HELP ME PLEASE!!!

Kellz2283

Ahhh I'm going out of my mind, I don't know where I'm goimy wrong. I am 35yrs, 77kg, 5'8. I am very active. Walking upto 20.000 steps 6 days a week in my work place. I do weight 3 times a week. 1 HIIT session and a 3.5km run. I have lost 75lbs over the course of a year. I drink 3000mls of water a day and track and weigh all my food. I'm on 1600 cals and don't eat back any of my exercise cals. I have for the past 4 weeks put on 3lb. Where am I going wrong. I wanted to lose another 7lb by end of August but feel like I'm not getting anywhere now. I'm so frustrated. I don't think I could eat any less as I would feel really hungry and light headed when exercising. What is every ones opinion or advice. I'm so confused to which way to progress.

Panini911

cibgrats on your success.

have you changed or increased exercise in the last while? that can lead to water retentions.
http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

If you have been under more stress or changed up what you eat there could be water retention (see link above). I just went thru 7 weeks of stable/gain due to water fluctuations. it was hard. i just kept plugging away.

it may be time for a diet break. I would usually recommend double check weighing and logging but you post about being hungry and light headed would really lead me to NOT want to recommend eating any less. sounds like you already are eating bare minimum.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

janiceclark08

Exercise less and try less water. Maybe it's water weight. Plus since you don't eat back any exercise calories, maybe not eating enough. Just putting a couple thoughts out there, change things up in some way.

emmamcgarity

Have you taken any planned diet breaks?

Spliner1969

Kellz2283 wrote: »

Ahhh I'm going out of my mind, I don't know where I'm goimy wrong. I am 35yrs, 77kg, 5'8. I am very active. Walking upto 20.000 steps 6 days a week in my work place. I do weight 3 times a week. 1 HIIT session and a 3.5km run. I have lost 75lbs over the course of a year. I drink 3000mls of water a day and track and weigh all my food. I'm on 1600 cals and don't eat back any of my exercise cals. I have for the past 4 weeks put on 3lb. Where am I going wrong. I wanted to lose another 7lb by end of August but feel like I'm not getting anywhere now. I'm so frustrated. I don't think I could eat any less as I would feel really hungry and light headed when exercising. What is every ones opinion or advice. I'm so confused to which way to progress.

First of all 3lbs means nothing. I've personally gained up to 7 lbs in ONE NIGHT of eating a huge high-sodium meal then lost it a few days later doing nothing different. If you're a woman (your profile doesn't say) this may even affect you more than a man at different times of the month.

As far as eating 1600 cals a day, are you sure? Do you weigh everything to the gram with a scale? Any cheating? Sugary drinks/gum/etc.? Added exercise can also cause you to retain water, as can pre-workout or post-workout drinks that contain creatine.

Way too many factors to consider if you ask me. If you're 5'8" tall, eating a true 1600 cals a day, and NOT eating back any of those exercise calories, then I'd wager you're eating under what you probably should. Your body could be retaining water trying to protect itself.

I'd do more calculations for your current weight, have your body fat checked, and see if 1600 calories is right for you. Then I'd carefully calculate the amount of calories you're burning with exercise and EAT THOSE calories. Otherwise you're going below your desired deficit. That's not such a big deal for someone severely overweight because their bodies have plenty of fat stores to use but once you get closer to your goal it gets tougher.

And finally you may just need to have patience, plateaus can last weeks, if not months at times. Look at your weight loss trend over the period of months not days.

Just my .02.

cmriverside

Kellz2283 wrote: »

Ahhh I'm going out of my mind, I don't know where I'm goimy wrong. I am 35yrs, 77kg, 5'8. I am very active. Walking upto 20.000 steps 6 days a week in my work place. I do weight 3 times a week. 1 HIIT session and a 3.5km run. I have lost 75lbs over the course of a year. I drink 3000mls of water a day and track and weigh all my food. I'm on 1600 cals and don't eat back any of my exercise cals. I have for the past 4 weeks put on 3lb. Where am I going wrong. I wanted to lose another 7lb by end of August but feel like I'm not getting anywhere now. I'm so frustrated. I don't think I could eat any less as I would feel really hungry and light headed when exercising. What is every ones opinion or advice. I'm so confused to which way to progress.

I'm 5'8" and my goal was (is/I'm in maintenance) 64 kg.

Those last few pounds are slow. I'm retired (so low activity/small apartment) and I don't get nearly the amount of exercise you are getting. I lost the last 20 pounds set at 1550 + Exercise calories. I always ate all the exercise calories, all through my weight loss. I used a food scale. I ate 13 out of 14 meals per week prepared by me, so I controlled the calories and nutrition.

My exercise consists of walks on hills for 45-60 minutes per day five days per week.

With all that said, I lost at a reasonable rate of 1/2 pound per week for those last 20 pounds, eating 1500-1600 PLUS 300 extra exercise calories on exercise days (so five days per week I ate 1900ish.) It took nine months and there were many many days I was WAY over my calories because it was hard, and I was legit hungry.

I think you could eat a lot more but I also think you need to be realistic. The 7 pounds may not drop off in six weeks. Your body is going to fight you every step of the way and that low intake calorie amount (the reason you're crashing with your workouts) is going to start affecting your health. 300-400 extra calories are huge at this point in your weight loss. I assume you work or have a busy household? I mean, I'm 30 years older than you and low activity and I lose at that calorie amount, so I'm guessing yours should be higher.

Eat to fuel the exercise, or stop exercising.

You've done a great job so far! I lost about 80 pounds total, too. It's a fantastic accomplishment.

Have you done a diet break yet? It will reset your sanity and may help jumpstart your weight loss:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

mariak16

Eat your exercise calories. My guess is your body is holding on because you’re not giving it enough fuel. Also, those last few pounds are the hardest to lose. Congratulations on your weight loss so far!

Kellz2283

Thanks everyone. I find the hardest part is the mindset of trying to eat more calories because for so long I've stayed away from them. I attend a weekly weigh in class too, which encourages the smaller numbers on the scales, but doesn't really factor in my body composition. I will trial with the extra cals for a month and see where I get. I'm too obsessed about the number on the scales atm .

dmt4641

The last few pounds are slow and if you are lifting weights, your weight may maintain but you are losing inches.

However, if you are hungry and light headed while working out, you need to change your meal timing to having a snack before working out and/or eat more calories. That's not safe or healthy.

I'm 5'8 and 140 and lose at 1800-1900 working out an hour or less 5-6 days a week. You sound a bit exhausted and maybe need a diet break for a couple weeks before you start losing again.

Sharon_C

mariak16 wrote: »

Eat your exercise calories. My guess is your body is holding on because you’re not giving it enough fuel. Also, those last few pounds are the hardest to lose. Congratulations on your weight loss so far!

This doesn't actually happen. Its a myth.

You may have to tighten up your diet to lose those last 7lbs. I know you have a deadline to lose the weight but I think that just puts more stress on a person. Let the deadline go.

apullum

Do you use a food scale to weigh all your food?

Kellz2283

Yes I use a food scale and weigh everything, even my salad. I did once drop my cals to 1300 but felt lethargic from it. I eat very healthy and don't eat junk. I don't drink alcohol. There is so much conflicting advise its hard to know where to adjust

apullum

Kellz2283 wrote: »

Yes I use a food scale and weigh everything, even my salad. I did once drop my cals to 1300 but felt lethargic from it. I eat very healthy and don't eat junk. I don't drink alcohol. There is so much conflicting advise its hard to know where to adjust

Here's the basics:
- Weight loss is 100% about eating fewer calories than your body burns. It doesn't matter whether you eat "healthy" or "junk." It doesn't matter whether you drink alcohol as long as you have the calories for it. All that matters is consistently eating within your calorie goal.
- Undereating can cause a variety of health problems, but it does not cause you to stop losing weight.
- If you're using MFP's calorie goal, then you are intended to eat back your exercise calories. This is how the program was designed. Not eating your exercise calories means you are likely undereating. The other symptoms you describe support the idea that you're undereating.
- Intense exercise can cause water weight fluctuations as part of the normal muscle repair process, especially if that level of exercise is new to you.
- When you have a small amount of weight to lose, 0.5 lb/week is a reasonable pace of loss to expect, and because weight loss isn't linear, it's possible at this point to only see the scale go down a pound or two every 4-6 weeks. This is one reason why weight loss "deadlines" are generally not a great idea.

DevilsFan1

Your TDEE decreases as you lose weight. The calorie count that worked for you before may not work now because you are eating closer to your TDEE now. As for the lightheadedness, there are too many variables to consider. Are you sufficiently hydrated? Regardless, if you haven't lost weight over the course of two weeks, you aren't eating at a deficit any longer and you need to reduce your caloric intake again.

apullum

DevilsFan1 wrote: »

Your TDEE decreases as you lose weight. The calorie count that worked for you before may not work now because you are eating closer to your TDEE now. As for the lightheadedness, there are too many variables to consider. Are you sufficiently hydrated? Regardless, if you haven't lost weight over the course of two weeks, you aren't eating at a deficit any longer and you need to reduce your caloric intake again.

Staying at the same weight for two weeks does not necessarily mean that one is not in a deficit. Two weeks is not a plateau, especially if one doesn't have much weight to lose. There's also considerable evidence that OP is undereating, and telling her to decrease her calories is probably a bad if not dangerous idea.

PAV8888

There is a considerable degree of evidence that you're under-eating for your current level of activity and leanness. Diet break with at least two full weeks of eating at maintenance--to be honest, longer if you've been doing the light-headed thing for long--would be highly suggested. And a resumption of weight loss at a much more reasonable for this point of weight loss no more than 20% of TDEE reduction, or alternatively a 0.5lb a week target.