Hit A Wall, Ate More, Wall Exploded.

brinkbodin

Been on a mission to get fit since January 1st. Cliche I know.

I've adhered to a strict deficit of 1800-1900 a day, combined with intermittent fasting, and a cheat day once every two weeks.

The weight was falling off. Lost 28 pounds and then three weeks ago it all stopped. The wall...

The first week I'd lost nothing. Eating right. Training hard. Second week, same exact weight again. Third week, GAINED a pound.

This is all happening while I'm walking 10,000 steps a day and strength training 3x a week. My energy levels begin to plummet. My sex drive abolished. Signs of stress begin to appear on my body in the form of eczema.

At this point I have to decide whether to stick to the plan and patiently hope the wall disappears, or reassess and adapt. I decide to fuel my body for a short while to at least get my hormones back to normal, and then maybe after that, to return to my usual 1,800 calories, and hopefully start losing again.

So at this point I have mentally prepared myself to start putting weight back on instantly. I up my daily intake by 600 calories, going from 1,800 all the way up to 2,400 and wait for my starved body to start stashing away fat.

It has been 5 days. I've already lost the extra pound I gained, plus another 2 pounds, and lost 1% body fat. .....3 pounds and 1% body fat in 5 days.... By eating 600 more calories a day?

Energy has returned. Sex drive has returned. I feel hungry again when I don't eat. People seem to be proud that they don't feel hungry. I like when I feel hungry because that's how I know the "furnace is turned on."

I don't know if this will continue to work or if I'll just hit another wall in a few days. I also don't know if when I hit said wall, if I should raise my calories a second time, or if I should reduce back down to 1,800.

Anyone had an experience similar to this? If so, what ended up happening and what did you do?

Btw, my starting weight was 225. Current weight is 194. If nothing else, hopefully this could provide insight to someone who's struggling with a wall. Maybe it's time to stop looking downward in regards to your diet, and start looking upward.

Anyway, thank you for reading if you've made it this far. I more or less just needed to talk to someone about this experience. The human body is one tough nut to crack.

dubird

First of all, weight loss is not linear. There are many factors that cause weight fluctuations, including water weight. You will have weeks of loss, then may end up stationary for 2-3 weeks, even gain a little back. If you've been entering your weight regularly, look at a graph of the entries. If you can draw a line from start to finish and it's going down, then your TREND is going down and you're fine.

You don't have to go back to 1800 calories. No idea how tall you are, but it sounds like 1800 was way to low and you were starting to suffer from malnutrition. Where did you get the 1800 from?

sllm1

Congrats on not "throwing up your hands in defeat" and eating until you explode. The wall exploding is a much better solution.

I would stick with 2400 for now. If your weight loss slows, I would decrease the calories by 100-200 and try again for a few weeks. I wouldn't go back to 1800. That was clearly not enough for you to function properly. I can feel it when my cals are too low. I prefer to eat more and fuel the workouts. The best deficit is a slight deficit. It takes longer to get results sometimes, but you are building a machine!