The second time around is much harder!

sirenserenade

Hi everyone! I've been a long-time MFP user, and this is my second go at trying to reach a weight loss goal.

I started calorie counting back when I was sitting at my heaviest weight, 160lb, when I was in college (typical story of having too much freedom to eat what I want... and I partied every weekend. Hello, alcohol weight!).

Between 2016-2017, I managed to reach my goal weight (at the time) of 130lb, which was easier than I thought. I didn't pay too much attention to anything other than staying within a 1200-1300 calorie range and doing cardio when I had the time. I wasn't terribly ambitious, and I just watched the weight come off slowly over time.

I'm 129.5lb now, and recently, I've decided on a new goal... To get down to 20% body fat (probably around 120-123lb, and I think I'm probably around 25% now). You'd think that those least few pounds would be a breeze to lose, but everything they say about weight loss being more difficult the leaner you get is so true.

The thing I'm struggling with the most right now is my appetite - something I didn't have any problems with last time I was dieting, for some reason. I could never do 1200-1300 calories now (I've tried; it just results in me binging out of desperation). Even 1500 is cutting it close.

It probably doesn't helped that I've upped my workout routine significantly. I'm lifting challenging weights for about 90 minutes 5x a week, and doing cardio for at least 30 minutes 5x a week on top of that (sometimes on the same day). I also take horseback riding lessons 1-2 times a week, which is another workout on its own.

I think I've hit the dreaded plateau and it SUCKS. I'm sure I've gained some muscle which is another reason the scale is staying pretty neutral... But I really want to get down past 125lb. Given how easy those pounds melted off the first time, I'm feeling pretty impatient!

I would love some advice, if anyone has it, for my particular situation: finding that caloric balance between cutting enough calories to lose fat, but yet eating enough that I can sustain my fairly heavy workout schedule. The only thing that's sorta helped so far is upping my protein (keeps me fuller for longer, I find).

Weight loss was easier when I was bigger...

4legsRbetterthan2

@sirenserenade I am going to move this to the general help board, I think you will get more responses there. Things get buried in IY sometimes

TavistockToad

How many cals do you get if you set MFP to lose 0.5lb per week?

ecjim

90 mins of "challenging " weights + cardio 5X per week sounds like a lot - what weight training program are you following? Eastcoast Jim

SCoil123

I came to this site after gaining around 30lb back of the over 80lb I lost after having my son. It took me as long to lose that 30 ans it did to lose everything the first time. It's hard!

For the workouts I lift heavy, boxing, run, and Jazzercize. It was very challenging to maintain my muscle mass and stay properly fueled while losing. Higher protein and fats keep me full longer so I based my main meals around those macros. For snacks I went the other direction and focused on lower calorie things that I could munch on between meals. Celery and baby carrots were two snacks I kept in the mini fridge at work along with low cal yogurts and protein bars.

kshama2001

sirenserenade wrote: »

Hi everyone! I've been a long-time MFP user, and this is my second go at trying to reach a weight loss goal.

I started calorie counting back when I was sitting at my heaviest weight, 160lb, when I was in college (typical story of having too much freedom to eat what I want... and I partied every weekend. Hello, alcohol weight!).

Between 2016-2017, I managed to reach my goal weight (at the time) of 130lb, which was easier than I thought. I didn't pay too much attention to anything other than staying within a 1200-1300 calorie range and doing cardio when I had the time. I wasn't terribly ambitious, and I just watched the weight come off slowly over time.

I'm 129.5lb now, and recently, I've decided on a new goal... To get down to 20% body fat (probably around 120-123lb, and I think I'm probably around 25% now). You'd think that those least few pounds would be a breeze to lose, but everything they say about weight loss being more difficult the leaner you get is so true.

The thing I'm struggling with the most right now is my appetite - something I didn't have any problems with last time I was dieting, for some reason. I could never do 1200-1300 calories now (I've tried; it just results in me binging out of desperation). Even 1500 is cutting it close.

It probably doesn't helped that I've upped my workout routine significantly. I'm lifting challenging weights for about 90 minutes 5x a week, and doing cardio for at least 30 minutes 5x a week on top of that (sometimes on the same day). I also take horseback riding lessons 1-2 times a week, which is another workout on its own.

I think I've hit the dreaded plateau and it SUCKS. I'm sure I've gained some muscle which is another reason the scale is staying pretty neutral... But I really want to get down past 125lb. Given how easy those pounds melted off the first time, I'm feeling pretty impatient!

I would love some advice, if anyone has it, for my particular situation: finding that caloric balance between cutting enough calories to lose fat, but yet eating enough that I can sustain my fairly heavy workout schedule. The only thing that's sorta helped so far is upping my protein (keeps me fuller for longer, I find).

Weight loss was easier when I was bigger...

You're probably retaining water from the new exercise program. I GAINED 7 pounds when I started weightlifting again. Took a few weeks to come off.

What percentage of your exercise calories are you eating back? If none, you're undereating, which is stressful, which increases cortisol and can also cause water retention. If 100%, that may be too many for you - try 50%.

ahoy_m8

In addition to good points above, when going for the last 5 or 10 pounds, 0.5lb loss/wk is appropriate and really good progress. Faster and you risk losing muscle in addition to fat, and the end aesthetic isn’t what you wanted. However, at a 250 cal daily deficit, counting accuracy comes into greater play. Honestly, accuracy can be the difference between losing slow & steady or not losing at all. Use a food scale, weigh everything you can (we all have to eyeball it sometimes), and be careful to select accurate verified database entries. A body weight trend ap helps you see your progress through the normal water weight fluctuations. Best to you!