Any advice appreciated

MommaLovesToLoseIt

So I am not yet in maintenance, but am about 25-35 pounds away right now. I have so far lost about 130 pounds since September 2015, and lost pretty steadily until about October/November of last year. I am trying my best to maintain as much muscle as I can while still losing, with heavy, progressive lifting. I do a variety of cardio during the week, and my calories hover around 2000 per day. I am 225-230 depending on the day. Anyhow, where I am going with this, is that my weight loss has slowed down considerably, almost to the point of stopping, in the last couple of months. I go down a few pounds, then right back up. No downward trend. I would think that at 230 pounds, and 2000 calories a day, I should still be losing weight. I log my food consistently, and weigh almost everything. I eat mostly "clean" foods by preference, as they make me feel and perform my best. I guess I am wondering if there would be some advice as to where I should go from here. I know that I have to do something with my calorie intake, just wondering if dropping it by 250-300 or so would do much in the way of losing fat? I am currently a size 12, and my goal is just to get to a size 8 and then build up as much muscle as I can. I am 5'9" Thanks for any input!!

AnnPT77

Has your workout plan been fairly consistent since 2015, or have you made material changes more recently?

How old are you?

Are the 2000 calories net (i.e., you also eat back some/all exercise calories), or gross (2000 is actually what you consume)? If net, how do you estimate your exercise calories, and do you include weight training calories or just cardio calories?

Are you seeing continuing progressive strength increases? Changes in measurements or clothing size? Have those stalled before or alongside the relative weight stall?

Do you have any estimate of your body fat percent, and if so, from what source and has there been a change there?

Apologies for the many questions - when I start to test theories in my head about what might be going on, I think of a piece of info that would help know whether that theory is realistic.

If you're sedentary outside of intentional exercise, 2000 could be getting pretty close to your (net) maintenance calories at 225, depending on your age. Keep in mind that the calorie needs calculators (like the one built into MFP) are based on population averages, and individuals can differ. Since you're logging carefully, what did your loss rate & calorie level during your weight loss suggest about your similarity to the calculator's estimates?

If you're seeing strength increases or size/measurement decreases, or (well-validated) body fat percent changes, that might point in one direction, but if the reverse is the case, dramatically in another direction.

MommaLovesToLoseIt

Thank you so much for the detailed reply! In answer: I have made quite a few changes to my workouts since 2015, adding heavier lifting and more intense lifting, also much harder cardio aspects. I am 37. The 2000 calories is actually what I consume. I had been seeing pretty good strength increases, but that has kind of plateaued too. I was also seeing changes in body fat percentage and inches, until about December. My body fat was calculated just using an online calculator, I believe it is around 36, but not positive right now. While I was losing steadily, the loss calculator on MFP showed about the same rate of loss, but now it isnt even close...I hope that I answered everything! I thought about the calculators being a little off for me, maybe I simply require a few less calories.

TimothyFish

My view on calorie counting is that no matter how accurately someone thinks they are tracking their calories there is enough margin for error they they may not be. If your calorie intake is resulting in your staying the same weight then you can lower your intake and you will see weight loss. You can view it as you don't require as many calories as most people or that you aren't recording enough calories. Either way, the end result is the same.

MommaLovesToLoseIt

Thank you, Timothy, and fair enough. I have seen info such as that, and that even in a given food, the caloric amounts can be off by 20% or more. I suppose the end result is the same, lower the calories and see the weight go down. Just an update that I did my measurements again, and have lost some small degree of inches, or fractions of inches in some areas, so I guess that is something...but for taking into consideration error of the person doing the measurements

AnnPT77

MommaLovesToLoseIt wrote: »

Thank you so much for the detailed reply! In answer: I have made quite a few changes to my workouts since 2015, adding heavier lifting and more intense lifting, also much harder cardio aspects. I am 37. The 2000 calories is actually what I consume. I had been seeing pretty good strength increases, but that has kind of plateaued too. I was also seeing changes in body fat percentage and inches, until about December. My body fat was calculated just using an online calculator, I believe it is around 36, but not positive right now. While I was losing steadily, the loss calculator on MFP showed about the same rate of loss, but now it isnt even close...I hope that I answered everything! I thought about the calculators being a little off for me, maybe I simply require a few less calories.

If you're staying the same size, but closer to steady state on strength and weight, that would make it sound like calories could be the issue. However, if you're eating 2000 gross and still exercising heartily, that would seem to imply a somewhat lower than average burn for your age/size/activities - possible, of course.

You mentioned possibly getting a tiny bit smaller, though - which provokes questions about whether you're getting close enough to maintenance calories to be gaining a bit of muscle. From what you said, I assume you're still pushing the progressivity in your weight training program.

Personally, I saw some weight uptick (2-3 pounds only, though) with regular weight training, and I seemed to hold onto those pounds as long as I kept pushing the progressivity (consistent low level of sore muscles), but those couple of pounds dropped back off when I stopped lifting (I weight train more in my rowing off-season, rarely in season - just fundamental laziness ).

Are you sure your non-exercise activity (NEAT) has been consistent since last October/November? I'm not sure where you are (geographically), but I think I tend to do a bit less general wandering around fussing with stuff outdoors in Winter vs. Summer (garden, casual walking, etc.), so my NEAT goes down a little. Since you say you'd been losing at the expected rate until October/November, I wonder if something like that could be going on for you? NEAT changes can be a surprisingly large impact.

Subjectively, for a 5'9" person, size 12 (if US size) didn't sound super large, based on how size 12 worked for me at 5'5", but I know that depends on frame considerations.

I'm sorry, I don't really know what to suggest, either, even with more answers that you were good enough to provide. Maybe trying to increase daily activity (not necessarily exercise) or eating a small amount less would be a reasonable experiment, but I'm not sure. Wouldn't want to leave your exercise under-fueled either.

I hope someone else will have better ideas for you. Apologies!

MommaLovesToLoseIt

Thank you so much, Ann, for your response. I think you could possibly have nailed something there with the NEAT possibly not being the same, as winter here has been cold and I havent been walking to errands and things of that nature, and in consideration, even my cardio dropped off for the months of december and january, so that right there could be adding to the problem. Thanks for that insight! I did kind of worry about under fueling my exercise , if I did cut calories a bit, but Im thinking that if I cut them by a small margin, say 200 to 300, that might not be an issue, and I could still see some fat losses. It will be interesting to see , now that I am back to my previous cardio levels, and with cutting a few hundred calories, if I see some changes over the next month. Thanks again, your detailed response is greatly appreciated!

AnnPT77

MommaLovesToLoseIt wrote: »

Thank you so much, Ann, for your response. I think you could possibly have nailed something there with the NEAT possibly not being the same, as winter here has been cold and I havent been walking to errands and things of that nature, and in consideration, even my cardio dropped off for the months of december and january, so that right there could be adding to the problem. Thanks for that insight! I did kind of worry about under fueling my exercise , if I did cut calories a bit, but Im thinking that if I cut them by a small margin, say 200 to 300, that might not be an issue, and I could still see some fat losses. It will be interesting to see , now that I am back to my previous cardio levels, and with cutting a few hundred calories, if I see some changes over the next month. Thanks again, your detailed response is greatly appreciated!

With minor differences in play, it might be worth trying the lower end of that . . . you can always cut a bit more in 3-4 weeks if you find you need to. Good luck!

MommaLovesToLoseIt

You are an amazing person! thank you for the friendly advice.