Short girls and hard time closer to goal

taylormoooon

hey guys

So, I've been stuck at 128-133 at 5'3 (GW 118) for a while and I can't for the life of me get below that number. I started at 1480 calorie goal and I've been at 1380 now for a while after no progress. I know that I'm technically eating too much if I'm not losing (also I weigh everything on a scale so no discrepancy there), but I'm really struggling to eat 1380 because I'm still hungry and I feel I probably need to lower again.

I also set my activity to secendary so I add any cardio. From December to January I stopped dieting to give my body a break hoping when I started again it would be easier but nope. Any suggestions?

HerbertNenenger

try going low carb for a week if you're that determined, but at that weight, your body has probably found it's comfortable spot and seems like you are where you're supposed to be.....a healthy weight. don't pick some arbitrary number for your goal just because you like the sound of it.

ektrice

I'm not an expert/dietician/nutritionist, etc. However, I would say that, when you hit a plateau, usually you need to change something. It doesn't always mean you need to decrease your calorie intake. Sometimes, you aren't eating enough, so your body starts to hold onto everything you are eating because it thinks you are starving it. That has happened to me in the past. As soon as I started adding in some additional, healthy calories, the weight loss kicked back in for me. Also, try changing up your fitness routine. Mix up your cardio and add in some strength training. Your body might just be used to what you're doing, so the exercise doesn't have the same impact anymore. Here is a great article from the Mayo Clinic about weight loss plateaus. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/weight-loss-plateau/art-20044615

callsitlikeiseeit

the closer you get, the harder it is, and the longer it takes.

do you have it set for .5 lbs/ week?

im eating at maintenance right now cause were on vacation lol but normally i eat between 1200 and 1500 (1360 is my target and thats a 1.5 lb loss/ week for ME)

BeTheChange352

I only see one exercise entry in your diary over the past few days, and you ate those calories back. you might need to up your exercise and not eat the calories back.

taylormoooon

- Still have a lot of fat and the goal number is just a number. I'm way more focused on overall appearance so no worries there. But not settling for where I'm at heh

-True. I'm a heavy lifter so I've got the strength training down. I'm thinking I need to up cardio cause I rarely do it.

- yes I do. My tdee is apparently 1580 so I just have so little room for error. It's awful!

Sundayt

What is your body fat %? if you are heavy lifting, you may be adding muscle, which weighs more than fat.

taylormoooon

BeTheChange352 wrote: »

I only see one exercise entry in your diary over the past few days, and you ate those calories back. you might need to up your exercise and not eat the calories back.

twice this week I forgot to log one day which is weird but both times I didn't eat them back that day with 122 I went over and quickly burned that off.

taylormoooon

I've never had it measured but I'm assuming it's around 23/24%. Can't add muscle in a deficit unless noob gains

lemurcat12

I'm 5'3 and basically stuck at 125, with a goal of 120 or under, so I know how you feel. Last time I was this weight the only way I could get or maintain under 125 was lots of cardio, although I'm currently trying to do more of a mixed cardio and weights approach. I'm also trying to focus more on BF% and overall lean mass than scale weight, so have been torn between trying to lose more and doing a recomp, which means I've been unfocused and clearly not at a deficit.

I've been eating lots more than you are, though, because I'm not sure whether to try to lose or keep up with the recomp for a while.

leahraskie

I'm 5'0 and I didn't really start losing weight until I did crazy amounts of cardio, the dieting didn't really help until afterwards. But I was eating around 1300 and burning ~500 calories a day for a long time and the weight just suddenly was gone. That's probably not a great plan, but additional exercise can increase metabolism and that may help you a bit, that also depends on what you're doing now for exercise too though.

taylormoooon

Yeah I really wanted to try and get to 125 then do a small clean bulk and then cut again cause I know I could use some more muscle mass so the last bit of fat comes off easier. It's so hard but maybe it's just a lot of cardio I need. I clearly don't have the deficit I need!

taylormoooon

leahraskie wrote: »

I'm 5'0 and I didn't really start losing weight until I did crazy amounts of cardio, the dieting didn't really help until afterwards. But I was eating around 1300 and burning ~500 calories a day for a long time and the weight just suddenly was gone. That's probably not a great plan, but additional exercise can increase metabolism and that may help you a bit, that also depends on what you're doing now for exercise too though.

Yeah I thought lifting and just following iifym would do it but it appears cardio is the missing key. Thanks everyone!

mirrim52

Make sure you are weighing all your solids and measuring all liquids - even prepackaged.
Small women towards the end have very little wiggle room, and it is very easy to wipe out your deficit with inaccurate logging. Be precise. I know a lot of people don't weigh prepacked food, but the thing is, it is against regulations to package less product than you state on the package. Say it is a 30g snack. The company will get in trouble if someone discovers their snacks are only 25g. So, the company will overcompensate by setting to 35g to make sure everything will hit their advertised amount. These minor inaccuracies can really add up when your deficit is only a couple hundred calories.

I worked in a pasta factory once. We had a scale that rejected all underweight product. There was nothing to reject overweight product. If it fit in the box, it was good.

Liftng4Lis

Food scale?

taylormoooon

Yes and yes measuring and weighing is definitely not the problem. I'm usually the one telling people that

ammo7

Ah, the fun of being a short woman - we have such little room for a deficit, because our TDEEs are so low. The way that I've managed to stick to 1220-1350 calories every day for the last 3 months has been to focus on eating foods that fill me as much as possible. It feels like it's an art, to choose lots and lots of low calorie foods so that I meet my goals but don't feel deprived. I love eating a big spinach salad with chicken breast, omnomnom, it's so filling.

tiffanyking1976

Im 5 ft 1 and found i axtually needed to bumo up my calories. I lost nada at 1200 found out my tdee was 1331 and as soon as i started esting that the lbs started falling i recrntly got stuck. . I redid my tdee and found it gad jumped to 1476 so im at 1400 a nice round #. You may want to consider bumping up.

Spyer116

1. Drink 250-500ml water before your meals. Fills you up a bit. You'll eat a little less.
2. Eat more meals, with less in them. Rather than eating a dinner for lets say 400 cals. Half it. Eat one half at normal time. Then like 2 hours later, reheat and eat the other half. Even after a really large dinner and practically stuffing myself, I used to be hungry within an hour or so, and would be picking at snacks or whatever. But I found that eating half my dinner, even though I wouldn't really be full, i'd at least be satisfied enough to go an hour or two without snacking. Then repeat with the second half. Easier to get through the night without feeling hungry.
3. Eat more protein. More fiber. Less carbs. Carbs get broken down, turned into sugar, and used for energy really fast. Carbs are the body's preferred energy source. But Protein and Fats can get turned into glucose and used for energy, when there isn't enough carbs. Protein/Fats also take longer to digest. Which means eating a dinner with 30g protein in it (1 large chicken breast fillet), would fill you up for longer, than eating even 60-100g carbs (lots of mashed potato or something).
4. Don't need to lose carbs. Personally, I find it really easy to have no potato/chips/rice/pasta of any sort of form in my dinners. Add in extra meat (extra protein) and extra vegetables (extra fibre - for low cals too). I buy a jar of baby carrots (just cause i love them), looks like a massive amount, and fills me up too trying to eat all of it in one sitting, with some meat. Even if only for a short while, a that massive amount of baby carrots is only 26cals. Haha. I would eat some carbs for breakfast and/or lunch (porridge, oat bran or something for breakfast. A sandwhich (bread for carbs) for lunch, or a small amount of pasta and pasta sauce for lunch.

Also, if your daily calories is so close to your TDEE, then losing fat would be extremely slow. And a 4 week plateau could even happen where you lose nothing.
Sometimes you might need to take a complete break. And spend an entire week eating at maint/TDEE calories, and then start the diet again.
Change up your cardio and strength training, as your body adapts, the same routine becomes less effective. (if you job, try swimming or interval running. Change the strength exercises you do, to work out the same muscles in a different way, or just to work out different muscles)

I'm 5'4. think my mbr is under 1600cals. tdee would be around 2000cals. my calorie intake is 1200/day. And thats without including any cardio or strength. I don't even eat extra calories to cover what i burn from walking/jogging, or what I do at the gym. But I eat far more protein, and spread throughout the day, rather than in 2-3 meals.
Although once every 1-2 weeks, I would eat a full 2000-2200cals in one day, with extra carbs. Just to return the body's metabolism back to normal (as it does eventually slow when dieting).

Lastly, and extremely effective.
Green Tea Extract supplements, and caffeine tablets. Taking for one week, then a break for a week. And repeat (due to growing tolerance levels).
They work god-like for me. (depending on your caffeine tolerance, and if you drink coffee or energy drinks on a regular basis).
Increase heart rate. Increase metabolism by a tiny bit. And powerful at reducing hunger, at the start, when you have low tolerance levels to them.
Can get them in plenty of health shops, or in many online shops for super cheap, for a 3+ month supply

taylormoooon

Spyer116 wrote: »

1. Drink 250-500ml water before your meals. Fills you up a bit. You'll eat a little less.
2. Eat more meals, with less in them. Rather than eating a dinner for lets say 400 cals. Half it. Eat one half at normal time. Then like 2 hours later, reheat and eat the other half. Even after a really large dinner and practically stuffing myself, I used to be hungry within an hour or so, and would be picking at snacks or whatever. But I found that eating half my dinner, even though I wouldn't really be full, i'd at least be satisfied enough to go an hour or two without snacking. Then repeat with the second half. Easier to get through the night without feeling hungry.
3. Eat more protein. More fiber. Less carbs. Carbs get broken down, turned into sugar, and used for energy really fast. Carbs are the body's preferred energy source. But Protein and Fats can get turned into glucose and used for energy, when there isn't enough carbs. Protein/Fats also take longer to digest. Which means eating a dinner with 30g protein in it (1 large chicken breast fillet), would fill you up for longer, than eating even 60-100g carbs (lots of mashed potato or something).
4. Don't need to lose carbs. Personally, I find it really easy to have no potato/chips/rice/pasta of any sort of form in my dinners. Add in extra meat (extra protein) and extra vegetables (extra fibre - for low cals too). I buy a jar of baby carrots (just cause i love them), looks like a massive amount, and fills me up too trying to eat all of it in one sitting, with some meat. Even if only for a short while, a that massive amount of baby carrots is only 26cals. Haha. I would eat some carbs for breakfast and/or lunch (porridge, oat bran or something for breakfast. A sandwhich (bread for carbs) for lunch, or a small amount of pasta and pasta sauce for lunch.

Also, if your daily calories is so close to your TDEE, then losing fat would be extremely slow. And a 4 week plateau could even happen where you lose nothing.
Sometimes you might need to take a complete break. And spend an entire week eating at maint/TDEE calories, and then start the diet again.
Change up your cardio and strength training, as your body adapts, the same routine becomes less effective. (if you job, try swimming or interval running. Change the strength exercises you do, to work out the same muscles in a different way, or just to work out different muscles)

I'm 5'4. think my mbr is under 1600cals. tdee would be around 2000cals. my calorie intake is 1200/day. And thats without including any cardio or strength. I don't even eat extra calories to cover what i burn from walking/jogging, or what I do at the gym. But I eat far more protein, and spread throughout the day, rather than in 2-3 meals.
Although once every 1-2 weeks, I would eat a full 2000-2200cals in one day, with extra carbs. Just to return the body's metabolism back to normal (as it does eventually slow when dieting).

Lastly, and extremely effective.
Green Tea Extract supplements, and caffeine tablets. Taking for one week, then a break for a week. And repeat (due to growing tolerance levels).
They work god-like for me. (depending on your caffeine tolerance, and if you drink coffee or energy drinks on a regular basis).
Increase heart rate. Increase metabolism by a tiny bit. And powerful at reducing hunger, at the start, when you have low tolerance levels to them.
Can get them in plenty of health shops, or in many online shops for super cheap, for a 3+ month supply

Heh I actually do most of what you said for 2-4. Drinking 65 oz water a day but didn't consider drinking right before a meal. I aim for 200-300 calorie meals and on occasion I hit 300-400 but usually cause it wasn't possible in whatever circumstance I get between 100-120 grams of protein. I could definitely use more veggies though!! The rest of your info is very helpful too thank you!

Spyer116

taycupcake wrote: »

Heh I actually do most of what you said for 2-4. Drinking 65 oz water a day but didn't consider drinking right before a meal. I aim for 200-300 calorie meals and on occasion I hit 300-400 but usually cause it wasn't possible in whatever circumstance I get between 100-120 grams of protein. I could definitely use more veggies though!! The rest of your info is very helpful too thank you!

Haha that's great then! And that's plenty of protein too
Consider taking a break anyway for a week (both of the calorie deficit, and the gym), and see what happens when you start again. I was stuck at 162 pounds for about 3 weeks. Took 1 week off, and even though I did nearly nothing that week, and ate at maintenance calories, when I started again the next week I was at 155 pounds which was shocking. So who knows, maybe you just need some time off!

Hope to see you hit your goals soon though!

mrihel6615

I'm having a similar problem,
I'm 4'10, and started out at 142 pounds (nearing obese range)
And I'm currently down to 119-122 pounds.
Which it right on the edge of a healthy weight.
I've got 10-12 pounds to go until my goal weight.
I am going to give something a shot, and I'll have to tell you if it helps.
But, since I am a carb-o-holic I'm going to limit carbs to only one meal per day to see if it can help me push through the last bit of this!
I'm only starting this today, so we will see!
But I've been stuck around 122 since early January, and just recently broke through to 119.
So I'll try just about anything (that's still healthy!)

SwankyTomato

I feel for you except I am 50 and almost in full menopause. My TDEE is the same...so LOW, it does suck. I did take a break for 2 months. I did not go crazy but I had to take a break from logging. It did help me get back on track.

You will figure it out.

TheGetFitGal

tiffanyking1976 wrote: »

Im 5 ft 1 and found i axtually needed to bumo up my calories. I lost nada at 1200 found out my tdee was 1331 and as soon as i started esting that the lbs started falling i recrntly got stuck. . I redid my tdee and found it gad jumped to 1476 so im at 1400 a nice round #. You may want to consider bumping up.

Whats tdee and how do u know it fluctuates?

TheGetFitGal

Spyer116 wrote: »

taycupcake wrote: »

Heh I actually do most of what you said for 2-4. Drinking 65 oz water a day but didn't consider drinking right before a meal. I aim for 200-300 calorie meals and on occasion I hit 300-400 but usually cause it wasn't possible in whatever circumstance I get between 100-120 grams of protein. I could definitely use more veggies though!! The rest of your info is very helpful too thank you!

Haha that's great then! And that's plenty of protein too
Consider taking a break anyway for a week (both of the calorie deficit, and the gym), and see what happens when you start again. I was stuck at 162 pounds for about 3 weeks. Took 1 week off, and even though I did nearly nothing that week, and ate at maintenance calories, when I started again the next week I was at 155 pounds which was shocking. So who knows, maybe you just need some time off!

Hope to see you hit your goals soon though!

Expat4Life

ektrice wrote: »

I'm not an expert/dietician/nutritionist, etc. However, I would say that, when you hit a plateau, usually you need to change something. It doesn't always mean you need to decrease your calorie intake. Sometimes, you aren't eating enough, so your body starts to hold onto everything you are eating because it thinks you are starving it. That has happened to me in the past. As soon as I started adding in some additional, healthy calories, the weight loss kicked back in for me. Also, try changing up your fitness routine. Mix up your cardio and add in some strength training. Your body might just be used to what you're doing, so the exercise doesn't have the same impact anymore. Here is a great article from the Mayo Clinic about weight loss plateaus. http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/weight-loss-plateau/art-20044615

This! great advice!

arditarose

5'4" here. I also do little cardio. I want to get to 128 now. The past few weeks I've had luck with keeping my calories at 1400 daily, but averaging about 1600 for a .5 lb weekly weight loss. It's slow...but this approach has worked well for me since I like to eat close to maintenance on weekends.

threnjen

Op I got nothing, just with you on how hard it gets. I'm on my last 6 pounds and I find I have to be SO careful with counting. I also lift heavy and don't get a lot of cardio. I'm kind of stuck at .5/week although I would love to still be at 1/week to get to maintenance. I have to be so careful and specific with my calories I'm getting afraid of maintenance at this point.
It's just hard for us small people... our TDEE tends to be much lower than average. When other people have 100 cal swing it's not that much, but for us it can make a big difference.

kamakazeekim

I'm 5'3 and bounce between 128 and 133. I try to hit 1300 calories but most days I'm under. I work out every day but only log it a few times a week and I don't eat back exercise calories. I'm so stuck right now! I haven't lost weight in over two months. I'd like to get to 120 and reevaluate at that point...the lowest I'd go is 115 but that seems so far out of reach right now!

taylormoooon

I'm going to start doing some hiit 3x a week and occasionally steady state and see how the extra calorie burn works. One person on another post said the only way they successfully got down was diet, lifting and cardio (which I mean is obvious) but hopefully that'll work for me too since my cardios been lacking!

segacs

I'm 5'1" and currently 6 pounds away from my goal (well, my initial one... I might keep going a bit further once I get there, I'll see). And yep, I hear ya. Weight loss for us small shorties is slooooooooooooooooowwwwwww.

I don't think that increasing calories is the answer here. Maybe decrease a tiny bit more, if you can stand to, since you're in a pretty small deficit right now without much room for error, so even minor logging errors could easily be erasing your deficit more days than not.

A bit more cardio (without eating back) might help, and certainly won't hurt your overall heart health. That could be a decent way to increase your deficit without decreasing your calories.

But ultimately, I think there's nothing to do other than to be patient. Log and track daily, and set yourself up for the long haul. I mean, since you say you're in a 200 calorie daily deficit right now, then those last 10-15 pounds would be expected, mathematically, to take you 25-38 weeks, or between 6 and 10 months. That means you could actually be losing right now, but the rate of loss is so slow that it doesn't show up on the scale because it's smaller than your normal fluctuations. The only cures for that are to increase your deficit or increase your patience.