seem to have hit a wall........

11406203

Hi all. Just looking for a bit of advice really. I have been eating healthily and exercising for a while now. (Eating clean, lowish carb, high protein) Starting weight was around 152 pounds (I think I had already lost some of that when I started using MFP) current weight is 138, and has been for a few weeks. My 'goal' weight is set to 120. I'm not actually that bothered about the number on the scale, I just want to look and feel better. Weighing 120 was the last time I felt really happy with my weight, but at that time I was in no way toned. This time around I'm lifting weights, really trying to build some lean muscle. So I may reach what I feel is my target way before 120, who knows?
Anyway, back to my point. I'm going to the gym 3 to 5x per week. Doing a mixture of weights and cardio. some spin and bodypump classes. Does anyone know a reason for my stall in weightloss? Will it eventually catch up?
I am on 1200 cals per day, and don't always eat exercise cals back, I know MFP tends to overestimate! (until I have an accurate HRM I don't want to risk undoing my good work lol)
Any words of wisdom or people with similar experiences?
x

eldamiano

There appears to be no way you are consuming like you claim. If you were, you would be losing weight. You are overestimating burns/underestimating intake. All people who do this have the same experience, yes.

11406203

fair enough. I suppose I have become a bit relaxed towards measuring over time. Maybe a back to basics approach is needed.

queenliz99

You also don't have a lot to lose, so losses become tougher to come by. Patience will be key.

11406203

queenliz99 wrote: »

You also don't have a lot to lose, so losses become tougher to come by. Patience will be key.

Thanks :-) I'll keep going!

lipsticknlattes

Actually, you may want to eat more. It sounds silly, but as you lose, you have to re-evaluate your BMR. Your body burns calories more easily and you may be at a stall because you aren't eating enough and your body feels starved. I always stall at around 140 and I up my calories to 1400-1500 and lose the last bit. I am starting over now because I let life and emotions make me fat again. Good luck! You are doing great!

Liftng4Lis

caseyayer wrote: »

Actually, you may want to eat more. It sounds silly, but as you lose, you have to re-evaluate your BMR. Your body burns calories more easily and you may be at a stall because you aren't eating enough and your body feels starved. I always stall at around 140 and I up my calories to 1400-1500 and lose the last bit. I am starting over now because I let life and emotions make me fat again. Good luck! You are doing great!

NO

OP Tighten your logging belt and start weighing and measuring your food again. The less you have to go, the lower that deficit is, the harder it gets. WTG on your loss!

Icandoityayme

I can say that when I was at a stall, I bumped my calories up from 1200 to 1400 and that is when I started losing again. I also find switching up my exercises and causing some muscle confusion made a huge difference. Everybody is different but this is what helped me.

SrClaire

There could be a few reasons.

I strongly disagree with the suggestion that you're over consuming. If anything, you are under consuming! I am 130-ish lbs and I eat well over 2000 cals per day, sometimes more than 3000, and I'm still losing weight and leaning out. Calorie counting is far less important than knowing what types of foods to eat and when to eat them. Maybe read a few of those "why a calories isn't a calorie" articles that are all over the internet now.

Don't forget that whatever you are eating when you get to your goal weight is pretty much how you will have to eat for the rest of your life in order to keep the weight off. If you are eating very little food you will either have to stay like that or accept that you'll gain all the weight back when you start eating like a normal person.

How long have you been eating so little? It could be that your body has adapted to compensate for that.

You say you're doing cardio too. Cardio tends to lead to fitness, fitness is the layman's term for metabolic efficiency. It could be that you are now really well adapted to carry out all your activities with very little energy expenditure (i.e. you're fit).

A combination of the two is actually most likely.

I agree that it gets harder to lose fat the closer you get to goal. It could be that you are also approaching what your body believes is it's natural set point or ideal weight.

First thing I would do is reset my hormones and metabolism by going ultra low carb (under 30g per day) for 2 weeks while eating as much protein and fat as my body asked for (I would still log everything I ate in order to watch my macros - 60-70% fat, 30-40% protein, but I wouldn't bother over calories at all), then going back to a healthy way of eating while also moving all carbs to that post workout window to maximise recovery and muscle gains after a weight session.

Get your insulin, thyroid hormones, leptin and testosterone working properly again.

I'd also focus on weights since they'll help to undo the damage that cardio does to your metabolism and your ability to "waste" energy. Muscles need lots of feeding. The better you get at weights, the more energy you burn. The better you get at cardio, the less energy you burn.

You also burn 17% more fat if you do cardio AFTER a weight session so you might want to restructure your workouts a bit if you haven't already.

Don't forget that as women our hormones can sometimes mess with the numbers on the scales and it can sometimes be best to evaluate progress on a monthly rather than weekly basis.

And lastly, plateau's aren't always a bad thing. Sometimes your body just needs a few weeks to adjust to a new composition and weight and accept that as it's new set point.

I hope you find what works for you.

Rose6300

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

caseyayer wrote: »

Actually, you may want to eat more. It sounds silly, but as you lose, you have to re-evaluate your BMR. Your body burns calories more easily and you may be at a stall because you aren't eating enough and your body feels starved. I always stall at around 140 and I up my calories to 1400-1500 and lose the last bit. I am starting over now because I let life and emotions make me fat again. Good luck! You are doing great!

NO

OP Tighten your logging belt and start weighing and measuring your food again. The less you have to go, the lower that deficit is, the harder it gets. WTG on your loss!

This is your answer right here. Ignore the other stuff.

11406203

Thanks for the advice everyone. Good to know there is a solution out there somewhere.
I think I will start by going back to 'newbie style' and weigh and measure absolutely everything. I have definitely found myself using the phrase 'that looks about right' a lot lately!
If that doesnt kick start things I can look at increasing my cals.
With regards to work outs, I only ever do cardio after weights. Usually either weights followed by rowing/x trainer or weights followed by a spin class.
I never do cardio only.
My other thought was do do more free weights and completely stop using machines. I have read in lots of places that machines are useless. But as a beginner they really did help me build some muscle, maybe its time to up my game all round!
Wish me luck
x

Francl27

Is your period due anytime soon? That could explain it too... I always stall 2-3 weeks before my period.