Weight loss at a stand still.

NA1979

Hi all, the scale has stopped, in fact it seems to have increased, but my calorie deficit on most days exist, and I work out hard, I just ideally want to lose another half stone, it does see however my clothes are getting looser and people tell me I'm slimmer all the time, a bad diet day would be on average just up to my maintenance calories, what's going on!?

CoachJen71

How tight is your logging? Are you using a digital food scale?

NA1979

No not really

diannethegeek

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.

singingflutelady

NA1979 wrote: »

No not really

Bingo! Tighten up your logging and get a scale

MarkusDarwath

NA1979 wrote: »

Hi all, the scale has stopped, in fact it seems to have increased, but my calorie deficit on most days exist, and I work out hard, I just ideally want to lose another half stone, it does see however my clothes are getting looser and people tell me I'm slimmer all the time, a bad diet day would be on average just up to my maintenance calories, what's going on!?

...Work out hard
...Clothes looser
...People notice slimmer
...Scale reads the same

This adds up to burning fat and replacing it with lean muscle. Don't sweat it. The number on the scale isn't nearly as important as body fat percentage, and you have evidence that is still improving. I will say that your calories may be closer to maintenance than you think. But if you've only got 7 more pounds to your goal, you -should- be pretty close. My advice would be to keep doing what you're doing. As you increase muscle mass you will naturally burn more calories, thus bumping your deficit back up a little. And when your muscles hit their max for your current activity level, the scale will start moving again as you continue to burn fat while maintaining muscle.
Don't be discouraged if this process takes a few months. Again, weight on a scale is not that important. Being healthier and looking better is what you're really after, and that's just what you're achieving.

NA1979

Thank you everyone, you've made me feel a lot better now, it's trivial I know,but I've been an overweight person for a long time in my life and these things make me a little paranoid you know.

ogtmama

I think Marcus could be right. It's usually an issue of logging mistakes but if you are lifting and eating near maintenance you could accidentally be doing som recomp. If you are actually losing inches and not pounds, I'd keep doing what you're doing. Measure as well as weighing.

Bxqtie116

Do you measure yourself? You sometimes lose inches and not pounds and vice versa. If you say your clothes feel looser, there's your loss right there.

mgobluetx12

I had the same problem and didn't lose any weight for a while freaking month! But I was measuring and logging my food and last week I dropped 6lbs. Your progress will catch up but tighten up your logging.