The plight of the plateau

zyxst

senescence

Did you mean "sustenance"?

I think she meant satiation.

Ang108

when I wasnt eating enough calories I stopped losing weight too...eat more calories to lose..change up your exercise

It is not possible to lose more by eating more, unless one adds a heck of a lot of exercise and does not eat back the calories.
I am sorry, but I would like to slap the person who came up with " eat more to lose more " upside the head about a dozen times a day since I have joined MFP.

pavrg

Me too. Unfortunately, it's always a standard response in any thread where someone asks about help for their diet/exercise regimen not producing results.

Mr_Knight

To summarize, let's assume a person with a TDEE of 2000 calories.

Claim 1 - This person will lose weight (unhealthily, but loss nonetheless) if they eat 0 calories.
Claim 2 - This same person may actually gain weight if they eat 800 calories
Claim 3 - This same person will again lose weight at 1600 calories (TDEE - 20%)

So what exactly is the biological mechanism that can make a person gain weight in the magical range below TDEE-20% but above 0? That is an extraordinary proposition, it is not unreasonable to ask for some scientific evidence.

init2fitit

ITT: Justification for eating 800 kcals.

Look it really doesn't matter. The matter is that LBM doesn't stand up too well in the face of huge caloric restriction. Eating more usually increases mood and motivation while lowering the risk of binge eating. I don't see why someone would want to go the the extreme of only eating 800 kcals when they could lose just fine at 1600. Its not as fast, but if you wanted to lose weight, just chop of your leg and save yourself the strife.

DebbieLyn63

Ok, Op stated that SOME days she only eats 800 cals. She also says that on some days she eats over 4000 cals. If she were to accurately measure and weigh all her food. And accurately log it, EVERY day, then she could know exactly how many calories over time she was taking in. Compare that to her rate of loss/gain or maintain, and then she would know where she stands and can make a plan from there.
Until you know how many calories you actually are taking in, you have no idea what to do.

That said, I believe for some people, it is possible to plateau after being on a set calorie level for an extended amount of time. Not sure why this happens, and science doesn't back it up, but there is enough anecdotal evidence on here to support that it CAN happen.

But I still do not believe than anyone could actually GAIN a substantial amount of fat weight, while eating 800 calories EVERY day. It is the Cheat days, aka Binge days that cause the extra overall calories, resulting in fat gain.

Now, back to the plateau issue. Some people,including myself, have broken thru plateaus by calorie cycling. But not how the OP is doing it. On higher calorie days you eat only at Maintenance level, NOT 4000 cals. A couple of low cal days and a couple of days at maintenance might help.

Ang108

In other words - too big of a deficit will stop your progress.

It would be wonderful if that were true, because then there would be a solution for all those people ( right now mostly in Africa ) to not starve to death and save their lives. If that were true than people would just stop losing weight and their organ function would not collapse and they would not die from lack of food. People will lose on any kind of deficit until there is nothing to lose anymore. If the deficit is reasonable it will take a very long time and if it is a big deficit it will take only a few month. In Africa a person dies every 48 seconds from starvation, which is a strong word for " caloric deficit ". If there is a calorie deficit there is weight loss. Period.

Sarauk2sf

OP: you are not logging every day. On the days you do log, are you using a food scale and logging accurately?

Do you have triggers for your binges or could it be the low calorie days that increase the urge to binge?

Also, with thyroid issues, you should try to keep your carbs down (low'ish) and fats and proteins high'ish. Your protein is very low at the moment.

PikaKnight

Eating more to lose more is a myth period.

please do not state general sweeping rules for the entire populace. Especially with women, many of us have been under-eating for many years and not realizing it, getting most of our daily calories from coffee and such.

It wasnt until I brought my calories up from 800-1000/day to 1500+ that I was able to break through a really long plateau and have the energy and ability to lose weight.

Im not referring to starvation mode, Im simply referring to the fact that I stopped eating under 1000 calories a day and then zoomed past my goal weight, had more energy and alertness and became stronger and leaner.

It is not a myth period.

For some people, it has changed their lives and it is very kind to go into conversation on these forums knowing that there are things that we may not believe in, that may work despite what we believe.

Also, losing weight is not a consistently exact science. For men, it almost can be from time to time, but their hormone cycles are nowhere near the intensity as ours, nor does it affect your eating habits or nutritional needs. For us, it does. That automatically makes it different for us.

If someone out there is eating too little and dying to lose weight, it just isnt kind to tell them that eating more to lose weight is a fairytale.

Let them experiment for themselves, because learning how to research, teach themselves and get to know their own bodies and what works for THEM is the reason we want them here, so they can succeed.

No ridiculous sweeping generalizations for women who eat too little, from a guy who doesnt have a body that has to prepare for possible baby incubation each month, pretty please

It isn't a myth - for some of us - it's a life saver - or at least, a sanity saver.

:flowerforyou:

^This was awesome written Yoovie! :flowerforyou:

MartiCat70

A "severe" thyroid problem on only 50mcg of Levothyroxine? I'm at 112mcg. A doctor just found my thyroid problem. I didn't know anything was wrong. Hmmm. Anyway, I'm losing beautifully keeping my calories at 1200. I don't have splurge days. If I only ate 800 calories a day, I probably would binge too. It's finding what you're comfortable with I think.
I don't think I believe in starvation-mode either, but it's a good argument. There's nothing wrong with a friendly debate. Try not to take it so personally.

yoovie

In other words - too big of a deficit will stop your progress.

It would be wonderful if that were true, because then there would be a solution for all those people ( right now mostly in Africa ) to not starve to death and save their lives. If that were true than people would just stop losing weight and their organ function would not collapse and they would not die from lack of food. People will lose on any kind of deficit until there is nothing to lose anymore. If the deficit is reasonable it will take a very long time and if it is a big deficit it will take only a few month. In Africa a person dies every 48 seconds from starvation, which is a strong word for " caloric deficit ". If there is a calorie deficit there is weight loss. Period.

im sorry, but I do not consider losing everything until you die to be progress. I think that progress stopped long before any of those issues. Like when the deficit got too big.

But if you consider death and starvation in Africa to be 'progress' then no, i guess it doesnt stop with 4000 calorie daily deficit.

I didnt say that you wont lose weight on a deep deficit. I said your progress will stall...

you know what?

It doesnt matter. I had coffee, a burger, some spaghetti, a big glass of whole milk and a cigarette today. I haveno reservations about running out on the beach in a tiny bikini and tomorrow morning im deadlifting 205 pounds. Im happy and healthy and I understand why.

yoovie

when I wasnt eating enough calories I stopped losing weight too...eat more calories to lose..change up your exercise

It is not possible to lose more by eating more, unless one adds a heck of a lot of exercise and does not eat back the calories.
I am sorry, but I would like to slap the person who came up with " eat more to lose more " upside the head about a dozen times a day since I have joined MFP.

It works for so many people. just because it didnt work for you doesnt mean you should threaten violence and be so upset about it :frown:

suziepoo1984

Each person should do what works for them. A lot of us are eating more and still losing weight, so YTH will we eat less and not lose any weight? It does not make any sense. The OP is anyway in a plateau and i dont think can reduce calories further, so why not try this? Who is it harming?
I never ate less(ate more always, no wonder i gained weight), but after the birth of my child, i gave up a lot of food due to some of her allergies, mind you it was only for a period of 4 months, but i felt so deprived that when i was allowed to eat, i ate tons of food, whatever i could lay my hands on and also gained weight a lot faster than i would like to believe.
Plus i Love food, if OP can cheat and eat 4000 calories, i am betting she loves food too. So calculate your TDEE or set MFP to lose 1-2 lbs per week and follow that(eat exercise calories back with MFP(HRM calculated)). Try this for atleast a month, initially there will be some gain which would mainly be water weight.

Good luck :flowerforyou:

joshdann

I think the general consensus is not that she should decrease calories more, but that she should be a bit more diligent about logging so she has a better idea of how many calories she is actually eating. Also perhaps not thinking that the 3000 or so calorie surplus she's eating in one day isn't somehow going to affect her overall success.

suziepoo1984

I think the general consensus is not that she should decrease calories more, but that she should be a bit more diligent about logging so she has a better idea of how many calories she is actually eating. Also perhaps not thinking that the 3000 or so calorie surplus she's eating in one day isn't somehow going to affect her overall success.

I would definitely agree with this.

Mr_Knight

I didnt say that you wont lose weight on a deep deficit. I said your progress will stall...

I'm going to need a translator for that statement...

redyfox

Think positive thoughts, and eat right

yoovie

I didnt say that you wont lose weight on a deep deficit. I said your progress will stall...

I'm going to need a translator for that statement...

No

bridgie101

To summarize, let's assume a person with a TDEE of 2000 calories.

Claim 1 - This person will lose weight (unhealthily, but loss nonetheless) if they eat 0 calories.
Claim 2 - This same person may actually gain weight if they eat 800 calories
Claim 3 - This same person will again lose weight at 1600 calories (TDEE - 20%)

So what exactly is the biological mechanism that can make a person gain weight in the magical range below TDEE-20% but above 0? That is an extraordinary proposition, it is not unreasonable to ask for some scientific evidence.

I think it's a language problem. "eat more to lose more" works if you gain energy and start being more active.

If you are eating so little that you lose muscle mass, and lose the will to move, you will become very very efficient with the calories that you do have.