weight loss plateau help

annazhang96343

Hi guys, so during a stress free summer without school, I have successfully lost 13 pounds of pure fat! I love how I look right now but my goal is to loose 10 more pounds or at least stay at where I am. However, eating only 1200 calories is tough and as a student, finding time to exercise is hard! I manage it though but it is really time consuming. The biggest problem I have right now is that I want to loose weight but am at a plateau, I heard about bumping up my calories( which I did to 1400) and even increased my exercise ( around 40-50 minutes of cardio kickboxing at least 4 times a week)but i manage to gain 3 pounds( I know it isn't a lot but I am freaking out and it is not water retention because it has been 2 weeks). I eat clean so I don't understand why and even the eating 1600 a day and reversing back to 1200 the next isn't tricking my body to loose the excess fat.

Francl27

At 1200 a day, you're probably better off not exercising quite frankly, as it's not enough food already if you were in a coma.

stt43

Reverse diet back up to maintenance, then create a small calorie deficit of around 200 calories just from exercise and see what happens. If you haven't lost any weight after a couple of weeks increase the deficit by another 100 calories.
The problem with websites like myfitnesspal is that people go too hard too fast, drop down to 1200 calories, and then once that stops working or they have got where they want to, there is nowhere left to go.

psuLemon

First, how are you measuring foods? Second, what is your height, weight and full workout routine because there is NO way you gained new fat as a young and active person unless you have a crazy metabolic issue or a really bad thyroid. Yes, water retention can last a few weeks. Also, open your diary so we can look. If you have several carb loaded days, you can gain a few lbs due to extra glycogen/water.


Also, are you measuring body fat? Because there is a good chance you lost more than just fat. Generally, even with great awareness of nutrition, you will lose, fat, water and lean body mass when you lose weight. And lastly, eating clean does mean anything. You can gain fat just as easy eating clean as going dirty. It's all about calorie management. Essentially, you can gain weight regardless of the food choices you make.