Plateaued - please help!

ms4352987

So my diet started off strong, lost 8kg in three weeks, then I went from losing 2kg in the third week to nothing for the last two weeks.
All the information on the internet tells me to "up my game" or something similar.
But I'm already averaging less than 650 calories per day (I'm a 5ft11 big-boned woman so this should be a significant calorie deficit). I'm very careful to calculate these calories correctly and never eat anything without tracking it.
I also walk at least three miles a day. I can't afford a gym and to be honest, just don't really have the energy for more exercise right now.
I genuinely don't know what more I can do.
I know I should be more patient, but this diet has been really hard for me - I'm constantly hungry, have very little energy and struggle to get through the working day. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up, especially if I'm not losing anything.
I know that my calorie intake is lower than advised, but I'm scared to increase them in case I put all the weight back on that I lost at the start of my diet.

ninerbuff

650 calories per day? UM that's not SAFE or healthy even if you are morbidly obese. Here's how the body works: you starve it and it will respond by LOWERING YOUR METABOLIC RATE so you don't use any of the energy you consume. You aren't following the guidelines of proper weight loss. Will you put weight back on if you eat more? Likely yes because you're starving yourself.
Better fix it NOW. You shouldn't be consuming less than 1200 calories a day. The weight will come off slowly, but it WILL come off.
As to being big boned, that's an excuse. Your bones are matched to your structure. If you're overweight it's because you consumed more than you needed to and put on weight. And it took time to put it on. And it will take time to take it off. There ARE NO SHORT CUTS.
Use the app correctly and follow the parameters given to you when you put in your stats. Otherwise what you're doing will start causing some real problems. Like your hair falling out, getting anemia, and other health issues.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Dogmom1978

You need to eat more. 650 calories a day is way too low. If you are utilizing MFP, you will see that your lowest calorie allocation will NEVER drop that low no matter what you try to do to make MFP tell you to eat less.

Keep doing what you’re doing if you want your hair to fall out, brittle nails, etc. Change what you are doing NOW to avoid prolonged health issues.

As said above, there are no shortcuts. So what if you regain some weight? You need to lose it correctly and safely or else it won’t stay off anyway. It’s about long term sustainability. You already mention lack of energy. One of the things causing that is you ARE NOT EATING ENOUGH.

Mithridites

So in the last 2 weeks your scale hasn't moved. That's not really a plateau. For me the last 2 weeks of my cycle there is never any downward movement on the scale, and then ... woosh! Weight falls off at the end of week 1 of new cycle. Also, as the other good folks here stated, please don't do this 650 cal/day starvation diet for a few weeks. You are setting yourself up to fail, in the best case scenario, or to become ill in the worst case scenario. Feel free to add me. I log daily. Lost 35 pounds so far since May 14.

kimny72

ms4352987 wrote: »

So my diet started off strong, lost 8kg in three weeks, then I went from losing 2kg in the third week to nothing for the last two weeks.
All the information on the internet tells me to "up my game" or something similar.
But I'm already averaging less than 650 calories per day (I'm a 5ft11 big-boned woman so this should be a significant calorie deficit). I'm very careful to calculate these calories correctly and never eat anything without tracking it.
I also walk at least three miles a day. I can't afford a gym and to be honest, just don't really have the energy for more exercise right now.
I genuinely don't know what more I can do.
I know I should be more patient, but this diet has been really hard for me - I'm constantly hungry, have very little energy and struggle to get through the working day. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up, especially if I'm not losing anything.
I know that my calorie intake is lower than advised, but I'm scared to increase them in case I put all the weight back on that I lost at the start of my diet.

10kg loss in 4 weeks is aggressively fast weight loss. Even taking into consideration a lot of it was probably water weight in the beginning.

Two weeks with no loss is not a plateau, it is a perfectly normal part of trying to lose weight. In fact, it's probably just you gaining a bit of that initial water weight back.

You are dealing with some very unrealistic expectations about weight loss, and you are going to hurt yourself.

Unless you are very obese, a typical rate of loss is going to average out to between 1-1.5lbs per week. Some weeks you might lose 2 lbs, some weeks you might gain a lb. If you are very obese, you might be able to lose 2lbs or sometimes a little more per week. But it's recommended to not lose more than 1% of your bodyweight per week at the absolute most unless you are trying to deal with a medical condition while under a doctor's constant care.

Set your goal realistically, eat all your calories, log accurately and consistently, try to be active, and be patient. Weight loss happens over months and years, not weeks. Check out the Most Helpful Posts threads pinned to the top of each sub-forum. Please don't starve yourself.

speyerj

Eating at only 650 calories a day put your body into stress. Stress causes an increase in Cortisol, Cortisol makes you retain water. That is why the scale hasn't budged. It's much more important to eat at a deficit that you can sustain over the long haul rather than white knuckling it to lose as much weight as possible as quickly as possible. Eat more, drink more water - the scale will respond appropriately, over time.

Understand that rate of loss you had during the first 2 weeks of weight loss will never be repeated. You lost a whole bunch of water when you started eating less. But I'm pretty sure that your goal is to lose fat, not water. Realize that this is a long process, especially if you are trying to lose a significant amount of weight. Yes, it will seem like it takes forever to lose the weight you want to lose, but also remember that if you want to sustain your weight loss, you need to keep at it forever.

nanastaci2020

You are lacking energy because you are not eating enough. Weight loss takes time, as in more than just 2-3 days/weeks. What does MFP give for a calorie goal? It is 1200 or more. NOT 650. Give it a chance to work, because what you are doing now is hurting yourself. When you go to an extreme deficit, not only do you lose fat (and energy) but you lose muscle as well. You damage your internal organs. That is not good!

Weight loss takes time. Weeks. And more weeks. Eat at a slight deficit, take care of your body, and track your progress over 4-8-12 weeks. If you weigh less in week 4 than now: good. If you weigh less in week 8 than in week 4: also good. That is the goal.