Plateau for over a year
Replies
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It sounds like a combination of things. You are carrying excess weight you can't shift in the form of loose skin. That just won't go anywhere without surgery. For the rest, it does sound like you are maintaining. I would spend two weeks checking how well you know your portions. Get the individual raw ingredients. Write down what you think they are then weigh them and see how close you are. Double check with packaging that the calorie values you are checking on MFP are correct. I can be way way off in my estimations. It can feel boring weighing everything, but I reckon it's worth the effort to get off the plateau. And very well done on losing so much and maintaining for so long. You are doing a lot of things right!
Absolutely, thank you!1 -
cherrylou123 wrote: »You need to shock your body 😊😊😊.. Maybe you can change the exercise routine that you're doing if you've been doing it for a long time...maybe your body has adapted to that already
Another thing is maybe you can take a break.. Maybe you can eat more carbs for 2 weeks then make it lesser again after 2 weeks.
Congratulations for your great weight lost btw 😊😊😊.. Not all can maintain.. Usually when they lost weight they gain it back after a period of time
Hey cherrylou, I’m not going to hit the disagree button but I am going to say that you don’t need to “shock” your body into anything. You also don’t need to eat more carbs then eat less carbs to loose weight. To me that doesn’t sound right at all and I don’t mean to be rude, this kind of misinformation can be confusing because at the end of the day weight loss is calorie in calorie out. Good luck with yr weight loss journey
Upping carbs temporarily, after dieting, can have a beneficial effect on hunger and satiety hormones though (useful info in this thread: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1 ).3 -
peggy_polenta wrote: »fluffygoodas wrote: »peggy_polenta wrote: »how much of your 200 pounds do you think is the lose skin you have? you say its severe?
It's pretty bad. My arms were very big when i was heavier. I have definate wings unfortunately..my stomach has a lot too, especially after 6 pregnancies at almost 300 lbs. Not sure what skin weighs. Maybe tops 10 lbs? But i honestly do not know. I have loose skin on arms, my sides of my boobs, belly and thighs.
you may be a little low on the 10 pounds based on what you said. and may be closer to 20. (do so research to compare what it is for others based on pictures, etc) why don't you knock 20 pounds off you total weight and use that as your 'real weight' and make your deficit calories against that for fat loss....so 180 pounds.
Loose skin is metabolically active: It burns calories just being there, alive. Of course, knocking 20 pounds off current weight and recalculating calories will result in a lower calorie goal, and a lower calorie goal may result in improved with loss . . . but not because loose skin is somehow irrelevant to calorie needs.
OP: If the loose skin is 1/2"+ folds or rolls, it's probable that it isn't exactly just loose skin yet; it probably still has some subcutaneous fat conspiring with gravity to keep it stretched. If you use some of the above good posts' suggestions to hone in on why you're not losing, and start losing again, that subcutaneous fat should continue to deplete. Loose skin is more likely to be able to start to shrink when it gets down to thin wrinkles, like folds in a medium weight fabric. At that point, it's mostly skin. It still takes quite some time for skin to shrink, though, even if it's willing: Mine kept shrinking at least into year 2 of maintenance at goal weight, and maybe beyond.
The other thing I'd mention is to make sure that you're flexing your arms (especially upper arms) really tight - think like a bodybuilder pose - when you assess your "wings". It's super common for women to misidentify relaxed triceps muscles, which are slack/mobile, as part of their fat or loose skin. If you grab your upper arm with your opposite hand, fingertips close to the upper arm bone, then flex that grabbed arm hard/tight - upper arm above shoulder, arm curled over at elbow and wrist, clenching everything - any upper arm tissue that tightens/firms up in your hand is muscle, not fat/skin.
I'm not saying you have zero upper arm fat or loose skin, just that it may be less than first appears.
I get that this whole weight loss process can be vexing and fatiguing, and feels arduous. Don't give up, and - as you seem willing to do - implement some of the suggestions to see if you can get things moving again.
Wishing you the best!4 -
cherrylou123 wrote: »You need to shock your body 😊😊😊.. Maybe you can change the exercise routine that you're doing if you've been doing it for a long time...maybe your body has adapted to that already
Another thing is maybe you can take a break.. Maybe you can eat more carbs for 2 weeks then make it lesser again after 2 weeks.
Congratulations for your great weight lost btw 😊😊😊.. Not all can maintain.. Usually when they lost weight they gain it back after a period of time
Hey cherrylou, I’m not going to hit the disagree button but I am going to say that you don’t need to “shock” your body into anything. You also don’t need to eat more carbs then eat less carbs to loose weight. To me that doesn’t sound right at all and I don’t mean to be rude, this kind of misinformation can be confusing because at the end of the day weight loss is calorie in calorie out. Good luck with yr weight loss journey
Upping carbs temporarily, after dieting, can have a beneficial effect on hunger and satiety hormones though (useful info in this thread: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1 ).
Thanks lietchi. My context was that when I was starting out on MFP, seeing that kind of info didn’t help because I wanted to learn how to log and reduce calories at first, that’s just me personally. Lyle is a wacky dude lol3 -
fluffygoodas wrote: »You know funny enough, the tims is pretty accurate. I used to log 60 calories for a 2 milk tea but then its less on the actual site. Tea is 0 and i think its around 20 or calories per shot of 2% milk.
Tim's web-site lists two shots of milk for an extra large coffee (same size as the tea) at 76Cal. They also don't list the 6 Calories a 24oz coffee adds on its own.
I don't order tea there, but, AFAIK Tim uses a single milk product dispenser (?)
When I used to add milk to my coffee, I ordered my milk a few times on the side (in a separate cup to take to my co-workers at the office
) at McDonald's and quickly went back home and weighed it. <OK: no I didn't: I just told the assistant manager that I wanted to weigh it and did so at my table, just like I did with their vanilla cones; but I do have a different relationship with my local store's staff! 
> 4 -
fluffygoodas wrote: »You know funny enough, the tims is pretty accurate. I used to log 60 calories for a 2 milk tea but then its less on the actual site. Tea is 0 and i think its around 20 or calories per shot of 2% milk.
Tim's web-site lists two shots of milk for an extra large coffee (same size as the tea) at 76Cal. They also don't list the 6 Calories a 24oz coffee adds on its own.
I don't order tea there, but, AFAIK Tim uses a single milk product dispenser (?)
When I used to add milk to my coffee, I ordered my milk a few times on the side (in a separate cup to take to my co-workers at the office ) at McDonald's and quickly went back home and weighed it. <OK: no I didn't: I just told the assistant manager that I wanted to weigh it and did so at my table, just like I did with their vanilla cones; but I do have a different relationship with my local store's staff! >
LMAO! That is wayyyy too much for me. Tea is zero. If its 6 cals i will live. I added the milk on the app and the medium is 30, large 44 and xl 52. If its 76 let's pray i have somehow breathed deeply and burned the extra 16-24 sneaky calories i have been lying to myself about🤣 I promise there is no Tim' s sabotage but i need my steeped tea in the morning. Wait for it....i had a 2nd medium my daughter brought me this evening as bribe to use my car *shocked face*
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peggy_polenta wrote: »fluffygoodas wrote: »peggy_polenta wrote: »how much of your 200 pounds do you think is the lose skin you have? you say its severe?
It's pretty bad. My arms were very big when i was heavier. I have definate wings unfortunately..my stomach has a lot too, especially after 6 pregnancies at almost 300 lbs. Not sure what skin weighs. Maybe tops 10 lbs? But i honestly do not know. I have loose skin on arms, my sides of my boobs, belly and thighs.
you may be a little low on the 10 pounds based on what you said. and may be closer to 20. (do so research to compare what it is for others based on pictures, etc) why don't you knock 20 pounds off you total weight and use that as your 'real weight' and make your deficit calories against that for fat loss....so 180 pounds.
Loose skin is metabolically active: It burns calories just being there, alive. Of course, knocking 20 pounds off current weight and recalculating calories will result in a lower calorie goal, and a lower calorie goal may result in improved with loss . . . but not because loose skin is somehow irrelevant to calorie needs.
OP: If the loose skin is 1/2"+ folds or rolls, it's probable that it isn't exactly just loose skin yet; it probably still has some subcutaneous fat conspiring with gravity to keep it stretched. If you use some of the above good posts' suggestions to hone in on why you're not losing, and start losing again, that subcutaneous fat should continue to deplete. Loose skin is more likely to be able to start to shrink when it gets down to thin wrinkles, like folds in a medium weight fabric. At that point, it's mostly skin. It still takes quite some time for skin to shrink, though, even if it's willing: Mine kept shrinking at least into year 2 of maintenance at goal weight, and maybe beyond.
The other thing I'd mention is to make sure that you're flexing your arms (especially upper arms) really tight - think like a bodybuilder pose - when you assess your "wings". It's super common for women to misidentify relaxed triceps muscles, which are slack/mobile, as part of their fat or loose skin. If you grab your upper arm with your opposite hand, fingertips close to the upper arm bone, then flex that grabbed arm hard/tight - upper arm above shoulder, arm curled over at elbow and wrist, clenching everything - any upper arm tissue that tightens/firms up in your hand is muscle, not fat/skin.
I'm not saying you have zero upper arm fat or loose skin, just that it may be less than first appears.
I get that this whole weight loss process can be vexing and fatiguing, and feels arduous. Don't give up, and - as you seem willing to do - implement some of the suggestions to see if you can get things moving again.
Wishing you the best!
Thanks a lot for the encouraging words
Oh how i wish it was muscles!!!! My arm skin hangs about 1.5 inches down and is wrinkled now. As are my sad boobs. So so sad. My stomach probably has fat in it, but when laying down my hip bones are saying hello but in a high waisterd tight jeans i can fold my stomach lengthwise on either side of my bellybutton. Hopefully my husband doesn't leave me for a tight skinned woman LOL!
Let's not address my nice little piece of neck skin..so attractive! Right there jiggling under my chin. Charming.
I can't lose much more, rather want to know i have the ability to if i want to. Kinda competitive with myself. Thanks for your input!3 -
I agree with you that their web site lists the tea milk at 52. I was alerting you that the same web site lists the same amount of milk for coffee at 76.
Unless they use different dispensers (or dispense different levels of milk for tea and coffee) this leads me to think that their numbers may be... iffy. Thus it is up to you to verify what you're consuming, given that it is something that you frequently consume!
I am flat out trying to make you question all of your assumptions. Pushing you to approach this as a brand new problem and to make you look at everything you're doing as if you were just starting up now.
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I agree with you that their web site lists the tea milk at 52. I was alerting you that the same web site lists the same amount of milk for coffee at 76.
Unless they use different dispensers (or dispense different levels of milk for tea and coffee) this leads me to think that their numbers may be... iffy. Thus it is up to you to verify what you're consuming, given that it is something that you frequently consume!
I am flat out trying to make you question all of your assumptions. Pushing you to approach this as a brand new problem and to make you look at everything you're doing as if you were just starting up now.
Agreed! I knew i had relaxed big time but not so big that my weight loss game is over..but you are so right. I am being very precise this week and next. Let's see how that works out!6 -
Keep in mind that you may need 4-6 weeks of weigh ins over a complete hormonal cycle to have a more "accurate" picture of how things are going. Especially if you factor in water weight issues associated with new exercise, restaurant meals, and the aforementioned cycle. Many of us also use a weight trend app to better visualize our weight level changes.7
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Thanks1
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