Please Whisper Something Sweet Into My Ear

springlering62

So, have exceeded all expectations. Thank you MFP! But....

Have hit what should reasonably be called a “non-plateau” and am wavering between 156-157. My right brain says, “You dummy! This is no plateau! You’ve gained muscle weight! You look smaller! Cut yourself some slack!”

My left brain, the one who still sees me as big as before, says *Panic Mode*! “You’re gaining weight. You haven’t lost any for a couple of weeks! Look at that fat roll and that gut! Eat less! Work harder!”

I weigh food religiously. 5’7”, CW 157. I aim for a fixed 1700 calories per day, but with occasional spikes probably average more like 1900. Apple Health shows my average daily“active” calories at 924 for 2019. I weight train twice a week, Pilates 3-5x a week, flow yoga 4x a week, stretch 30 minutes daily, and and my daily step average is 14,429. My new full time job is me. (And I’m having a damn fun time doing it, too. It’s a luxury, for sure. )

So, why am I so needy and craving reassurance I’m not going in the wrong direction?

How did YOU balance the two conflicting sides of your brain and wrap your head around this when you reached this point?

PAV8888

Weight trend app or web site.

Knowledge of reasons and causes for weight fluctuations

Losing at as high a caloric intake as I could while meeting my goals.

Check out the stickies for the "on re-feeds and diet breaks" thread.

Be willing to re-examine and re-adjust when necessary.

Grumpy today; sorry on lack of sweet-talk

apullum

You're right that staying at the same weight for a couple of weeks is not a plateau. You're in the optimal BMI range for your height. At this point, you should not expect to be losing weight quickly. 0.5 lb/week is the most you should be aiming for, and it's very common to not see the scale move down for 4-6 weeks.

Since you are already in your optimal BMI range, you may want to start thinking about recomp to build muscle and reduce body fat.

springlering62

Tbh I don’t even understand some of the terms like recomp. I assume it means training or some type of excercise to reshape your figure. That’s happening and I’m guessing is the reason the weight is going up. I’m gaining muscle for sure. But it’s so challenging mentally because

a) months of “scale rewards” have ceased

b.) my eyes. They still look at the mirror and see old, fat me. It’s like looking in a broken mirror. Every once in a while I’ll see a skinnier thigh or thinner wrist reflected in a shard, or the tiny clothes in the laundry, but when I look at the whole fractures thing, I still see..... same old me.

apullum

First, if your weight is consistently between 156-157 lb. for two weeks, it is not "going up." You are either losing fat that is currently being masked by normal water weight fluctuations, or you're in maintenance. It sounds like you're in a deficit (and potentially a pretty aggressive deficit, given your stats), so you're probably not maintaining.

Second, you're not likely to be building much muscle if you're in a deficit and not following an intentional strength training plan. See this thread about recomp: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

Third, honestly, you need to get used to not seeing "scale rewards" frequently if you're close to your goal weight. Not only should you not expect to lose weight quickly, but also, when you get to your goal weight, the scale rewards pretty much cease to exist and you have to find new motivations to stay in maintenance.

As far as still thinking of yourself as fat, I hear that. I think a lot of us go through it and it's fairly common. Some of us have spent our whole lives up to this point being obese. I've only been in my optimal BMI range for the past year and a half. It usually does get better over time, and if you need to talk to someone about it, there are professionals who can help you think about your body image.

Maxxitt

Stay the course, OP. I'm in a similar place as you at the moment - same weight that I am hovering at, averaging 1500 calories/day, quite a bit less active than you are, and an inch shorter (and maybe a lot older? I didn't look lol). What I tell myself is, "stay the course." As has been noted, it can be a challenge to not get the regular, steady loss each week as positive reinforcement for sticking to the program, so instead I use logic (tracking is pretty solid) and non-scale indications of better health - better workouts, clothes fitting better, etc. You can do this.

PAV8888

Exhibit: rapid weight loss is no longer visible.
Exhibit: extremely large "paper" deficit while normal weight or barely overweight
Exhibit: body changes have out-paced mental ability to incorporate them

Tentative conclusion: no longer enough fat mass available to sustain previous deficits AND at the limits (or even past the limits) of fast weight loss for the person in question.

Remedies to explore: TIME / smaller deficits with re-feeds / diet break if none taken so far / weight level tracking to improve detection of direction of weight level change.

1BlueAurora

Your left brain telling you you're still big is a liar. It takes a while to get your head around the fact that you do, in fact, look smaller. My sister told me at one point that my failure to see my progress for what it was is something you can actually correct. We went to Goodwill (I didn't have much money) and she made me try on jeans that were one size smaller than what I'd been wearing. And there it was! I WAS smaller. Don't know if that'd work for you, but I was glad to have that little bit of reassurance in my pocket. I also encourage you to find a "fat" picture of yourself and get a current one to compare. Even if you take a picture of just your face, you may be able to see the more slim you.