Weight loss stalled then now I am up 2 pounds. What is wrong with me?

bele2009

Started at 266 on June 20th (1 month ago) and I was loosing about 3-5 lbs per week, down to 245 on Jul 16th. Since then I stalled (4 days) then yesterday + 1 lbs and this morning +1lbs again. I am back at 247! ;-((

I am weighting all my food and try to keep my diary very accurate. I increased my exercise intensity for the past 1-2 weeks so maybe I am doing too much? Not eating enough??? I read I have to be patient and stick to the plan which is what I have been doing all the time. This is very frustrating. I hope that upward trend is going to stop very soon!

Any advise? My diary is open if you want to take a look.

Thanks,

PS. I am Male, 45 and 5'-10.5 ;-)

phrunch

I completely understand how frustrating it is, but you have to give your body some time.

Maybe you had too much salt. Maybe your body needs time to catch up. It's only been a few days. You've done awesome so far... let your body do the work again now.

adamyovanovich

I started 2 months ago, lost my first 18 pounds quick. Then i got stuck at 334 for 16 days, in that time i went up to 338 at one point due to a bad day of eating and drinking. Then today bam in down to 331. Just keep on keepin on, it will work. When i look at my reports, i stay the same weight for 8-16 days, then woosh off 4-6 pounds in a day.

diannethegeek

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

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10196160/scale-stress-syndrome/p1

boolz

Like others say: give it time. For me, who also has a lot to lose (and I've been through this rodeo more than once) a typical cycle is this: first week or two, I lose a lot, as in, twice what the calorie deficit would predict. It's a lot of excess water getting flushed out. Then, I settle in two a couple of weeks of good, but predictable, losses. Then I stall for a week or two, which I think is my body adjusting and starting to hold on to more water again. Then things take off again at a reasonable pace, usually fluctuating between 1-3 lbs per week.

Francl27

Let me guess - period due soon? Totally normal!

icemom011

Ummm.. op is a male, so i would guess no to a period. Hehe.
But thus is normal, continue what you are doing, don't get discouraged. It will be up some, then down. Keep track, and notice the overall trend. Focus on that instead of daily fluctuations.

SueInAz

Francl27 wrote: »

Let me guess - period due soon? Totally normal!

OP is a male, so I highly doubt it.

Weight loss is not linear. It's a tough concept to wrap your head around, I know, but our bodies are so much more complicated than "eat less food, lose pounds". The amount of water our bodies are retaining is always fluctuating and it can sometimes mask fat loss. As fat cells empty of fat, water takes it place. Then the water is released suddenly as the fat cell shrinks which can account for the stall and then sudden drop of pounds. I've seen people say that their fat feels "squishy" when this is happening but can't confirm that since I've never been significantly overweight.

In addition to that effect with the fat cells, excessive sodium can cause temporary fluid retention as can hormonal changes. Changes in elevation and air travel also make me retain water.

3-5 pounds per week is actually not a healthy rate of loss especially over the long term. This isn't a race to see how fast you can lose weight, although I get the impatience believe me. In fact, if you are wise, you'll start a strength training program, if you haven't already. Your current muscle mass is significantly greater than someone who is smaller because while you've been gaining weight over the years some of what you gained was extra muscle so that you could simply move around your extra weight. That's a huge advantage if you're willing to capitalize on it!

When we lose "weight" the pounds we lose are made up of a combination of water, fat and muscle. The faster you lose weight, the more of that lost weight will be from muscle because our bodies are looking to preserve as much stored energy as possible against a future starvation period and unused lean muscle mass is an easy target. As you shed pounds, you need less muscle to move your mass around so your body will break it down and it'll be gone. Strength training forces us to use our muscles in such a way as to signal to the body that we need them. This limits muscle breakdown for energy and helps to retain the muscle you currently have. It's much easier to maintain your current muscle mass than it is to build new muscle (just for starters, building new muscle involves gaining weight!).

Strength training now will allow you to keep a lot of the muscle you have rather than losing it along with the fat and water. This means more of your weight loss will be from fat and that's what you really want to lose. It also means that when you reach the weight you want to be that your body fat percentage will be much lower and you'll be much firmer at that weight than you would have been if you simply "lost weight" quickly to get there. It's definitely something to think about.

mathiseasy

I agree with previous posters but also I noticed that MFP did not update my daily calorie limit until I used my profile settings to run some numbers for a friend, and when I put my stats back it took away calories due to my lower weight. I didn't change my personal numbers. Perhaps look at that as well as following others' advice?

You've only been at this month and you've seen a 20-pound loss, which is awesome. It lines right up with initial water weight loss and newb losses. Now, it's time to expect a realistic outcome, which is unfortunately that weight loss is not linear and doesn't all happen in one month
Also, I read in your OP that you increase your intensity gradually which is great. Some people experience some water retention in their muscles due to changing up your workouts. That could also be contributing.

AnnPT77

You mention increasing your exercise intensity recently. That's a great thing!

But it can have a side effect: If you're exercising hard enough to require some muscle repair, your body will retain extra water weight to use in the repair process. Soon enough, your fat loss will outpace that bit of water weight gain, and the scale will move again. Counter-intuitively, you should be sure to drink adequate water, as that will help minimize water retention overall.

(BTW, I'm talking about muscle repair at the micro level, i.e., you might feel sore muscles, but I'm not talking about actual injury).

Patience! I predict you'll see the scale start dropping again soon, as long as you keep up your good work.

hypodonthaveme

Adding more exercise than you were could be causing water weight. Wouldn't stress over it unless you are constantly going up week after week for a few. If that is the case, tighten your food logging and food weighing. And talk to your dr. Print out your food logs and exercise to take with you.
Must be patient. 2 weeks is nothing to stress over. When I first started I could be 5-7 lbs heavier than the day before. It was just water. Plus you have lost 21 lbs so your body is adjusting.

PAV8888

SueInAz wrote: »

3-5 pounds per week is actually not a healthy rate of loss especially over the long term. This isn't a race to see how fast you can lose weight, although I get the impatience believe me. In fact, if you are wise, you'll start a strength training program, if you haven't already. Your current muscle mass is significantly greater than someone who is smaller because while you've been gaining weight over the years some of what you gained was extra muscle so that you could simply move around your extra weight. That's a huge advantage if you're willing to capitalize on it!

When we lose "weight" the pounds we lose are made up of a combination of water, fat and muscle. The faster you lose weight, the more of that lost weight will be from muscle

As you shed pounds, you need less muscle to move your mass around so your body will break it down and it'll be gone. Strength training forces us to use our muscles in such a way as to signal to the body that we need them. This limits muscle breakdown for energy and helps to retain the muscle you currently have. It's much easier to maintain your current muscle mass than it is to build new muscle

Strength training now will allow you to keep a lot of the muscle you have rather than losing it along with the fat and water. This means more of your weight loss will be from fat and that's what you really want to lose. It also means that when you reach the weight you want to be that your body fat percentage will be much lower and you'll be much firmer at that weight than you would have been if you simply "lost weight" quickly to get there. It's definitely something to think about.

Everything said above (though some tiny parts removed so that I can be in absolute agreement). You may also want to increase your protein to the 150g range as doing so would also be lean mass sparing.

Your low amount of food eaten and large deficits will result in large losses over time, and while you're obese might not hurt you too much.

However, long term, this combination will lead to excess lean mass lost and, in my opinion, increases your risk of being affected by adaptive thermogenesis as suggested by recent articles about the biggest loser show contestants who are having trouble keeping their weight off.

You have discovered that by controlling your food and increasing your activity level you CAN lose weight. This is an excellent starting point.

Now start thinking about the future. Are you going to be eating 1500 Calories for the rest of your life? Are you going to swim 2 hours a day every day for the rest of your life? (or whatever activity you've chosen) Would some other combination of activities be more realistic for the long term?

Start developing strategies that are valid for a 5-10 year horizon.

And aim for a 25% cut off your total daily energy expenditure

Instead of 2000 Cal deficits... try to hit 1000 Cal or 750 Cal deficits...

In the meanwhile increase your calories by 100 Cal every few days till you get to those smaller deficit.

Anyway. That's my advice Good luck!

<and use an app such as www.weightgrapher.com, my favourite: www.trendweight.com, or happy scale for iphone>

bunnyluv19

if you can,download the free app Happy Scale_enter your weight daily and it gives you a moving average_i find it motivating when experiencing a stall or gain

BodayJohnnay

Can't view your diary on this app to help you. Please message me.
How many calories are you eating daily?
How many times per week are you training?
How long each session?
How intense are the sessions?
What type of training involved? (Strength, cardio, bodyweight)

How are you sleeping and how are your energy levels daily?
-John

beatyfamily1

Looking at your diary, I can tell your macro nutrients are incorrect. Your protein is way too low, which means your carbs and fats are higher than they should be. You are also consuming too much sodium and sugar. I'd suggest dropping your intake of carbs, sugars, and sodium. Find out what your macro percentages are suppose to be at. This macro calculator was accurate for me and fat started melting off after following it strictly. Be aware you may have to increase your calorie intake because I was losing an average of 1 pound per day. Here's a macros calculator you can use: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/macronutrients_calculator.htm?searchTerm=macro calculator

bele2009

Thank you all for the reply. Indeed my macros need to be adjusted. I am having hard time getting proteins higher without too much fat. Got some whey isolate powder today which taste not too bad. That should help to fill in the gaps.

Beside the protein shakes, what could I take with high protein?
Cheese = too much sodium
Red meat = too much fat
Chicken breast = too dry
Chicken dark meat = too much fat

Thanks

MFP has me at 1570 cal per days which seems to low according to a few TDEE I checked. My current calories goal is over -25% of TDEE

VeryMinci

Any chance you're a little backed up? ... something I discovered yesterday was my issue .... laxative tea helped

As for the food .... perhaps you're over cooking the chicken ... mine is always moist ... also try fish like tilapia in the oven with sliced lemon on top

AnnPT77

bele2009 wrote: »

Thank you all for the reply. Indeed my macros need to be adjusted. I am having hard time getting proteins higher without too much fat. Got some whey isolate powder today which taste not too bad. That should help to fill in the gaps.

Beside the protein shakes, what could I take with high protein?
Cheese = too much sodium
Red meat = too much fat
Chicken breast = too dry
Chicken dark meat = too much fat

Thanks

MFP has me at 1570 cal per days which seems to low according to a few TDEE I checked. My current calories goal is over -25% of TDEE

Greek yogurt, legumes (moderate protein, but also lots of nice fiber) . . . oh, and check this out:

Carbs and Fats are cheap. Here's a Guide to getting your PROTEIN's worth. Fiber also...

It's a thread over in the nutrition forum here that links to a spreadsheet which lists protein sources in order by their calorie efficiency - highest protein for the fewest calories. It's worth looking down the list, too, as you can add things like veggies or fruits with protein to your eating - those may have small amounts, and less complete, but it adds up surprisingly fast.

bujiebuke

bele2009 wrote: »

Started at 266 on June 20th (1 month ago) and I was loosing about 3-5 lbs per week, down to 245 on Jul 16th. Since then I stalled (4 days) then yesterday + 1 lbs and this morning +1lbs again. I am back at 247! ;-((

I am weighting all my food and try to keep my diary very accurate. I increased my exercise intensity for the past 1-2 weeks so maybe I am doing too much? Not eating enough??? I read I have to be patient and stick to the plan which is what I have been doing all the time. This is very frustrating. I hope that upward trend is going to stop very soon!

Any advise? My diary is open if you want to take a look.

Thanks,

PS. I am Male, 45 and 5'-10.5 ;-)

I don't know how others are able to look at your macros, but please consider cutting out all sugars and starch from your food before cutting calories or fat. This is suggested by others in this thread. Sugar and simple carbs like starch cause elevated insulin that promote fat storage. Elevated insulin (not just spikes) over a long period of time can disrupt other hormone pathways which promote lower metabolism.

It's also possible that your body is adapting to your low calorie diet by lowering your BMR. Try walking 30 min a day while cutting out the sugar and starches. It will feel terrible for the first few weeks but you will feel great in the long term.