Stagnating Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Need Advice All Welcome

Dnarules

Have you tried a "refeeding" period for a few weeks? I plateaued for 5 weeks on a 1400 calorie diet and really did not want to decrease my calories to 1200, since I'm now lifting regularly and wanted to take in more calories as I get closer to maintenance. I got extremely frustrated as, like you, I weigh all food on a scale. I wear a HRM during my cardio, and eat back maybe 70-80% of what it tells me I burned. I don't eat back exercise calories on weight days because I feel the burn is negligible.

I increased my calories to on average 100 below maintenance, and took a "diet break" so I could stop feeling obsessive about why the numbers weren't adding up for me.

2 weeks of this, and I finally dropped .4 lbs (my MFP is set to lose half a pound a week). No, I don't know how to explain it, but I was in the same deficit for close to 6 months and changing my diet temporarily is what did it for me.

FYI, I'm 28, 5'3, female, 136 lbs.

Yes. I have considered adding one additional meal of 300 calories starting next week. And cycling it every other day. But I get so pissed and frustrated when I see my weight bump up by a pound or 2 in a day from eating 100 calories of spaghetti squash. So I back off. This is why I am taking this calorie adding advice with a grain of salt. I busted my hump to get to 220 and dont want to balloon up. So I am very cautious about this advice. Its easy to say eat more when you dont step on my scale and see what happens when you eat nothing and it goes right to the scale. And when you do 3 or more sessions of cardio and your weight is actually higher afterwards. Yep, that has actually happened. And I can not figure that one out either. So I am beginning to think that something is wrong to be working out this much and eating this little for 3 months and I have only dropped 49 lbs. BS. This last 20-30 pounds is hanging on like a groupie at a Led Zeppelin concert...............Gonna cool off and hit the inaccurate treadmill.

Darn, here I thought you were actually learning something. You're not listening at all. What you are doing isn't working, so why not be willing to try something else.

This will be my last post. If you are truly only eating about 1300 calories, you are not eating enough. And since you've been restricting for awhile, and also limiting carbs, you should expect some weight gain. But this will stabilize, and you should start to lose again. You will have to be patient, but it will be healthier. What do you have to lose.

You can up your calories a little at a time, but there may still be a small weight increase because you have been restricting quite a bit. If this is going to bother you, stay off the scale every day. Weight will fluctuate.

Set MFP to lightly active and to lose 1 to 1.5 pounds per week. Eat back a portion of your exercise calories. Just try it. Or continue beating your head against the wall.

I lost 53 pounds doing this. It works.

fairygirlpie9

You seem really irritable (probably because you're not eating enough) and tbh I'm surprised people are still bothering to help you.
Weight loss is really quite straightforward, your net calorie intake needs to be low enough for you to lose weight. Personally I think you should do several things:
1: Up your calories to at least 1500 (I eat 1450 to lose and I'm 5ft).
2: Change what you eat - you shouldn't be eating the same thing everyday you need to have a varied diet.
3: Switch up your exercises and challenge yourself when it starts to get easier I ALWAYS up my resistance on the elliptical
4: Up your calories - yes I did say it twice. You will feel so much better and be able to carry out your exercises more efficiently which means a greater burn overall.
5: Finally stop whining! Stress makes your cortisol levels rise so you hold on to fat.

kgeyser

Now, lastly I want to say that if you are weight lifting, you are likely building muscle mass. If that is true, you probably are still losing you are just gaining the lbs in muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. So, if I were you I would take it easy on the weight lifting if you want to notice a change on the scale.

This is false. You cannot build muscle while eating at a deficit. It's impossible. Weight lifting is a good thing because it helps preserve lean body mass and helps burn fat while eating at a deficit.

QuietBloom

You seem really irritable (probably because you're not eating enough) and tbh I'm surprised people are still bothering to help you.

Yes. Hangry to be sure. And apparently didn't really want any help. :sick:

marilynlw

Scott I can truly feel your frustration. You are not alone. We all know the science behind weight loss but there is much more to it than eat less and exercise more as most doctors tell us. Our bodies are too smart for that and will adjust our metabolism to the level of caloric intake we give it. That is why this is a never ending battle for some of us. You have to trick your body into upping the metabolism and then cut back on intake. When it adjusts to that lower number then you have to eat more to up the metabolism again. It sounds like you have been doing a great job with the exercise and diet but you need to change it up now and then so your body doesn't get stuck at the lower metabolism. The theory of carb cycling works great for some of us who have been at this dieting for a long time. Basically 2 or 3 days low carb and than a day of high carb. It might be worth a try. I've lost 185 lbs. but I am struggling for each pound at this point. Good luck.

ell_v131

Hi, I have the following tips and comments:

1) up your calories. to about 20% down from your TDEE. You can have your BMR measured at the doctor's and calculate your TDEE from there, 120% of BMR for sedentary lifestyle, you can goodle how much for lightly active
2) vary your diet. Not only you are eating too little, but I feel with your diet you can't get all the nutrients in. There is more to healthy diet than macronutirents, there are micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals. Serious lack of one or the other could harm you in the long run and stall you
3) Your body is fighting you, and is trying to become as efficient as possible on the little food that you provide it, if in fact the calories in are accurate. If you have been at this for a long time, then this could be a process that takes months and years to reverse. Not saying your BMR will drop to 800 or something, but it is possible that it decreases as your body attempts to perform bodily functions with less calories. Undereating also leads to muscle atrophy (no your body will not only burn fat before it burns muscle. In fact it burns both at any given time, only the ratio changes). Your heart for example is a muscle. The ore muscle you lose, the lower your BMR. Sorry I don't recall if you do any strength training, but if not I would suggest that you start, as this will help prevent further muscle loss.
4) Be realistic. Don't expect to drop dozens of pounds in a couple months. When you up your calories which I hope you will (see point 1), you WILL gain "weight". This will not be fat, but water. Following the low carb diet and doing cardio, you are holding your body in glycogen depleted state. When you replenish glycogen stores, they will hold water, and this is a healthy state to be in. I would not recommend altering it by eating carbs on one day and not the other, as you are quite attached to what the scale says and this would only contribute to larger scale fluctuations. Eat a sensible amount of carbs (safe to take 50 down from protein and add to carbs. you don't need 190g protein) on daily basis and after the first increase, this will stabilize.

Please follow my advice or almost any of the advice posted here. You are doing your body a disservice by eating too little, not providing it with nutrients and stressing yourself about your weight. I am sure you can succeed at this, just open your heart and mind to everyone that has given their time to try to help you.

P.S. on the issue of accuracy of treadmill numbers. All machines are terribly inaccurate. They are not made to help you, they are made to make money. If they tell you you burn so much more, you will eat that much more, and stay fat, thus being in consistent need to use that treadmill. If the manufacturer inserts accurate data (almost impossible as everyone burns different), you will lose weight and eventually not need their product anymore. They are smarter than that

scottYBRIDGEWATER

Thank for the posts, especially marilyn and ell. I get it, i have to increase the calories. But, I am beginning to think that I totally screwed up my metabolism. My original plan was to up the calories and carbs when I hit the 200 lb mark goal weight. But this stagnation has messed that plan up. I know I have to increase them, but to double the calories immediately is just dumb. I think that i have to do it more gradually. And I really think marilyn hit it on carb cycling. that seems to be the leangains/hardsall/berkhan approach. I'm going to read more and consider all of the posts before deciding what to do. But just to show you how messed up my situation is here is an example. I was at 218 lbs on wednesday. Today I wake up at 222 lbs, I have a protein shake, eat one chicken ceasar salad meal at noon, and i just finished my second 1 hour cardio session. Wanna guess my weight????

223.6!!!!'

A 1.4 lb weight gain in 1 friggin day after consuming about 500 calories and 16 ounces of water. In spite of burning 720 calories which I did verify with several online calorie calculators. And a 5 pound gain in 3 days!!!

Maybe you'll get why i am freaking out now, because I can NOT understand how that is biologically possible. Oh and I drank 16 oz of water. This has been going on for 3.4 weeks and I just can see a reason based on the numbers. Even if every nutruitional label was bogus- lettuce, dressing, grated cheese and chicken 2- 3 times a day could not possibly add this kind of weight. Are there viruses that cause people to gain weight! Because I have to have it.

Here is the Lifefitness treadmill readings for the doubters. A person in a coma loses more weight than me. And I am eating a lot less too

incline 0
speed 3.3 (typo in 1st post)
time 60 minutes.
watts 94
calories 360

Ninkyou

Thank for the posts, especially marilyn and ell. I get it, i have to increase the calories. But, I am beginning to think that I totally screwed up my metabolism. My original plan was to up the calories and carbs when I hit the 200 lb mark goal weight. But this stagnation has messed that plan up. I know I have to increase them, but to double the calories immediately is just dumb. I think that i have to do it more gradually. And I really think marilyn hit it on carb cycling. that seems to be the leangains/hardsall/berkhan approach. I'm going to read more and consider all of the posts before deciding what to do. But just to show you how messed up my situation is here is an examplr. i was at 218 on wednesday. Today I wake up at 222, have a protein shake, eat one chicken ceasar salad meal at noon, and i just finished my second 1 hour cardio session. Wanna guess my weight????

223.6!!!!' A 1.4 lb weight gain after consuming about 500 calories and 16 ounces of water. In spite of burning 720 calories which I did verify with several calorie calculators. And a 5 pound gain in 3 days!!!

Maybe you'll get why i am freaking out now, because I can NOT understand how that is biologically possible. Oh and I drank 16 oz of water.

You do realize that the body has natural fluctuations throughout the day? This is why you should only weigh yourself once a day. I think you're being overly fanatical about this. Even 500 calories and 16 oz of water have weight. You have bodily functions that keep your weight in constant flux.

Keep it simple. Start by increasing your calories 100-200 a week until you reach the number you should be eating.

Stay off the scale for a while. Stop freaking out.

ETA: I understand you burned calories, but that won't show up instantaneously. It takes the body time to adjust.

Dnarules

Thank for the posts, especially marilyn and ell. I get it, i have to increase the calories. But, I am beginning to think that I totally screwed up my metabolism. My original plan was to up the calories and carbs when I hit the 200 lb mark goal weight. But this stagnation has messed that plan up. I know I have to increase them, but to double the calories immediately is just dumb. I think that i have to do it more gradually. And I really think marilyn hit it on carb cycling. that seems to be the leangains/hardsall/berkhan approach. I'm going to read more and consider all of the posts before deciding what to do. But just to show you how messed up my situation is here is an example. I was at 218 lbs on wednesday. Today I wake up at 222 lbs, I have a protein shake, eat one chicken ceasar salad meal at noon, and i just finished my second 1 hour cardio session. Wanna guess my weight????

223.6!!!!'

A 1.4 lb weight gain in 1 friggin day after consuming about 500 calories and 16 ounces of water. In spite of burning 720 calories which I did verify with several online calorie calculators. And a 5 pound gain in 3 days!!!

Maybe you'll get why i am freaking out now, because I can NOT understand how that is biologically possible. Oh and I drank 16 oz of water. This has been going on for 3.4 weeks and I just can see a reason based on the numbers. Even if every nutruitional label was bogus- lettuce, dressing, grated cheese and chicken 2- 3 times a day could not possibly add this kind of weight. Are there viruses that cause people to gain weight! Because I have to have it.

Here is the Lifefitness treadmill readings for the doubters. A person in a coma loses more weight than me.

incline 0
speed 3.3 (typo in 1st post)
time 60 minutes.
watts 94
calories 360

You did not gain 1.4 pounds. You put food and water into your body. Food and water have weights. It is common to weigh more at night than in the morning; which is why many weigh themselves in the morning. You are becoming obsessed with the scale. Your weight is going to fluctuate. If you are eating under 1300 calories, trust me, you did not gain fat.

scottYBRIDGEWATER

Thank for the posts, especially marilyn and ell. I get it, i have to increase the calories. But, I am beginning to think that I totally screwed up my metabolism. My original plan was to up the calories and carbs when I hit the 200 lb mark goal weight. But this stagnation has messed that plan up. I know I have to increase them, but to double the calories immediately is just dumb. I think that i have to do it more gradually. And I really think marilyn hit it on carb cycling. that seems to be the leangains/hardsall/berkhan approach. I'm going to read more and consider all of the posts before deciding what to do. But just to show you how messed up my situation is here is an examplr. i was at 218 on wednesday. Today I wake up at 222, have a protein shake, eat one chicken ceasar salad meal at noon, and i just finished my second 1 hour cardio session. Wanna guess my weight????

223.6!!!!' A 1.4 lb weight gain after consuming about 500 calories and 16 ounces of water. In spite of burning 720 calories which I did verify with several calorie calculators. And a 5 pound gain in 3 days!!!

Maybe you'll get why i am freaking out now, because I can NOT understand how that is biologically possible. Oh and I drank 16 oz of water.

You do realize that the body has natural fluctuations throughout the day? This is why you should only weigh yourself once a day. I think you're being overly fanatical about this. Even 500 calories and 16 oz of water have weight. You have bodily functions that keep your weight in constant flux.

Keep it simple. Start by increasing your calories 100-200 a week until you reach the number you should be eating.

Stay off the scale for a while. Stop freaking out.

ETA: I understand you burned calories, but that won't show up instantaneously. It takes the body time to adjust.

Its the 5 pound gain in 3 days, with the exercise and diet that I have outlined. And that was morning weigh ins. This is what has me confused. Daily fluctuations okay. But 5 pounds in 3 days??? I could not lose 5 pounds in 3 days, but how do I gain that much that quick with my current regimen.

Someone laying in bed all day, should be losing weight on 1297 calories. Yet, I am busting my *kitten* and that friggin scale is moving up on me. This is what I dont get, and why I am suspect about upping my calories all of a sudden. I have just put on 5 pounds in 3 days on 1297 calories. How much do you think I will put on with 2700 calories???

frood

First of all, 16 ounces = 1 lb.

Also, please stop weighing yourself so often. It's going to zig zag over time, and it's DEFINITELY going to zig zag within a day as you intake and process food/water over the course of a day. What matters is the long term trend.

Like another poster said, you can add your calories back in slowly until you get up to a safe deficit. You can just make the portions bigger or add in other items.

frood

Thank for the posts, especially marilyn and ell. I get it, i have to increase the calories. But, I am beginning to think that I totally screwed up my metabolism. My original plan was to up the calories and carbs when I hit the 200 lb mark goal weight. But this stagnation has messed that plan up. I know I have to increase them, but to double the calories immediately is just dumb. I think that i have to do it more gradually. And I really think marilyn hit it on carb cycling. that seems to be the leangains/hardsall/berkhan approach. I'm going to read more and consider all of the posts before deciding what to do. But just to show you how messed up my situation is here is an examplr. i was at 218 on wednesday. Today I wake up at 222, have a protein shake, eat one chicken ceasar salad meal at noon, and i just finished my second 1 hour cardio session. Wanna guess my weight????

223.6!!!!' A 1.4 lb weight gain after consuming about 500 calories and 16 ounces of water. In spite of burning 720 calories which I did verify with several calorie calculators. And a 5 pound gain in 3 days!!!

Maybe you'll get why i am freaking out now, because I can NOT understand how that is biologically possible. Oh and I drank 16 oz of water.

You do realize that the body has natural fluctuations throughout the day? This is why you should only weigh yourself once a day. I think you're being overly fanatical about this. Even 500 calories and 16 oz of water have weight. You have bodily functions that keep your weight in constant flux.

Keep it simple. Start by increasing your calories 100-200 a week until you reach the number you should be eating.

Stay off the scale for a while. Stop freaking out.

ETA: I understand you burned calories, but that won't show up instantaneously. It takes the body time to adjust.

Its the 5 pound gain in 3 days, with the exercise and diet that I have outlined. And that was morning weigh ins. This is what has me confused. Daily fluctuations okay. But 5 pounds in 3 days??? I could not lose 5 pounds in 3 days, but how do I gain that much that quick with my current regimen.

Maybe you are holding water in your muscles from the exercise. Maybe you didn't digest everything yet. Maybe one of your foods made you bloat. Maybe maybe maybe.

Long. Term. Trends.

Long. Term. Trends.

Ninkyou

Maybe you are holding water in your muscles from the exercise. Maybe you didn't digest everything yet. Maybe one of your foods made you bloat. Maybe maybe maybe.

Long. Term. Trends.

Long. Term. Trends.

Agreed. The gain could be any number of things. Stop worrying so much about the scale.

scottYBRIDGEWATER

Thank for the posts, especially marilyn and ell. I get it, i have to increase the calories. But, I am beginning to think that I totally screwed up my metabolism. My original plan was to up the calories and carbs when I hit the 200 lb mark goal weight. But this stagnation has messed that plan up. I know I have to increase them, but to double the calories immediately is just dumb. I think that i have to do it more gradually. And I really think marilyn hit it on carb cycling. that seems to be the leangains/hardsall/berkhan approach. I'm going to read more and consider all of the posts before deciding what to do. But just to show you how messed up my situation is here is an examplr. i was at 218 on wednesday. Today I wake up at 222, have a protein shake, eat one chicken ceasar salad meal at noon, and i just finished my second 1 hour cardio session. Wanna guess my weight????

223.6!!!!' A 1.4 lb weight gain after consuming about 500 calories and 16 ounces of water. In spite of burning 720 calories which I did verify with several calorie calculators. And a 5 pound gain in 3 days!!!

Maybe you'll get why i am freaking out now, because I can NOT understand how that is biologically possible. Oh and I drank 16 oz of water.

You do realize that the body has natural fluctuations throughout the day? This is why you should only weigh yourself once a day. I think you're being overly fanatical about this. Even 500 calories and 16 oz of water have weight. You have bodily functions that keep your weight in constant flux.

Keep it simple. Start by increasing your calories 100-200 a week until you reach the number you should be eating.

Stay off the scale for a while. Stop freaking out.

ETA: I understand you burned calories, but that won't show up instantaneously. It takes the body time to adjust.

Its the 5 pound gain in 3 days, with the exercise and diet that I have outlined. And that was morning weigh ins. This is what has me confused. Daily fluctuations okay. But 5 pounds in 3 days??? I could not lose 5 pounds in 3 days, but how do I gain that much that quick with my current regimen.

Maybe you are holding water in your muscles from the exercise. Maybe you didn't digest everything yet. Maybe one of your foods made you bloat. Maybe maybe maybe.

Long. Term. Trends.

Long. Term. Trends.

I am looking at 3 weeks of no weight loss and now things are changing to a weight gain on a 1297 calorie diet. That is the trend. I get the day thing. I am talking about a 5 lb gain in 3 days and no weight loss (now a weight gain) over the last 3 weeks. That is a long term trend. But strangely, I do not feel or look fatter. And i did fit into a pair of 38" dress pants a few minutes ago. Not possible last month.

Ninkyou

I am looking at 3 weeks of no weight loss and now things are changing to a weight gains on a 1297 calorie diet. That is the trend. I get the day thing. I am talking about a 5 lb gain in 3 days and no weight loss (now a weight gain) over the last 3 weeks. That is a long term trend.

3 weeks is NOT long term. It's a short term stall. Your body is likely trying to figure out what's going on with the low carbs, low calories, the added exercise.

Weight loss is not linear. There's weeks there's great losses, some there's only a little, some no loss at all and some there's a "gain".

themedalist

Yes. I have considered adding one additional meal of 300 calories starting next week. And cycling it every other day. But I get so pissed and frustrated when I see my weight bump up by a pound or 2 in a day from eating 100 calories of spaghetti squash. So I back off. This is why I am taking this calorie adding advice with a grain of salt. I busted my hump to get to 220 and dont want to balloon up. So I am very cautious about this advice. Its easy to say eat more when you dont step on my scale and see what happens when you eat nothing and it goes right to the scale. And when you do 3 or more sessions of cardio and your weight is actually higher afterwards. Yep, that has actually happened. And I can not figure that one out either. So I am beginning to think that something is wrong to be working out this much and eating this little for 3 months and I have only dropped 49 lbs. BS. This last 20-30 pounds is hanging on like a groupie at a Led Zeppelin concert...............Gonna cool off and hit the inaccurate treadmill.

OP, the 100 calories of spaghetti squash didn't cause your weight gain. Nor do you gain weight from cardio sessions. You are confusing correlation with causation. Your body weight will fluctuate hourly and daily. Trends are what's important. With great respect, for someone who seems particularly fastidious with numbers, you are missing some very basic pieces here. And a whole slew of MFPers have stepped up to try and help you get back on track. You have gotten some excellent advice. I hope you take it.

I sincerely wish you well.

neanderthin

Just keep going, fluctuations will happen, but eating more isn't going to miraculously make you lose weight, that's not how it works. Generally it's the math..............you have to be honest with yourself...........studies on consumption have been done and even when people we're told they needed to accurately record their food for short periods of time were still out almost 400 calories a day. Plus labeling can legally be out 20%..............take a break and get back to it unrelenting and see how it goes.

Kenazwa

I'm no scientist or weight loss specialist, but I can tell you that there are a lot of cellular adjustments going on when you change your diet and exercise habits.

It seems that the key to not doing damage to your metabolism is to start conservatively and eat the maximum number of calories that you can have while still losing weight. Then when you hit a long plateau, you can adjust your calories downward. People who start with too few calories and too much exercise really can't do anything to break the plateau. You have to wait it out.

wilsoje74

Thank for the posts, especially marilyn and ell. I get it, i have to increase the calories. But, I am beginning to think that I totally screwed up my metabolism. My original plan was to up the calories and carbs when I hit the 200 lb mark goal weight. But this stagnation has messed that plan up. I know I have to increase them, but to double the calories immediately is just dumb. I think that i have to do it more gradually. And I really think marilyn hit it on carb cycling. that seems to be the leangains/hardsall/berkhan approach. I'm going to read more and consider all of the posts before deciding what to do. But just to show you how messed up my situation is here is an example. I was at 218 lbs on wednesday. Today I wake up at 222 lbs, I have a protein shake, eat one chicken ceasar salad meal at noon, and i just finished my second 1 hour cardio session. Wanna guess my weight????

223.6!!!!'

A 1.4 lb weight gain in 1 friggin day after consuming about 500 calories and 16 ounces of water. In spite of burning 720 calories which I did verify with several online calorie calculators. And a 5 pound gain in 3 days!!!

Maybe you'll get why i am freaking out now, because I can NOT understand how that is biologically possible. Oh and I drank 16 oz of water. This has been going on for 3.4 weeks and I just can see a reason based on the numbers. Even if every nutruitional label was bogus- lettuce, dressing, grated cheese and chicken 2- 3 times a day could not possibly add this kind of weight. Are there viruses that cause people to gain weight! Because I have to have it.

Here is the Lifefitness treadmill readings for the doubters. A person in a coma loses more weight than me. And I am eating a lot less too

incline 0
speed 3.3 (typo in 1st post)
time 60 minutes.
watts 94
calories 360

Seriously, how many times a day are you weighing? Don't be crazy. All your stress from your fanatical weighing and anxiety are probably making you hold onto weight. Relax. Enjoy life. Eat more than salads. You will be happier, and guess what you might lose more if you relax and don't think about food and scales 24/7. You can't weigh yourself after eating and expect a loss.

wilsoje74

Plus eating all that lettuce is probably all just building up in your system. Yuck. Cut back on the salad. Have some carbs or bread or anything different