Feeling a bit bummed :(

williamshl10

So, I have been keeping a pretty steady weight loss of 2 pounds a week. I am very happy about that. But since high school, I have never weighed less than 220 pounds. So here I am at 216 and STAYING at 216. It has only been a week, but it is starting to bum me out. Like my body is telling me "This is where you will always be, never less". I run and walk and lately I have been doing incline walking trying to keep my heart rate around 140, set to the awesome treadmills at work. I try to eat most of my exercise calories back because my calorie intake should be at least 1200 after exercise. right? I do eat carbs and quite a bit of them, but I feel that is a necessity because I want to be doing something that will be a comfortable lifestyle change and not a crash diet. Any suggestion?

williamshl10

bump

LucifersWitch

I'm facing the same problem. Though I'm at 225 consistently. I read on a forum that it's possible that we are undereating, and 1200 is actually too low. I'm not entirely sure what my problem is, but I did wonder if being under my goal was actually more detrimental. I am supposed to be at a 500 deficit from my BMR, which for me totals about 1660 calories per day. I used to think that being under that goal was a success, though now I wonder if it's actually much more important to be on par, so I don't starve. I am also trying to drink more water to see if this will help too.

I'm basically trying to troubleshoot my body. It does sound like 1200 is too low for you.

MinnieInMaine

Congrats on your progress so far!! There's really no need to be so bummed. This is a bit of tough love but a lot of good facts to so please read through.

1) It's only been a week - a true plateau is a month or longer. If not losing for a week gets you thinking about quitting, there is no way you're going to make it to goal. You're just through the honeymoon phase my dear, now reality sits in.

2) At this point, you should reset our goal to 1.5 pounds per week. Two pounds per week is only realistic for those with 75+ pounds to lose. Once you get down to 50 pounds to goal, you'll want to reset again to 1 pound per week. The less you have to lose, the more time it takes. This is the only way to lose weight in a way that is healthy and will last long term.

3) You just increased the intensity of your exercise by adding in hills. This probably means that your muscles are retaining a bit of water - perfectly natural when you change up exercises. It will go away as your body adapts. Other causes for water weight include excess sodium intake, monthly hormone cycle, even high carb intake. Fluctuations will continue to happen. It's best to learn why and come to terms with them rather than being so hard on yourself.

You CAN do this if you're really determined.

P.S. Yes, your NET calories at the end of the day should be at least 1200

Francl27

The key is to weigh your food, not overestimate your activity, and be patient. I have stalls all the time - seriously, 2-3 weeks at a time every month. Then I lose 2-6 lbs in less than two weeks. Just stick to it.

MinnieInMaine

I'm facing the same problem. Though I'm at 225 consistently. I read on a forum that it's possible that we are undereating, and 1200 is actually too low. I'm not entirely sure what my problem is, but I did wonder if being under my goal was actually more detrimental. I am supposed to be at a 500 deficit from my BMR, which for me totals about 1660 calories per day. I used to think that being under that goal was a success, though now I wonder if it's actually much more important to be on par, so I don't starve. I am also trying to drink more water to see if this will help too.

I'm basically trying to troubleshoot my body. It does sound like 1200 is too low for you.

Your deficit shouldn't be taken from your BMR, it should be taken from your NEAT or TDEE

And yes, undereating can be detriment to weight loss. Plus it's just flat out bad for you health to undereat. And you're more likely to have long term success with a more reasonable calorie deficit.

mthr2

Yes, please be patient. It will happen. There is no way you are destined to be 216 forever. Maybe mix things up a bit? Sometimes that helps....or maybe it just kills time while your body is being stubborn.

_Zardoz_

Patience it's only been a week and weightloss is not linear. Keep doing what your doing and you'll lose.

williamshl10

Thank You everyone, especially minnie. That was very helpful. I do not feel like giving up, it was just my first stall on the scale, so it kind of sucked and this is normally where I give up. But I am determined to keep at it. Lucifers, I thought about the BMI thing ias as low as you should go and mine was 1760. But that just seemed so high and MFP has me at 1200 calorie/day, so I just went with that. Franc, I actually do weigh my food, but some things, like the knorr pasta is right on point with the one cup, so I go with the one cup in my diary. But all my meat, since it varies does get weighed and with stuff like broccoli and asparagus, I just throw them on because they are so low cal. I am in a biggest loser competition at work and it ends in a week, so I think that is what is getting to me. I really wanted to win, but if I show up with only a 2 pound weight loss for the past two weeks, then that is it But I will keep doing this because I do enjoy it. It just sucks on the weekends because I have no internet to log my meals and decide on a meal plan for the day.

Fit_Fox88

Have you tried adjusting your stats? Maybe your calorie goal is off a bit. Either way, don't get discouraged and keep doing what you're doing!

Ashlee1workit

Hey don't get bummed! That why you got lot of support here. I was stuck on 211 for a long time now I am down to 194 just workout hard and eat right. It the best you can do for youself. If you have the time just workout twice a day. Don't burn yourself out make sure you get rest of course. Keep telling yourself you can do it! And you will do it.

cebreisch

You can do this. Just stick with it. Make sure you readjust your calories and stick to it. I would suggest not eating back your calories unless you're a construction worker or someone who's going to be burning up great big whopper amounts of calories a day.

ewennmacher

everyone hits a stall in their weight loss. i did for 2 weeks. then i started losing again. as long as you are burning more calories then your consuming, you will lose weight!!! just give it time. ive read changing your workout will help get your weight loss started again. your body gets used to a certian exercise and kind of plateaus. also i hear about zig zaging calories helps too. meaning if you net 1200 calories a day, eat 1000 for 2 days in a row then 1600 the 3rd (plus your exersice calories, or at least some of them) they say that keeps your body from getting used to a certian ammount of calories and slowing down. my weight loss slowed down last week and on thursday, i felt like going out to eat, so i did and i ate a cheeseburger and waffle fries and a few rum and diets and lost a pound the next day. sometimes your body just needs some love

toovodz

Congrats on your progress so far!! There's really no need to be so bummed. This is a bit of tough love but a lot of good facts to so please read through.

1) It's only been a week - a true plateau is a month or longer. If not losing for a week gets you thinking about quitting, there is no way you're going to make it to goal. You're just through the honeymoon phase my dear, now reality sits in.

2) At this point, you should reset our goal to 1.5 pounds per week. Two pounds per week is only realistic for those with 75+ pounds to lose. Once you get down to 50 pounds to goal, you'll want to reset again to 1 pound per week. The less you have to lose, the more time it takes. This is the only way to lose weight in a way that is healthy and will last long term.

3) You just increased the intensity of your exercise by adding in hills. This probably means that your muscles are retaining a bit of water - perfectly natural when you change up exercises. It will go away as your body adapts. Other causes for water weight include excess sodium intake, monthly hormone cycle, even high carb intake. Fluctuations will continue to happen. It's best to learn why and come to terms with them rather than being so hard on yourself.

You CAN do this if you're really determined.

P.S. Yes, your NET calories at the end of the day should be at least 1200

Exactly this! I started strength training and gained but it's water weight because I have lost inches. Measure yourself too. Scales are evil sometimes. Don't give up now. This is when it really matters to not give up.

H_Factor

The scale can deceive and discourage...when it does not tell the entire story. For whatever physiological reason (plus for water retainage reasons), no one seems to lose weight consistently each week and everyone seems to "scale stall" at times. Remember that just because the scale doesn't move, does not mean that you haven't made progress. So long as you continue to make consistent healthy decisions on a persistent basis, you will lose the weight. You just have to have faith in the process. If you get discouraged and fall off track because of too much reliance on some number on the scale, then you will just have to make up that backtracking.

In 2011, I lost about 80 pounds. There was nothing linear about the loss. In fact, I went almost 3 months over that summer at roughly the same weight. I lost about 40 pounds before the "big stall". Part of it was complacency, I know, but there was definitely some body adjustment stuff going on as well. I just kept at it and, towards the end of summer, the weight started coming off again. Anyway....keep progressing and trust the process. Do not put too much reliance on the scale.

mapnerd2005

This is what weightloss looks like. It is not linear as we would hope. There are going to be frustrating fluctuations and stalls, especially for females. Keep at it, results will come if you are consistent.


edited to correct image link

BigVeggieDream

Something I've been seeing on a bunch of posts is that MFP overestimates how many calories are burned by exercise, so you might be eating back more than you're burning. I actually asked about this yesterday, Here's the link to it.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1233478-mfp-overstating-exercise-calories-question

williamshl10

Bloom72, our treadmills at work have us input our weight, age, height and has a heart rate monitor in them. So when I do the incline I set my heart rate goal at 140 and it automatically adjusts the incline to increase or decrease my heart rate. I go off the calories the machine says and then log it as close as possible on MFP. I might say I walked 32 minutes, but actually walked 40 to get to the same calories burned on MFP.

Katiemarie4488

I am eating around 1600 a day... and I See results...

_HeartsOnFire_

Read this...
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet?hl=short+sweet+<span class=

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1175494-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

BigVeggieDream

Bloom72, our treadmills at work have us input our weight, age, height and has a heart rate monitor in them. So when I do the incline I set my heart rate goal at 140 and it automatically adjusts the incline to increase or decrease my heart rate. I go off the calories the machine says and then log it as close as possible on MFP. I might say I walked 32 minutes, but actually walked 40 to get to the same calories burned on MFP.

I've been told that the ones that come on machines aren't very accurate.

Katiemarie4488

Oh - and I HIGHLY reccomend purchasing a heart rate monitor with a CHEST STRAP in it... The chest strap is VERY Accurate compared to the heart rate moniors that are in the machine or a watch only. I love the Polar brand. FT4 would be a great one for you to start out with, they are sold in stores like Dlck$ Sporting Goods etc. but I find them cheapest on this site.... TRUST me ..... a chest strap & Watch combo is the way to go.... to get ACCURATE calories burned

http://www.heartratemonitorsusa.com/polar-ft4.html

AsaThorsWoman

I'm facing the same problem. Though I'm at 225 consistently. I read on a forum that it's possible that we are undereating, and 1200 is actually too low. I'm not entirely sure what my problem is, but I did wonder if being under my goal was actually more detrimental. I am supposed to be at a 500 deficit from my BMR, which for me totals about 1660 calories per day. I used to think that being under that goal was a success, though now I wonder if it's actually much more important to be on par, so I don't starve. I am also trying to drink more water to see if this will help too.

I'm basically trying to troubleshoot my body. It does sound like 1200 is too low for you.

I recently went through the same thing. The hardest of all has been for me to get across and stay across the 200 mark. I sincerely doubt anyone is eating too little.

I started at 245 in June 2012 and am down to 185, so I know all about long stretches of plateau time.

First it was hard to stay under 200, then hard to stay under 190, I think I was stuck at 213 forever and a day...

Just stay on the path.

Remember, we didn't gain the weight in a day, we won't lose it in a day either.

cwkwkw2

Hang in there. Consistent work will bring results.

poohbah4

I know there's a lot of controversy about weight "set points" but from experience I think there is something to them. Whenever I lose or gain weight, there seem to be certain weights where I plateau for a period of time. I've found that if I just hang in there, and keep to my exercise routine I will eventually get past that "set point," usually with a drop of 1-2 pounds in a couple of days. It can be really discouraging, but then I go back and look at my weight chart and admire the steady long-term drop, where the plateaus sorta disappear into the background "noise." Hope this helps.

AmykinsCatfood

80lbs lost came off really quickly. Now I'm sitting at exactly 200 and haven't moved for three months. It's going to happen and you can't let it discourage you. Just keep up with your deficit and weigh and measure all your food. Sometimes your body goes through a period where it's re-distributing your weight around and that takes time. In the three months I went from a size 17 to a size 14 just from everything shifting around and I'm content with that.

jbella99

You can try a couple things.

Drink more water.

try to cut out refined carbs. Even just for a week and see if it makes a difference. So things like bread, pasta. anything that is not in its natural state. get your carbs from potatoes and rice instead,

up your calories by 500 for a week. This worked well for me in the past.