Hit a plateau need help. I can't safely lower calorie intake any further

MelissaBrown1622

Hi all. I'm hoping someone can offer me some suggestions. I am a 35 year old female 4 ft 11 and currently 115lbs. When I started watching my diet I easily went from 122 to 116 with no exercise outside of normal stay at home to two kids stuff. I am currently on a 1200 calorie diet and I seemes to stop losing. I know its not a good idea to eat any less than this and my matinance calories is calculated at about 1545. I have added daily exercise in the form of cardio and strength traning with my hr monitor recording a minimum of 500 calories burned each time. Why am I still stuck at 115 lbs?. I do weigh my food and I am very careful to record every single thing I eat. What else can I do to get back on track for losing.

StaciMarie1974

How long have you been 'stuck'? If less than 30-60 days, give it more time. Your loss should be slow which could easily be masked by water weight. Water weight can happen from high sodium, stress, lack of sleep, new workout routine, increased workout routine, and TOM.

MelissaBrown1622

I've been "stuck" for about 6 weeks or so. I switched from weight watchers to my fitness pal about a month ago because I wanted to more closely watch my macros and calories not just "points". To be fair this is only my 3rd week getting to the gym consistently but I was expecting to see some loss in that time. I was easily losing 1 to 2 pounds per week and then nothing . Is 1200 calories really where I should be??? If I eat any less my fitness pal yells at me haha

malibu927

It's possible you're retaining water to repair muscles from your new exercise. But how are you tracking your food intake...food scale, measuring cups, eyeballing portions? How do you determine exercise calories, and how much, if any, of those do you eat back?

Liftng4Lis

Diet break?

MelissaBrown1622

I weigh everything on a food scale or use measuring cups. Everything! I never eyeball. My eyes are way to big for that lol. I have been using my under armour chest strap heart rate monitor to determine calories. I do eat back some calories never more than a third and not every day.

losingitseattle

The HR monitor is a good place to start on calculating calorie burn but they do use an estimated formula in many cases with an avg VO2Max. Read this article to see if your HRM is giving you a reasonable calorie burn.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/490909-the-accuracy-of-calories-burned-in-polar-heart-rate-monitors/

I also think you need to give it more time. Most people experience "water weight" loss the first few weeks and then things slow down when you start losing actual fat. But sounds like you are doing the right things!

Hoppymom

I have heard of some people zig-zagging calories to break a plateau. Check the message boards. Hope that helps.

MelissaBrown1622

I have done some reading about calorie cycling. Anyone have thoughts on that??. Do I lower my daily for a few days then up for a day and cycle that back again making sure to keep the same number of cals per week or. Do I keep 1200 per day then up my cals from there on the third day?. Seems to be some differing advise out there.

Maybe I need to be patient but it's so hard watching what you eat so carefully working hard and not seeing anything happen

arditarose

Have you been logging your fruit and veg since coming off of weight watchers?

arditarose

If you're comfortable opening your diary we can help you a little better.

MelissaBrown1622

Yes!. I have actually. I was so surprised to see what was in some of my fruit. That was one of the reasons I switched over from weight watchers. I wanted more info onbwhatbibwaa eating. Arditarose I would love to open it up to you personally rather than completly open to everyone if that's possible..

MelissaBrown1622

Thankbyou losingitinseattle and hoppymom I will check both of those out!!

arditarose

MelissaBrown1622 wrote: »

Yes!. I have actually. I was so surprised to see what was in some of my fruit. That was one of the reasons I switched over from weight watchers. I wanted more info onbwhatbibwaa eating. Arditarose I would love to open it up to you personally rather than completly open to everyone if that's possible..

You can lock it with a key and share the password with whoever you want. I wouldn't be afraid to share it, even if for a few minutes. We are not here to judge what you eat, just to check some of your entries. Sometimes it takes a little getting used to finding the correct one.

MelissaBrown1622

Arditarose I just sent you the password and a friend request I think sorry still learning this whole thing. I appreciate you offering to comb through and look over my diary entries. I appreciate the advise and the help.

rosebette

You're pretty small and at a normal BMI for your height, so your weight loss will slow at this point. I'm a bit taller, 5'1.5" and stalled around 120. It's tough for petite women who are within normal BMI to keep losing because their calorie requirements are so low that it's hard to eat at a deficit. I eat between 1200-1400 every day, not a ton, and that's maintenance. I'm doing a "recomp" at this point, which is eating around maintenance and upping my activity level. The purpose is to change my body shape to be more muscular. This might be what you want to do if you don't want to cut calories any further.

Faithful_Chosen

If you would send me the password, I'll gladly have a look at your diary, too. And really, we aren't here to judge in any way. We just want to help

aeviescas

1200 calories intake + burning 500 per day seems...excessive? Maybe eat a little more on some days, like others have suggested.

Christine_72

Here's a great site that will work out your calories . The reason I posted it is because it will figure out zig zag calories for you If you choose that route.

http://www.weightloss-calculator.net/ultimate-weight-loss-calculator-metric/

MelissaBrown1622

Thank you!!

MelissaBrown1622

I know at first it seems excessive but remember I am 4'11'. I'm small people lol. Maintenance calories are not that much higher than 1200 anyway

aeviescas wrote: »

1200 calories intake + burning 500 per day seems...excessive? Maybe eat a little more on some days, like others have suggested.

MelissaBrown1622

rosebette wrote: »

You're pretty small and at a normal BMI for your height, so your weight loss will slow at this point. I'm a bit taller, 5'1.5" and stalled around 120. It's tough for petite women who are within normal BMI to keep losing because their calorie requirements are so low that it's hard to eat at a deficit. I eat between 1200-1400 every day, not a ton, and that's maintenance. I'm doing a "recomp" at this point, which is eating around maintenance and upping my activity level. The purpose is to change my body shape to be more muscular. This might be what you want to do if you don't want to cut calories any further.

Thank you!. It's nice to hear you struggled at that level too. I feel like I'm not alone. It's harder when we are so petite. My husband is on this journey with me. He's 6 ft and I watched him drop 20 lbs way faster than my measly 7 pounds and I think all he did was sneeze lol

MelissaBrown1622

aeviescas wrote: »

1200 calories intake + burning 500 per day seems...excessive? Maybe eat a little more on some days, like others have suggested.

I know at first it seems excessive but remember I am 4'11'. I'm small people lol. Maintenance calories are not that much higher than 1200 anyway

cbrook29

I think weight is only one metric. I'm not challenging your fitness goal. Just remember that fat %, strength levels , energy level (how you feel), and how you look are all important and of course weight. No one metric is perfect you need to look at them holistically. If you hit a plateau then add weight training. Muscle allows you to burn more calories. My weight has remained at 160 lbs but my body fat went from 15% to 8% (approximate) I gained muscle and lost fat but the scale says I was "Stuck" but I wasn't!!!

aylajane

MelissaBrown1622 wrote: »

I weigh everything on a food scale or use measuring cups. Everything! I never eyeball. My eyes are way to big for that lol. I have been using my under armour chest strap heart rate monitor to determine calories. I do eat back some calories never more than a third and not every day.

You really should weigh everything pretty much. Measuring cups are horribly inaccurate for most people - all tablespoons are actually not the same size, much less what people think fills them (level or rounded, packed or loose, etc). Weigh in grams and be sure! Esp calorie dense foods - it adds up!

MelissaBrown1622

Thank you I have started this week adding some weight training and on the advise of a friend I have taken body measurements and she suggested I not step on the scale for a few weeks and just keep logging and working out and paying attention to my body. It's nice to hear that come from another person as well. I think it's easy to want to see that quantifiable gage on how hard we are working I want to see a number that says your doing this right....but maybe I take a break for a teeny bit on watching that scale.

MelissaBrown1622

You really should weigh everything pretty much. Measuring cups are horribly inaccurate for most people - all tablespoons are actually not the same size, much less what people think fills them (level or rounded, packed or loose, etc). Weigh in grams and be sure! Esp calorie dense foods - it adds up!
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Yes Thank you! I heard this for the first time tonight by two separate people. I never really thought about it in detail like that. I will be doing that from now on!. I think that's especially important for petite women.

Faithful_Chosen

MelissaBrown1622 wrote: »

You really should weigh everything pretty much. Measuring cups are horribly inaccurate for most people - all tablespoons are actually not the same size, much less what people think fills them (level or rounded, packed or loose, etc). Weigh in grams and be sure! Esp calorie dense foods - it adds up!

Yes Thank you! I heard this for the first time tonight by two separate people. I never really thought about it in detail like that. I will be doing that from now on!. I think that's especially important for petite women.

I'm 5'6 and any weighing inconsistencies add on hugely. When you only have 1200 calories, one badly measured cup of pasta, cereal, beans, etc. can make a huge difference. Spoons as well, or 'pieces'. Weigh and log everything!

rosebette

I would say 1200 calories might be maintenance for someone my age, but at your age, even with your height, maintenance would be higher. I'm going through the same thing with my husband and son. They are both big and have 50+ lbs. to lose. On average, they can drop between 1 and 3 lbs. a week and still load their plates with food while I'm stuck.

MelissaBrown1622

So frustrating to watch them eat and eat and still lose right?? While we work out tail off for each and every pound. Just have to stick with it and be patient.

allyphoe

Are you eating back all of your exercise calories? The odds of you increasing your total energy usage by 42% through exercise is pretty unlikely, unless you're working out every waking hour.