Stuck between 292 - 295 pounds - uggh -- help!!!

Rannoch3908

I have been bouncing between 292 and 295 pounds since Dec 10th.

I just can't seem to get lower - following my calorie goal set by MFP, exercising for 20 minutes seven days a week, drinking 70 ounces of water a day.

Ideas?
Tips, tricks, thoughts?

I was 316 in Sept and got down to this weight which is nice but don't want to stop - I am trying to be 275 by my 40th birthday on April 25th.

Rannoch3908

...

Lietchi

Can you give more information? What weight loss rate and activity level did you select?

Are you weighing everything you eat and making sure you're choosing correct food database entries?

Rannoch3908

My MFP logging is on point - eating under my 2000 calorie setting by around 100 a day.

I do NOT eat back my exercise calories.

Set to sedentary - I just sit in a chair all day and then go home and sit all night.

I work out 20 minutes in the morning after I get up.

Eating pretty much all non processed meat + veggies for dinner and lunch. Coffee and a banana for breakfast.

eng45ine

Do you have the time and ability to walk outdoors or on a treadmill? If yes, walking at a decent pace for one hour per day was beneficial for me and can work for you. Honestly, I began eating clean and began walking an hour per day, I went from 282 lbs on January 1, 1986....I was 200 lbs on April 15, 1986 and reduced down to 181 on June 1, 1986. Sadly....I gained a ton back due to poor eating choices and becoming sedentary. I’m back at it now...I was 300 lbs on November 9, 2020, I now weigh 265 and am 100% committed to getting down to 200 lbs and maintaining that weight.

heybales

I've observed that when someone asks if all food is being weighed and the response is NOT "yes I weigh all foods" , but rather something about logging being accurate - it usually means weighing is not being done.

Perhaps this is the rare time it is meant, you do mean you weigh foods.

Confirming the food entries used match your labels in hand?
Though from your foods listed probably not many labels, so are USDA entries being used for the weight?

You selected sedentary, great, sounds like it.
You failed to answer what rate of loss you selected though.

At this point I doubt your exercise is increasing the deficit into unreasonable realm.
Perhaps some day that will matter.

How many and how severe of diets have you attempted in the recent past, like before starting in Sep for a year prior?

Your Sep to Dec rate of loss seems very reasonable.
Of course on paper maybe you thought it would be 2x as fast, are you on same setting now as prior for amount of deficit?

callsitlikeiseeit

Rannoch3908

Sorry - yes I weight anything that is not single serving with calories listed (ie - fruits, veggies, sugar, spices, salt, liquids, etc) - got a food scale especially for that.

Rannoch3908

Rate of loss selected - 2lbs per week.

ndj1979

Have you cross checked mfp entries to make sure you are using correct entries?
Mbssed on your stats and eating 2000 calories you should be dropping pound per week, so something is off with your logging and/or intake...

Fflpnari

can you open your food diary?

PAV8888

It does sound as if your lifestyle is quite sedentary.
.
Independently of weight this is not the greatest thing for you.

And it is not uncommon for people who eat at a deficit for an extended length of time to show some slowdown in involuntary movement which many of us attempt to counteract by deliberate activity,

I second the suggestion of carving some additional time out of your day for additional activity, perhaps walking to start. You may also want to look into the NEAT maximization thread.

In a target rich environment (lots of easily obtainable highly caloric food) an extremely sedentary lifestyle reduces rather than increases your chances of maintaining your weight in the normal weight range....

The other solution is continuing what you do now and accepting a slower loss rate. Or reducing your food intake even more. With my personal feeling being that extensively eating well below your current ~1750 net at your current weight could end up being long term counterproductive

nanastaci2020

Weigh the single serve items also. If there are any areas where you estimate because food is not made by you - try to be more in control of the food you're eating. I am not saying it is wrong/bad to eat food made by restaurants or family, but if you're not losing weight in 6+ weeks when you're set to a 2 pound weekly loss then either you're eating more than you think or you are burning less than you think.

Anything that has nutrition info based on grams: use the food scale. If you're not happy with your rate of loss, then improve logging accuracy.

And do look for little ways to fit more movement into your day. Maybe set a timer each hour to get up & stretch, walk around the office. Even if you are working a desk job, this should not be seen as unreasonable by your employer.

PAV8888

I will expand a little bit on my above post and bring in another thread I responded to today regarding set point.

I'm making a percentages based assumption, namely that being at ~300lbs for your height puts you in the obese ii(+) category as opposed to, for example, just a slightly overweight level.

And you're under 40, so you have a ways to go, hopefully

I spent my late 20s, 30s and early 40s moving as little as possible! Why make two trips to the car if I can make one? Why walk to McDonald's if I can drive through the drive through and get my food faster? Once the dog poops what's the point of walking around in the cold? Any time uselessly spent detracts from my TV shows, from my books, from my gaming, from online and offline socializing, right? Going out for dinner is the easiest and best way to get together with friends, so it's something I should do several times a week!

I don't think you will be surprised to learn that I was obese (+) through most of that time period even though at various times I minussed and plussed 20 or 30lbs.

Maintaining a substantial weight loss (especially during the first few years after you achieve it) requires that you develop a variety of tools and self management techniques and that you set up preconditions that will encourage the retention of this lower weight as opposed to pre conditions that encourage a return to your previous one.

Failing to do so, in conjunction with the normal propensity towards weight regain on resumption of unrestricted eating that is pushed by hormonal changes triggered by prolonged caloric deficits is likely to result in the classic weight yo yo.

Which in turn pushes the narrative of set points and of destined to be obese.

The one thing I put on the table when I realized at age 48 that my weight was a substantial driver behind the life choices i was making (think avoiding river rafting, not touring a city, not going to wildernes park, not using a bike, not taking a bus, dreading sitting in an economy seat in a plane, not cutting my own grass), the one thing I put on the table was ... that my health was more important than *any* other activity I was engaged in and that *everything* was on the table for reconsideration and re-evaluation as to its importance in my life.

Not all at once. But for the re examination over time. And yes this includes things such as emotional eating (barely partially addressed in my case) as well as habits and work and everything else that constituted initial reality.

Remember not everything has to change. But *some* things in your life must change over time if you want a different outcome this time around.

There is a thread around about increasing non exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT).

It's not a bad start in terms of examining one's activity levels.

Theo166

Rannoch3908 wrote: »

My MFP logging is on point - eating under my 2000 calorie setting by around 100 a day.

I do NOT eat back my exercise calories.

Set to sedentary - I just sit in a chair all day and then go home and sit all night.

I work out 20 minutes in the morning after I get up.

Eating <2k calories with your body mass and modest activity must lose weight over time.

The math just doesn't work out for you to be maintaining, so you need the find the error.
Either you are eating more calories, or you weigh much less than 295 lbs .

quiksylver296

Weigh the single serving items! They can be off by up to 20%.

callriter

Rannoch3908 wrote: »

I have been bouncing between 292 and 295 pounds since Dec 10th.

I just can't seem to get lower - following my calorie goal set by MFP, exercising for 20 minutes seven days a week, drinking 70 ounces of water a day.

Ideas?
Tips, tricks, thoughts?

I was 316 in Sept and got down to this weight which is nice but don't want to stop - I am trying to be 275 by my 40th birthday on April 25th.

Dude, you are ME - I have been bouncing back and forth between 292 and 294.8 for the last two weeks. I started at 312 Dec 1st.

manderson27

I have lost 28 lbs but I have been bouncing between 193 and 195 for six months. I know exactly why this is happening. My logging is sloppy and I am eating too much to lose but not enough to gain. Therefore I am eating at maintenance. It is just physics.

I know exactly what I need to do to lose and that is to reduce the amount I am eating and go back to weighing and logging more accurately

Usually if you are not losing then you eating more than you think.

AndreaTamira

Everybody is mentioning weighing your food (true and important), but one additional thing you can try is updating your MFP goals.

You list over 20 pounds before your weight loss stall. Which is so, so great, BTW. - But, at some point the deficit MFP originally calculated you should be eating at is your maintenance calories for a new weight. Even if the deficit is still there, only shrunk, it could play a role in the stall, especially if your logging is less accurate than you assume.

Strudders67

AndreaTamira wrote: »

Everybody is mentioning weighing your food (true and important), but one additional thing you can try is updating your MFP goals.

You list over 20 pounds before your weight loss stall. Which is so, so great, BTW. - But, at some point the deficit MFP originally calculated you should be eating at is your maintenance calories for a new weight. Even if the deficit is still there, only shrunk, it could play a role in the stall, especially if your logging is less accurate than you assume.

Just what I was about to add. Have you been back in to the Guided Set Up and re-clicked Save? It's highly likely that the number of cals you need, per day, has reduced with your weight loss. If you're still working to your original calories, you're eating more than you need / your deficit is much smaller than you think.

hulldon1

My weight loss stalled so I just kept a stable weight for 2 weeks to rest my body. Then I fasted and moved more by walking more. 5 miles instead of 2. Also my carb intake was reduced from <20g to <10g. Weight now dropping again and exercise reduced back to 2 miles.

AnnPT77

PAV8888 wrote: »

(snip-a-roo to some good stuff you can still read up there ^^^^ somewhere, to shorten reply)

There is a thread around about increasing non exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT).

It's not a bad start in terms of examining one's activity levels.

Like maybe this one? 😉

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1