Plateau and water retention

Bulldogs1717

Help I’m feeling very discouraged as I feel stuck fluctuating back and forth 5 lbs or so for months on end. I eat 1500 calories a day and track them, run 20-25 miles a week, and weight train 3 days a week. I am feeling deflated and unmotivated when I work out now and have noticed I’m retaining a lot of water too- I think that’s where the fluctuations come from. Is this potentially a hormonal thing? Should I eat back the exercise calories I burn or adjust something there? I’m wondering if that’s it because lately I have a ton of cravings and almost want to binge eat at times. Just hate being stuck for so long and not sure how to kickstart it

cmriverside

Yes, eat exercise calories.

Here, read this about water and fluctuations:

https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

318jeff4

Hi, I've struggled with the same issues in the past. Have you ever considered Keto? It definitely helped me.
https://bit.ly/2QhCyiv

AnnPT77

Bulldogs1717 wrote: »

Help I’m feeling very discouraged as I feel stuck fluctuating back and forth 5 lbs or so for months on end. I eat 1500 calories a day and track them, run 20-25 miles a week, and weight train 3 days a week. I am feeling deflated and unmotivated when I work out now and have noticed I’m retaining a lot of water too- I think that’s where the fluctuations come from. Is this potentially a hormonal thing? Should I eat back the exercise calories I burn or adjust something there? I’m wondering if that’s it because lately I have a ton of cravings and almost want to binge eat at times. Just hate being stuck for so long and not sure how to kickstart it

Oversimplifying, the cumulative stress of a long-term calorie deficit can also lead to weirder water weight and appetite effects, not to mention mood/psychological effects ("feeling deflated and unmotivated"). It can be hormonal, but not so much sex hormones, rather appetite, hunger, and stress hormones.

Though its main topic is not the exact question you asked, this thread will give you some perspective on this idea, in a more accurate, nuanced, detailed way:

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