Why is my weight loss halting so bad?

jenna2cu

I seriously never cheat, NEVER! I eat perfect on the weekends even. I am always under my calorie goal. It's been 3 weeks I've been hanging out at the same weight! Please somebody help me break this plateau! :-(

19TaraLynn84

I know this may sound like counter-productive advice, but that's what I thought when I first heard it, too. I looked at about 5 days worth of your food diary and you were consistently eating 1100 calories and below. Try to eat more! It won't make you gain weight to try a week or two with more calories. I bumped mine up to 1450-1550 and began to lose weight after doing so. And I'm only 5'2". I hope you start losing soon.

ETA: I don't know if "starvation mode" is real or just a myth. But there's no reason to try to eat as little as possible.

Pfil

Do you eat any vegetables? I only went back a week but that stood out. Are you weighing out your cup of cereal? Are those homemade recipes yours that you input here or someone else's from the search?
Did you only eat one gnocchi? Is that what the 1/8 cup was?

writergeek313

I'd echo what was already said about raising your calories. I'm going to guess that you're not eating back your exercise calories based on how little you're eating each day, when means you're netting way too few calories for an adult woman. You're not losing weight because your body needs to hold on to every calorie you give it when you're not eating enough.

As you start eating more, I'd definitely focus on getting more fruits and vegetables and a lot more protein in your diet. If you're exercising regularly, you could easily double the amount of protein you have your daily goal set at now.

jenna2cu

Thank you all for the advice.. I Did eat only one gnocchi that day lol. And I do always measure my foods out I have a food scale and dry measuring cups. I will try bumping my calories up a little!! It seems weird to think that could help but maybe so!! Thanks all :-)

jenna2cu

Oh and I don't eat a lot of vegetables.. I don't really like vegetables but I know I should try incorporating some in my diet

bybyadipocytes

starvation mode is a myth, check it out. It would defy the laws of physics...

Urban_Princess

I'm going through the same thing. I don't know what it is because I haven't changed my eating habits except that I stopped eating whole eggs and bread/wheat/etc (before I had this once a week).

SLLRunner

I seriously never cheat, NEVER! I eat perfect on the weekends even. I am always under my calorie goal. It's been 3 weeks I've been hanging out at the same weight! Please somebody help me break this plateau! :-(

Jenna, if you "never cheat," eat so "perfect" on the weekends, and "always" eat under your calorie goal, then you are not ready to address the possibility that you could be eating more than you think you are.

kenakray

Hi Jenna,

If weight loss is your goal, INCREASE protein and fat and DECREASE the grains, juice, sugars, and processed food (anything in a box or a wrapper with more than 3 ingredients -- ie Luna bars and cereal).

Adjust your settings to the following:

25% carbs (whole fruit and green veggies ONLY). If you eat 50-75 carbs/ day you will start losing.

30% protein (protein powder, chicken, etc)

45% fat (butter, coconut oil, olive oil, avocado).

1350 calories: You should eat a bare minimum of 1300 calories to maintain these ratios and not feel hungry while losing weight.


Hope this helps!

LouiseChe

I agree with the suggestion to up your calorie intake. I was eating at 1200 calories religiously because that is what MFP set for me and I eventually hit the wall and didn't lose anything for about 6 weeks. So frustrating! I decided to bump up my calories to 1400 and then eat back half my exercise calories on top of that 1400 (mainly because I don't trust the calorie burn on MFP - so to be on the safe side I eat half back if I can. Sometimes I'm just not hungry and so will eat back a few of them. Don't know if that's the right thing to do, but it beats not eating any of them back like I used to!)

It only took a few days of upping my calorie intake and making sure I actually hit that for me to begin losing weight. I will never drop lower than 1400 again and I'm going to try bumping it up again to see if I continue to lose. Why eat less than necessary? So far, I haven't gained any by bumping up my calories.

GiveMeCoffee

From just a quick look at your diary I would say you are probably eating more than you think. You are using generic entries from the database, you are entering things in cups that should be weighed out. Here's a few entries that I saw that I would question:

Your Average Pizza Place - Plain Slice, 1 slice 272 33 10 12 551 4

Dinner
Generic - Tortellini Soup In Chicken Broth, 1.5 cup 231 21 8 21 0 0
Dececco - Potato Gnocchi, 0.13 Cup 30 7 0 1 78 0

What's an average pizza place? If I get a slice of pizza from my favorite place it's way over 272 calories. Generic Tortellini soup what was it made with how many tortellini

The day before those you had homemade lasagna in your diary is that your recipe or another MFP member's recipe?

SLLRunner

Hi Jenna,

If weight loss is your goal, INCREASE protein and fat and DECREASE the grains, juice, sugars, and processed food (anything in a box or a wrapper with more than 3 ingredients -- ie Luna bars and cereal).

Adjust your settings to the following:

25% carbs (whole fruit and green veggies ONLY). If you eat 50-75 carbs/ day you will start losing.

30% protein (protein powder, chicken, etc)

45% fat (butter, coconut oil, olive oil, avocado).

1350 calories: You should eat a bare minimum of 1300 calories to maintain these ratios and not feel hungry while losing weight.


Hope this helps!

No, she does not have to cut out anything.. Losing weight is about calories in/calories out, but adjustment of macros of for energy and satiety.

Really, looking through her diary, it's more like there is some miscalculation of foods, therefore she is eating more than she realizes.