Fat Loss Plateau

Kuroneko07

Hi,

I started using MyFitnessPal earlier this year in April, and I've gone from 51kg to 44kg now. I'm 4'11, female, and 23 years old. My lifestyle isn't too active (aside from my 30-40 minute daily workout.)

I'm really happy with the results, but right now, I'm having troubling with losing fat and toning muscles. My weight has been pretty much consistent for the past 3 months (44kg), which is great, but my measurements are stuck too. My goal is a 21-in waist but it doesn't want to budge from 25/26-in. I don't see any changes in muscle tone anymore as well.

My average gross calorie intake is 995, but I do cheat days once or twice every month (where I consume about 1,200 to 1,500), and I do 30-40 minutes of yoga everyday. Recently, I changed my Sunday routine to 30 minutes of belly dancing.

I read that yoga is good at toning muscles, but yeah, recently I'm not seeing any change. I don't know if it's due to water retention, fat loss plateau, or what. I hope you guys can help me. Thanks.

oann8052

I would suggest try adding weight lifting for toning muscles just add light weights with high repetitions three times a week more if you end up liking the routine. My Bodyspace app has a lot of good routines to choose from. Good luck with your journey

queenliz99

Maybe you arent meant to have 25" waist. Genetics and all.

billglitch

995 cals is pretty low....maybe increase to 1100 and see what happens

janekana

billglitch wrote: »

995 cals is pretty low....maybe increase to 1100 and see what happens

1100 a day is already too low, there's a reason why MFP doesn't go below 1200. Your weight is already in a very healthy range. Don't go down anymore, I have a suspicion thst the reason why your muscles aren't toning up is because you're not giving it enough fuel in the first place.

I suggest going on maintenance calories and doing strength/resistance training. Yoga is good for you too, but I feel like raising your calories would benefit you a lot.

kelhea

When you eat less calories then your body needs (900calories) your body will go into "starvation mode" and will store fat because it's not getting enough nutrients. I know it sounds odd when loosing weight but you need to add more calories to your days, especially if you're trying to tone and doing some kind of strength training.

DebSozo

Recalculate to determine maintenance calories. You can Google to find a TDEE calculator. Then you could do recomp. It will change your body shape and you will look better even at the same weight. This is a slow process so don't get discouraged.

SCoil123

kelhea wrote: »

When you eat less calories then your body needs (900calories) your body will go into "starvation mode" and will store fat because it's not getting enough nutrients. I know it sounds odd when loosing weight but you need to add more calories to your days, especially if you're trying to tone and doing some kind of strength training.

If starvation mode like that were real than anorexics would all be overweight.

Kuroneko07

I checked online, and apparently, my BMR is 1,100 and TDEE is 1,624. I'm...not sure though if this is accurate. I reckon I used to consume around 1,600 when I was still 51kg. I'm afraid I might gain back the weight I worked hard to lose all these months. ^^;

My calorie intake is lower than my BMR, but I thought my cheat days were balancing it. ^^;
Will it be the okay if I remain consuming 995 daily, but have a cheat day every week to reach a weekly average of 1,100? Will I be able to avoid starvation mode then?

Concerning additional strength training, I..don't have any weights at home yet, so might have to try that later on if readjusting my calorie intake doesn't work. ^^;

a45cal

OP, ignore the stuff above about "starvation mode". In the sense that that poster mentioned it, that doesn't exist. But at 995 calories a day, you are starving yourself, and not getting enough nutrients.

When we eat in a calorie deficit, we tend to lose muscle mass unless we strength train to maintain it. At such a steep calorie deficit, you're almost certainly losing muscle regardless of exercise, which is why you aren't seeing any sort of improvement regarding "tone".

There are good bodyweight strength training programs you can do if you don't have access to weights. The bodyweight portions of Strong Curves by Bret Contreras (you can find the workouts online for free), and Convict Conditioning are two good examples. As others have suggested, I would recommend you eat at maintenance and try one of these instead of staying on such an unhealthy, steep deficit.

DebSozo

Kuroneko07 wrote: »

I checked online, and apparently, my BMR is 1,100 and TDEE is 1,624. I'm...not sure though if this is accurate. I reckon I used to consume around 1,600 when I was still 51kg. I'm afraid I might gain back the weight I worked hard to lose all these months. ^^;

My calorie intake is lower than my BMR, but I thought my cheat days were balancing it. ^^;
Will it be the okay if I remain consuming 995 daily, but have a cheat day every week to reach a weekly average of 1,100? Will I be able to avoid starvation mode then?

Concerning additional strength training, I..don't have any weights at home yet, so might have to try that later on if readjusting my calorie intake doesn't work. ^^;

TDEE of 1600 would cause you to maintain. But if you gain then you would have to adjust and lower your maintenance calories because the online calculations are just starting points and eatimates.

As to your other question regarding averages. It is okay to average out your calories over the week. MFP defaults at 1200 calories per day minimum because it doesn't want to promote VLCD or promote severe calorie restriction and does want enough to ensure adequate nutrients. But you could consult with a doctor to make sure your 1,100 is okay for you.

ETA: If you don't mind losing a bit more slowly you could subtract 250 calories off of your TDEE to lose 1/2 pound a week. Often as you get closer to goal the weight loss slows down. But are you at goal now right? If so then you would eat at TDEE calories to maintain. Don't go down to 995. That is too aggressive, especially if you maintain at 112 pounds at 1600 calories.

Kuroneko07

Hi, just an update~ I increased my intake to an average of 1,300 calories since, and it seemed that I regained 3 kg. I'm not sure if it's fat or muscle mass though. I'm certainly not seeing any muscle tone still..

queenliz99

Do you use a food scale to weigh all your food?

Kuroneko07

No, but I use the same cup to measure my meal intake. I just added about half a cup of rice to each meal and increased my snacks which have calories per serving on the package.

singingflutelady

Water weight. Unless your logging is inaccurate (not using food scale, inaccurate enteries) then there is no way you gained 3kg of fat on 1300 calories. You also didn't gain muscle in 2 weeks.

Kuroneko07 wrote: »

Hi, just an update~ I increased my intake to an average of 1,300 calories since, and it seemed that I regained 3 kg. I'm not sure if it's fat or muscle mass though. I'm certainly not seeing any muscle tone still..

singingflutelady

Also if you want to "tone" you would have much better results doing a progressive overload lifting program than yoga.

queenliz99

You need to weigh your food and packages can be off as much as 20%. You are eating more than you think. Get a scale, it's eye opening.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

measuring cups are inaccurate unless used for liquids. get a scale and weigh all solids and semi solids in grams. I learned the hard way using measuring cups and not weighing food.

cerise_noir

queenliz99 wrote: »

You need to weigh your food and packages can be off as much as 20%. You are eating more than you think. Get a scale, it's eye opening.

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

measuring cups are inaccurate unless used for liquids. get a scale and weigh all solids and semi solids in grams. I learned the hard way using measuring cups and not weighing food.

These. Get a food scale.

Kuroneko07

Is it possible that I wasn't eating only 995 calories before then? If so, should I just go back to that until I get a food scale?

Also, I thought yoga was enough to shed the fat in order to see the muscles underneath. I do either HIIT cardio yoga or vinyasa yoga by the way.

I'm really curious about water weight as well. Is it possible that the culprit for my flab is actually water retention?

CharlieBeansmomTracey

no.never eat less than 1200 calories unless under the strict and supervised care of a dr

CharlieBeansmomTracey

Kuroneko07 wrote: »

Is it possible that I wasn't eating only 995 calories before then? If so, should I just go back to that until I get a food scale?

Also, I thought yoga was enough to shed the fat in order to see the muscles underneath. I do either HIIT cardio yoga or vinyasa yoga by the way.

I'm really curious about water weight as well. Is it possible that the culprit for my flab is actually water retention?

its very likely you were eating more.

GottaBurnEmAll

Kuroneko07 wrote: »

Is it possible that I wasn't eating only 995 calories before then? If so, should I just go back to that until I get a food scale?

Also, I thought yoga was enough to shed the fat in order to see the muscles underneath. I do either HIIT cardio yoga or vinyasa yoga by the way.

I'm really curious about water weight as well. Is it possible that the culprit for my flab is actually water retention?

The water weight gain would be from increased carbohydrate consumption from upping your calories and you have additional weight showing on the scale because there's more waste in your system too.

Vinyasa yoga is a cardio workout.

Seeing musculature is a function of a low body fat percentage and having the muscles there to begin with.

You're already at a low weight, so the idea of recomp is appropriate for you.

To develop the muscles, you need to do what's called progressive overload. To do that, you need to strength train. BTW, progressive overload can be accomplished with anything from bodyweight exercises on up to powerlifting. There's a lot out there to learn about!

Read the recomposition thread in the maintenance forum for more information.

AB0215

Definitely add strength training. And when you do, don't be surprised when the scale goes up a bit. I strength train 3x a week and I have lost a total of 24 inches off my body (over the course of 3 months) but the scale went up a bit (as it does when you start gaining and toning muscles..muscle is denser than fat) before it went down. Also, I wouldn't focus too much on calories overall if you're eating properly. If you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and proteins, your calorie count won't be super high but you'll be fueling your muscles for growth more appropriately. I should say that I eat full meals (full plates!) of lean protein and veggies and I struggle to eat 1000-1200 calories a day.

cerise_noir

Ashburns86 wrote: »

Definitely add strength training. And when you do, don't be surprised when the scale goes up a bit. I strength train 3x a week and I have lost a total of 24 inches off my body (over the course of 3 months) but the scale went up a bit (as it does when you start gaining and toning muscles..muscle is denser than fat) before it went down. Also, I wouldn't focus too much on calories overall if you're eating properly. If you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and proteins, your calorie count won't be super high but you'll be fueling your muscles for growth more appropriately. I should say that I eat full meals (full plates!) of lean protein and veggies and I struggle to eat 1000-1200 calories a day.

No.
Eating 'properly' won't get anyone thinner. It is ALL about calories.

SCoil123

Knowledge is power and the more data you collect the more you will know about where to make adjustments. A food scale and activity tracker together was my game changer. I'm much more aware of my CICO now. Before I was eating 400-600 calories more per day than I was logging just by not accurately tracking. It is easy to do. I was also only taking around 5k steps a day, sometimes less, and considered myself active because I do Insanity several days a week. I became more aware and saw what needed to change. Im more active now (8-10k steps not counting work outs) and eating the right amount.

AB0215

.

queenliz99

Ashburns86 wrote: »

cerise_noir wrote: »

Ashburns86 wrote: »

Definitely add strength training. And when you do, don't be surprised when the scale goes up a bit. I strength train 3x a week and I have lost a total of 24 inches off my body (over the course of 3 months) but the scale went up a bit (as it does when you start gaining and toning muscles..muscle is denser than fat) before it went down. Also, I wouldn't focus too much on calories overall if you're eating properly. If you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and proteins, your calorie count won't be super high but you'll be fueling your muscles for growth more appropriately. I should say that I eat full meals (full plates!) of lean protein and veggies and I struggle to eat 1000-1200 calories a day.

No.
Eating 'properly' won't get anyone thinner. It is ALL about calories.

Not according to my nutritionist.
Maybe a visit to a nutritionist is in order.

Nope, calories in and calories out.

JaydedMiss

queenliz99 wrote: »

Ashburns86 wrote: »

cerise_noir wrote: »

Ashburns86 wrote: »

Definitely add strength training. And when you do, don't be surprised when the scale goes up a bit. I strength train 3x a week and I have lost a total of 24 inches off my body (over the course of 3 months) but the scale went up a bit (as it does when you start gaining and toning muscles..muscle is denser than fat) before it went down. Also, I wouldn't focus too much on calories overall if you're eating properly. If you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and proteins, your calorie count won't be super high but you'll be fueling your muscles for growth more appropriately. I should say that I eat full meals (full plates!) of lean protein and veggies and I struggle to eat 1000-1200 calories a day.

No.
Eating 'properly' won't get anyone thinner. It is ALL about calories.

Not according to my nutritionist.
Maybe a visit to a nutritionist is in order.

Nope, calories in and calories out.

SusanMFindlay

Ashburns86 wrote: »

Maybe I should clarify. Calories aren't everything. I have visited a nutritionist who says to pay particular attention to the calories you eat. Adding butter to everything to make your calorie count isn't going to help. Eating a full plate of veggies will. 1 cup of broccoli which is 2 servings, is 47 calories, steamed. Very filling, low calorie.
Maybe a visit to a nutritionist is in order.

Nutritionists are highly variable given that there are basically no requirements to call yourself a nutritionist.

But let's assume you have a good one. It sounds to me like she's focusing on methods to lower your calorie intake without actually counting (because a lot of people are math phobic and will do better with "big picture" type principles). So, basically, she's saying that you'd have a really hard time eating too many calories if you just eat chicken/fish and nonstarchy vegetables. Which is likely true - though might lead to issues of not getting enough healthy fat in your diet.

AB0215

I shared what has been working for me for 11 months and what advice I have gotten from my doctors and from my personal trainer. I can tell you without a double that I have dramatically increased my muscle density and tone and have lost 4 sizes this year alone. It has been working, maybe it won't for everyone, maybe it won't work forever. My advice is to seek help if you don't have the answers, but the bottom line is: Do what makes you happy or whatever works for you or whatever you believe will work or help you...

But the really interesting part is that you try to do something nice and helpful and basically get attacked on the internet...which seems....counter intuitive...