Stumbling block

Rcassidy1968

Looking for ideas I’m women over 50 I’ve lost 24lbs eating roughly 1400 cals per day but can’t seem to lose weight scales staying the same

Lietchi

How long has your weight started the same? How fast did you lose those 24 lbs? How tall are you and what's your current weight? How accurately are you logging your food: are your weighing everything, making sure you're using accurate database entries,...?

making_tracks

Well done on losing 24 lbs. Great achievement. Weight plateaus are common. Refresh your plan. Re-evaluate the 1400 cals. Is this still right for you? Low calorie counts for longer periods of time are challenging to follow. Could you increase your activity and eat a little more? How much exercise do you do?

christaballgran

1400 may be too much if you are not exercising. I started it with 1350 per day but had to have 3500 left over at the end of the week. But at the same time I exercise and do strength training. The scale is not the most important but rather are you toning up? How are your clothes fitting? As I toned up and lost fat I was allowed more calories to keep my metabolism going. I am now up to 1800 per day. Have lost a few sizes, look toned and the scale shows 50 pound weight loss. I would recommend you find a personal trainer at least for a short time who can set you up properly on this app with all the right numbers.

christaballgran

One more thing, lots of protein is key. Try to do at least 100 grams per day.

AnnPT77

Lietchi wrote: »

How long has your weight started the same? How fast did you lose those 24 lbs? How tall are you and what's your current weight? How accurately are you logging your food: are your weighing everything, making sure you're using accurate database entries,...?

I'm going to second Lietchi's questions, and ask another one: When your scale stalled, had the weight loss rate (pounds per week) been tapering off gradually, then stall . . . or was it going along at a reasonable pace, then stalled suddenly?

If the former, there are higher odds that increasing activity (daily life or exercise) might be more helpful (to change the calorie balance, because you might be getting closer to maintenance calories). If the latter, there are maybe higher chances that you're seeing a pseudo-plateau from water retention, possibly stress-related water retention from being at a calorie deficit for a long time (or other causes). That might suggest that a diet break (eating at estimated maintenance calories for a couple of weeks, probably especially with some added carbs) could be beneficial.

(For background about why I say that, check this thread:

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

Knowing more details about you would help us help you, though.

Without that, I don't think there's a good basis to say that your goal is too high or too low or whatever. We're just guessing.

The best indication of your personal calorie needs is your weight loss rate over a period of time (4-6 weeks, minimum), and the trend in that rate (tapering off, holding steady, etc.). Second best is the estimate from a so-called calorie calculator like MFP or a web-based TDEE calculator. Those will recommend a calorie goal that will work for the literally average person of your demographics, and be close to reasonable for most similar people (but not everyone).

One of the worst ways to get an estimate is to rely on someone else's subjective experience, to be honest. A PP in this thread talked about eating 1350 initially to lose, so thinks 1400 could be too many calories if you're not exercising. I have no doubt she knows her needs. But I, at age 59, 5'5" F, would have lost dangerously fast at 1400 gross calories . . . I was eating 1400-1600 plus exercise calories (so 1600-2000 most days), and losing at a very good clip. Even now, weighing in the upper 120s pounds and age 66, I lose slowly at 1850 plus exercise, which is 2000-2500 gross calories eaten daily.

Other people's experience really tells you nothing about your individual path. At best, it can give you ideas to look into.

You've been at this for a while: If you know your calorie intake and weight loss rate pretty accurately, you can math out your calorie needs. Even without that precision in logging, the "taper off" vs "sudden stall" kind of thing will give you some indications of what's going on, if your intake has been reasonably consistent.

If you answer Lietchi's and my questions, we might have some more specific ideas. Making your food diary MFP-public - even temporarily - would also let us take a look and the old hands could see if anything there stands out as a possible issue. (That's not a dig: Logging is complicated, has pitfalls. Some of us who've been logging for years have fallen into plenty of those pits along the way 😆, may be able to help you avoid them.)

Best wishes!