So confused am i doing it wrong?

[Seannyb]

So ive just done my first week and i have logged every thing i have eaten properly, not missed any thing. My weight has stayed the same.... any one have any ideas where i could of gone wrong? Im allowing myself 1,400 calories a day and i dont even eat that whole allowance i can have any where between 500-200 left every day.

[ANewMe2022 3 stone]

Sounds like your body is saying 'Wow I've stopped being fed, better keep all of my reserves'. Have you put your weight in to the BMI calculator to see how many calories you should have? First rule, you've got to eat your daily allowance...xx

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

I agree wholeheartedly with ANewMe2022 , seannyb! Have a look at this for a comprehensive explanation as to why

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

[YellowRose55]

Morning Seannyb

You have done well with logging everything and eating properly but if you still have between 200-500 calories left then your only eating between 900 to 1200 a day which is too low. Your body will go into starvation mode and think it's not getting any food, take a look at week 11 of the nhs 12 week plan (the link to it is in the "welcome newbies" post) that explains about how starvation mode works.

Work out your daily calorie allowance in the BMI checker in the same post as above. If you are eating 3 meals a day introduce 2 healthy snacks like fruit to up your calories.

Good luck with this week.

Rose

[Seannyb]

Thats really interesting thanks guys lets see how this week goes all info taken on board thank you so much xx

[Caz28]

I had the same problem when I first started, its very frustrating! My advice, like the others, is to make sure you are eating enough, and also eat regularly, it turned out that small and often suited me most. Just stick with it, keep reading posts on here to gather as much information as you can, weigh your food and count calories and it will work!

[MrNiceGuy]

Hello Seannyb.

I’m sorry to hear that your first week may not have turned out quite the way you hoped it would, but don’t be too disheartened, since it can take a couple of weeks to get the energy balance right, thus, beginning to allow weight to be lost.

As others have rightly stated, you need to ensure that sufficient calories are consumed on a daily basis to satisfy minimum recommendation (or BMR).

By routinely consuming fewer calories than is required to satisfy the above, the body will quickly grow wise to the fact it’s not receiving sufficient energy from food to maintain its existence (keeping vital organs functioning, etc).

Consequently, it’ll quickly switch to fat storage mode, causing rate of metabolism to slow and leave you less inclined to undertake exercise, since you’ll be left feeling as though the energy simply isn’t possessed.

As recommended by others, the NHS 12 Week Plan is certainly worth taking a look, since it includes a BMI calculator, allowing minimum and maximum calorie allowances to be calculated, based upon measurements (age/weight/height) and level of activity.

Alternatively, you could calculate BMR (basal metabolic rate) and TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), through the use of numerous calculators on the internet. If you do decide to use internet calculators, ensure that the Miflin St Jeor method is used for calculating BMR/TDEE, since it’s more recent and said to be more accurate than the Harris Benedict formula.

Whichever way you obtain calorie recommendations, to begin losing weight, a daily calorie deficit should be maintained from maximum (or TDEE). Doing so ensures that sufficient calories are consumed to satisfy BMR, thus keeping the body functioning, so that it can expend calories (stored in existing body fat) to fuel level of activity.

While a daily deficit of 500Kcal should be achievable, particularly if activity levels increase from sedentary to lightly active, ensure that any deficit introduced doesn’t exceed the difference between BMR and TDEE.

If figures don’t allow such a deficit to be maintained, simply aim for somewhere in between, also remembering to re-assess numbers with each 7-10lb loss. As the body begins to weigh less, fewer calories will be required to satisfy both BMR and TDEE (on the assumption that activity levels remain the same).

[Seannyb]

So when i do the bmi on the nhs plan (which is what i am trying to follow) its giving me 2 figures the lowest and highest calorie intake. so if i follow the lowest is that correct? So confusing lol.

[MrNiceGuy in reply to Seannyb]

The lowest figure is how many calories you should aim to consume on a daily basis to keep the body functioning.

However, when introducing a daily calorie deficit, maintain it from the highest figure.

Say for example, minimum was 1600Kcal and maximum was 2200kcal.

By maintaining a deficit of 500kcal from maximum, intake through food would amount to 1700kcal, providing sufficient energy to satisfy BMR but creating a shortfall that the body would make up from calories stored in body fat, alllowing weight to be lost.

[Seannyb in reply to MrNiceGuy]

So its saying my range is 1534-1972 so i take 500 off 1972 which is 1472? Is that right? Sorry to be a pain just trying to make sure i get it right

[MrNiceGuy in reply to Seannyb]

You're not a pain at all.

If a deduction of 500Kcal takes intake below minimum recommendation, seek to maintain a deficit of around 300Kcal, keeping you above the minimum, thus, ensuring the body is provided with sufficient energy to keep metabolism firing.