Eating far below BMR and not losing weight
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It's only been 5 days and you're eating a high sodium diet. Your body is retaining water, which looks like a stall on the scale. This isn't a plateau. It's a normal stall due to water weight. You need to give any changes to your diet and exercise routine 3-4 weeks before deciding whether or not they're working because of this kind of fluctuation.
And listen to what some of these people are telling you. Your plan doesn't sound very sustainable in the long run and your plan for maintenance borders on disordered eating habits.0 -
lalawaterlala wrote: »Also, OP are you listing the serving sizes you have? In those microwave meals it could say 1 serving is 230 calories but there is 2.5 servings in the box. Don't forget that
Yes. I always multiply calPerServ * numServ0 -
I agree that increasing your intake to a sustainable level would help. The evidence is that you're currently getting impatient about no apparent scale movement for 5 days, which is no time at all. You need a long-term, sustainable, systematic approach to weight loss and maintenance. This is not it.
Within 5 days, you really can't tell if you're losing or not. Log your weight daily at the same time of day and in the same "state" (mornings after the bathroom but before coffee/food is best). Then use Excel (or even easier, an app called HappyScale) to give you a regression line and/or a 7-day moving average of your weight. That will flatten the meaningless daily variance and show you definitively whether you're losing, maintaining, or gaining.
Good luck!
Thanks. I really am impatient and I'm hoping that it's nothing more than typical weird fluctuations0 -
Could someone suggest or link to easy to prepare (or preprepared) meals that are way lower in sodium?
It sounds like the general consensus here is that I'm retaining a lot of water weight. (and being super unhealthy and potentially causing health problems which I already know about and agree with 100%)0 -
People have told you many times that you are eating too few calories. Let's set aside the "logging argument."
I'm 5'10" and currently weigh 198. I eat between 400 and 700 more calories than you, probably don't workout as hard as you, and lose an average of 2.5 to 3lbs/week. And I'm female. What does that tell you? It should tell you that you should eat more calories. Granted I have more to lose than you. But if I ate only 1,000 calories, not only would I be cranky, I would lose my energy, and my muscle tone. Likely, I would plateau.
Also, maintaining weight loss means eating healthy the rest of your life. Or at least not eating more calories than you burn. Period. Weight battles are won and lost in the kitchen. I'm not trying to be rude, but think for a moment, how long will your yo-yo maintenance "plan" last before you succumb to the "Man, I gained weight. *kitten* it, I'll just keep eating what I want" mentality until you regain it all?
Just things to consider.
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[/quote]geniusgamer wrote: »Do you weigh everything you eat using a food scale? If not, you're most likely eating more than you think, which is why you could have been eating over 3000 calories without realizing it.
No. I eat diet meals smartones/leancuisines/healthychoice/etc.
They have a nutrition label that says exactly what the total calories for the whole meal is. So that's what I log.
Why would I need to weigh it? I'm not preparing my own food.
In the past during my huge weight loss, I would prepare some food, and in those situations I absolutely would weigh it.
Check your sodium, it's most likely off the chart with all of that frozen diet food. Swap one packaged meal a day out for something homemade and keep it low-sodium. Sodium -> water retention -> weight stall.
ETA: If you're really against making your own food right now, know that you have at least 1000 calories to play with in your diet. Go to Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) and look at some of the lovely frozen meals they have there. Read the ingredients before you buy any.
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baconslave wrote: »People have told you many times that you are eating too few calories. Let's set aside the "logging argument."
I'm 5'10" and currently weigh 198. I eat between 400 and 700 more calories than you, probably don't workout as hard as you, and lose an average of 2.5 to 3lbs/week. And I'm female. What does that tell you? It should tell you that you should eat more calories. Granted I have more to lose than you. But if I ate only 1,000 calories, not only would I be cranky, I would lose my energy, and my muscle tone. Likely, I would plateau.
Also, maintaining weight loss means eating healthy the rest of your life. Or at least not eating more calories than you burn. Period. Weight battles are won and lost in the kitchen. I'm not trying to be rude, but think for a moment, how long will your yo-yo maintenance "plan" last before you succumb to the "Man, I gained weight. *kitten* it, I'll just keep eating what I want" mentality until you regain it all?
Just things to consider.
Absolutely nothing rude about what you're saying. And I see this a lot. People who eat more than me and exercise less and lose more.
I'm definitely considering some substantial upping of the calories now. But from what people are saying here I'm also leaning towards my primary problems (other than the health risks which I agree with) being the sodium and impatience.0 -
The elaboration is just following the MFP recommendations on how we log diet and exercise to lose 1 pound per week.geniusgamer wrote: »
And I had to tweak exercise burn and food intake calorie counts to find my zone.
The data base of foods and exercises got me close. I lost around 90 pounds and totally transformed my health.
How does MyFitnessPal work?
http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1026720-how-does-myfitnesspal-work-
Good Luck!
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Check your sodium, it's most likely off the chart with all of that frozen diet food. Swap one packaged meal a day out for something homemade and keep it low-sodium. Sodium -> water retention -> weight stall.
Could you suggest something easy to prepare? I have so little time these days. It's why those diet meals are so convenient0 -
The elaboration is just following the MFP recommendations on how we log diet and exercise to lose 1 pound per week.
And I had to tweak exercise burn and food intake calorie counts to find my zone.
The data base of foods and exercises got me close. I lost around 90 pounds and totally transformed my health.
How does MyFitnessPal work?
http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1026720-how-does-myfitnesspal-work-
Good Luck!
Thanks I'll look into this. I hadn't really thought of this site as more than a forum (since it came up when I googled for weight loss forums to ask about my problem)
I'll try out the plan it makes for me
But I think I want to lose more than 1 pound a week. Would 2 be unhealthy or ok?0 -
geniusgamer wrote: »yopeeps025 wrote: »
You are not if you are eating 1000 calories. Stop lying LOL
Wait a second. What are you saying I'm lying about?
Original thread.......
"This is one of my main takeaways from this thread. I am concerned about losing lean mass and other health problems."
You are not if you are eating 1000 calories. Stop lying LOL
You are concerned about losing lean muscle mass....yet you defend eating far below your BMR
You are concerned about health....yet you defend eating far below your BMR
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I suspect ANY food that your prepare yourself will be better than the packaged stuff ... start simple, weigh everything... and eat a bit more calories ...0
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geniusgamer wrote: »The elaboration is just following the MFP recommendations on how we log diet and exercise to lose 1 pound per week.
And I had to tweak exercise burn and food intake calorie counts to find my zone.
The data base of foods and exercises got me close. I lost around 90 pounds and totally transformed my health.
How does MyFitnessPal work?
http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1026720-how-does-myfitnesspal-work-
Good Luck!
Thanks I'll look into this. I hadn't really thought of this site as more than a forum (since it came up when I googled for weight loss forums to ask about my problem)
I'll try out the plan it makes for me
But I think I want to lose more than 1 pound a week. Would 2 be unhealthy or ok?
Here is a great guideline for setting weekly weight loss goals:
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.
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Since everything everyone says is wrong, just keep doing what you're doing and trust you're doing it right and that weight will come off. There you go. Problem solved.
Honestly, even if you're over estimating your portions magically and eating more than you think you are, you're eating so far below maintenance that even if you're actually eating 2000 calories instead of 1000, you'll still lose weight.
Give it more time I suppose.-1 -
I'm not sure if anyone else has suggested this, but those meals that you're eating are very typically very high in sodium, which will lead to water retention. Water retention could be a huge detriment to your goal. But, I feel your pain, I'm in week 2 and haven't dropped a pound, and I'm well below maintenance calories too.0
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geniusgamer wrote: »The elaboration is just following the MFP recommendations on how we log diet and exercise to lose 1 pound per week.
And I had to tweak exercise burn and food intake calorie counts to find my zone.
The data base of foods and exercises got me close. I lost around 90 pounds and totally transformed my health.
How does MyFitnessPal work?
http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1026720-how-does-myfitnesspal-work-
Good Luck!
Thanks I'll look into this. I hadn't really thought of this site as more than a forum (since it came up when I googled for weight loss forums to ask about my problem)
I'll try out the plan it makes for me
But I think I want to lose more than 1 pound a week. Would 2 be unhealthy or ok?
Not with the amount you want to lose it would be "not reasonable"
And I agree with the others eat more food...
Perspective 42 (almost) year old woman eating 2x what you do and I lose on average 1/2lb a week and have consistently for over 18months...
you are going to lose LBM and have a gammit of other health issues if you continue down this road...from thinning hair, brittle hair, brittle nails, no energy, lethargy and then it gets worse..0 -
geniusgamer wrote: »yopeeps025 wrote: »
You are not if you are eating 1000 calories. Stop lying LOL
Wait a second. What are you saying I'm lying about?
Original thread.......
"This is one of my main takeaways from this thread. I am concerned about losing lean mass and other health problems."
You are not if you are eating 1000 calories. Stop lying LOL
You are concerned about losing lean muscle mass....yet you defend eating far below your BMR
You are concerned about health....yet you defend eating far below your BMR
Don't go accusing someone of lying just because they might be wrong about something.
I'm not exactly defending eating below my BMR. I ONLY said that I don't understand why eating below my BMR will cause me to lose less than if I ate more.
I never disagreed that eating below my BMR was unhealthy. I know it is and agree completely.
All this criticism and advice is fine. But when you start flat out accusing me of lying just because I don't know as much about this as a lot of you, then you are being a completely unreasonable person.0 -
I love using fish fillets that are individually frozen! I make 4 oz salmon all the time in my toaster oven using a bit of seasoning mix or simple maple/soy/garlic marinade. Yummy and very easy.0
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Since everything everyone says is wrong, just keep doing what you're doing and trust you're doing it right and that weight will come off. There you go. Problem solved.
Honestly, even if you're over estimating your portions magically and eating more than you think you are, you're eating so far below maintenance that even if you're actually eating 2000 calories instead of 1000, you'll still lose weight.
Give it more time I suppose.
What the hell is with you guys? I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm agreeing with most of everything you say. And the things I'm not agreeing with aren't necessarily me disagreeing...
THEY'RE ME NOT UNDERSTANDING
What is so hard to understand about that? Jesus christ-2 -
geniusgamer wrote: »yopeeps025 wrote: »
You are not if you are eating 1000 calories. Stop lying LOL
Wait a second. What are you saying I'm lying about?
Original thread.......
"This is one of my main takeaways from this thread. I am concerned about losing lean mass and other health problems."
You are not if you are eating 1000 calories. Stop lying LOL
You are concerned about losing lean muscle mass....yet you defend eating far below your BMR
You are concerned about health....yet you defend eating far below your BMR
At 6'3" 230lbs, simply eating below his BMR isn't really an issue. It comes down to how much he's eating below his BMR. BMR isn't a magical threshold you can never cross if you want to maintain lean mass, even if there are lots of confused people that seem to think this way. 1000 calories is very likely too little for a variety of reasons, but not simply because it's below his BMR.0 -
shireeniebeanie wrote: »I love using fish fillets that are individually frozen! I make 4 oz salmon all the time in my toaster oven using a bit of seasoning mix or simple maple/soy/garlic marinade. Yummy and very easy.
I hate cooked fish but I'm willing to try this just because it seems reliable (to measure the calories and macros and all that)0 -
geniusgamer wrote: »Check your sodium, it's most likely off the chart with all of that frozen diet food. Swap one packaged meal a day out for something homemade and keep it low-sodium. Sodium -> water retention -> weight stall.
Could you suggest something easy to prepare? I have so little time these days. It's why those diet meals are so convenient
Yogurt and granola, taco salad - click around in the Recipes forum here, there are tons of good links and recommendations. I'm the same way (busy and not into cooking), so I make a big batch of protein every Sunday and put it in salads for dinner every night.
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geniusgamer wrote: »The elaboration is just following the MFP recommendations on how we log diet and exercise to lose 1 pound per week.
And I had to tweak exercise burn and food intake calorie counts to find my zone.
The data base of foods and exercises got me close. I lost around 90 pounds and totally transformed my health.
How does MyFitnessPal work?
http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1026720-how-does-myfitnesspal-work-
Good Luck!
Thanks I'll look into this. I hadn't really thought of this site as more than a forum (since it came up when I googled for weight loss forums to ask about my problem)
I'll try out the plan it makes for me
But I think I want to lose more than 1 pound a week. Would 2 be unhealthy or ok?
I would not be OK with 2, because I'd lose too much muscle. 1 pound is cool...that's 52 per year!0 -
I guess this is worth mentioning.
But before I do, let me clarify (because I need to clarify this or else you guys will insist on taking it the wrong way and continue your rudeness) that this isn't me disagreeing. I'm just stating it in case it's relevant. Like listing all your symptoms to a doctor.
I don't feel any lethargy. Don't have any hair loss or brittle nails.
I actually feel really great from 1000 calories/day. I play tennis and table tennis a lot. Pretty much every day. I'm really fast. No problem running my 2-3 milers at a 7-8'ish pace. I've always loved running and tennis and ping pong.
I don't have any sleep problems either. I just feel fine.
I'm not saying 1000 isn't dangerous, unhealthy, risky, etc.
Just mentioning how I feel on the 1000.0 -
I am a 45 yo male, 5'11" and weight of 230#. I am eating 1460 calories a day, and still losing weight. You are trying to push it too fast. To be healthy, you should only be losing 1-2 lbs a week.0
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geniusgamer wrote: »Check your sodium, it's most likely off the chart with all of that frozen diet food. Swap one packaged meal a day out for something homemade and keep it low-sodium. Sodium -> water retention -> weight stall.
Could you suggest something easy to prepare? I have so little time these days. It's why those diet meals are so convenient
Yogurt and granola, taco salad - click around in the Recipes forum here, there are tons of good links and recommendations. I'm the same way (busy and not into cooking), so I make a big batch of protein every Sunday and put it in salads for dinner every night.
those actually sound pretty awesome. I'll check them out thanks. sounds like this site has a lot of resources I should have been using0 -
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geniusgamer wrote: »I guess this is worth mentioning.
But before I do, let me clarify (because I need to clarify this or else you guys will insist on taking it the wrong way and continue your rudeness) that this isn't me disagreeing. I'm just stating it in case it's relevant. Like listing all your symptoms to a doctor.
I don't feel any lethargy. Don't have any hair loss or brittle nails.
I actually feel really great from 1000 calories/day. I play tennis and table tennis a lot. Pretty much every day. I'm really fast. No problem running my 2-3 milers at a 7-8'ish pace. I've always loved running and tennis and ping pong.
I don't have any sleep problems either. I just feel fine.
I'm not saying 1000 isn't dangerous, unhealthy, risky, etc.
Just mentioning how I feel on the 1000.
Okay then why is 1000 calories dangerous and unhealthy?
Why is it recommended that women get at least 1200?
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geniusgamer wrote: »Weight naturally fluctuates up to five pounds from day to day. So if you weigh 206-207, you would eat everything, a few days later at 213 you would be strict again?
Yep that's how I would do it.
Some days I'd weigh less than normal due to water/bowel/glucose/whatever fluctuations and cheat when I maybe shouldn't.
But for each day like that, there'd be a day where I'd weigh more than normal due to those things and diet when I maybe didn't need to.
It would average out to making sure I maintain the same weight.
Maybe I'll cheat one day and have to diet a week before I'm back below the weight.
And maybe I'd have a period where I was under weight a few days in a row and get to cheat on all of them. (probably followed by the former period where I needed to diet again for several days in a row)
Should average out I think.
I'm afraid you may have some disordered thinking re weight loss. Have you run this plan past your GP?
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