weight maintaining although i’m burning more calories and eating less

alice8829
alice8829 Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
hi! so i’ve been trying to lose some weight and recently i’ve noticed that my weight is just staying the same within 3-5lbs a day. although i am a bit confused because when i’ve lost weight before i was doing the same as what i’m doing now, but then i was actually losing it, and for some reason i’m not now?

i’m exercising everyday, and eating less calories than i burn, so you would assume that would mean being in a calorie deficit would induce weight loss. i feel a bit stuck. and that my efforts aren’t worth it and i’ve just hit a brick wall.

is there any possible reasons why this has happened? and what i can do to encourage the weight loss again?

thank you.

Answers

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,826 Member
    What timeframe are we talking about? Short-term, water weight could be masking fat loss on the scale, especially if the exercise is new/more than before.

    Extra questions: what are your personals stats and goals? How are you logging your food? What is your calorie goal and how much are you eating?
  • wm3796
    wm3796 Posts: 98 Member
    Exercise calories can be overestimated by most trackers or online estimates. Also when you weigh less the number of calories your body needs just to survive is lower… I know bummer. So if you have lost a lot of weight your calorie needs may be lower than before.
  • evileyefirefly
    evileyefirefly Posts: 322 Member
    alice8829 wrote: »
    hi! so i’ve been trying to lose some weight and recently i’ve noticed that my weight is just staying the same within 3-5lbs a day. although i am a bit confused because when i’ve lost weight before i was doing the same as what i’m doing now, but then i was actually losing it, and for some reason i’m not now?

    i’m exercising everyday, and eating less calories than i burn, so you would assume that would mean being in a calorie deficit would induce weight loss. i feel a bit stuck. and that my efforts aren’t worth it and i’ve just hit a brick wall.

    is there any possible reasons why this has happened? and what i can do to encourage the weight loss again?

    thank you.

    Plateau's are normal throughout weight loss. If you stay at a deficit you will lose weight, though I would make sure you occasionally re-evaluate your daily calorie limit. Finding your TDEE can help here as well, there are plenty of calculators out there. Before doing this its good to do some sort of body scan or accurate body fat measurement. This will then give you a good baseline on your BMR(number of calories you burn as your body performs basic life-sustaining function.) which you can then add to your activity level to find what you need to adjust if anything. MFP's predictions are fairly decent, but don't work for everyone (there's a couple threads on this.) For example, my TDEE using a calculator and a rough body fat estimate is 2252cal/day. This is based on an overall sedentary daily routine (I work a desk job, though I have a standing desk the cal difference isn't that much) You need roughly 500cal/day deficit to lose a pound a week. So you can back up the TDEE by that much. Your body does adjust eventually and it becomes a bit harder to lose the weight (plateau). There are many different approaches to pushing through these, from doing nothing to making large, short term adjustments. I personally tend to not change much, but you have to make sure to look at a longer period. This being a 3-4 weeks before you can tell if a change is really needed. But take a look around and see what you think may work for you, and do some experimentation as necessary to see how your body reacts. Good luck.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,982 Member
    evileyefirefly wrote: »
    alice8829 wrote: »
    hi! so i’ve been trying to lose some weight and recently i’ve noticed that my weight is just staying the same within 3-5lbs a day. although i am a bit confused because when i’ve lost weight before i was doing the same as what i’m doing now, but then i was actually losing it, and for some reason i’m not now?

    i’m exercising everyday, and eating less calories than i burn, so you would assume that would mean being in a calorie deficit would induce weight loss. i feel a bit stuck. and that my efforts aren’t worth it and i’ve just hit a brick wall.

    is there any possible reasons why this has happened? and what i can do to encourage the weight loss again?

    thank you.

    Plateau's are normal throughout weight loss.
    Actually they aren't. Plateau's are rare. They are no movement of weight IF (and that's a big if) someone was on the same exact daily regimen day in and day out for 6 weeks or more. Most people will find that somewhere in a day or week, they did something different within those 6 weeks (work out harder, had extra food, had alcohol, etc.) which would disrupt the regimen. STALLS are a common occurance since many will stay within their limits yet won't lose weight for couple of weeks or so.

    As to the OP, you said BEFORE. So how long ago was that? If long enough, AGE impacts how much more you may need to eat since as you age you actually need to eat less since metabolic rate drops.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
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  • bduanemyfitness
    bduanemyfitness Posts: 75 Member
    For me, I try to keep things simple. To lose weight over time, I simple need to use more calories than I consume. I plug the numbers into MFP, and get very careful about weighing/measuring my food intake since that is easier to control that the almost mythical calories burned. I mean, same program at the gym on two different bikes (same brand/model) shows different calories burned. I know, estimates.

    Then I weigh myself each day when I get up in the morning, first thing. I don't care about my weight each day, but I am watching the trends in my activity, eating, and weight. When I have a period of a couple weeks where I "stall", I look at what is different. And usually, there has been a change. I'm less active, different type of active, or less careful about watching my food intake (oh yeah, two beers is not "just water", it has calories). and I adjust.

    So...
    - Are you carefully measuring your food intake (apples are in many sizes). A "bowlful" is not an accurate measure.
    - Are you weighing the same way each time. Sometimes I weigh myself may times a day and the swing can be 3-5 lbs
    - Are you eating the calories MFP tells you to? Maybe eat 500 less per day for a week or three and see what happens. 500 per day deficit should be about 1lb per week loss.

    When you get "stuck" thoughtfully change something...just don't quit! :)

    You got this!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    Yeah, it could be a lot of things, from hormones to type of food (salty?) to travel, temperature, stress, new exercise and definitely the time frame is important. Keep doing the right things for a month. If there is zero weight loss or gain, then you need to lower calories a bit.
  • evileyefirefly
    evileyefirefly Posts: 322 Member
    [/quote]

    Same idea, different words.
  • xbowhunter
    xbowhunter Posts: 1,237 Member
    54 year old 5'7" male.
    I'm currently maintaining between 145lbs to 150lbs.

    Today's weight is 149. I have been at 149 for about 2 weeks now. This is after being on hunting vacation for a week that I pretty much ate everything I shouldn't. lol The only thing that saved me is I did alot of hiking so I was able to burn the excess calories. :)

    Back to my healthy low calorie eating this week... :)
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,743 Member
    Why are you trying to lose weight? You are at a healthy weight now. Since you have little to lose, it becomes harder to lose weight. Small errors in calculating CI-CO can mean that your weight doesn't change.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,847 Member
    edited November 2023
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    AGE impacts how much more you may need to eat since as you age you actually need to eat less since metabolic rate drops.
    According to this, metabolic rate is stable from age 20 to 60, then it drops. I'd have to dig deeper to see how much of that is attributed to age, and how much is due to loss of muscle mass since I assume most people 60+ aren't lifting.

    https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/surprising-findings-about-metabolism-and-age-202110082613
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,204 Member
    Retroguy2000 wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    AGE impacts how much more you may need to eat since as you age you actually need to eat less since metabolic rate drops.
    According to this, metabolic rate is stable from age 20 to 60, then it drops. I'd have to dig deeper to see how much of that is attributed to age, and how much is due to loss of muscle mass since I assume most people 60+ aren't lifting.

    https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/surprising-findings-about-metabolism-and-age-202110082613

    Here's the "deeper", for any who are interested:

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8370708/

    The decline after 60 appears to be slow, at least initially. The study looked at fat-free mass adjusted metabolic rate, i.e., the model attempts to factor out age-related muscle mass loss.
  • ddsb1111
    ddsb1111 Posts: 871 Member
    frhaberl wrote: »
    I love all the questions and suggestions already given. One suggestion I would have on top of them is to consider what it is that you would want to "give up" if you "gave up". That might be something to consider changing, whether the scale starts moving again or not.
    Something I'm doing different this time around is thinking of this as a healthy living journey instead of a weight loss journey. Weight loss is definitely a big part of what I'm trying to tackle to improve my health, but what I really want is to find a lifestyle that I enjoy enough to continue for the rest of my life that supports being at a healthy weight.

    Examples:
    If I was going to "give up" the first thing I would do is eat as much chocolate as I want. Okay, that means I want chocolate to be part of my healthy living plan and I have been depriving myself of chocolate. Instead of "giving up" I can work to figure out how to fit a satisfying amount of chocolate into my eating plan.
    If I was going to "give up" the first thing I would do is cancel my gym membership. Okay, that means I'm not enjoying the gym or the activities I do in the gym. If it's the gym I'm not enjoying, can I do the same activities in a different location? If it's the activities, can I find other activities that achieve similar goals that I enjoy more?
    If I was going to "give up" the first thing I would do is stop tracking everything I eat. Okay, that means I the benefit of tracking is outweighed by the pain of tracking. Are there things I could do to make tracking less painful? Are there benefits of tracking that I'm not considering that might tip the balance? Are there other ways to control my food intake without tracking?

    What I've found from shifting my thinking in this direction is that I am not as frustrated with "lack of progress" on the scale. It makes it easier to hold out the 4-6 weeks that are necessary to see if it's a "real" stall or just a grouping of high end fluctuations. It also helps me appreciate that this is the lifestyle I would choose (and will choose) even if I'm not trying to lose weight. And I get to make changes because I want to make them, not because the "almighty scale" tells me I need to.

    The life I'm loving while losing weight (and beyond) includes walking my dogs 2-3 miles a day. Sometimes we jog, sometimes we hike, sometimes we sit on the couch instead. It includes eating a lot more veggies and fruits and savoring foods that I used to eat mindlessly. Sometimes I eat too much and feel uncomfortable. Sometimes I eat too little and get hangry. I adjust and remind myself that it's the big picture that matters and that these blips won't show in an overall consistent lifestyle. It also includes planning ahead so that I know those yummy opportunities won't add up to an unhealthy weight. I adjust other meals to keep my average calorie intake supports a healthy weight and I adjust my mindset so that a "stall" on the scale through an intense season of yummy opportunities is something I choose rather than something I'm subjected to.

    Hope this other thought angle is helpful.

    👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,982 Member
    Retroguy2000 wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    AGE impacts how much more you may need to eat since as you age you actually need to eat less since metabolic rate drops.
    According to this, metabolic rate is stable from age 20 to 60, then it drops. I'd have to dig deeper to see how much of that is attributed to age, and how much is due to loss of muscle mass since I assume most people 60+ aren't lifting.

    https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/surprising-findings-about-metabolism-and-age-202110082613
    I wish it worked that way for me. I NEVER had to do cardio to maintain weight into my 40's, didn't change my workouts much and still ate about the same. After about 45, I noticed I started to gain weight and since I'm pretty systematic in eating, I added cardio (just 30 minutes of moderate) and got my weight to go back down. I stopped and again, my weight started to climb. As of today, I still do at least 30 minutes of cardio a day along with working out 1 bodypart a day. Weight has been stable but I DO have to eat much less than I did in my 20's, 30's to lose now. I don't turn 60 till January of next year.

    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
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