Stuck, not losing much. Help 😭

shevydt
shevydt Posts: 11 Member
edited December 24 in Motivation and Support
Hi everyone...

I have lost almost 70lbs since August 2019 but I’m still far from a goal weight. I religiously use MFP and log everything I consume - I’m down to 1200 calories a day. (My diary shows some recipes etc, these I manually create and weigh - not using other recipes that I can’t control). I am militant about logging, about weighing and about the numbers so no problem there. I also exercise every second day, I jog / do some weight training etc. I drink 2 litres of water a day, get 6-8 hours of sleep a night and I don’t drink alcohol or smoke or anything like that.

I feel like I’m doing everything right!
And yet, the last couple of weeks have been so slow going for weight loss... not much is changing and I don’t know why.

Help?
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Replies

  • Water weight probably, that's my best guess. Maybe your sodium level has been a bit high lately?
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    10 pounds per month is a very fast pace of weight loss. That’s over 2 pounds per week, which is not safe unless you have a very large amount to lose. How much weight are you trying to lose?
  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
    1200 cal seems very low especially if you are exercising. Are you eating back some (or all) of your exercise calories? Have you been consistently dieting since August?
  • ladyzherra
    ladyzherra Posts: 438 Member
    Weight loss almost always plateaus at a certain point, so what you describe here is familiar to me in my own experience and also based on what I know about others' experiences. Plateauing can be really disheartening, as you express here. But oftentimes, if you stick with a healthy program and mentality, you can overcome it.

    In my personal experience, I have often overcome the plateau by backing off of exercise, as I have had an unhealthy tendancy to over-exercise and obssess about exercise. Also, calorie cycling working for me on a couple occasions. I think that trial and error can be motivational as long as you keep your head positive. Often, situations are different each time, so play around a little bit and see what resonnates.
  • shevydt
    shevydt Posts: 11 Member
    @apullum Thanks for taking a look. I lost the initial large amount in the first 3 months but then it did slow down quite considerably so I wouldn’t say I’m losing weight quickly now (quite the opposite in fact). I did / do have a large amount. It was 53.3kg to lose at the start (118lbs) and I’ve got 23.5kg (51lbs) to go.

    I have gone through the guided goal set up for the number of 1200... some days I try and eat back my exercise goals but not always, it depends on how hungry I am / not. I will try eating more on these exercise days.

    The 1 container etc is correct, I’ll eat a container of fruit or whatever it is and cross check calories with weight so I’m making sure I’m eating exactly as calculated. I’m very, VERY militant about calories and counting correctly 🤣

    I’ll try eating back on training days and see if that makes a difference 👍🏻

  • shevydt
    shevydt Posts: 11 Member
    @cathipa This was what the MFP numbers have given me to calculate the weight loss, I’ve been calories counting since 1 August 2019. Of course I’ve had days where I haven’t ie. Christmas and birthday and have had the odd ‘permission’ meal (a Taco Bell just opened here) but that’s very sporadic and definitely a treat and not the rule. I may not be eating enough back on workout days so I’m going to try this.
  • shevydt
    shevydt Posts: 11 Member
    @try2again This is super helpful, thank you. I’ve been considering a ‘break’ but have been so worried about putting weight back on and falling off the wagon BUT I may investigate this further and have some maintenance weeks 👍🏻
  • Go_Deskercise
    Go_Deskercise Posts: 1,630 Member
    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.
  • shevydt
    shevydt Posts: 11 Member
    @ladyzherra Thanks so much... this isn’t my first plateau and it’s hardly been a long length of time so I’m probably stressing for nothing but it’s definitely becoming disheartening not seeing change. I’m going to weigh in on Monday and see if any progress has been made and I may seriously consider a maintenance break of a week or two just to get back in the game. 👍🏻
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    @apullum Thanks for taking a look. I lost the initial large amount in the first 3 months but then it did slow down quite considerably so I wouldn’t say I’m losing weight quickly now (quite the opposite in fact). I did / do have a large amount. It was 53.3kg to lose at the start (118lbs) and I’ve got 23.5kg (51lbs) to go.

    I have gone through the guided goal set up for the number of 1200... some days I try and eat back my exercise goals but not always, it depends on how hungry I am / not. I will try eating more on these exercise days.

    The 1 container etc is correct, I’ll eat a container of fruit or whatever it is and cross check calories with weight so I’m making sure I’m eating exactly as calculated. I’m very, VERY militant about calories and counting correctly 🤣

    I’ll try eating back on training days and see if that makes a difference 👍🏻

    If you’re not hungry but have a lot of calories left, add high calorie/low volume food like nut butter or cooking with extra oil.

    With about 50 pounds left, it would be safest to set MFP to a 1 lb/week rate of loss. That may give you more calories depending on your stats. Weight loss is not linear, so the scale will not go down every single week.

    Regarding slowing down, how long has it been since the scale went down at all? Your pace of weight loss should slow as you get closer to your goal. That’s normal and healthy. Additionally, as your pace of loss slows, normal water/waste fluctuations may make it harder to see change. That’s why we don’t consider it a plateau unless there is no downward movement on the scale for at least a month.
  • shevydt
    shevydt Posts: 11 Member
    @apullum I think what I may do is have a maintenance break, change to maintenance goal and not loss for 7 days just to ‘reset’ and then I’ll drop it to a 1lb a week loss.

    I didn’t know that it wasn’t a plateau until a month of no downward movement so that’s good to know 👍🏻 Thank you. Thanks for your help.
  • LiftNRiot
    LiftNRiot Posts: 463 Member
    change up your workout
  • poisonesse
    poisonesse Posts: 573 Member
    My first calorie counting site and MFP both gave me the "magic number" of 1200 calories a day for weight loss, and I stuck to it for years. But after losing most of my excess poundage, I found myself stalling, unable to lose more than .5 every few weeks. One of my friends suggested that I up my daily calorie intake, which seemed so counterproductive to me... but being totally frustrated, I did up my calories to 1300 a day. BINGO! I started to lose weight again, back up to about 1-1.5 pounds a week, until I finally hit my goal. Now I maintain at 1300 daily, SOMETIMES eating back 100-200 of my exercise calories, but most days I only use 50 or so of them, and I'm now losing about .5 a week (which is right where I want to be, fast losses for me means faster regains). So you might want to think about just adding a few calories a day and see if that might help you get back on track.
  • WickedddMelon
    WickedddMelon Posts: 17 Member
    SMH. So much misinformation out there. Please go find somewhere that gives you the correct info instead of relying on random people to comment.
  • Go_Deskercise
    Go_Deskercise Posts: 1,630 Member
    SMH. So much misinformation out there. Please go find somewhere that gives you the correct info instead of relying on random people to comment.

    so much this.....
  • Go_Deskercise
    Go_Deskercise Posts: 1,630 Member
    edited January 2020
    LiftNRiot wrote: »
    SMH. So much misinformation out there. Please go find somewhere that gives you the correct info instead of relying on random people to comment.
    SMH. So much misinformation out there. Please go find somewhere that gives you the correct info instead of relying on random people to comment.

    so much this.....

    Neither of you are experts and everyone is trying to offer support. I dont think anyone gave bad advice and this place is a good place to get advice.

    Never claimed to be an expert but there is some bad advice on this thread...

    Want to lose weight? - Create a deficit
    Not losing weight? - You aren't creating at a deficit/haven't given it enough time (weigh loss isn't linear)

    Simple but not easy - hence why most of us (including me) are here
  • shevydt
    shevydt Posts: 11 Member
    I appreciate everyone’s help either way, I understand no one is an expert... it’s gonna be trial and error at this point.
  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
    LiftNRiot wrote: »
    SMH. So much misinformation out there. Please go find somewhere that gives you the correct info instead of relying on random people to comment.
    SMH. So much misinformation out there. Please go find somewhere that gives you the correct info instead of relying on random people to comment.

    so much this.....

    Neither of you are experts and everyone is trying to offer support. I dont think anyone gave bad advice and this place is a good place to get advice.

    Never claimed to be an expert but there is some bad advice on this thread...

    Want to lose weight? - Create a deficit
    Not losing weight? - You aren't creating at a deficit/haven't given it enough time (weigh loss isn't linear)

    Simple but not easy - hence why most of us (including me) are here

    Actually its not always this easy. It isn't always just CICO. Hormones, training, diet, lifestyle, gut biome, medications, sleep...all of these affect weight.
  • Go_Deskercise
    Go_Deskercise Posts: 1,630 Member
    cathipa wrote: »
    LiftNRiot wrote: »
    SMH. So much misinformation out there. Please go find somewhere that gives you the correct info instead of relying on random people to comment.
    SMH. So much misinformation out there. Please go find somewhere that gives you the correct info instead of relying on random people to comment.

    so much this.....

    Neither of you are experts and everyone is trying to offer support. I dont think anyone gave bad advice and this place is a good place to get advice.

    Never claimed to be an expert but there is some bad advice on this thread...

    Want to lose weight? - Create a deficit
    Not losing weight? - You aren't creating at a deficit/haven't given it enough time (weigh loss isn't linear)

    Simple but not easy - hence why most of us (including me) are here

    Actually its not always this easy. It isn't always just CICO. Hormones, training, diet, lifestyle, gut biome, medications, sleep...all of these affect weight.

    We can agree to disagree on this
  • buddy352
    buddy352 Posts: 35 Member
    Looking for some MFP advice. Does the app automatically adjust your calorie level for after you have lost or do we have to change it? I have lost 45lbs and I'm thinking my calories in MUST be lower? Wondering how that works. Anyone?
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,885 Member
    buddy352 wrote: »
    Looking for some MFP advice. Does the app automatically adjust your calorie level for after you have lost or do we have to change it? I have lost 45lbs and I'm thinking my calories in MUST be lower? Wondering how that works. Anyone?

    For me it doesn't update automatically. I have to confirm my activity level and weight loss rate in the settings regularly to update my calorie goal to my lower weight.
  • shevydt
    shevydt Posts: 11 Member
    Same here @buddy352 I’ve just gone through the guided setup every now and again throughout the journey to adjust but the lowest you’ll be able to go is 1200 as anything less than that isn’t healthy.
  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
    cathipa wrote: »
    LiftNRiot wrote: »
    SMH. So much misinformation out there. Please go find somewhere that gives you the correct info instead of relying on random people to comment.
    SMH. So much misinformation out there. Please go find somewhere that gives you the correct info instead of relying on random people to comment.

    so much this.....

    Neither of you are experts and everyone is trying to offer support. I dont think anyone gave bad advice and this place is a good place to get advice.

    Never claimed to be an expert but there is some bad advice on this thread...

    Want to lose weight? - Create a deficit
    Not losing weight? - You aren't creating at a deficit/haven't given it enough time (weigh loss isn't linear)

    Simple but not easy - hence why most of us (including me) are here

    Actually its not always this easy. It isn't always just CICO. Hormones, training, diet, lifestyle, gut biome, medications, sleep...all of these affect weight.

    We can agree to disagree on this

    And if your theory is true then weight loss would be linear.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    cathipa wrote: »
    cathipa wrote: »
    LiftNRiot wrote: »
    SMH. So much misinformation out there. Please go find somewhere that gives you the correct info instead of relying on random people to comment.
    SMH. So much misinformation out there. Please go find somewhere that gives you the correct info instead of relying on random people to comment.

    so much this.....

    Neither of you are experts and everyone is trying to offer support. I dont think anyone gave bad advice and this place is a good place to get advice.

    Never claimed to be an expert but there is some bad advice on this thread...

    Want to lose weight? - Create a deficit
    Not losing weight? - You aren't creating at a deficit/haven't given it enough time (weigh loss isn't linear)

    Simple but not easy - hence why most of us (including me) are here

    Actually its not always this easy. It isn't always just CICO. Hormones, training, diet, lifestyle, gut biome, medications, sleep...all of these affect weight.

    We can agree to disagree on this

    And if your theory is true then weight loss would be linear.

    For the average person who is stuck and not losing weight, what is going to be more impactful? Ensuring they're consistently in a calorie deficit or worrying about their gut biome?
This discussion has been closed.