Stalled weight loss - need feedback

LazyBlondeChef

For the last couple of months I've been hovering right around 120lbs. I can't eat less since I'm already at 1200 calories plus active exercise calories (which usually gives me another 100-150 calories). And yes I weigh my food and make sure the MFP entries match what the package says.

I would be fine at 120lbs if it weren't for the excess stomach/waist/back fat. If someone looked at me they wouldn't think I was overweight. I've lost about 20lbs in total since October. I know some people will think because I'm 5'3" that 120lbs is an okay weight. But for my body type it's not. I'm small boned. I have tiny wrists/ankles, small hips and slender legs. When I gain weight the majority goes to the waist/chest area.

My current TDEE is ~1400 (sedentary and little/no exercise). Up until I hit menopause 10 years ago I weighed about 105lbs which was too light but back then I had an amazing metabolism. I even tried put on weight a few times without success. Now gaining weight is way too easy. My current goal is 112lbs with a maintenance range of 110-115lbs.

I have joint problems so struggle to increase poundage when lifting weights. Sometimes I have to back off when I increase weight so as to avoid joint pain especially in the shoulder area. My current exercise program is 30-35mins on the treadmill at 18.4mph nearly every day. I sometimes try to speed up but only as long as there is no knee pain. I do an upper body workout with dumbbells 2-3x per week and crunches/pushups 2-3x per week. I have a small home gym with treadmill, dumbbells, medicine balls, yoga mat, thicker exercise mat and a balance ball. I don't have space for anything else other than a few more weights on the rack. Nor do I have any interest in joining a gym.

Would it be better to attempt recomp at this point and stop trying to lose more weight? Will recomp work if one can't lift heavy? Is there any way to get rid of my joint pain with the right exercise?

Luke_rabbit

Have you had a medical evaluation on the joint pain? For example, in my case, I had significant joint and muscle pain about 5 years ago. Along with a check for autoimmune disorders my doc ran a Vitamin D test and it was crazy low (close to zero) even though I got plenty of sunlight in the south US. Not saying that's your issue, but it's worth investigating possibilities if you haven't yet.

After that is taken care of, I'd see if you could see a physical therapist for help on designing a safe program for your joints that will build a little muscle.

Your weight goal seems reasonable. I'm 5'3" and weigh about 116 lbs. I'm probably a medium frame with denser bones than most at age 56. I did find that I ended up with a lot of loose skin this time even though I didn't lose a bunch of weight, and that never happened when I was younger. Because it was new, I at first thought it was still fat, but alas my older skin just refuses to make less now, even a year into maintenance.

viajera99

While it is true that going below 1200Kcal/day will result in insufficient nutrition for the vast majority of people, vast majority ≠ all people. (I say this as a smaller, older, sedentary female.) A 20% deficit from a TDEE of 1400 is 1120 Kcal/day, would be about a half a pound a week, and less than ½ of 1% of your body weight per week, both reasonable measures.

(Just to clarify, if you are going by TDEE, you DO NOT eat back exercise calories, they are included in the TDEE calculation.)

Also, 18.4mph means you are the world record holder in the mile at 3.2 minutes/mile. Congrats! (JUST KIDDING)

middlehaitch

A couple of thoughts from an older woman that maintains at 100-105 and is 5’1, so similar numbers to what you are looking for.

Be as accurate as possible with your logging (had to say that even though I am sure you are) it did take me months to drop those last few lbs. I just cruised along not worrying knowing it would happen eventually (I lost on 1200 but that was also my initial sedentary maintenance so sloooow)

Try upping your daily activity. Honestly we spend years streamlining daily chores, tasks, etc so we can fit everything in. Now it is good to backtrack on some efficiencies and move more doing the mundane.
(There is a thread about improving your NEATin the top of page stickies)
Here it is.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1

When I was hitting my last few pounds that made a significant difference. My movement was subtle, to say the least, and didn’t jump me to from sedentary to light activity (a difference of 250cals) but it did burn an extra 100-150 or so.

Your general cal burn for exercise sounds good. I counted a general 200 cals per hr cardio with or without light weights.

Please get a good diagnosis on your joint problems.

With regards weights, if you get the all clear from a diagnosis. If you can’t lift heavy work with a plan that has you increasing your reps over time and only increasing weight once you can complete all the reps at the set weight.
I have been using AllPro for a few years as it really suits me. It is a barbell routine, and that is how I generally use it, but you can easily adjust it to work with the equipment you have. I’ve used dumbbells at times and at others machines.

(A link for AllPro is in the stickies also, look under ‘which lifting programme is best for me’ in the weight gaining sub forum. Don’t be intimidated by it.)

I certainly would not recommend you dropping your calorie intake.

As a wise rabbit once said
‘S/he who eats the most and loses wins’

Cheers, h.


Here is the weight lifting link. Some good programmes in it.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

And her is the programme I like, AllPro
https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=4195843

Sorry I had to edit to get links in my phone.
I am a bit passionate about women taking care of their bone, muscle, and joint health as they age so I may have been a little OTT.

kimny72

As a petite female, I had to increase both my daily activity level and my purposeful exercise to get to the weight I wanted. Like you, I look and feel better toward the bottom of the healthy weight range, and I just didn't think it was a good idea to consistently eat under 1400ish cals. I started taking several short walks every day, committed to strength training, and scheduled some longer or higher intensity cardio throughout the week. And then I put on my patient pants and lost like 1 lb per month for a year. I also started doing all those cliche tips for getting more steps - taking the stairs, parking far away, pacing while I'm on the phone, etc.

Sometimes just taking the pressure off weight loss and just focusing on solidifying healthy eating habits and increasing fitness can help a lot, so switching to recomp for awhile is not a bad idea. I also wanted to second the NEAT improvement thread middlehaitch posted, it helped me a lot. Hang in there!

LazyBlondeChef

I’ve not had a medical evaluation on the joint pain though I had that suggestion from someone else and was planning to make an appointment soon. To clarify, the pain isn’t constant. It occurs only when I attempt to increase speed or weight. I have Hashimoto’s (since about 15 years ago) and there have been times when I wasn’t getting enough medication which caused constant joint pain that went away after the dosage was modified. I also was vitamin D deficient for a period of time but my last test indicated that I was finally in the proper range. I still take D every day and expect to always do so. As a rather light skinned individual I try to avoid the sun. I hate sunscreen.

In Oct/Nov there were a few days I didn’t quite eat @1200. Maybe 1150 or so but I didn't make it a habit. I’m not going by TDEE for my allowed calories. That was provided as a point of reference. I eat 1200 + active calories which I get from my Apple health app. I don’t know how accurate it is but it is consistent. I also only include the treadmill activity and not anything from other exercise.

Ha! Not sure why I wrote mph when I meant 18.4 minute mile.

As far as accuracy of logging … I’m confident it’s accurate when I cook at home as I do weigh everything. In fact it has become second nature. I even weighed when I wasn’t logging. However, when it comes to dining out I am forced to estimate. I try to break down the ingredients and guess the weight from my experience at home. Then I add 200 quick calories to account for any discrepancies. Usually I only eat restaurant food once a week unless I’m on vacation and even at home I don’t necessarily eat back every single calorie so I should have a little leeway here.

I like the idea of NEAT. I should move more. In fact I started doing that this morning. I might be one of those people that has to do lots of reps instead of increasing as frequently. I have made some progress as I can feel my arms are starting to see a little definition. Just not as much as I'd like. My legs were already somewhat defined.

Losing 1lb per month for the rest of the year would be okay. Right now I'm having a clothing crisis. Nearly everything is too big but I really don't want to replace my wardrobe until I get to my final destination. Still I can live with it a little longer.

I appreciate the responses. Thanks everyone.

Pipsqueak1965

Small person here too - with shoulder and knee problems. I do weights, but not really heavy ones, but see it as a work in progress! Since about 5/6 years ago (when I started calorie counting and lost around 6 kilos), I started using weights and it has been a very slow recomp as I don't want to bulk. I am very gradually increasing muscle and losing fat. I've been doing Caroline Girvan's epic heat programme (free on YouTube) recently.

westrich20940

You might want to look into reverse dieting --- eating more (like your maintenance or even more) will help you to gain more lean muscle mass and increase your overall metabolism and burn more calories for the last bit of weight you'd like to lose. Don't increase too much too fast though, ease into it.