Please Help!!! Desperate here!!!!

dawnemjh

Hi there Sara and SS, I am hoping you can provide some insight into why I am not losing!!!
To try to sum it up, I had a baby 13 weeks ago, and after initially losing about 20 lbs (after 2 weeks I lost 20 of the 50 I gained) I have only lost about 3 lbs in the past 11 weeks. I have no idea what to do now.

Provide your stats (height/weight/age/bodyfat% if you know it/etc) 5ft8inches, 195lbs, don't know bodyfat. My prepregnancy weight was 170, but at the time I was trying to get down to my usual, comfortable happy weight of 160-165, which is where I fluctuated for a good 5-8 yrs

What's your current gross intake of calories, on average? 1400-1600 for the past 4-6 weeks. Prior to that I played around trying 1200-1400 for a few weeks, and also tried higher intake 1600-1900

What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams? (GRAMS, not percent!) past month:protein around 120gms, 75gm fat, 120g carbs

Do you use a food scale and measure everything? Yes. Weigh everything!

Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?) Yes, everything!

Do you take cheat days or days off? I don't think I have had more than 1 cheat day in over a month

How much weight have you lost so far and over what time period? I had baby on 7/16 and was 217. SInce then:

7/30: 197lbs
8/8 196
8/18 198.8
8/26 198.4
9/2198.4
9/9 197.8
9/16 196.6
9/20 196.4
9/26 196.6
10/4 196.6
10/12 195

Describe your activity (exercise and non exercise) and did you change that activity withing the last couple of months? September I mostly did just walking and occasionaly slow running if and when my baby would allow. 3 weeks ago I joined gym and started stronglifts, which I know do 3 days per week. Usually while I am at the gym I will also do 20-25 mintues of cardio after SL

How long have you been stalled and if it is not a complete stall please be very specific as to how much you have lost over the stalled period. 2 lbs total in 11 weeks

Are you breastfeeding? no. Pumped for first month but nothing since mid august

Do you have thyroid issues/risks or PCOS?no

For whatever reason, before my pregnancy I gained about 10 lbs and was having an extremely difficult time losing the weight and it seems like that is the case here. Also I should mention I am 41 years old!

I appreciate any feedback you can offer!!!

SideSteel

Tagging.

Please set your food diary to "public".

bonjalandoni

tagging

dawnemjh

sorry, food diary now open.

Sarauk2sf

Tagging

SideSteel

Hey!

It appears as though the following things need to be considered:

1) Your overall activity level has recently increased with the addition of SL and cardio.
2) Your stall seems to be the worst over the 3 week period in which you began a resistance training program, which would tend to point to fluid retention.

Given both of the above observations, I think it would be quite reasonable to not change anything for now. I know that answer isn't as sexy as some macronutrient change or calorie modification, but we think you should wait two weeks, keep training, stay active, and report back to us with weigh-ins at the 2 week mark.

dawnemjh

Gotcha! Will report back in 2 weeks! Thanks so much for taking the time to help!

Sarauk2sf

Locking to track active threads. Please PM either myself or SideSteel, including a link to this thread, when you are ready to give us an update and we will unlock so you can do so.

Sarauk2sf

Unlocked at OPs request

dawnemjh

1 month update:

So for the past month I have been working out about 4 days per week, 2-3 days doing stronglifts and 2 days doing cardio. The first couple weeks after I posted, I seemed to be doing well, but for no good reason the past couple weeks I have gone back up, which is pretty typical for me. I seem to lose for about 2-3 weeks, then have a gain, then lose and it ends up averaging out to no loss....anyway here are my numbers:

October 17: 195
October 24 193.8
November 1: 193
November 8, 191
November 15 193.2 :grumble:

My calories are avg.1550-1600 per day, carbs arounbd 120 or less, protein 120-130, and fats at around 75.

Due to work I was only able to do stronglifts usually 2x per week, but starting this week I am able to do 3 times per week.

Granted I have lost, but my deficit is set for 1 lb per week, so I was hoping to hit that at least. I did also measure and I have a lost a little in the hips, which I expected since I am 4 mos post partum. ....

Again thank you both for any advice you may have. ALso I am enjoying lifting much more than I have in the past. I was a runner for a long time, but since baby number 2, lack of sleep, and excess weight, I cant seem to get back in the running groove. Is stronglifts a good program, or is there something better I could be doing??\\Thanks!

SideSteel

Are you weighing daily or once per week?

Have you stuck to 2 days cardio per week for the past 4 weeks or has there been any change/variance?

dawnemjh

I usually weigh in a few times per week but not every single day...

My cardio hasn't changed over the past month.

thanks

dawnemjh

bump :flowerforyou:

Sarauk2sf

Hi!

Could you continue as is for another 2 weeks. You were trending down nicely and we would like to see if the pop in weight this last week was due to normal water weight fluctuations rather than your underlying intake levels.

dawnemjh

No problem. I will continue and be back in 2 weeks. Thanks!

SideSteel

Locking this thread. Please PM Sara or myself when you are due to update.

Sarauk2sf

Unlocked at OPs request

dawnemjh

Thanks again for your help! Here is my update:


I decided to wait a month rather than 2 weeks, because now that I am almost 6 mos post partum I am getting back into a regular menstrual cycle and I seem to gain a couple pounds right before I am due.....

anyhow here is what has happened since last update

11/19: 192.8
11/26: 191 (period)
12/3: 191
12/10: 189.8
12/17 187.8
12/24 188.8 (period)
12/28 188

I still have 25 lbs to go and at this rate I feel like I will never get there....I am wondering if I should try to cut more or do more cardio.
As for my exercise I am doing SL 3x/week, but I am considering switching over to the AllPro workout or something else. I seem to be stalling on SL and I am losing interest in it. I also try to do cardio a 2-3 days per week.

Any advice welcome. I am happy that I lost considering Thanksgiving and Christmas during this time!

Thanks, Dawn

Sarauk2sf

If you look at the weight loss on consistent weeks around your cycle, you are losing 1lb a week. However, you should be able to nudge that along a bit quicker with a higher deficit. How is your hunger levels on the intake you are on now?

If you are not enjoying SL anymore, then switching to AllPro may well be a good idea.

dawnemjh

Thank you Sara!

I could probably cut a little more and be ok... Some days I am more hungry than others, so I will try that.

I think I am also going to try the allpro routine as well.

I was thinking of doing a little more running. Prior to pregnancy, that's really all I did for exercise, but since I was about 4 mos preg. I stopped running, so now I can barely do 3 miles. I was going to try to get my mileage up a bit more, maybe try to run 3 days per week, 3-4 miles...I never know what I should do with my calories on higher burn days.. The concept of eating back exercise calories never seemed to make sense to me. Should I keep my intake at around 1600 or so (which is what it is now) on running days and cut back to 1500 ish on lifting days???

Sarauk2sf

Thank you Sara!

I could probably cut a little more and be ok... Some days I am more hungry than others, so I will try that.

I think I am also going to try the allpro routine as well.

I was thinking of doing a little more running. Prior to pregnancy, that's really all I did for exercise, but since I was about 4 mos preg. I stopped running, so now I can barely do 3 miles. I was going to try to get my mileage up a bit more, maybe try to run 3 days per week, 3-4 miles...I never know what I should do with my calories on higher burn days.. The concept of eating back exercise calories never seemed to make sense to me. Should I keep my intake at around 1600 or so (which is what it is now) on running days and cut back to 1500 ish on lifting days???

I would suggest adding the activity in for now and leaving the intake the same. See how that goes for two week and get back to us so we can reassess.

dawnemjh

will do. thanks!

dawnemjh

2 week update:

1/1/14 188.6
1/7/14 189
1/14/14 185

going back and looking at weigh ins, 10/13/13 195, so in 3 months I lost 10 lbs. I will take it, but was hoping for a little more, like at least a pound a week. Definitely see fluctuations around my period and this month for 2 weeks I didn't lose at all, then all of a sudden lost.
I was doing SL routine and cardio 2 days per week along with that, and I am still doing cardio 2 days, sometimes a little more and I tried allpro routine instead of SL but I don't like that one. I don't want to do more than 3 or 4 lifts during one gym session mainly because lifting is not my favorite thing in the world but I like it a lot more if I am not doing a bunch of different lifts.

I was stalling out with SL and getting bored, but wondering if I will make progress doing any routine since I am at such a deficit food wise? I was thinking of trying Wendlers 5/3/1 but it seems a little confusing so I have to get the book and see if I will like it.

Thanks!!!!!!

SideSteel

2 week update:

1/1/14 188.6
1/7/14 189
1/14/14 185

going back and looking at weigh ins, 10/13/13 195, so in 3 months I lost 10 lbs. I will take it, but was hoping for a little more, like at least a pound a week. Definitely see fluctuations around my period and this month for 2 weeks I didn't lose at all, then all of a sudden lost.
I was doing SL routine and cardio 2 days per week along with that, and I am still doing cardio 2 days, sometimes a little more and I tried allpro routine instead of SL but I don't like that one. I don't want to do more than 3 or 4 lifts during one gym session mainly because lifting is not my favorite thing in the world but I like it a lot more if I am not doing a bunch of different lifts.

I was stalling out with SL and getting bored, but wondering if I will make progress doing any routine since I am at such a deficit food wise? I was thinking of trying Wendlers 5/3/1 but it seems a little confusing so I have to get the book and see if I will like it.

Thanks!!!!!!

I think you should just focus on consistency and not get too concerned with losing weight rapidly. The update above indicates that things are working well right now and I think you're best off sticking to this for now and just see where it takes you. Lets revisit this in another 2 weeks with an update.

Regarding programming, 5/3/1 isn't going to be ideal HOWEVER boredom isn't a good thing regarding your program. You definitely want to keep it amusing.

I'm going to chat with Sara regarding the boredom piece. Some form of resistance training is a good idea for body composition purposes but I'm generally of the belief that if you can't stand doing something you might want to not do it, or do it minimally. The good news is that there's several types of resistance training you can do, it doesn't have to be with a barbell.

dawnemjh

Thanks!

I dont "hate" lifting, just not my favorite gym activity, however I prefer barbell lifting over dumbless or machines.

Thanks for any input!

SideSteel

Thanks!

I dont "hate" lifting, just not my favorite gym activity, however I prefer barbell lifting over dumbless or machines.

Thanks for any input!

You should consider dropping 1 day of lifting down from 3 to 2, and replace that day with something you enjoy that burns calories. See if that reduction helps.