Stopped eating calories back....stopped losing weight

reneeb816

So I lost 25 pounds in a little over two months. During that time I almost always ate back the calories (goal was 1200) I had burned. Usually I was eating them ALL.

But after looking around here and just doing what seems like simple math to me, two weeks ago I decided to keep my net calories right at 1200 instead of going over.

To my dismay though, I've stopped losing all together. It's frustrating because it wasn't hard to stick with the 1200 and it just seems scary to increase my intake.

Anyone have some advice? I'm hoping I haven't already hit a plateau, especially since I still have about 60 pounds before I'm considered healthy.

DasAlbatross

If you're working out and not eating enough calories what you may be seeing is your body isn't able to add as much muscle after exercise. Adding muscle increases your base metabolic rate so you're just burning more calories all the time.

I found this information on a personal trainer's site, so I don't know how accurate it is but it certainly makes sense to me:

"One pound of muscle burns about 50 calories a day, one pound of fat burns only 1-2 calories a day. So, if you replace five pounds of fat with five pounds of muscle, you’re body will be burning 250 extra calories a day. That equals exactly ½ pound of additional fat loss each week."

I'm sure you're still losing weight, in the sense that you're replacing fat with muscle, just maybe not at the same rate. Are your clothes fitting differently? Are you tracking any other measurements?

You also could just be in a little plateau. Keep going and you'll see the results!

Mr_Knight

It's very difficult to tell what without more details. It is possible you were on a narrow deficit, and as your weight dropped, so did the deficit. It would be helpful to see the food and exercise diary.

AmyRhubarb

So things were working, and then you changed things up and they stopped working....why not go back to what WAS working? Because you were doing it right before - MFP is set up with a deficit built into your daily goal. Meaning eat to goal every day and do zero exercise, and you'll lose weight. When you exercise, you are creating a much larger deficit - too large, which can backfire on ya, as you may have noticed. Eat too little for too long and you risk screwing up your metabolism, your hormones, and risk various other problems.

This is why your exercise cals are added back into your goal - you are supposed to eat them back, bringing your daily NET cals up to, or very near, your daily goal. It was working, why change?

ninerbuff

If you're working out and not eating enough calories what you may be seeing is your body isn't able to add as much muscle after exercise. Adding muscle increases your base metabolic rate so you're just burning more calories all the time.

I found this information on a personal trainer's site, so I don't know how accurate it is but it certainly makes sense to me:

"One pound of muscle burns about 50 calories a day, one pound of fat burns only 1-2 calories a day. So, if you replace five pounds of fat with five pounds of muscle, you’re body will be burning 250 extra calories a day. That equals exactly ½ pound of additional fat loss each week."

I'm sure you're still losing weight, in the sense that you're replacing fat with muscle, just maybe not at the same rate. Are your clothes fitting differently? Are you tracking any other measurements?

You also could just be in a little plateau. Keep going and you'll see the results!

Well first you don't build muscle while in calorie deficit. To add muscle is to add weight. And calorie deficit burns off fat and some muscle regardless of what program one is on.

The PT's statement is broscience. The real truth is that an extra pound of muscle will burn about 6 calories a day (a pound of fat 2 calories). I'm into real science and not broscience. Source is from Claude Bouchard (obesity researcher from Pennington Biomedical Research Center).

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ninerbuff

So things were working, and then you changed things up and they stopped working....why not go back to what WAS working? Because you were doing it right before - MFP is set up with a deficit built into your daily goal. Meaning eat to goal every day and do zero exercise, and you'll lose weight. When you exercise, you are creating a much larger deficit - too large, which can backfire on ya, as you may have noticed. Eat too little for too long and you risk screwing up your metabolism, your hormones, and risk various other problems.

This is why your exercise cals are added back into your goal - you are supposed to eat them back, bringing your daily NET cals up to, or very near, your daily goal. It was working, why change?

THIS.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Siansonea

This is why I don't exercise. I'm losing just fine without it, it seems like more trouble than it's worth!

nelinelineli

First of all 2 weeks is not enough to say anything about your weight trend as a woman. You can easily "plateau" for 3 weeks due to water and hormones - most women do. Weight usually drops in "hops".
If you have reduced your intake you're also likely to go to the bathroom less often, be a bit more bloated and so on. 2 weeks is simply not saying much.

So just keep that in mind.

Ophidion

This is why I don't exercise. I'm losing just fine without it, it seems like more trouble than it's worth!

You do understand what the benefits of exercise are besides contributing to weight loss?

Mcgrawhaha

weight loss is not linear. i can lose one week, and the next, then nothing for three weeks, then boom, a huge loss the following week. it takes a little more time to get an idea of how your body is going to shed its weight. i now know, that i will only see a good drop in my weight once a month...

Mcgrawhaha

This is why I don't exercise. I'm losing just fine without it, it seems like more trouble than it's worth!

You do understand what the benefits of exercise are besides contributing to weight loss?

what??? theres benefits???

DopeItUp

This is why I don't exercise. I'm losing just fine without it, it seems like more trouble than it's worth!

Not a good idea. The problem with this plan is seen countless times on these very forums. You'll hit your goal weight and still be flabby and wonder what went wrong.

Siansonea

This is why I don't exercise. I'm losing just fine without it, it seems like more trouble than it's worth!

You do understand what the benefits of exercise are besides contributing to weight loss?

Yeah, but my goal is to lose weight, and I'm pretty healthy overall, so it's not a priority. I'll start exercising AFTER I lose all the weight I want to lose, just to move everything into the shape I want. I'll probably just do yoga or something, I don't do the frantic sweating thing.

Mcgrawhaha

This is why I don't exercise. I'm losing just fine without it, it seems like more trouble than it's worth!

You do understand what the benefits of exercise are besides contributing to weight loss?

Yeah, but my goal is to lose weight, and I'm pretty healthy overall, so it's not a priority. I'll start exercising AFTER I lose all the weight I want to lose, just to move everything into the shape I want. I'll probably just do yoga or something, I don't do the frantic sweating thing.

ladies dont sweat, they glisten...

Siansonea

This is why I don't exercise. I'm losing just fine without it, it seems like more trouble than it's worth!

Not a good idea. The problem with this plan is seen countless times on these very forums. You'll hit your goal weight and still be flabby and wonder what went wrong.

I'm not flabby now. I'm 5'8" and 144 pounds, my goal is 135. I'm a size 6 at that weight, and my fat is just a skim coat of softening. My legs are usually toned enough even without exercise, I'd really just need to do arm and core work. But again, I'll wait until I'm where I want to be weight-wise. One goal at a time!

NavyKnightAh13

This is why I don't exercise. I'm losing just fine without it, it seems like more trouble than it's worth!

You do understand what the benefits of exercise are besides contributing to weight loss?

Yeah, but my goal is to lose weight, and I'm pretty healthy overall, so it's not a priority. I'll start exercising AFTER I lose all the weight I want to lose, just to move everything into the shape I want. I'll probably just do yoga or something, I don't do the frantic sweating thing.

ladies dont sweat, they glisten...

This. As much as I still hate exercising, I still see the benefits. In for the science and comments.

Unknown

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Siansonea

This is why I don't exercise. I'm losing just fine without it, it seems like more trouble than it's worth!

Not a good idea. The problem with this plan is seen countless times on these very forums. You'll hit your goal weight and still be flabby and wonder what went wrong.

Exactly, resistance training now will work wonder for body composition.

I'm not going for the "ripped fitness lady" look. I don't mind a more slender, less gymmy look.

Unknown

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mrsduke2924

bumping to read later

EvgeniZyntx

If you're working out and not eating enough calories what you may be seeing is your body isn't able to add as much muscle after exercise. Adding muscle increases your base metabolic rate so you're just burning more calories all the time.

I found this information on a personal trainer's site, so I don't know how accurate it is but it certainly makes sense to me:

"One pound of muscle burns about 50 calories a day, one pound of fat burns only 1-2 calories a day. So, if you replace five pounds of fat with five pounds of muscle, you’re body will be burning 250 extra calories a day. That equals exactly ½ pound of additional fat loss each week."

I'm sure you're still losing weight, in the sense that you're replacing fat with muscle, just maybe not at the same rate. Are your clothes fitting differently? Are you tracking any other measurements?

You also could just be in a little plateau. Keep going and you'll see the results!

Well first you don't build muscle while in calorie deficit. To add muscle is to add weight. And calorie deficit burns off fat and some muscle regardless of what program one is on.

The PT's statement is broscience. The real truth is that an extra pound of muscle will burn about 6 calories a day (a pound of fat 2 calories). I'm into real science and not broscience. Source is from Claude Bouchard (obesity researcher from Pennington Biomedical Research Center).

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Actually, Niner. Your statement is broscience, too. "You don't add muscle at a calorie deficit" should be "you don't add much or you don't add optimally" but if you stress the muscles, even in a deficit (of "reasonable" size) you are providing sufficient amino acids for some tissue turnover and accumulation. Think of micro equilibrium being shifted throughout the day. Especially for someone with 60 lbs to lose.

The 6 cals per pound should be 6-9 (based on - you can quote me or just do the math from MacArdle) of BMR! So actually it's 9 to 18 per lb per day.

Science challenges science.

EvgeniZyntx

Back to the OP question.

With exercise you are netting less than 1200. While weight loss isn't linear here is a little abstract you might consider...

Eating too little will result in unnecessary lean body mass losses.

Resting energy expenditure (REE), weight, and body composition were measured up to seven times in 13 obese women during a 24-wk study. Patients were randomly assigned to a very-low-calorie diet (VLCD, 500 kcal/d) or a balanced-deficit diet (BDD, 1200 kcal/d). After 8 wk of supplemented fasting, REE of the VLCD patients decreased by 17% whereas that of the BDD patients was virtually unchanged. REE of the VLCD patients increased during 12 subsequent weeks of realimentation such that differences in REE between the two groups were not statistically significant at week 24 (VLCD = -11%, BDD = -2%). Reductions in weight and fat-free mass (FFM) were 12.1% and 3.6% for the VLCD patients and 10.6% and 4.1% for the BDD patients, respectively. There were no significant differences between the groups in pre- to posttreatment changes in REE normalized to FFM. Results suggest that REE recovers partially after consumption of a VLCD. They also provide evidence of a possible metabolic advantage of weight loss by a more moderate restriction.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/51/2/167.short

Francl27

With 60 lbs to lose I was eating 1700 calories a day and exercising one hour a day, if that (and never anything extreme, walks, bodypump, a 30 minute workout dvd, things like that). I lost just fine and never hit a plateau (just normal stalls every month). I'm 5'5" and 35.

Seems you need to eat much more.

lucan07

I had a similar experience and was advised in laymans terms by consultant and dietician.

The body having been deprived of its usual calories whilst dieting does not then take kindly to having huge extra energy demands made upon it and so goes into economy mode making savings and holding onto as much as it can.

Holly_Roman_Empire

weight loss is not linear. i can lose one week, and the next, then nothing for three weeks, then boom, a huge loss the following week. it takes a little more time to get an idea of how your body is going to shed its weight. i now know, that i will only see a good drop in my weight once a month...

This describes my weight loss pattern exactly!
I agree with above posters that say go back to what was working. I don't know how a person only eats 1200 calories AND exercises without passing out at the end of the day.

Holly_Roman_Empire

This is why I don't exercise. I'm losing just fine without it, it seems like more trouble than it's worth!

Not a good idea. The problem with this plan is seen countless times on these very forums. You'll hit your goal weight and still be flabby and wonder what went wrong.

Exactly, resistance training now will work wonder for body composition.

I'm not going for the "ripped fitness lady" look. I don't mind a more slender, less gymmy look.

Picking up some heavy weights and putting them down is not going to magically turn into the hulk or anything. It coupled with proper targeting of your macronutrients will aid you to get the look you really want. Those "ladies" you speak of put years of hard work and dedication in to achieve that look you don't want. And sometimes that's not even enough.

Agreed. Apparently everybody wants to look like a pop star! Even Beyonce strength trains to get her look. :-)

sijomial

So I lost 25 pounds in a little over two months. During that time I almost always ate back the calories (goal was 1200) I had burned. Usually I was eating them ALL.

I completely fail to understand your logic! You lost 25lbs in just over two months and you decided to reduce your calories?
Why?? Are you really trying to lose weight faster than that?

The obvious thing is just go back to what worked before and stop being so impatient.

Will_Thrust_For_Candy

So I lost 25 pounds in a little over two months. During that time I almost always ate back the calories (goal was 1200) I had burned. Usually I was eating them ALL.

I completely fail to understand your logic! You lost 25lbs in just over two months and you decided to reduce your calories?
Why?? Are you really trying to lose weight faster than that?

The obvious thing is just go back to what worked before and stop being so impatient.

Yup, pretty much this ^^^^ Please also understand that a 3lb/week loss is really not sustainable long term. There will come a point that you simply won't be able to lose that anymore (not in a healthy manner anyway). Consider a slower, more healthy lifestyle change, rather than a quick fix. Good luck!

markiend

Go back to what was working, and replicate the good things that were happening before you got sucked into the conflicting information we all see.

When things are going well.... why change ?

reneeb816

You guys are right! I should never have changed things up. There was definitely some impatience going on and I recognize that now.

And I would never stop the exercise. Not only is it good for your body, it's proved to be great for my mind too.

Thanks for the feedback!

Siansonea

This is why I don't exercise. I'm losing just fine without it, it seems like more trouble than it's worth!

You do understand what the benefits of exercise are besides contributing to weight loss?

From what I've seen of her posts, she doesn't really understand much of anything

Clearly I'm doing something right, since I'm making progress toward my goals.