Weight loss stalled?

Fitnessmom82

I started my weight loss journey about 5 weeks ago. I work out 5 days a week and cleaned up my diet. I was doing great. Was down 15 pounds in a month and lots of inches off my whole body. I am unintetionally only taking in 900 or so calories a day, something that I am working on increasing. I'm just a picky eater and went from eating lots of junk to very low cal. Gotta find the balance. This week I have not lost anything, actually gained a pound. Is this really from not eating enough? Or is a plateau? Or the muscle weighing more than fat thing? I'm not concerned about a 1 pound gain, but concerned that I am not losing like before. I work out pretty hard so I can't really increase my activity yet.

janejellyroll

1 pound is a totally normal fluctuation that could be tied to hormones, temporary water weight, or even a bit more food in your system. If you're working out really hard, you may be holding on to some water temporarily to help your muscles recover.

It is important to eat enough to fuel your health and energy, but it won't cause you to gain weight.

shaunshaikh

If you picked up a 16 oz bottle of water and drank it, you'd gain a pound. It's nothing but noise. Focus on long term trends with weight, progress pictures, and measurements. 15 pounds in 5 weeks is very fast and not sustainable. You likely got a big whoosh from starting a new plan, but expect things to slow down.

bribucks

One week with no movement is perfectly normal - as everyone will chime in, "Weight loss is not linear." It is normal to have body fluctuations ... sometimes it seems like the scale is hardly moving when it really is, and vice versa. You should try a weight trend app (Happy Scale or Libra) to help you see that fluctuations are no biggie compared to the overall trend.

That all being said, 15 lbs in one month is a lot. Part of that may have been initial water weight and your loss may slow slightly, but regardless it seems you are losing too agressively and I think you are already aware that you do need to be eating more than 900 calories.

Unless you have a significant amount to lose, a good rate of loss is 1 lb/week, or a 500cal daily deficit. Calculate your TDEE online. Then subtract 500 calories from that. If you eat that number of calories, plus 50-75% of any "extra" calories from purposeful exercise (i.e. the gym), you will be set.

Fitnessmom82

Thank you everyone!! I figured it wasn't too big of a deal and I knew I would not continue to aggressively lose weight. I was actually kind of surprised that I lost so much so fast, I set my goals pretty low!! I suspect it was primarily from completely cutting junk out. Nice to have some reassurance!

issiahs

nicoleduran81 wrote: »

Thank you everyone!! I figured it wasn't too big of a deal and I knew I would not continue to aggressively lose weight. I was actually kind of surprised that I lost so much so fast, I set my goals pretty low!! I suspect it was primarily from completely cutting junk out. Nice to have some reassurance!

Well, it's not really from cutting junk out. It's from being extremely low calorie and making a large deficit. You probably aren't far enough along to feel the side effects of being such low calorie, but you should really focus on eating a bit more for your health. Not trying to be a nag or anything, but it is pretty important to fuel your body. I know it says in your original post that your working on it, but it should be your main focus. You don't want to lose hair and experience huge fatigue spells while dieting. Don't worry about that 1 lb, it's probably a normal fluctuation. If you're in a deficit then you'll lose weight. I'm up 3 lbs, but I know I haven't eaten above maintenance that much, so I don't worry about it. Stick with a modest deficit and it'll continue to come down! Good luck!

Fitnessmom82

issiahs wrote: »

nicoleduran81 wrote: »

Thank you everyone!! I figured it wasn't too big of a deal and I knew I would not continue to aggressively lose weight. I was actually kind of surprised that I lost so much so fast, I set my goals pretty low!! I suspect it was primarily from completely cutting junk out. Nice to have some reassurance!

Well, it's not really from cutting junk out. It's from being extremely low calorie and making a large deficit. You probably aren't far enough along to feel the side effects of being such low calorie, but you should really focus on eating a bit more for your health. Not trying to be a nag or anything, but it is pretty important to fuel your body. I know it says in your original post that your working on it, but it should be your main focus. You don't want to lose hair and experience huge fatigue spells while dieting. Don't worry about that 1 lb, it's probably a normal fluctuation. If you're in a deficit then you'll lose weight. I'm up 3 lbs, but I know I haven't eaten above maintenance that much, so I don't worry about it. Stick with a modest deficit and it'll continue to come down! Good luck!

You're not a nag!! I appreciate the reply!! I changed my goals for the next two weeks. I'm not going to focus on weight loss, but direct my attention towards eating the right amount of calories. I'm an all or nothing type of personality so this past month I went way too far with the dieting. Time to reign it in!

luckywizard

If you can include some resistance training and increase your calories /protein intake your body will start progressing again. Sometimes you need to change a variable to break a plateau... Strength training is a great way to achieve that.

Aerona85

I stall for one to two weeks every month. Then it all comes off at once. I think my scale only shows changes of a pound or more too because I will go for days at exactly the same and then drop 1-2 pounds overnight. I doubt my my body is really losing like that.

Fitnessmom82

luckywizard wrote: »

If you can include some resistance training and increase your calories /protein intake your body will start progressing again. Sometimes you need to change a variable to break a plateau... Strength training is a great way to achieve that.

I am doing resistance training three days a week, plus two days of cardio. Do you think protein shakes would be appropriate? I've always stayed away from them because I associate them with gaining weight. Reading about it online leaves me more confused haha! I've been on the fence about adding them to my diet!