Cannot lose weight below a certain number

AlexaWignall

I lost 30 pounds over a year of a 1200 calorie diet. I then hit 157 pounds which is 17 pounds into the overweight category for my height - so nowhere near a healthy weight. And the weight just stopped coming off. After 10 weeks of bouncing between 157 and 159 pounds I stopped calorie counting. My weight went up to 163 pounds over the next 4 weeks. I started the calorie counting again and lost a pound a week until I hit 159 pounds and now it has been stuck there again for the last 5 weeks. It's like a wall. I can lose weight absolutely fine if I put it on but I cant get below 157. What is going on?

kommodevaran

You've found your maintenance level for 157 pounds. To lose beyond that, you have to eat less. Tighten up your logging.

AlexaWignall

By the way I tried 1400 calories for 2 weeks and I gained a pound.

L1zardQueen

Do you use a food scale to everything?

jjpptt2

AlexaWignall wrote: »

By the way I tried 1400 calories for 2 weeks and I gained a pound.

2 weeks isn't long enough.
2lbs is pretty normal fluctuation for most, especially when there is a change in diet.

I agree with the suggestion above - tighten up your logging.

FireOpalCO

Make sure you aren't overestimating your workout calories.

Panini911

Are you weighing and logging all the food you eat?
are you eating back your exercise calories? if so, all of them?

as mentioned, a two week "plateau" is normal and you just need to work thru it, by keep doing what you are doing and ensuring you are properly weighing and logging everything that goes in and ensuring you are using appropriate MFP entries (some can be misleading)

kimny72

I know not everyone is comfortable doing so, but if you were willing to temporarily make your diary public, we may be able to help you trouble shoot.

In the absence of that, are you using a food scale. Are you double checking that the database entries you are using are accurate (many are user-entered and incorrect)? Are you avoiding recipe style entries you didn't create yourself? Are you logging everything - beverages, condiments, late night snacks, nibbles while cooking, cheat meals - everything? Are you eating back exercise calories?

LKArgh

AlexaWignall wrote: »

By the way I tried 1400 calories for 2 weeks and I gained a pound.

Your logging is off. It does not have to be ridiculously off, it might be just 200 or 300 calories off. Double check your entries, use a scale and be patient. Not losing for a week or two, or even gaining a bit, it is all normal.

Pipsqueak1965

Not losing every week is normal. I took ages to lose 3 kilos (3 months) when I cut recently - in fact I lost nothing for the first 3-4 weeks. Then it slowly came off in fits and starts. This was at 15 then 1400 Calories. And I am very small (went from 49 to 46 kilos) - never needed to go as low as 200.

AlexaWignall

I log and weigh everything. I do not eat back my exercise calories because I do not exercise. I am not gaining muscle weight.
It is not a plateau of a couple of weeks, I have not lost any weight below this wall in a year. My diet works perfectly fine if I put on some weight, so I do not understand why at 157-159 pounds it stops working. I will try 1000 calories twice a week to see if that can help. I will keep you up to date with progress. By the way there will be no point sharing my food diary as most of the meals are logged as calorie amounts only - no other information.

ceiswyn

AlexaWignall wrote: »

I log and weigh everything. I do not eat back my exercise calories because I do not exercise. I am not gaining muscle weight.
It is not a plateau of a couple of weeks, I have not lost any weight below this wall in a year. My diet works perfectly fine if I put on some weight, so I do not understand why at 157-159 pounds it stops working. I will try 1000 calories twice a week to see if that can help. I will keep you up to date with progress. By the way there will be no point sharing my food diary as most of the meals are logged as calorie amounts only - no other information.

So you’re not using the MFP database at all? Where are you getting those calorie estimates from, them? That sounds like the most likely source of error in your logging.

kommodevaran

AlexaWignall wrote: »

My diet works perfectly fine if I put on some weight, so I do not understand why at 157-159 pounds it stops working.

Did you not pick up that at a lower weight, your body uses less energy, so to lose weight at a lower weight, you have to eat less than you did to lose weight at a higher weight?

I will try 1000 calories twice a week to see if that can help. I will keep you up to date with progress.

Don't do that. It will not help. If you aren't losing weight at what you think is a 1200 calories, you're not eating 1200 calories, and whatever you think 1000 calories is, is probably also gong to be enough to keep your current weight stable.

If what you think 1000 calories is, is indeed little enough to create a calorie deficit for you now, then twice a week is not enough, you have to have a consistent calorie deficit to lose weight.

If you actually eat that little, you'll binge and undo your calorie deficit.

kommodevaran

Pay attention to all the "if"s in my post. If (sorry!) you log correctly, using your food diary and a food scale, you don't have to bother with all that guesswork, and you will lose at a steady, healthy and predictable rate.

LKArgh

AlexaWignall wrote: »

I log and weigh everything. I do not eat back my exercise calories because I do not exercise. I am not gaining muscle weight.
It is not a plateau of a couple of weeks, I have not lost any weight below this wall in a year. My diet works perfectly fine if I put on some weight, so I do not understand why at 157-159 pounds it stops working. I will try 1000 calories twice a week to see if that can help. I will keep you up to date with progress. By the way there will be no point sharing my food diary as most of the meals are logged as calorie amounts only - no other information.

When for months you stay at a given weight, you are eating at maintenance. You are not maintaining at this weight eating 1200 calories. If you are completely sedentary you might be maintaining at as little as 1500-1600 calories per day though. So, just being off in your logging by just 300 calories might be the difference between maintaining and losing. It has worked until now, because in fact you were losing even with these extra calories, no it is not working any more. Time to reevaluate what you are doing: get a scale, use it for everything, research your entries as many foods in several sources, not just MFP, might have wrong calorie numbers.
In your place, what would worry me more is that you think you are on a diet, so somehow restricting what you eat, yet you are not even happy with your weight. So, when you eat what you think you should while not dieting, you will inevitably gain. Think twice about what you are eating: is it food than can help you feel happy at your current weight? If you were everyday to eat as you have been eating, would it work without feeling hungry all the time? Or is it time to reconsider your eating habits and experiment with foods and combinations that help you feel more satisfied?

jjpptt2

If you're certain your logging is correct, and you're certain your numbers are reliable, and you're certain you've been consistent enough and patient enough to know what is/isn't working, then see a doctor. There's something on the CO side that we aren't accounting for.