Weight loss now stalled despite a deficit. Is it because I have been lifting for a month?

hollen_carol

Hello,

So I had been losing weight at about 2 lbs a week which eventually slowed down to about 1 lb a week as I got more within a healthy weight limit. To do that I did 45 - 60 minutes of cardio every other day and ate at a calorie deficit (no more then 1200 calories per day). For the last month I have been lifting weights (both machines and free weights). I have not lost any weight for at least 2 weeks? Is this due to the lifting? I don't want to stop lifting because my muscles are getting healthy and strong but I do want to lose more weight (max 10 - 11 more lbs). Any suggestions? I am still eating at a deficit but I did fix my macros to allow for more protein since I was lifting consistently every other day. I am still doing cardio but only 15 or 30 mins for each session every other day. Here are my stats:

Height: 5'3"
SW: 173
CW: 139
GW: 128

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks very much!
Carol

LKArgh

The closer you get to your goals, the slower you lose. It is normal.

257_Lag

A two week stall when you start lifting is pretty normal. Keep at it and it will pick back up. I weigh and chart daily and here is where I started lifting.

hollen_carol

Ok, thank you both. I wasn't sure if I had to start working out more days or what. I really do not want to, but I would if that is what I have to do to get to my final goal. I will give it more time. Patience is NOT one of my virtues! I want what I want and right now please. Must be something about being the baby in the house

kdav88

This was actually great for me to see, too, because I've been struggling with something similar! Thanks for the question, Carol - and for the reassurance and stats, 257_Lag! I love strength training and have recently got back into it, but was pretty frustrated after having seen some decent weight loss results that my weight had plateaued and even gone back up 1-2lbs depending on the day. That said, feeling strong and noticing the improved muscle tone is always amazing. Looking forward to this stabilizing and continuing on the weight loss journey...!

ndj1979

do you use a food scale?
do you eat back 100% of exercise calories?

two weeks is normal for a stall...

kwtilbury

Lifting weights won't cause you to gain (or stop losing) weight. Only a caloric surplus will do that.

Are you happy with the way you look? Don't sweat the lack of weight loss. Otherwise, reduce caloric intake by 5-10%.

megzsj

Hey,
I do a fair bit of weight training and find it is a great way to burn fat, however it is well known that muscle ways more than fat. Therefore it may be whilst you have still lost fat you have gained some muscle, which is a great thing. I would recommend along side using scales as a way of recording weight loss to once a month mesure yourself. It is very possible you are smiler just not ligher.

I measure:
Waist
Hips
underbust
Thigh
Calf
Bicep
Bellybutton

Hope this is useful.
Meg

hollen_carol

Thanks all. To ndj1979. I do not use a food scale but I am very honest with my food logging (maybe not perfectly perfect but close and that is why I was losing so consistently for a few months). I have added a bit of alcohol back into my routine on the weekends lately so that could be a problem. I used to never eat my exercise calories back but some people told me that wasn't a great idea so I started eating some of them back but not all. Now since I am lifting I am definitely hungrier and I am eating more of them back now.

ndj1979

hollen_carol wrote: »

Thanks all. To ndj1979. I do not use a food scale but I am very honest with my food logging (maybe not perfectly perfect but close and that is why I was losing so consistently for a few months). I have added a bit of alcohol back into my routine on the weekends lately so that could be a problem. I used to never eat my exercise calories back but some people told me that wasn't a great idea so I started eating some of them back but not all. Now since I am lifting I am definitely hungrier and I am eating more of them back now.

I would highly recommend getting a food scale and weighing all your solids. You will lose at first because you can have some inaccuracies with more weight to loss; however, as you need to lose more you need to be more accurate and a food scale will do that for you. Also, if you are guestimating portion sizes you can be off by as much as 25%, which means that on a 1500 a day calorie intake, you would actually be eating about 375 calories more a day then you thought..

hollen_carol

ok, I will look into that.