Undergoing a 'system reboot' - scary!
Bella_Figura
Posts: 4,323 Member
Hi all
After losing 30kg (4 stone 10lbs) in the past 9 months, my weight loss has completely stalled these past three weeks - in fact I'm 0.8kg up despite dropping my calories to 1100 a day to try to push myself past this slow patch. I'm not close to goal - I've only just dropped into the 'overweight' BMI category, so I have another 17kg still to lose (about 2.5 stones).
I asked for advice in the main forum, and someone advised me to try a 'system reboot', by eating at my maintenance calories for a week to see if that would cause my body to release some of its fat stores.
My maintenance calories are between 1740 and 1960 (depending on which calculator I use), so that means adding an additional 650 - 850 calories a day for the next week. SCARY!!!
Yesterday was day 1 and I ate 1677 calories (all good, nutritionally clean food) and this morning I had gained another 0.2kg, putting me 1 full kg above my lowest weight.
Dammit!
So now I'm trying to hold my nerve and trust in the process... I think I'll be logging about 1700 calories today (again all good clean food), and if the scale is up again tomorrow I will really have to force myself not to give in and go back to 1100 calories.
Wish me luck!!!
After losing 30kg (4 stone 10lbs) in the past 9 months, my weight loss has completely stalled these past three weeks - in fact I'm 0.8kg up despite dropping my calories to 1100 a day to try to push myself past this slow patch. I'm not close to goal - I've only just dropped into the 'overweight' BMI category, so I have another 17kg still to lose (about 2.5 stones).
I asked for advice in the main forum, and someone advised me to try a 'system reboot', by eating at my maintenance calories for a week to see if that would cause my body to release some of its fat stores.
My maintenance calories are between 1740 and 1960 (depending on which calculator I use), so that means adding an additional 650 - 850 calories a day for the next week. SCARY!!!
Yesterday was day 1 and I ate 1677 calories (all good, nutritionally clean food) and this morning I had gained another 0.2kg, putting me 1 full kg above my lowest weight.
Dammit!
So now I'm trying to hold my nerve and trust in the process... I think I'll be logging about 1700 calories today (again all good clean food), and if the scale is up again tomorrow I will really have to force myself not to give in and go back to 1100 calories.
Wish me luck!!!
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Replies
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Your doing fantastic! Don't be hard on yourself ;-)0
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Personally i wouldn't be weighing in on a daily basis and would go for once or twice a week at most. Well done on the great loss so far. Give the reboot a chance for at least a week and from there try just dropping 100/200 calories off maintenance for a start to see if you can get some weight off.0
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I went through a period of "stalling" so did a bit of research. From what I've read, your body gets used to your new, lower calorie intake. The lower your calorie intake the more chance you have of your body putting itself into starvation mode, in which case it drops your metabolism, also impacting weight loss.
Up'ing the calories gets your body out of this mode, and then when you drop the calories again, the weight should come back off. Also, the weight gain you've notice might just be water gain. Even on my regular diet I've found that my weight can fluctuate by 3 to 4 pounds over the course of the day.0 -
Thanks Mark and Mounty. I know weighing every day is controversial, but I don't take any notice of the normal daily fluctuations - I have over 300 daily recordings now, which has provided me with concrete evidence that my weight can fluctuate by as much as a kg overnight, depending on how much sodium I've eaten or how much I've exercised.
The 'stall' was different...I saw a reading of 70.0kg for 6 days straight, and then my weight climbed over the next days back up to 70.8kg and wouldn't budge, just hovering on 70.8 for 20 days straight despite me dropping my calories to 1100 per day.
I started my re-boot on Sunday and have eaten around 1600 calories a day since, and apart from a small rise to 71.0kg on Monday, it's been 70.8kg every day since, which is encouraging given that I"ve been eating 500 additional calories each day.
I'm trying to add in good, nutritious foods rather than to simply add back 500 calories of crap. This means I've added in stuff like natural peanut butter, artichokes in extra virgin olive oil, figs and prunes, some good parmesan, cherries and strawberries, some greek yoghurt, some organic humous etc...it's been enjoyable and fun!
I won't panic if I see a few daily gains...and all being well I should be able to cut my calories next week and see my weight loss resume. I'm planning on seeing how I get on with 1350 - 1400 calories a day, as I don't think cutting to 1100 calories was either effective or healthy.0 -
Starting day 5 and holding steady at 70.8kg. Three days to go....0
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Hi Bella good to hear you take the daily readings with a pinch of salt. Was only worried that you were taking them to heart.
That's a very good sign that you weight is the same despite the increase in calories. Stick with it for the next few days then drop back to 1200 or so and hopefully it will kickstart your losses again.
Best of luck0
