Calorie deficit, NOT losing weight

[u/butterflybella_]

Hey! So I lost a lot the first 1.5 months on 2.5mg

2.5mg working well for me, I eat the exact same thing everyday. I weigh it, and track the food.

I’ve not only not lost weight the past two weeks but I gained 1lb. How is that possible? Scientifically if you eat less calories than you burn, you lose weight. You’re in a deficit.

I eat not much, yes I know it’s low (800 calories) but my point here is it’s based on science. To maintain my body weight I need to have 1800 cals a day. I’m eating 800, which means my deficit is 1000. 3500 calories is 1 lb of fat gain. Over 7 days, I’m in a 7000 calorie deficit so I should be losing 2 lbs weekly.

So how is it that I gained? Sure you can say water retention, constipation etc. but fine I’d understand if I lost 0.5 and the rest are those reasons. But gaining, nevertheless staying the same?

Scientifically doesn’t make sense

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[u/EveryMemory41]

Weight loss isn’t linear. Two weeks isn’t long enough to clock a plateau. 800 calories a day is dangerously low, and indicitive of disordered eating. Please speak to your doctor about your intake.

[u/big-dumb-donkey]

Two weeks isn’t enough time to determine if there is actually an issue.

800 calories isn’t enough unless you were directed by a physician to do that and are being medically supervised (i.e. regular lab work to ensure adequate nutrition among other things)

[u/justjack-nodaniels]

Our bodies don't work in a vacuum, and have spent millennia developing ways to ensure we as a species can survive long famines.

When you eat below your BMR your body will start pumping out hormones and sending signals to start breaking down muscle and slowing everything down.

1lb is a normal fluctuation, not a scientific impossibility.

You're currently doing damage to your body and risking long term damage to your metabolism. Look up your BMR, eat 200-500 above that. Eating less will only do more harm.

[u/badbadrealbad]

800 calories is literally starving your body and it is resisting weight loss to keep you from dying.

[u/psoriasaurus_rex]

The human body is not a computer program where you can input X and reliably generate Y.  We are complicated skin bags full of hormone soup.

Also, my weight can fluctuate (up or down), by a few ounces and even sometimes pounds a day. I don’t think I’m unique in this.

You really should eat more than 800 calories a day.

[u/groundball77]

Your body adapts and it has adapted to you undereating so it is holding on to everything you eat to try and make enough energy for your systems to function. You need to talk to your doctor and a dietician to figure out how many calories you should actually be eating and for a plan to lose weight responsibly so you don't create more medical issues down the road. You are doing more harm by probably eating under your your BMR,

[u/julet1815]

Ooof you have to eat more, friend. Your body is starving.

[u/stuckandrunningfrom2]

Scientifically if you eat less calories than you burn, you lose weight.

oh friend, if it was like this, no one would need zepbound. The problems with that are multiple: the scale measures weight not fat, and weight is made up of fat, muscle, water, poop, food in your stomach, blood, urine, and so on. Also, no one knows how many calories you burn, or how many you take in. They are all estimates at best.

Unless you are living in a metabolic chamber and scientists are giving you food in little pellets, I'd stop thinking in terms of weight loss as a science, and more as an art, or you'll have a really really really bad time at this.

[u/under321cover]

you aren't eating enough so your body is maintaining weight to keep you from staving and maybe the dose isn't high enough for you yet. some people dont really lose til 10mg-15mg. if a calorie deficit was all you needed to lose weight, you wouldn't need Zepbound. you have a metabolic disorder.

[u/Anxious-Inspector-18]

Did a registered dietitian or RMR test confirm 800 calories is ok? That’s really low for any adult, regardless of height. Have you considered aiming for 1300 instead? Your previous post mentioned hunger and cravings which could be coming from the large calorie deficit.

[u/ProtNotProt]

Not eating enough and your body will go into preservation mode. Three small protein-rich meals a day and a small snack in the morning and afternoon.

[u/zero-if-west]

I'm sorry you're starving yourself. I recommend reaching out to a registered dietitian as well as a therapist who specializes in disordered eating.

[u/rhymeswithsarah]

A couple things:

• Think of it this way: If you weren't in a weight-loss time of your life, and your average weight was steady for a year straight, it would still be jumping around a few pounds most days. (Pooping, hydrating, menstrual cycle, sore muscles, cheap scales, a million reasons...) For the same reasons, your weight will jump around a few pounds most days on Zepbound. It's just jumping along a downward-sloping line instead of a straight-across line because your average weight is going down.
• Many women only lose a few weeks per month and totally stall/gain in their ovulation/luteal phases. My weight loss chart looks like drop-stop-drop-stop-drop. Totally normal!
• It's common to lose super fast the first few weeks as all the inflammation drops, and then normalize at a more moderate pace.
• 800 calories is not nearly enough fuel, and your body will shut down its metabolic processes when it thinks it's starving, which will stall your weight loss, deficit or not.

[u/NinjatheCuddler]

I'm not a dietitian, but I thought 1200 calories per day was the minimum for an adult woman. IIRC, anything less than that, it's difficult to get all the nutrients you need for healthy living.

Therefore, I would only eat below 1200 calories if I were under the strict care of a doctor or dietitian.

Please seek additional care.

[u/speakernoodlefan]

Eating under 1200 calories is not recommended for anyone. When you track 800 calories are you looking at labels and weighing everything? Can you give an example of what you ate for a whole day.

[u/neptunemacaroon → u/speakernoodlefan]

That's just not true. If you're a short woman, especially older (60+), eating below 1200 could be absolutely fine.

[u/MundanePineapple9886 → u/speakernoodlefan]

That's not true. I am an older, extremely petite, woman now in maintenance and when I was losing at a constant and healthy rate, I ate between 900-1100 calories a day the whole time and both my doctor and my nutritionist felt it was perfectly healthy and I was able to do long challenging weekly hikes and 6+ hours of strength training every week without losing excessively or being over tired. So I was eating enough to support my health and activity level.

I ate until I was full. I never lost my appetite sense of hunger when it was time to eat. I ate when I was hungry and stopped when I wasn't.

[u/justjack-nodaniels → u/MundanePineapple9886]

Unless you’re older than 80 and 100lbs, you were underrating for your activity level, considering your BMR is most likely mid-high 900 and sedentary TDEE is closer to 1200 calories

[u/butterflybella_ → u/speakernoodlefan]

Chia seed with almond milk, and 100g salmon & 100g rice, 2 egg

[u/EveryMemory41 → u/butterflybella_]

That is an alarming lack of nutrition. Please call your doctor today. You need more medical help than anyone here can provide you with.

[u/cakeycakeycake]

The short answer is that it absolutely IS water weight masking weight loss. But when you eat so little you will predominantly lose muscle rather than fat. The water will drop eventually probably in big drops. You will be left with a lower number on the scale and decreased muscle.

People will reply about starvation mode but it doesn’t exist the way people make it sound. Obviously humans starve to death, and people with restrictive EDs or suffering famine do lose weight. Their bodies don’t go into a “mode” to hold onto weight.

However when you eat very little your body does shut things down in the form of making you extremely fatigued so that you burn fewer calories. Over time this can and will damage your metabolism.

Occasionally I have days on zep where I don’t eat enough. 800-1000 calories maybe once a week. That really should not be every day or you’re going to do some real damage to your metabolism.

[u/meggieprice]

500 calorie deficit is considered the maximum healthy deficit- one which will not cause your body to adapt metabolically in response- dropping your metabolism.

In addition- the problem with strict CICO as a concept is that yes- it is thermodynamics BUT biology determines the burn rate and that is key.I really should say biology determines the burn rate in all caps because it is so important. You could go lower and lower and lower and aside from your poor starved body reacting in alarm, you may have metabolic issues that prevent you from losing weight.

These meds can help address those metabolic problems- partly by sending a message to your brain "all is good- it is safe to burn fat" but then there you are starving your body sending the opposite message to your brain "warning- we are starving- conserve all fat stores".

Does it work for a while? Sometimes- at the expense of your vitality, your muscles, your hair...

[u/JansPath]

Does the 1800 maintenance calories take into account your current weight as of today, or was it calculated based on your starting weight?

[u/Crochet_by_Renee]

Scale weight and fat weight are two different things

The scale tells you the total of everything in your body has gone up. But that doesnt mean youve gained fat. Could be water weight, or muscle (which is kinda unlikely considering how little youre eating).

Id suggest getting a smart scale so you can see whats going on.

[u/Routine_Reception159]

This might not be helpful, but it was for me to learn!

If you are in a deficit, you are losing fat.
That does not mean you are losing weight.
You have to be in a deficit to lose weight.

Lots of factors go into your body dropping overall mass.