Mysterious pause in my weight loss journey

BodyTemple23

Hey Fitness Community,

I usually gain about 2-4 pounds around my period, but last month, I missed my period (not pregnant). No idea why, but I also gained about 2 pounds. I have logged my food and have been exercising, so there is no reason for the weight gain, even if there is no weight loss.

I reduced my portion sizes back in June as the scale won't budge and saw some positive improvements, but July has been very slow again.

Lowest weight: 142.4 but currently showing 145.

Did anyone else have the same experience? I have a feeling I might not be eating enough, but the calorie counter doesn't seem to show that. Is it possible that my body is under stress, which is why I may have missed my period and the weight isn't coming off?

Does anyone have any wisdom to share?

ninerbuff

How many calories are you taking in a day ALONG with your exercise?

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

BodyTemple23

@ninerbuff I aim to eat about 1200 calories through food + 400-500 calories through exercise.

Lietchi

Are you eating 1200? Or 1200 plus those 400-500 from exercise? If it's the first option, that might be why you skipped your period.

ninerbuff

BodyTemple23 wrote: »

@ninerbuff I aim to eat about 1200 calories through food + 400-500 calories through exercise.

So you're NET calorie intake a day is 700-800 calories? If so, then that's a very low calorie diet and undereating is a cause for losing your period as well as other things like hair loss, fatigue and even eventually stalling because the body is sensing you're not providing enough nutrition.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

BodyTemple23

@Lietchi @ninerbuff

I thought I needed to eat 1200 calories only. The exercise calories were the deficit I create in order to burn fat. Sometimes, I'd eat 1400 calories, specifically on days I did weight training, but never all of it.

I have been asked before in the community forums if I was eating back my exercise calories and, essentially, eating at maintenance. This is because I was complaining I wasn't losing weight. So I thought I should eat 1200 calories and get the deficit through exercise.

I'm confused now. If you eat your exercise calories + 1200, say 1600-1700 calories a day, am I not eating at maintenance? So how do you create a deficit?

Lietchi

You only have 3 posts in the forums, did you ask your previous questions under another username?

To lose weight, you eat to eat at a deficit (less than your TDEE). We don't know much about you, but generally 1200 calories is considered the minimum for adequate nutrition and only appropriate for inactive, shorter and/or older women.
Whether 1600-1700 is maintenance, we can't say, tracking your weight for a full menstrual cycle would be the best course of action as well as your actual intake is the best strategy for determining your true TDEE.

BodyTemple23

@Lietchi I have a desk job, so I chose a sedentary lifestyle when I was setting up my account. That gave me 1200 calories to track.

I'm 43, 5'3 ft tall (close to 5'4) and weigh 145 pounds. I'm aiming to lose 15 pounds. I workout 5-6 days a week. It's a mix of cardio and weights. For cardio, I do spinning for 45 min about 3x a week and Zumba 1x a week. I do weights 2x a week. I always choose lower calories than what the MFP exercise database shows. So I log about 400-500 calories for about 60-90 minutes at the gym. 90 min sessions that cardio + weight training days (2X).

BodyTemple23

What is the best way to calculate TDEE?

zebasschick

use a TDEE calculator
https://tdeecalculator.net/

BodyTemple23

Thanks @zebasschick