Impatient

kyraleigh7163

I’ve made a few other posts asking what could be stalling weight loss, possible reasons being water retention, sleep deprivation, or just not working out enough. This morning I went back and saw a pattern, I lost the most weight when I was only eating one meal a day with a few light snacks. However, I was worried I was messing up my metabolism doing this and went back to eating lunch, along with dinner and snacks. Since then it seems that my weight loss progress has come to a halt, even going up a little.. although I’m still strictly doing a calorie deficit. Could eating lunch potentially be my problem?

quiksylver296

If it makes you eat more calories than you would otherwise, yes.

malibu927

No. Meal timing, frequency, etc. has no bearing on weight loss. There are people who do OMAD like you did. There are people who eat ten times a day. All that matters is the calorie deficit.

janejellyroll

You won't mess up your metabolism eating one meal a day with a few light snacks. If that's the easiest way for you to create a deficit, there's no reason for you not to do that.

Eating lunch won't stop you from losing weight in the context of a deficit, but many people find that specific meal timing makes a deficit easier (like skipping breakfast or lunch).

LivingtheLeanDream

Meal timing or having lunch as you're suggesting doesn't impact weight loss. Its eating more than your body burns that's the problem.

jjpptt2

Assumption: X calories per day = calorie deficit.

X cals including a lunch will equal the same weight loss as X cals skipping lunch.

Aaron_K123

Just going to make up some numbers to illustrate a point.

Lets say you are trying to eat 1500 calories a day to lose a pound a week. Whether you eat those 1500 calories in one meal or eat them in 6 meals throughout the day has no affect whatsoever on how much weight you will lose but it can have a huge affect on how easy it is to maintain that diet while feeling satiated and comfortable.

I have no idea why your switch caused you to no longer lose weight...you haven't said how long this "stall" has been for but if it hasn't been over a couple of months then probably it isn't actually a "stall" at all and you just have to be patient. If it has been longer than a couple of months then my first assumption would be the switch has caused you to snack or eat more than you think you are eating.

Calories are a unit of energy, you cannot just produce energy from nothing so if you are getting more energy stopping your body from using its fat stores then you are taking in more food or doing less activity.

My guess though, given the title of this post, is that your "stall" has been for a couple of days in which cause as your title suggests you probably just need to be patient and not worry about your weight on a day to day basis.

100_PROOF_

If you are at a calorie deficit you'll lose weight. All the rest of the stuff you mentioned is basically just noise. Calories in calories out. Weight loss comes from a calorie deficit

kyraleigh7163

I definitely was eating less calories when I was only eating dinner, like less than 1200 usually, I didn’t want my body to go into starvation mode so I started to eat more. that’s why I think my metabolism just got used to not many calories a day, so when I started to have more it might be causing a weight gain?

janejellyroll

kyraleigh7163 wrote: »

I definitely was eating less calories when I was only eating dinner, like less than 1200 usually, I didn’t want my body to go into starvation mode so I started to eat more. that’s why I think my metabolism just got used to not many calories a day, so when I started to have more it might be causing a weight gain?

Starvation mode isn't a concern in the situation you're describing. Your metabolism doesn't "get used" to things in that way. You can't gain weight without consuming more calories than your body is using.

MegaMooseEsq

kyraleigh7163 wrote: »

I definitely was eating less calories when I was only eating dinner, like less than 1200 usually, I didn’t want my body to go into starvation mode so I started to eat more. that’s why I think my metabolism just got used to not many calories a day, so when I started to have more it might be causing a weight gain?

I've missed your other threads so apologies if you've addressed this, but my two questions would be 1) how much do you have to lose, and 2) are you sure your tracking is as on point as possible (i.e. always use a food scale, log everything, make sure the entries you're using are correct, no unlogged "cheat" meals or days)? If you have very little to lose it's going to take a long time and you've got to be patient and diligent. And even if you have a lot to lose, people are really, really bad at estimating their portions, much worse than they think. It's not a moral judgment, it's just a common fact. Either way, good luck!

dmt4641

You joined a little over a month ago so this is not true "stall" but likely you are watching daily weight fluctuations too closely. If you were eating under 1200 and are now eating above 1200 but still in a deficit, the weight may have just spiked up slightly with additional water or waste, not fat. If you are eating in a deficit, be patient and realize that weight loss is not a straight line down but a squiggly one.

kyraleigh7163

I’m about 181 right now, I’ve lost 20 pounds already, and want to get down to around 130.. I don’t have a food scale but I try to track as accurately as possible!

janejellyroll

kyraleigh7163 wrote: »

I’m about 181 right now, I’ve lost 20 pounds already, and want to get down to around 130.. I don’t have a food scale but I try to track as accurately as possible!

The food scale is much more relevant than eating lunch or not. I recommend getting a scale so you can track your intake accurately.

ElizabethAN2017

kyraleigh7163 wrote: »

I’m about 181 right now, I’ve lost 20 pounds already, and want to get down to around 130.. I don’t have a food scale but I try to track as accurately as possible!

I started at 181 in mid August 2017 and am at 148.6 today. If you keep track of your intake and eat at a calorie deficit, you will lose weight. Try to look at the big picture and try to be patient. Reassessing your intake after every 10 lb loss is also a good idea as your required calories go down. It is important to get sufficient protein, so you do not end up with muscle loss, as you lose weight. Best wishes to you on your journey.

quiksylver296

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

elisa123gal

There are so many opinions... i am losing all my weight and fast by not counting calories and eating six times a day three hours apart. it is amazing how i'm dropping the fat actually eating more than ever. yet the die hard cico folks here won't hear of anything else. maybe you're a candidate for intermittent fasting.. that works for a lot of people. i did that and it didn't work at all for me...but it may work for you.

malibu927

elisa123gal wrote: »

There are so many opinions... i am losing all my weight and fast by not counting calories and eating six times a day three hours apart. it is amazing how i'm dropping the fat actually eating more than ever. yet the die hard cico folks here won't hear of anything else. maybe you're a candidate for intermittent fasting.. that works for a lot of people. i did that and it didn't work at all for me...but it may work for you.

You're losing weight because you created a calorie deficit without counting calories

kimny72

elisa123gal wrote: »

There are so many opinions... i am losing all my weight and fast by not counting calories and eating six times a day three hours apart. it is amazing how i'm dropping the fat actually eating more than ever. yet the die hard cico folks here won't hear of anything else. maybe you're a candidate for intermittent fasting.. that works for a lot of people. i did that and it didn't work at all for me...but it may work for you.

Just because you're not counting calories doesn't mean you aren't eating at a deficit, you just don't keep track of it. Also sometimes when you eat in a specific way, you have more energy that makes you subtly more active so you're burning more calories.

Either way CICO doesn't require you to keep track of it or even believe in it, it just is.

OP, pick up a food scale, it makes logging accurately so much easier and with a little practice it becomes effortless. Meal timing does not directly affect weight loss though it can affect satiety which is obviously important. Hang in there and good luck!

1houndgal

kyraleigh7163 wrote: »

I’m about 181 right now, I’ve lost 20 pounds already, and want to get down to around 130.. I don’t have a food scale but I try to track as accurately as possible!

First things first, get a food scale. It is hard to accurately log your food intake without one. Ideally a digital scale. But you can find a old school manual food scale to suffice until you get a digital scale.

scttdmpsy

Platues happen. You were doing OMAD. It takes an adjustment over time. It is possible starting out on OMAD that you shed a lot of water weight at first. If that added lunch is now carb rich, it will retain water with it. Carb hold water with them. It’s a body building trick, go keto to cut and hit the carbs for the presentation to swell the muscels with hydration to look bigger.

Some say OMAD or 6 meals a day doesn’t matter, basically this doesn’t as to calories, yet there are a lot of varients. Spiking blood sugar too often for people with an already insulin resistance can cause weight gaining issues far and above the calorie count equal to OMAD.

Activity is a factor. On OMAD an active person will see gains in muscle weight. It’s shown in the lab with animal studies and even vegans are seeing muscle weight gain doing OMAD.

There are many factors to consider than just more than CICO, but bottom basic rule of thumb is CICO should be ball-parked.

Yes, OMAD low calorie intake will reach a plateau. The body does get used to it. The body does adapt. If you reached a plateau of a certain anount of calories on OMAD, then the activity level might be off. Increasing activity (conisder mornings) can change metabolism, yet even changing that up in different ways will make a difference. Arbold Schwarzenegger pushed this, you have to shock the routine and keep the body adapting to new changes.

Sleep is a factor. I was lean-ish, but not intil my sleep improve did I start to see my soft belly giggle start to flatten. I have always had that since preteens.

Inflammation is huge. I am still having leaning issues, yet have a little eczema. This means there are foods that are still measing with my body’s norm. So, I am trying even harder to eliminate wheat. Inflamation can keep cortisol up, and when it is up, fat matabolism is halted.

There are many factors for platues, and it takes patience and digging to concur it.

m287668

janejellyroll wrote: »

kyraleigh7163 wrote: »

I’m about 181 right now, I’ve lost 20 pounds already, and want to get down to around 130.. I don’t have a food scale but I try to track as accurately as possible!

The food scale is much more relevant than eating lunch or not. I recommend getting a scale so you can track your intake accurately.

I agree. I used to count a sweet potato as 150 calories until I purchased a food scale and weighed it and realized it was more like 320 calories! I think I paid $9 for it on amazon. I do think it really helps.

scttdmpsy

Here is a good explanation: Youtube Dr. Caryn Zinn On Fat and Fasting. Use those search terms and see her talk on metabolism mechanisms.