that individuals increase activity levels and burn calories appropriately.
7. You may have trouble losing weight on 1,200 calories because your metabolism is slow
Losing weight can be a difficult task, especially if your metabolism is slow. A diet of just 1,200 calories may not be enough to shed the extra pounds due to metabolic costs. Metabolic cost is when your body uses more energy than you consume through food, meaning your metabolic rate has decreased. To understand if you have a slow metabolism, the only way to know is to take a Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) test.
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If you are not losing weight despite following a 1200 calorie diet, this could be due to a number of reasons. You may be underestimating how many calories you are consuming, the weight may be hiding fat loss, or you may be eating the calories you burn through exercise. It is also important to remember that losing weight takes time and patience. If you give up too quickly, you will never see results. If this all sounds familiar, please feel free to contact usinfo@boxnutrition.co.uk, so we can help you identify where you might be going wrong and provide you with some solutions.
