pattern in weight loss- slow weight loss

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cmalmasy
cmalmasy Posts: 25 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I've been on this journey for the last 5 months using MFP. I have faithfully logged, faithfully exercised, and faithfully stayed in my calorie range for the last few months (outside of just one hundred calories here and there when on vacation, outside of my routine, but this has happened maybe 5-6 times in the last 5 months). I have only lost 14 pounds in the last 5 months. I started at 181 and my goal is 145 (5'5" tall). I do have PCOS which I take Metformin for, and lab work is good because I recently had it checked. I have watched a pattern in my weight loss, and I will stall for weeks, and even one whole month went by with no weight loss. Then, in one week lose up to 5 pounds, then stall off again, with another pattern of loss. I log everything. I have a food scale that I use when needed. I measure my portions. I do eat fast food occasionally, but I always make sure to log it and stay in my range. I started eating 1200 calories, then after 2 months increased it to 1400 calories a day because I was seeing NO loss at all with eating that amount. I rarely eat back my exercise calories because I don't trust how many I have actually burned. I'm considering doing two additional things and am looking for anyone else who has had success in trying either one of these things. First, I was thinking about getting a HRM or a Fitbit. Secondly, I was thinking about increasing my calorie intake to 1600. I think increasing the calories is what scares me more because I don't want to gain what I've worked so hard to get off. Has anyone else had success in adding more calories and gaining more consistently? I feel like I should be losing more.

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  • suziepoo1984
    suziepoo1984 Posts: 915 Member
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    Hi there,

    I am 5'5 too and started at 173 pounds. Now at 149 pounds. I started at 1450 and eating back exercise calories and am still doing the same, sometimes eat more if i am hungry. My weight loss has been very very slow, but the good part of eating well is i went off on 4 day vacation and ate a good amount of buffet food and came back weighing exactly same as when i left :) Yay!

    So yes, please find your TDEE and subtract 20% from it and eat at that. But do not eat back exercise calories. Also weigh and measure every little thing and track even bits and nibbles.
    And for your first question, i have both HRM and Fitbit. I use fitbit only to get me moving, i do not use those calories most of the time unless i am hungry ofcourse:)
    I use HRM to track all my exercises and eat back 80% of them (just because i dont trust my HRM too 100%).

    Good luck:) Hope this was useful. Let me know if you have any questions and i will be glad to help:flowerforyou:

    ETA: i started this tracking and exercise back in Mid-March, so effectively it has been 6 months. But i was at 149 pounds since more than a month..so 23 pounds in 5 months, not actually far from how much you have lost. So i think you are doing good. Slow weight loss is good in the long run
    Also, as you increase your calories, keep track of your weight to truly find your TDEE as each person is different :)

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