25 Days and already in a rut

theawill519

My husband and I recently decided to change our lifestyle and lose weight before we try and conceive. Things have been going great; I've lost a total of 19 pounds in 25 days, but now I've stalled out. For the past 5 days, I haven't lost even an ounce. I'm working just as hard, if not harder, than before. I know it's way too early in the game to get frustrated, but I'm just wondering if there's anything I could do to get me over this hump.

I exercise every day (either Zumba, 30 Day Shred, or walk/jog 3-4 miles) and I'm eating somewhere between 1,000-1,200 calories a day (mostly lean meats, vegetables, and fruits). I drink only water and I haven't allowed myself a single "cheat day." I know it's not "calorie creep" because I weigh and log every single thing I put in my mouth.

So I guess what I'm asking is: Is this normal? Has it happened to anyone else? I don't want to lose momentum and motivation, but I'm feeling pretty crumby.

Ninkyou

Weight loss isn't linear. It's only been 5 days since you lost. Try 4-6 weeks of no change before freaking out. 19 lbs in 25 days is phenomenal. Give it more time. There's going to be some weeks you might even see an increase in the scale. That's why we say it isn't linear.

Also, I found that during ovulation and period I gained water weight. So there's that.

diannethegeek

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear

theawill519

diannethegeek wrote: »

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear

That was very informative. Thank you for sharing. I'm pretty new to MFP and super new to the "community" so forgive me if my post was redundant.

Also, I've been down this road before. I know there are peaks and valleys. However, I've never hit a "valley" this soon in a weight loss journey. That was my cause for concern.

mbaker566

ride it out.
so long as you are accurately weighing your food and logging it, you should be fine

corriebenedict

Sounds to me like you're ahead of the game!! A 19 lb loss is incredible, congratulations!! If you're putting in 3 to 4 miles per day though 1000 calories might be too little fuel for your body. Try adding a 200 calorie protein shake with low sugar or change up your routine to keep your body guessing. Pinterest has TONS of body weight exercise routines or HIIT trainers you can easily follow to turn it up a notch. Also, remember that muscle helps burn fat so weight training, even at a body weight level can change your game too. Feel free to add me, I need all the motivation I can get myself!

theawill519

corriebenedict wrote: »

Sounds to me like you're ahead of the game!! A 19 lb loss is incredible, congratulations!! If you're putting in 3 to 4 miles per day though 1000 calories might be too little fuel for your body. Try adding a 200 calorie protein shake with low sugar or change up your routine to keep your body guessing. Pinterest has TONS of body weight exercise routines or HIIT trainers you can easily follow to turn it up a notch. Also, remember that muscle helps burn fat so weight training, even at a body weight level can change your game too. Feel free to add me, I need all the motivation I can get myself!

I've thought about adding more calories, but that's so scary to me lol. If I don't see a change in the next couple of days, I think I might give it a try, though.

wochlikgm

Don't loose hope. Keep on going. Keep a steady pace; eventually your scale will tell you the good news.

Life0fbrian

with how hard you are working out i dont think you are getting enough cals.

bago08

I was just looking at my chart. I chart my weight when I hit a % of my body weight lost. The first couple %'s went rather fast like yours then I hit a rut At like 5% I was stalled for quite a while not losing a pound. Then one day there was a full percent in one day and then it seemed to be more uniform recently. Kind of like a balloon filling up and then bursting. Hope it works for you

theawill519

Life0fbrian wrote: »

with how hard you are working out i dont think you are getting enough cals.

Yeah, the more I think about it, that's probably my problem. I went back in my logs and I consistently have 500+ "remaining" calories per day. The only problem is, I can't imagine eating that much more in a day! That's another entire meal.

SueInAz

The problem with eating as little as you are is that a bigger percentage of your weight loss is going to be from lean muscle mass. This will eventually slow your metabolism. If you then put weight back on it will be strictly fat (unless you are lifting heavy weights) and your body fat percentage will get even higher.

I don't believe that eating too little will slow your weight loss now. It doesn't work like that. You'd simply find that you lacked energy. But consistently eating too little over time will definitely slow things down and cause problems in the long run.

There's no way you were going to be able to maintain your weight loss rate (19 pounds in 25 days) for very long, in any event. As you get closer to a healthy weight you just don't have enough body fat to lose that much so quickly; it's a matter of percentages. There's a balance between fat cells and the water that's retained. More than likely your body is just catching up.

schillewis

Nineteen pounds in 25 days is amazing! I'm not sure how much you're hoping to lose, but you're off to an amazing start My only "advice' is to accept the fact that you can't control your weight loss. Of course, if you eat a deficit and exercise, you will lose weight. But the "when" and "how much" are much more fluid. I assumed that if I followed my plan, every Friday I'd be down 1-2 pounds. Has not happened like that. At all LOL! So it's gotten to the point where I focus on what I CAN control (food choices, portions, exercise, etc) and I have to let the rest work itself out. You mentioned that you're trying to get healthier before you try and have a baby - so that may put some additional pressure on you to lose the weight more quickly. I hate when people say "relax and give it time" but so long as you're sticking to your plan, you WILL lose the weight. Stay strong

theawill519

schillewis wrote: »

Nineteen pounds in 25 days is amazing! I'm not sure how much you're hoping to lose, but you're off to an amazing start My only "advice' is to accept the fact that you can't control your weight loss. Of course, if you eat a deficit and exercise, you will lose weight. But the "when" and "how much" are much more fluid. I assumed that if I followed my plan, every Friday I'd be down 1-2 pounds. Has not happened like that. At all LOL! So it's gotten to the point where I focus on what I CAN control (food choices, portions, exercise, etc) and I have to let the rest work itself out. You mentioned that you're trying to get healthier before you try and have a baby - so that may put some additional pressure on you to lose the weight more quickly. I hate when people say "relax and give it time" but so long as you're sticking to your plan, you WILL lose the weight. Stay strong

This helps so much! My ultimate weight goal is 185lbs. However, I'll settle for 225 before we TTC. (I'm 5'10", so that's smaller for me than for most women.) I may add some extra protein before workouts to get my calorie intake up, but for the most part, I'm just going to "relax and give it time." Thank you for the encouragement!

ibnfaqir

looks like your calories were too low that is why you lost so much in 25 days. What will you do now lower your calories further till you starve? You have to recalibrate your calorie count. its not a sprint its a marathon.

theawill519

ibnfaqir wrote: »

looks like your calories were too low that is why you lost so much in 25 days. What will you do now lower your calories further till you starve? You have to recalibrate your calorie count. its not a sprint its a marathon.

I sit at a desk 10 hours a day, so I chose "sedentary" lifestyle and it told me to eat 1,200 calories. That's what I eat. I didn't know I was supposed to eat back the calories it said I burned. And I would've eaten more if I felt like I needed it, but honestly, I'm never really hungry. I mean, I have cravings for key lime pie, fried chicken salads, soda, etc... But that's not hunger. Like I said, I can't imagine eating more in a day than I already do.

Bshmerlie

I was looking at your stats. You started at 299 pounds and you're looking to get to 225. That is totally doable and it shouldn't take that long...but be careful on rushing it too much. Here's why: You're at 280 pounds and your restricting your calories to 1200 a day. That is a HUGE deficit. Especially considering you said you're not eating back exercise calories. So your net in probably close to the 800 range from what you described. That's crazy. You're going to start noticing that your periods are going to be really light or you are going to skip them all together. That's not really something you want to start doing considering you said at the end of this you want to get pregnant. You are going to be hitting the magical 30 mark where getting pregnant is not always the easiest thing to do for some women like when you were in your 20's. Just be careful about that. Also 1200 calories is real easy to do when you first start out (at least for me it was)...but as youve been at it for 3 or 4 months you'll start to notice it starts to get a little bit harder...especially as much as you've been working out. I would consult your doctor about your weight loss plan and see how fast he thinks is acceptable for someone who is wanting to get pregnant in the near future.

As far a the "stall"...its only been 5 days. Its probably your ovulation time. Around that time I don't lose a pound and sometimes gain a pound but then as soon as my period starts I drop like 3-4 pounds in a couple of days. You will start to see a trend and it won't bother you so much. Start taking notes when you start your period and when you "stall" times happen and you will notice a pattern.

You also said that you've had trouble with your weight all your life and you've done the YOYO diet thing in the past where you severly restrict your calories and dump a bunch of weight. The reason you keep gaining it back is you go back to "your" normal routine of eating. You've never worked on training yourself to eat like a person of healthy weight. If you go from strict diet to pregnant you are going to baloon quite possible above 300 pounds this time. Why not take it a little bit slower? That would help to train you to control your portion sizes in a reasonable fashion so when you reach 225 it wouldn't be such a huge difference than what you will be doing while pregnant. You're not going to be able to restrict calories while pregnant. But you can eat in a more reasonable fashion.

Ninkyou

If you're struggling with not feeling hungry then eat foods that are higher in calories. You're basically going from one extreme (eating too many calories) to another (eating too few calories). You want (I assume) to have a sustainable weight loss, so make your diet sustainable. Eat the foods you love in moderation and fit them into your calorie goal.

If you keep up with the extreme you'll more than likely burn out. I know for me, when I restrict too much I get "hangry". I see red until I end up binging on a bunch of stuff. So I work in everything with a modest deficit and I'm completely fine and happy. Ice cream every night and 62+ lbs lighter.

SueInAz

Thea519 wrote: »

ibnfaqir wrote: »

looks like your calories were too low that is why you lost so much in 25 days. What will you do now lower your calories further till you starve? You have to recalibrate your calorie count. its not a sprint its a marathon.

I sit at a desk 10 hours a day, so I chose "sedentary" lifestyle and it told me to eat 1,200 calories. That's what I eat. I didn't know I was supposed to eat back the calories it said I burned. And I would've eaten more if I felt like I needed it, but honestly, I'm never really hungry. I mean, I have cravings for key lime pie, fried chicken salads, soda, etc... But that's not hunger. Like I said, I can't imagine eating more in a day than I already do.

I have a problem with this statement. You started at nearly 300 pounds. It's obvious you normally eat much more than 1200 calories when you aren't dieting. That's not a slam, it's a statement of fact and one you should face. The problem is, you want the weight loss to happen so fast that you aren't willing to be patient and do it the right way.

You should read over what @Bshmerlie has said very carefully. Some very good points were made. You implied that you have a history of dieting and then gaining the weight back. Why not break that cycle for once and for all and reach a healthier weight and learn how to maintain it? Losing weight quickly and then gaining it back and repeating that cycle over and over is doing horrible things to your body and your body fat percentage. The longer you live like that the harder and harder it's going to be to lose weight as time goes on. If you want to get pregnant, have kids and then have a long, healthy life with them it's really something you should think about.

theawill519

@SueInAz : Thanks for the information. However, I don't have to "face" anything. Before, I wasn't stuffing my face with everything in sight. Regardless of what you might believe, it IS possible to get fat off eating a moderate amount of crappy food. I'm living proof. I've never been an "over-eater." I just made poor food choices. For example, before I might have had 5 FRIED chicken tenders, french fries, and a soda for dinner. Now, I have 5 GRILLED chicken tenders, half a bag of frozen vegetables, and water for dinner.

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I'm good to go now.