Plateau/slow metabolism

SRJ5820

Hi all-

Looking for some advice on losing weight and breaking through a plateau and/or slowed metabolism.

Long story long, started on MFP in March 2013. Ate at a 1000 calorie deficit and exercised and ate back exercise calories. Lost about 90-95 pounds through May 2014. Weight started coming off slower towards the end (about 1 to 1.5 per week instead of the 2 I was going for). I decided to give my body a break and ate at maintenance for 2 months and continued to exercise and eat back exercise calories. Gained 4 pounds. Then in August 2014 I had a very stressful month and was not watching what I ate consistently and exercised infrequently. Gained 12 pounds. Went back on diet and exercise in September and lost 8 pounds first week. Then lost on average about 1 pound per week through November. Couldn’t understand why I wasn’t losing the 2 pounds per week I should have been and got frustrated and went off diet around Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving through New Years day ate bad, but didn’t think it was THAT bad. Gained 17 pounds in 5 or 6 weeks. WTF. Went back on diet and exercise and lost 6 pounds first week. Since then have kind of yo-yo’d and have lost 8 more pounds. I have been continuing to exercise 6 days a week and eating at a 1000 calorie deficit each day. It gets so frustrating not losing weight that I cheat and eat some candy here and there but in no way should I not be losing at least a pound a week.

Talked to doctor how said “maybe you only need to be eating that 1580 calories a day to maintain”. Um, yeah that would suck. “Maybe go talk to the hospital nutrionist and she’ll put you on a strict 800 calorie diet”. Really no thanks. So he did some bloodwork and tested my glucose and my thyroid. Both came back normal.

Went to see a nutrionest and while she and I both agree that I don’t eat the best, there is no reason why I shouldn’t be losing weight. She thinks I f’ed up my metabolism. OK. How do I fix it? “Well, uh, eat more veggies and fruit and come back in a month”. Sigh.

I know I am missing some details in this and please feel free to ask me. I’d love to have some help with this. The nutrionist costs $115 for 15 minutes and frankly I don’t see any value OR help with her.

I’ve seen to continue to try to break the plateau, but this seems super long to be a plateau. Other thing was to eat a maintenance for a month and then try again, but I am worries about gaining weight on maintenance calories.

Anybody in the same boat?

Thanks in advance!

malibu927

What are your stats now? Can you open your diary? Congratulations on your loss so far!

snowflakesav

Stress=cortisol.
relaxed and happy. Start with sleep. Maybe a vacation.

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SRJ5820

Thanks everybody. Shell1005 I was and am hell bent on the 2 pounds, but only because I am eating at a 1000 calorie deficit. I think I'll bump it up to 500 a day deficit and see what happens. I probably was sabotoging my dieting, but I know I wasn't eating more than 200 extra calories a day. But so I was still not moving down ANY.

SRJ5820

I am 6'1". Started at 323, got down to 225 at the lowest and now hover at 240. Would like to get to 200 or even 210.

SRJ5820

btw, I use a polar h7 heart rate monitor and east back everything I exercise except for 50 to 100 calorie leeway. So if my daily goal is 1580 and I exercise 500 calories, I generally eat 2000 calories for the day then.

3bambi3

SRJ5820 wrote: »

btw, I use a polar h7 heart rate monitor and east back everything I exercise except for 50 to 100 calorie leeway. So if my daily goal is 1580 and I exercise 500 calories, I generally eat 2000 calories for the day then.

This could be your problem. Heart rate monitors are only really good for steady-state cardio, so you may be overestimating your burn. What do you do for exercise?

Do you weigh and measure your foods?

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SRJ5820

I do elliptical almost always and some t25. The one thing I noticed about the hrm is I still burn almost same amout of calories now per session as when I did when I weighed more, BUT I still get my heart rate up to the same levels and intensity. So idk.

I get about the fact about 1000 calories is not 2 pounds always. I truly get it. But it worked for a little over a year. Now for the past 3 months 1000 (or 800) = maintain? Something is not right. Like I said even the nutrionist was at a loss. I should be losing something!

SRJ5820

I weigh and measure everything! Almost too neurotic about all of this. That is my I get what shell1005 is saying about it isn't an exact science, but I should be losing. Have you guys plateaued? How did you break it? I mean if you diet for so long does your body just assume that 1500 calories is all it needs?

SRJ5820

And really even if my heart rate monitor said I burned 500 calories, but in reality only 250, I would still be at a 750 calorie deficit for the day, right?! Not trying to be a jerk or not listen. Just makes no sense to me at all.

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atypicalsmith

As long as you get upset that you're not losing the linear weight you expect to lose, then stop tracking/exercising until you've gained several pounds, you'll stay in this downward spiral. Lower your expectations. So what if you only lose 1/2 pound a week? It's better than gaining 1/2 pound per week. Besides, 1/2 pound per week is 26 pounds a year. You probably didn't gain it NEARLY that fast. Relish every half pound lost, don't be impatient, and you will feel much better. (I went through the same thing - got down to 120, and within three years, was up to 150, and continued long after that.)

cartjockey

I remember a weight loss guru telling me years ago that each plateau is actually an old weight that you hovered at for a long time. In order to break the plateau I increased my water intake and monitored everything else carefully and broke the plateau. It has worked for me several times. Maybe it will work for you. I am short and weighed 140 on and off give or take a few for years. I then shot up in weight and it took awhile to get back to 140 with a goal of 130. It seemed like weeks and it was as much mental as physical. Hang tough.

vixtris

Perhaps try not eating your exercise calories back for a week or 2? While being sure to drink plenty of water.

SonicKrunch

Sleep is very important to reset yourself. I have a hard time getting more than 5 hours sleep myself and I've seen it stop my losses. The other thing you could try is Intermittent Fasting. You still eat the same amount of calories, but in a smaller window. It might kick start your loss again by confusing your body. I wouldn't do it permanently, maybe for 4 weeks to see how it affects you. You will feel hungry though and if you aren't strong may lead to snacking and getting off the fast.

PAV8888

Err other than tightening your logging, and the fact that adaptation sucks, why are you having such a tough time with the concept?

Most people on prolonged and/or steep deficits show some adaptation in addition to what is explainable by the reduction of their lean mass during weight loss. And your muscles adapt to cardio exercise too.

So it is entirely possible that what you think is a 1000 Cal deficit is 700 in reality.

Plus weight loss is not linear, salt, hormones, etc.

Stick your daily weight in weightgrapher.com or trendweight.com to smooth out the noise and view your true weight trend.

blankiefinder

Do you update your HRM to your new weight every 5 pounds? Do you shut it off the second you are done, and pause it whenever you switch activities etc?

And most importantly, do you weigh all of your food with a food scale??

yirara

Did you adjust your goal through your weightloss journey? Your maintenance calories go down as you lose weight and the margin of error gets smaller. Basically, if you had a 1000kcal deficit originally, that might have gone down to 700 or even less if you didn't take this into consideration. Less weight = less maintenance calorie allowance.

musicdiva2004

Are you eating the exact same meal plan you have been on since you started your weightloss journey? Or, before you stepped off your diet plan? If so, your body has gotten use to it. Change it up a bit and research metabolism boosting foods. Also change up your workout plan. Your body is probably still in shock from being on a plan and then having a vacation, you can say, from your diet plan. Your body is familiar to what you did before you got of your diet plan. Now is the time to wake your metabolism up and due new things your body never felt. Start a new routine and a new diet plan.

snickerscharlie

musicdiva2004 wrote: »

Are you eating the exact same meal plan you have been on since you started your weightloss journey? Or, before you stepped off your diet plan? If so, your body has gotten use to it.

Um, no.

Your body neither knows nor cares what 'package' the calories are delivered in. It's not like it says, "Oh, damn, oatmeal again???" and then decides to screw you over by cancelling the weight loss, even if you were still eating in a deficit.

It's all about CICO, regardless of in what form those calories are consumed.

Chewitz

Weight loss isn't linear

Best advice I have is weigh your food and if you are keep at it

Some weeks you may lose nothing other weeks you may lose more than 2lbs a week

Liftng4Lis

Let go of the 2 pound per week idea and set it to lose a pound a week. You have what 21 pounds to go. The closer you get, the less aggressive it should be.

SRJ5820

Thanks for the replies guys. The biggest concern is only losing only 1 pound in 3 months. I GET that it is linear. I GET that every week will no be exactly 2 pounds. Believe me I understand that. But I have lost only 1 pound in 3 months! Yes I weigh everything. I count everything I eat except sugar free gum and salt packets. I wear my heart rate monitor when I work out. I stop it immediety when I am done. I am not perfect, but it worked beautifully for over a year, and now it doesn't work. That is what I, the doctor, and the nutrionist can't figure out.

SRJ5820

Mrm27- I weighed around 240 when I graduated high school. I'm now 38. I'd say my average adult weight was around 280. In April 2012 I weighed 290 and I quit smoking. Didn't weigh myself until one day in March 2013. I weighed 323. Bought an elliptical and started using mfp. No loose skin. Weigh and measure everything. Track everything. Rarely eat out.

debubbie

I have the HR7 monitor and update it every time I have lost any weight, whether it is a pound or three pounds. I have noticed a decrease in my calorie burn from September to now with just an 18 pound weight loss. You may want to check that you have updated that with Polar to see if it is giving you larger burns than what you should be getting. I would also switch up the intensity of the activities that you are doing, maybe some high intensity interval training to kick it up, and only eat back about 100-150 of your exercise calories back each day instead of most of them. Try it for a few weeks and see if anything happens. Good luck!

SRJ5820

atypicalsmith- I'd be happy with any weight loss, but unfortunetly I "maintain" at 1580 calories.

SRJ5820

Yes my hrm is up to date on current weight. I used to use the polar app, but then switched to the icardio app because it intergrates with mfp. They both used to give me pretty close numbers. I'll turn both apps on today and see what numbers I am getting.

katherine_startrek_fan

What concerns me is how low you were eating during your first round of weight loss, how quickly you lost 90 pounds, and your referred comments to going on and off the diet.

I think the people who are most successful look at MFP as a method to change their lifestyle, not as a diet tool.

I think that once you consider this as a long term lifestyle and can sustain your efforts without MFP, you'll be ready for maintainence.

As a side note, most people put back on around ten pounds of water weight when they reach maintenance. It's that same water weight that makes us feel so successful when we first start trying to lose weight.