need help please...45 yo woman

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erikarn1
erikarn1 Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
I really need help. I have recently lost about 12 pounds. Down from 200. I am 5'6. It came off in about about 6-8 weeks. I joined this site 2 weeks ago and my weight loss has completely stopped! It is giving me 1200 calories a day. I do exercise about 5 days a week. Anywhere from gym classes, cardio, weight training, etc. I don't usually subract my exercise from my calories. I am diligent about tracking my food. Not seeing any movement on the scale is becoming maddening. I am usually not one to weigh obsessively. However after tracking and tracking and being so "good" I feel like breaking down and giving up. I recently had a full physical and all was OK. Thyroid was in low normal range so I was put on a low dose of synthroid. I could really use help! I know I will lose slower as I am older but this is really getting me down.

Replies

  • joanrobinson2012
    joanrobinson2012 Posts: 19
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    You do need to eat back some of your exercise calories. I know this seems counter-intuitive but your body is now clinging on to every ounce it can by adjusting its metabolic rate as a preservation tactic.
  • jlw728
    jlw728 Posts: 3 Member
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    erikan1, you body might be changing, I had the same thing happen to me, lost a bunch of weight then nothing for 3 weeks, but I noticed that I could fit into clothes I hadn't before, and yep I lost inches. I was replacing the fat with muscel, so it was a possitive still frustrating, because I want to lose weight. We need to just keep doing what we are doing and it will come off.
  • Savora
    Savora Posts: 25
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    Maybe I can help i too am 45F and had the same problem. I went from 210 to 152 and a size 17 to 7. When you add any kind of weight training to the mix the scale will stall or even go up a little, I'm gonna say this although I hated to hear it go by how your clothes fit not the scale!!!!! Also if your only eating 1200 calories and your working out plus your current weight you are NOT eating enough calories, add some fruit/veggies to snack on and bring that up to 1500 start with that and see how it goes :) Whatever you do don't stop your body will thank you later!
  • g4genn
    g4genn Posts: 58 Member
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    I agree, you aren't eating enough. Your body needs full to lose the weight otherwise it goes into starvation mode and you stop losing. Can you consult a nutritionist or dietitian?

    Make sure you are getting enough protein too. If you are working out, some studies suggest you should be eating 1g to 1.5g of protein for every kilo.

    I'm sorry to read your weight is stuck. I know how upsetting it is, especially when you think you are doing particularly well in what you are eating. Keep up the good work though, it will eventually pay off, even if it's not this week. We are here for you.
  • Lisah8969
    Lisah8969 Posts: 1,247 Member
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    Agree with other poster...you have to eat back some of those exercise calories. I don't use a heart rate monitor to know the exact calories that I burn and I believe (with many others who post on here) that MFP gives too many for the exercise being done, so I eat back about half of what MFP says I burned in addition to the 1,200 it gives me every day. It seems to be working. Don't give up!
  • erikarn1
    erikarn1 Posts: 6
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    Do any of you think I should up my calorie consumption to 1400 or 1500 per day?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,962 Member
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    At 178 and 5'6", you definitely need to eat every one of your exercise calories!

    Since you are within about 20 lbs of a healthy weight range, you should have your daily calories set a lot higher, too. Change your goal to "Lose 1/2 pound a week". EAT!! Set your Activity Level here honestly, don't use "Sedentary" just because it is a choice. If you have a job, go to school, or care for kids or a husband, you are not Sedentary.

    Under eating causes weight loss plateaus and all kinds of other not-good things.
  • erikarn1
    erikarn1 Posts: 6
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    Thank you all so much! I'm just stunned and feeling particularly down today. Need to change my thinking around!
  • haleycreations
    haleycreations Posts: 89 Member
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    I would like to weigh in so to.speak. I have lost 55 lbs doing Insanity and P90X, I've been told if you watch the scale it is like watching a pot of water boil. The day I started not worrying about scale is when I started losing weight. I started losing inches off of my waist before I lost weight off the scale. I went from a 42 1/2" waist and now I'm almost a 33 1/2". It just takes discipline to not want to look at the scale. You can do it any need for help let me know I would love to help in any way I can. Feel.free to.add me Robert
  • g4genn
    g4genn Posts: 58 Member
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    I would like to weigh in so to.speak. I have lost 55 lbs doing Insanity and P90X, I've been told if you watch the scale it is like watching a pot of water boil. The day I started not worrying about scale is when I started losing weight. I started losing inches off of my waist before I lost weight off the scale. I went from a 42 1/2" waist and now I'm almost a 33 1/2". It just takes discipline to not want to look at the scale. You can do it any need for help let me know I would love to help in any way I can. Feel.free to.add me Robert

    Robert, that is phenominal. Amazing work. I'm so impressed. You lost so many inches, it's incredible. I hope to do so well. Thanks for the inspiration. : ) We all need it sometimes, especially when the scale is not our friend.
  • Nan_
    Nan_ Posts: 83 Member
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    I don't think that 1200 is enough calories either, especially if you're exercising. I am 54 years old and 5'6" and I lost nearly 10 pounds eating 1200 calories, but it was actually *under* 1200 because I wasn't eating back my exercise calories at that time.

    My weight loss stalled and I wasn't feel well anyway, so I upped my calories to1450 and I try and eat back my exercise calories which brings my calories up to 1500 and something, and I've started to feel better and am losing weight again.

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