Not losing :(

celeste_2009

Hey guys! I started at 5’4.5 and 135 pounds in January, and I have been hovering at 130 pounds for months now. I was previously eating 1700ish calories, and when I wasn’t losing, I moved down to 1500 calories and saw about a pound or two of weight loss. However, I’ve been stuck at 130 for 2-3 months now. Does anyone have any advice? Thank you!

cmriverside

You're at a very healthy weight.

At your weight it's going to be about extreme accuracy.

Digital food scale for every bit you eat. Fixing all your own meals. (or 90%)

Moderate exercise.

Logging food.

Patience. It took me nine months to lose the last 15, because it's difficult and I was hungry. I'm at exactly the same BMI as you are, and at that point it becomes more about body composition. Have you tried weight lifting or something like Crossfit?

pinuplove

You're already a healthy weight, so progress will be slow. Tighten up your logging. Weigh everything possible and verify the entries you're using are correct. It's likely you are eating more than you think. Don't expect to lose more than .5 lb per week. A weight trending app (Happy Scale or Libra) can help cut out the noise from short-term fluctuations to let you see how you're really doing over time.

steveko89

Like others said, from a scale weight standpoint you barely have any weight to be losing so the process is going to be slow and take diligence. Personally, I got to a point where I similarly didn't have an appreciable amount of weight to lose but I still wasn't happy with how I looked. I removed scale weight as a metric for my goals, got into weightlifting and have been the happiest with how I look a full 15 lbs heavier than my previous "goal weight" by focusing on getting stronger and what I see in the mirror vs. what the scale tells me. YMMV

kimny72

celeste_2009 wrote: »

Hey guys! I started at 5’4.5 and 135 pounds in January, and I have been hovering at 130 pounds for months now. I was previously eating 1700ish calories, and when I wasn’t losing, I moved down to 1500 calories and saw about a pound or two of weight loss. However, I’ve been stuck at 130 for 2-3 months now. Does anyone have any advice? Thank you!

I am your height. And it took me a year to get from 130 to 125. It's just hard. You are dealing with weight your body has no reason to prioritize losing, you have no margin for error, and what you will lose can easily hide behind water weight fluctuations for weeks at a time.

If you haven't been, get a food scale and use it for all solids as often as possible. Double check that the entries you are using in the database are accurate calorie-wise, many are user entered and just plain wrong. Then try to focus on other goals - logging streak, getting stronger, adding 5 minutes to your cardio, eating more veggies, anything other than living or dying by the scale. Because you might only see it move once a month. That doesn't mean you aren't losing a bit every week, just that it's not going to consistently show up on the scale. :drinker:

johnnylakis

cmriverside wrote: »

Digital food scale for every bit you eat. Fixing all your own meals. (or 90%)

Yup

bigbandjohn

What is your goal? What does the app say you should be eating to lose weight and not maintain your weight? If you are in a healthy range, unless you have a naturally very small frame should you really be trying to lose more? Have you asked a doctor or nutritionist about it?

dulinh

I'm your height and started at the same weight in November of last year. It is doable to lose weight but not at all easy. The biggest thing is weighing and honestly logging every single thing, every single day. Logging meticulously also helps me understand the calories I need to maintain my weight. Upping my activity has helped too - first with cardio and then switched over to weight lifting in April (wish I had made the switch sooner).

Without knowing your activity level or maintenance calorie range its impossible to tell if you would lose weight on 1500 or 1700 calories/day.

celeste_2009

Thank you ALL for helping put my goals into perspective. I was feeling as though there might be something wrong with my process, but it's helpful to hear that losing the last 5 vanity pounds seems to be painstaking for everyone. I like the idea of focusing on other things in the interim like lifting heavier weights and eating more vegetables. Thank you all for the dose or realism! I guess it's going to take awhile...

amy19355

celeste_2009 wrote: »

Hey guys! I started at 5’4.5 and 135 pounds in January, and I have been hovering at 130 pounds for months now. I was previously eating 1700ish calories, and when I wasn’t losing, I moved down to 1500 calories and saw about a pound or two of weight loss. However, I’ve been stuck at 130 for 2-3 months now. Does anyone have any advice? Thank you!

I'm 5'4" and down to 178 (from 199).

I'd give my right arm and two toes off my left foot to be at 135 pounds. (well, ok, I would not really want to give up body parts to drop weight, but, i guess you know where i'm coming from!!!)

Looking at my progress charts for the last 65 days of logging, I see fluctuations up and down in my daily weight.

Maybe that is some of that pesky 5lbs you are dealing with.

good luck to you!

celeste_2009

Thanks so much for the encouragement, Amy!