Weight loss help

rshouse87

Hey guys, my name is Russell and this is my first post on here. I've been using this app along with a garmin step counting device and app for the past seven months or so and have gone from 325 pounds to 272 in that time. Over the last month, though, I have been stuck fluctuating between 278 and 272 but as low as 270. So I was wondering if anyone has any ideas about why I'm stuck and what I can do about it. I work out 6 days a week and get about 20,000 steps per day. I've been jogging part of those steps as well. If you guys can help with any tips or ideas that would be greatly appreciated. I think it might mainly be because of a lack of resistance training. Before I got stuck I had started a weight training routine but was then forced to take a week off of exercising after I'd been weight training for about a month. Should I cut down on cardio? Or keep the cardio I have but add in resistance training as well? Thanks again for any help you can provide!

diannethegeek

These are the things I wish someone had told me when my weight loss stalled for 8 weeks:

1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.

2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.

5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.

WBB55

You don't mention how many calories you eat or whether you're "eating back" exercise calories you've earned via exercise. Though it does sound like you have a fitbit or something similar. Does your step tracking device also give you a TDEE or total daily calories burned reading?

Dianne's post has a lot of info, but if you give us some more info we might be able to help you with specifics.

Good job so far, by the way. In general you probably just need to be a little patient, since the rapid loss you get at first always slows down.

rshouse87

I generally eat between 1,800 and 2,000 calories a day. There's maybe one day a week where I go over the 2,200 calorie limit that will allow me to lose two pounds a week. But on that day I've usually banked around 1,800 calories extra through exercise. Thanks for all the help so far.