Eating far below BMR and not losing weight

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  • Lasmartchika
    Lasmartchika Posts: 3,440 Member
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    I HAVE THIS FEELING I HAVE SEEN THIS STATS WITH A DIFFERENT NAME. I WILL NOW LEAVE!!

    :noway: :noway: :noway: :noway: :noway: :noway: :noway: :noway: :noway: :noway:
  • grantwashere
    grantwashere Posts: 171 Member
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    A year ago, I was eating below my BMR and had the same thing happen. Lost a chunk to begin with and then it just stopped. This time, I'm eating a tad over my BMR and it is coming off. Also, TrendWeight.com is an awesome tool to help "make" the process a little more linear. I no longer freak out at what the scale says but I do look forward to my daily weigh-in so I can see what all TrendWeight spits out about the process each day.
  • geniusgamer
    geniusgamer Posts: 61
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    bsexton3 wrote: »
    Genuis--First, I like your thread and your questions.

    I have watched Biggest Loser on and off since it started. The first week, they lose a lot. Some do the second week, others the third week. Somewhere, with each of them, they have a week they lose nothing, and might gain some back. Then, it seems to be a steady decrease. Don't ask me why. I know it is that way with me as well. And, when I hit that plateau, I simply want to stop counting calories and exercise, and the weight comes back on.

    Your body is adjusting. And, given time, with fewer calories, you will lose weight.

    But, that is not the reason I comment. The reason I watch Biggest Loser is the change in personality and view toward food by the contestants toward the end of the season. It is the mental change that will lead to a healthy lifestyle. That is not what you are wanting to do. Eating whatever you want until you have gained some weight, then losing it, is simply playing the game that put me over weight.

    The real change comes when it is not the food that is the focus. It is the life of living healthy, and the food is part of the bigger picture. It is not the picture.

    At least, that is what I having been trying to live for the past few years. And, since then, I don't eat out much, I have learned to cook more from scratch, and I eat better portions.

    My eat below certain weight, diet above it plan is really just an idea.

    I do have fear that it won't work and that I'll end up screwing up bad and gaining back a ton of weight.

    I'm honestly not totally sure what the best course is here. I'm trying to weigh everything everyone's saying.

    But it's hard because some people here are actually being quite rude to me and I'm getting aggravated, frustrated, angry, and defensive because of their attitudes towards me.

    My audacity in claiming that I actually log my calories consistently and correctly.
  • geniusgamer
    geniusgamer Posts: 61
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    Lasmartchika wrote: »
    I HAVE THIS FEELING I HAVE SEEN THIS STATS WITH A DIFFERENT NAME. I WILL NOW LEAVE!!

    :noway: :noway: :noway: :noway: :noway: :noway: :noway: :noway: :noway: :noway:

    Wow you are really rude. There was absolutely nothing rude to you in my reply. I just corrected the 210 to 120 meaning no malice whatsoever.

    And now you're claiming I'm some kind of faker or something?

    I am getting a really mixed vibe from this site.

    Some of you are really polite and friendly and helpful.

    And some others are really rude jerks and I don't get why.
  • geniusgamer
    geniusgamer Posts: 61
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    grantwashere wrote: »
    A year ago, I was eating below my BMR and had the same thing happen. Lost a chunk to begin with and then it just stopped. This time, I'm eating a tad over my BMR and it is coming off. Also, TrendWeight.com is an awesome tool to help "make" the process a little more linear. I no longer freak out at what the scale says but I do look forward to my daily weigh-in so I can see what all TrendWeight spits out about the process each day.

    I'm checking it out right now. It looks pretty awesome. I'll definitely give it a try. Thanks
  • FredDoyle
    FredDoyle Posts: 2,273 Member
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    Sometimes, people just aren't going to believe you.
    Usually, there is a reason. :D
  • lalawaterlala
    lalawaterlala Posts: 56 Member
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    geniusgamer wrote: »
    malibu927 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.
    [/quote]

    these diet meals are all extremely high in sodium. like i said before, water weight.
  • geniusgamer
    geniusgamer Posts: 61
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    lalawaterlala wrote: »

    these diet meals are all extremely high in sodium. like i said before, water weight.

    And I agree. At least I hope water weight is a big factor in this annoying plateau
  • silentKayak
    silentKayak Posts: 658 Member
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    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!
  • lalawaterlala
    lalawaterlala Posts: 56 Member
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    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
  • geniusgamer
    geniusgamer Posts: 61
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    FredDoyle wrote: »
    Sometimes, people just aren't going to believe you.
    Usually, there is a reason. :D

    That's fine.

    It's really helpful too.

    Because I'm going to come here with my frustrating *kitten* weight loss issue and lie about it.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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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.
  • geniusgamer
    geniusgamer Posts: 61
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    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 * numServ
  • geniusgamer
    geniusgamer Posts: 61
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    zarckon wrote: »
    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 fluctuations
  • geniusgamer
    geniusgamer Posts: 61
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    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%)
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 6,954 Member
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    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. :smile:

  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
    edited October 2014
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    geniusgamer wrote: »
    malibu927 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.
    [/quote]

    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.





  • geniusgamer
    geniusgamer Posts: 61
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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. :smile:

    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.
  • 50sFit
    50sFit Posts: 712 Member
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    geniusgamer wrote: »
    50sFit wrote: »
    Dude, I eat three times this amount and lose weight. Sometimes more is less.
    ...you're not eating enough.

    Could you elaborate on this? I'm not disagreeing. I just don't understand how more is less in this case.

    I can't imagine eating 3k/day and losing weight. But I haven't tried it.
    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!


  • geniusgamer
    geniusgamer Posts: 61
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    sofaking6 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

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