Half way to goal but stalled

beth0277

I've lost 40 pounds this year and have about 30 to go. I haven't changed anything and am still tracking accurately but I've been stalled for a month. I am tracking accurately and working out. I don't eat back exercise calories. I currently eat 1500 calories a day. I'm 5'4", down to 170 from 214. I would like to get to 140. Did anyone else get this far and have a big stall and then start losing again or should I cut calories down? I hate to do that because I've never been successful on lower calorie diets. 1500 seems to be my sweet spot for being satisfied enough. I'm still averaging around a 6,000 calorie deficit each week.

Nony_Mouse

Have you taken a diet break since starting your weight loss? If not, seriously consider eating at maintenance for 10-14 days, then go back to a deficit aiming for 1 lb per week (so 3500 cals per week).

https://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/

lorrpb

Do you weigh all your food on a digital scale? It's prob time to tighten up your logging. Congrats on the first 40!

beth0277

lorrpb wrote: »

Do you weigh all your food on a digital scale? It's prob time to tighten up your logging. Congrats on the first 40!

Yep. I do.

DX2JX2

When was the last time you reset your calorie targets? You don't have to change how much you eat, but it could be that your deficit now is lower than it was when you started. All else equal, a slowing of weight loss as you get smaller is natural.

Based on a quick scan of a couple of internet calculators, it doesn't seem like 1500 calories per day should generate a deficit anywhere close to 6000 calories per week at your current weight (~3500 seems more likely). Additionally if you are really creating a 6000 calorie deficit per week by not eating back exercise calories on top of your base deficit, then you could be borderline undereating.

Assuming that your base deficit is really only in the 3500 calorie range, then the stall in weight loss could be due to logging inaccuracies. The less weight you have to lose, the tighter you have to be with your logging and calculations. There won't be much wiggle room.

Kathryn247

Hello! I started at 182 in January, got to about 150 by the end of July, then had a pretty big stall until September. It felt like I was still tracking accurately but the measurements weren't budging. I took a maintenance break in August then got back to a reasonable deficit. The scale just started moving again recently. I don't know what that's about, if it's just "weight loss isn't linear" or "diet fatigue" leading to unintentionally inaccurate logging or something else.
What really got me through was thinking about what the options are: I could say "This isn't working!" and give up on calorie counting entirely and go back to 182, I could hang out at maintenance for a while, or I could stick with my reasonable deficit and eventually the scale would have to respond. I went with options 2 and 3.
Like another poster said, a 6,000 calorie deficit a week probably isn't accurate at this point. You might want to check out how you're calculating your exercise calories just so your expectations are more realistic.
Hang in there!

MegaMooseEsq

Congratulations on your first 40! It looks like you've gotten some great advice so far, so I'm just chiming in to agree with the prior posts and to encourage you to focus on what you've achieved. 40 pounds is amazing! You absolutely can lose that last 30, but it will take patience.

Also, to whoever woo-ed the comment above on full-diet breaks, I'd encourage you to read the link. It's not talking about any sort of magical starvation-mode reset or whatever, but what seem to be the very real physical and psychological benefits of taking a couple of weeks eating at maintenance after an extended period at a deficit.