Suggestions? Plateau?

Ellaskat

Hi everyone,

When I started back up with MFP on Jan, 10, I had about 18 pounds to lose. I lost 7 pounds in about 2 1/2 weeks, and then only 1 pound in the 5 weeks since then.

My diary is open if anyone wants to look.

A few things I'm aware of:

I cook all my food 99% of the time. I measure cals by figuring out the calories in the full recipe and then dividing by 2 or 4.

When I was losing, iwas eating back about 1/2 of my exercise calories. For the past 3 weeks I haven't exercised and have eaten fewer calories. I have chronic Lyme and battle fatigue. The last 3 weeks I've been too tired to exercise.

Over this period of time my measurements have remained the same too.

rayrayfitz

If you're weighing and calculating your food accurately, and logging correctly with no nibbles un logged here and there, it's likely it will drop off soon.

Sometimes there seems no rhyme or reason why we don't lose weight, I lost only 3lb since the beginning of Jan, despite swimming 5x a week and doing around 10 hours of exercise a week, including aerobics and strength training, I felt like it just wasn't working.

This week I've suddenly dropped 5lb. I have PCOS. So despite having MFP set to lose 2lb a week, and all the exercise cals burnt (rare I eat exercise cals back) I am still only averaging a loss 1lb a week. It's just there is no pattern to the loss.

Sometimes you just have to have faith in the system, that it does work, just for some people it takes longer, and the loss is slower and smaller. I've just accepted that's the way my body is. We are all different.

Stick with it, and I really hope you feel better, and get a loss soon x

Ellaskat

Thanks Ray. I do log everything, even the oil I cook with and the splash of coco milk I put in my coffee. I always overlog if I'm not weighing- the coco milk is great example, it's just a splash,but I put in 1/4 cup,just to make sure I am accounting for all the cals.

Liftng4Lis

Cups should only be used for liquids, everything else should be weighed. If you're logging correctly, it will come, you jut need to be patient. On a side note, your protein is low. Eating enough fats and protein will keep you sated longer.

4thDegreeKnight

When I had this, my trainer suggested two things which worked:

1) Zig zag your calories for a week. If you goal is 2k, eat 1800 one day and 2200 the next. Try to confuse your body.

2) I haven't looked at your diary, but my body as very sugar sensitive. I had to get strict one week on sugar just to confuse my body.

As for exercise, if you have the energy to just walk. Say a block. That will spike your heart some and help. But do what your body allows you to do.

Also break up your meals to eating 5-6 small meals a day. It takes about a week or two to kick in but it will start to make your metabolism go faster.

Good luck and stay in the fight.

Ellaskat

Thanks for taking a look ladies- not sure why you think my protein is low? When I look at my week over week numbers, I'm usually right on track, with a max of 2-3% high or low in any given week.

I don't eat much sugar - most of my sugar comes from the quick oatmeal I eat 5-6 days a week for breakfast, or from the fruit I have as a snack every day. Dessert is rare for me, and I don't have sodas ever; I eat pasta and bread rarely.

Looking at my macros, it does look like my fat percentage is a little high. Could this be the culprit? Not sure how I could cut this down- my fat comes mostly from the olive oil I cook with, and I am really aware of trying to cook with as little as possible without scorching my pan. I don't have nonstick pans- only way I can imagine reducing more- I don't believe in them- not interested in exposing my body to the chemicals that leach out of their finishes.

Really looking for ideas please! These are great first things to look at. Not sure how I could make 5-6 meals a day work. When I've tried that in the past I'm super hungry! I don't struggle with hunger right now, I always feel fine. I prefer 3 meals a day,with the option of a before of or after lunch snack if I start to feel hungry. If you guys really think this could make a big difference, I'll try to work through how I could try that.

Liftng4Lis

50 grams of protein a day is low. It's not about giving up anything, tt's about being in a caloric deficit. This is all thats required to lose weight.

Ellaskat

Hi lifting- thanks for all your thoughts- I'm eating the protein that MFP has set for me. Are you saying this is too low? I never said I needed to cut anything out- I'm not about that, because it wouldn't be sustainable. It seems when I look at my weekly numbers though, it's my fat that is a little high, not that my protein is low. I understand it's about a calorie deficit, which is why I'm eating 1200 cal a day (weekly average). That's also why I'm asking for help- my cals are definitely at a deficit at 1200; so I don't understand why I'm not losing.

Ellaskat

Ok- just looked at my numbers again- see the protein deficit now. Thank you! It's very surprising to me because I'm definitely an omnivore and feel like I eat a lot of meat!

Next question- if all that is required for weight loss a cal deficit, than why does the composition if those calories matter?

Liftng4Lis

Ellaskat wrote: »

Ok- just looked at my numbers again- see the protein deficit now. Thank you! It's very surprising to me because I'm definitely an omnivore and feel like I eat a lot of meat!

Next question- if all that is required for weight loss a cal deficit, than why does the composition if those calories matter?

Generally speaking, it doesn't. BUT, (laughs) depending on your goals, they are very important. For instance, my goal is to get stronger, so I lift. Lifting in a deficit is not going to gain me muscle mass, although it will help me maintain it, so I need to make sure I'm getting sufficient protein. Eating enough fat, as aforementioned, keeps me sated. These things help me maintain said goals.

Ellaskat

I'm surprised to see I at a protein def. because protein + fat seems to help me feel sated- so I always conscious of trying to have both at each meal except breakfast- I jus try to get out the door on time with breakfast:)

Ellaskat

Also, got it on the performance goals, but right now I'm not really focused on that- I'd like to lose another 5 pounds, so I'm about 5 pounds away from goal, before I switch to focusing more on strength, etc. plus, since I battle fatigue, it's hard for me to exercise consistently. I can work out daily for several weeks, and then get hit and not be able to do anything for several weeks.

mburgess458

If you are battling fatigue from Lyme's disease I would think that might mean your caloric needs might be lower than what the MFP calculator would estimate. It is just an estimate that will be too high for roughly half of everyone. If you are consistently fatigued, and therefore probably moving a little less, I would think chances are you are in the half that might need to eat less than MFP says to lose weight.

I would think that feeling fatigue might also be an indicator that your body is using fewer calories to do ordinary stuff....like your overall metabolism might be slowed so that your body can fight the Lyme's.

Of course I'm just a random non-medical person guessing here. Maybe fighting Lyme's should mean you burn more calories in your normal life. Might be something to think about and/or research.

SLLRunner

Ellaskat wrote: »

Hi everyone,

When I started back up with MFP on Jan, 10, I had about 18 pounds to lose. I lost 7 pounds in about 2 1/2 weeks, and then only 1 pound in the 5 weeks since then.

My diary is open if anyone wants to look.

A few things I'm aware of:

I cook all my food 99% of the time. I measure cals by figuring out the calories in the full recipe and then dividing by 2 or 4.

When I was losing, iwas eating back about 1/2 of my exercise calories. For the past 3 weeks I haven't exercised and have eaten fewer calories. I have chronic Lyme and battle fatigue. The last 3 weeks I've been too tired to exercise.

Over this period of time my measurements have remained the same too.

Weight loss in not linear.

It's common to lose quickly at first.

You are losing weight, therefore you're not at a plateau.

A plateau just means you are eating at maintenance.

With 7 pounds left, you need to lose it slowly, .5 pounds a week is suggested.

Have patience.

SLLRunner

4thDegreeKnight wrote: »

When I had this, my trainer suggested two things which worked:

1) Zig zag your calories for a week. If you goal is 2k, eat 1800 one day and 2200 the next. Try to confuse your body.

2) I haven't looked at your diary, but my body as very sugar sensitive. I had to get strict one week on sugar just to confuse my body.

As for exercise, if you have the energy to just walk. Say a block. That will spike your heart some and help. But do what your body allows you to do.

Also break up your meals to eating 5-6 small meals a day. It takes about a week or two to kick in but it will start to make your metabolism go faster.

Good luck and stay in the fight.

You don't need to confuse your body, it's pretty smart and knows what to do with energy expenditure based on our calorie intake. Meal timing also has nothing to do with weight loss. Exercise has great benefits, but it's not required to lose weight.

musicandarts

Hi Ella, you are doing fine. As other have pointed out, you don't weight loss at the same rate every week. The only suggestion I have is to add a bit of exercise. Maybe walk for 30 minutes on a treadmill to burn 200 cals, and eat more.