madaboutmoose's Journal, 23 Feb 09

You're not eating enough. You shouldn't be anywhere near 1200, especially if you're working out. At 1200 calories you're not dieting anymore, you're starving. I just saw this post on the front page so I don't know enough about you to suggest an accurate calorie amount, but 1200 is definitely too low. 1500-1700 would be a good guideline if you are exercising. 

From complete experience I can honestly say you are not eating enough. I had the EXACT same issue as you. If you are working out every day, you need to add more protein to you diet. Im not a big meat eater and the protein in meat is great, but it takes more time to break down in your system, try doing a protien shake or eating protien bars as a snack. I also know it's hard to think or imagine putting more calories into your diet and not to gain, but it's true..right now your body is holding onto those calories because it's thinking that it's being starved. At one point I was trying to stay under 900 calories a day, and believe me - it didn't help I started to gain or not lose any. I honestly say I have quit counting calories and logging my meals (too stressful!) and started to eat/snack on foods I know that were good for me. I still watch my portion size at dinner, buy w/my diet my breakfast and lunch are already laid out for me so I don't have to worry about the calorie stuff. 

Read this article to give you some perspective(it's called "why the sclae lies"). http://primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/library/weight/scale.htm If your rings are tight, you may be retaining water from one of many different factors. That article will give you some insight. 

t is true, 1200 calories for your height and weight along with exercise is far too low. Try bumping it up to 1500 and see what happens. Also, I know when Aunt Flo is coming to visit me soon, I retain water like mad and that week is shot. The scales will lie that week. Then one day you will wake up and lost a bunch. Seriously though, I think I posted yesterday about it, bump up the calories hun. I bet it will help. 

Suzi ... thanks for the article suggestion. I read it and it as informative. The link wasn't quite right but I googled it and still found it!!(http://primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/library/weight/scale.htm) Three of you told me I'm not eating enough (Mrs. H, munestar32, and Divided by Zero) ... yikes!!! I must admit that scares the crap out of me being the obsessive control freak that I am. But I do wonder if y'all aren't onto something. So, I will make an effort to feed my body good stuff this week and do my best not to panic. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the input and support. I'll keep you posted on my progress!! Thanks again everyone!!!! 

It's possible to gain water not fat at 1200. Any little thing can trigger this, even what you may think is an insignificant amount of salt in sauce in a recipe. I wouldn't feel frustrated if I had done 1200 calories, I would feel good about it. Be patient, you may hit a plateau occasionally (a real low day is good for breaking through that) but, that's just one take on it. As you can see, there are others each with some truth to them. :-) At any rate, make no mistake of it that you are doing a good job and most likely losing fat. Keep it up!