weight loss plateau even while zigzagging/ calorie shifting

latteking

hello everyone~
Im very frustrated with my current weight loss plateau which is lasting for almost 2 months now. I have up'ed my calorie intake from 1000-1200 a day (I know .. crazy & stupid.. Im pretty sure my body was in starvation mode before...) to 1500-1700 (low) up to 2000 (high) a day. I have lost like 0.5kg since I started zig zagging about 3 weeks ago.

Im a gym/ HIIT maniac and exercise almost everyday. Each workout session consists of 60 minutes of which 35-40 minutes are HIIT with heart rate over 140 (average heart rate is like 145). I am 36 yrs old female, weigh 47.6 kg and 159cm (5f 3) tall. My body fat has been professionally measured to be 18%. I am very small framed as my fingers overlap on the wrist.

I really want to go down to 43kg which is my ultimate goal but would be happy to first go down to 45kg at the same time not losing my hard earned muscles but actually gaining more. I only just started doing serious resistance training (back dip/ bicep curl/ crunches) because I thought that maybe Ive been eating up my lean muscles by doing too much cardio??

I really need some advice on how to get the scale moving.

Oh other relevant info is Im still on maternity leave so am pretty active at home, chasing after my super duper active toddler. I eat healthy, I do intermittent fasting about 2-3 days a week (14 hrs - 16 hrs)

Any advice would be so appreciated and welcome!!!

StaciMarie1974

Your height/weight/body fat % are in a reasonable range. Perhaps eating higher, more aggressive weight training can change your body comp to please you?

RockstarWilson

You are probably at, or at the bottom end of, your ideal weight range. At that range, your body does not want to lose weight. Don't fight it.

RockstarWilson

Actually, by this calculation in American units, you are at the doorstep of underweight:
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/english_bmi_calculator/bmi_calculator.html

latteking

Thank u for your advice guys..yeah I know im on the verge of being underweight which I font mibd but. To get down to 45kg at least and 17% body fat should I be eating less? Because honestly I dont think I can go any harder in terms of exercise/cardio. Eg yesterday I ran on treadmill for an hour. First 15 minutes I ran at 9kph, half way through my heart rate was over 150. I thrn started HIIT for 35 minutes with 13kph on speed and 9kph off speed and cooled down for 10 minutes with power walking (6.5kph) with 5.0 intensity/slope still with heart rate ovrr 140.

Maybe im eating too much carb??

Liftng4Lis

Eat a hamburger, with french fries!

latteking

Which I did last night at Hugry Jacks... two burgers in fact with a regular size chips followed by two soft cones... Ouch!

Liftng4Lis

latteking wrote: »

Which I did last night at Hugry Jacks... two burgers in fact with a regular size chips followed by two soft cones... Ouch!

YAY! Great job!

DancingMoosie

Well, I would try to ease back on the cardio and add in some strength training, but not try to lose any weight. You are the same height as me and only 105lb. I start to look skeletal below 113 or so. I hit 110 last year and people thought I was ill. They still comment when they see me eat. Why do that to yourself over some arbitrary number you set in your head? Its also possible that you bf% was measured incorrectly and is actually lower than 18% already. And there is no way to keep (or gain, as you say you want to) those hard-earned muscles if you are in a deficit. You have to eat more to gain muscle.

missiontofitness

latteking wrote: »

hello everyone~
Im very frustrated with my current weight loss plateau which is lasting for almost 2 months now. I have up'ed my calorie intake from 1000-1200 a day (I know .. crazy & stupid.. Im pretty sure my body was in starvation mode before...) to 1500-1700 (low) up to 2000 (high) a day. I have lost like 0.5kg since I started zig zagging about 3 weeks ago.

Im a gym/ HIIT maniac and exercise almost everyday. Each workout session consists of 60 minutes of which 35-40 minutes are HIIT with heart rate over 140 (average heart rate is like 145). I am 36 yrs old female, weigh 47.6 kg and 159cm (5f 3) tall. My body fat has been professionally measured to be 18%. I am very small framed as my fingers overlap on the wrist.

I really want to go down to 43kg which is my ultimate goal but would be happy to first go down to 45kg at the same time not losing my hard earned muscles but actually gaining more. I only just started doing serious resistance training (back dip/ bicep curl/ crunches) because I thought that maybe Ive been eating up my lean muscles by doing too much cardio??

I really need some advice on how to get the scale moving.

Oh other relevant info is Im still on maternity leave so am pretty active at home, chasing after my super duper active toddler. I eat healthy, I do intermittent fasting about 2-3 days a week (14 hrs - 16 hrs)

Any advice would be so appreciated and welcome!!!

94lbs (43kg) at 5 foot 3 is really underweight for that height.

MKEgal

I am 36 yrs old female, weigh 47.6 kg and 159cm (5f 3) tall. My body fat has been professionally measured to be 18%.

For your height, a healthy weight range is 105 - 135 lb.
That's 47.6 - 61.2 kg.
http://www.shapeup.org/bmi/bmi6.pdf
So you're already at the very lowest end of a healthy weight range.

You're also at the lowest end of the healthy range for body fat.
"10% to 25% body fat is considered healthy in an adult man, and 18% to 32% body fat is considered healthy in an adult woman."
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/estimating-body-fat-percentage-topic-overview

Doing so much high-intensity cardio probably isn't helping, and may be hurting.
Lower the intensity, lower the heart rate, lower the time.

wrote:

I have up'ed my calorie intake from 1000-1200 a day (I know .. crazy & stupid.. Im pretty sure my body was in starvation mode before...) to 1500-1700 (low) up to 2000 (high) a day.

Harvard Medical School says that to maintain weight while being moderately active (30 min per day), eat 15x your healthy weight in calories.
http://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/HB_web/calorie-counting-made-easy.htm

105 x 15 = 1575
135 x 15 = 2025
So eat in that range, ignore exercise calories, and you should maintain a healthy weight.

I really want to go down to 43kg which is my ultimate goal but would be happy to first go down to 45kg at the same time not losing my hard earned muscles but actually gaining more.

You're not going to be able to be severely underweight while maintaining muscle.
You probably won't be able to be severely underweight while maintaining your health.

Forget about losing any more weight. Eat a reasonable amount of calories (1550 - 2000 cal / day), cut back on the cardio a bit (do 30 min per day), start doing weightlifting (real weightlifting, exercising your whole body).

I doubt your body was using muscle for fuel (that's what "starvation mode" is) when you were only eating 1000 cal, but it's possible, which means you lost more muscle than you should have. It will take a while eating at a normal calorie level and doing weightlifting to get yourself out of the hole you dug.

I only just started doing serious resistance training (back dip/ bicep curl/ crunches) because I thought that maybe Ive been eating up my lean muscles by doing too much cardio??
Any advice would be so appreciated and welcome!!!

So you're working both sides of your upper arm, and your abdomen.
And the running / walking / elliptical takes care of the front & back of your legs, and your butt.
What about your shoulders, back, sides, inner thighs, outer thighs... ?

Talk with the trainer at your gym, or find a certified personal trainer through searching on the certifying organization's website, and have at least 1 session to learn how to exercise properly.
Learn a whole-body workout, starting with machines, and in a few months have another training session to learn free weights (they're harder).

latteking

Thank u so much for all your useful advice guys, really appreciate it!

I'm going to focus more on weight training now. Currently I'm working my back & abdomen. I don't do any legs/thighs though as they r pretty muscular from yrs of cycling and interval running.

But I still want to lose a bit more. 45kg then I will be very happy...

My diet is carb dominant pro'ly 50-60% most of the time. If I change my diet to mostly protein say 40-50% 6days a week would I lose weight??

maidentl

latteking wrote: »

Thank u so much for all your useful advice guys, really appreciate it!

I'm going to focus more on weight training now. Currently I'm working my back & abdomen. I don't do any legs/thighs though as they r pretty muscular from yrs of cycling and interval running.

But I still want to lose a bit more. 45kg then I will be very happy...

My diet is carb dominant pro'ly 50-60% most of the time. If I change my diet to mostly protein say 40-50% 6days a week would I lose weight??

You've established that your weight loss goal is to be underweight. No one here is going to offer advice to help you achieve that.

MKEgal

latteking wrote:

I still want to lose a bit more. 45kg then I will be very happy

No, you won't.
You'll still think you're overweight, because that's how eating disorders work. You're never happy at the weight you're at, always think weighing less is the answer, will make you happy.
It won't.
Accept that you are CURRENTLY at the very lowest healthy weight for your height.
If you're having trouble doing that, talk with your doctor.

My diet is carb dominant pro'ly 50-60% most of the time. If I change my diet to mostly protein say 40-50% 6days a week would I lose weight??

Maybe. It would certainly help you preserve what muscle you have left.
But 40% protein is too high.

Here's a table showing the recommended daily intake for macronutrients.
http://www.iom.edu/Global/News Announcements/~/media/C5CD2DD7840544979A549EC47E56A02B.ashx

page 1, carbs, 45 - 65% of calories (4 cal per gram)
page 2, fat, 20 - 35% of calories (9 cal per gram)
page 4, protein, 10 - 35% of calories (4 cal per gram)

So to take the middle of your healthy weight range & say 1800 cal per day, at 45 / 20 / 35 that would be:
carbs 45% = 819 cal = 203 g
fat 20% = 360 cal = 40 g
protein 35% = 630 cal = 158 g

ana3067

latteking wrote: »

Thank u so much for all your useful advice guys, really appreciate it!

I'm going to focus more on weight training now. Currently I'm working my back & abdomen. I don't do any legs/thighs though as they r pretty muscular from yrs of cycling and interval running.

But I still want to lose a bit more. 45kg then I will be very happy...

My diet is carb dominant pro'ly 50-60% most of the time. If I change my diet to mostly protein say 40-50% 6days a week would I lose weight??

weight loss is about eating fewer calories than your maintenance needs. At this point you do not need to lose any more weight. You will probably do better either eating at maintenance or eating slightly above to put on some weight while weight lifting. Once you've put on maybe 10-15lbs, then I'd reconsider a slow cut (like 0.5lbs/week).

You should also be working your entire body. You are not going to increase your muscular size while in a deficit, so... there's no point in abandoning strength training for your lower body. You need to maintain a balanced routine.

Just eating 50% protein isn't going to change how you lose weight if you still eat the same amount of calories. Eating 70-80g is probably more than enough for your current weight, unless you know your lean body mass in which case go wtih that number in grams for protein.

I recommend using an actual calculator, not simply multiplying your weight by a random number. The links I recommend most are on my profile (first two especially). If you are very very consistent with exercise, then calculate TDEE (include exercise) and eat that amount - no subtracting. Or even increase it by 10% for a slow bulk. If you do not want to include exericse, then calculate your NEAT needs (non-exercise) and then eat that as your daily net, and log any exercise you do and eat back all of the calories. Again, add 10% to your net if you're okay with the idea of gaining some weight.

Strength train without over training, exercise is not needed to lose weight, and stop focusing on losing weight. It's all about strength training for composition and eating the right amount of calories to maintain/etc weight. Weigh your food for the most accuracy, and be consistent with your intake. You've been switching things around a lot, I did this and it did not do me any favours mentally.. I don't think I was losing as consistently when I moved my calories around either. I only switch my calories now if I'm losing too quickly.

latteking

Thank u guys especially MKEgal and Ana for such detailed advice. Will definitely focus more on overall weight lifting n muscle building from now on. And if I end up losing a bit of weight in the process that's a bonus..