Cut out cheat meal, stopped losing weight

LaneB89

I'm about 6-7 months into my weight loss journey, and I've gone from an initial 240 lbs to 188 lbs with 23ish % body fat (5'11" male, age 24). During the course of my weight loss, I was steadily losing nearly 2 lbs a week while still eating what I would consider to be a lot. Every weekend I'd have one huge cheat meal and go way over my daily calories. I'm talking a 12 inch cheeseburger sub and a big platter of french fries or similar kind of cheat meal. I knew it was slowing my weight loss, but I was still losing steadily and it kept me sane.

Now that I'm closer to my goal (165 is my current goal), I've been able to clean up my diet even more and completely cut out the cheat meal. I'm eating what I would consider to be well under the TDEE given by the IIFYM calculator, and based on the calculator I would still expect to be losing 1.5 lbs a week at the least. For the last 3 weeks it seems the scale refuses to budge, and I'm not sure what to do about it.

I'm typically bad about keeping a running log on MFP because I feel I've got a pretty good handle on my intake amounts, but I've been logging since Saturday just to be sure I'm not miscounting calories. My log is public if you'd like to take a look - things like meats and rice are measured with a food scale or measuring cup. Any quick add calories you see were calculated from actual nutritional information where I didn't feel like inputting each individual thing (there's a 600ish calorie Chipotle meal in there that I calculated using their nutritional calc and just plugged in the calorie count). I also run 5k on the treadmill 4 times a week at a 6mph pace and lift weights on each of those days. I feel like I'm doing everything right, but my previously great progress has all but come to a halt...

SezxyStef

logging everyday is the only way to know how much you are eating and if aren't losing weight and not logging that is your answer...you don't have a handle on how much you are taking in.

Measuring cups for liquids only.

The closer you get to goal the more imporant logging accurately becomes

As well with 23lbs to go 1.5lbs a week is agressive and you should probably lessen that to 1/2-1lb a week, esp if your goal is 1500...I am a 41 year old woman..and I eat more than you do...1700-1900 on average a day and still lose weight..

Think of it this way...eat as much as you can and still lose a reasonable amount of weight...note I said reasonable...

spara0038

You tend to lose weight faster when you have more weight to lose, so having that slow down isn't unreasonable.

Also, have you recalculated your TDEE since losing that weight? I just plugged your info into the IIFYM BMR calculator, and your BMR dropped by about 325 calories/day (2275 calories/week, = 0.65 lbs/week less that you are burning, even at rest) !

Another thing- if you cut too low, your body will slow down your calorie burn even more b/c it thinks food is scarce and wants to conserve energy. I upped my calories from 1200/day to 1400/day and my average loss went from 1/week to about 1.5.

Log/measure everything you consume to identify trouble spots, and adjust accordingly.

LaneB89

The reason I don't feel a need to log every single day is because I eat almost the same exact food every single day, so I don't see intake changing by a significant amount. My dinner has been a chicken breast or the occasional swordfish steak (weighed), brown rice, and broccoli for 4+ months now - it is the only thing I eat for dinner, and each Sunday I make enough of it for the coming week. If I run out before the following Sunday, I supplement with Chipotle, which I also calculate. My breakfast has been the exact same brand and flavor breakfast bar for 5+ months now - it is the only thing I eat for breakfast. My lunch is either the exact same subway 6 inch sandwich or leftover dinner (the aforementioned chicken) throughout the work week, and a 280 calorie can of soup or small grocery store sushi pack on the weekends. My snacks are the same pretzels, the same edamame, and chewing gum. I drink zero alcohol or soda, and I do not go out to dinner. My overall diet consists of a pretty limited selection of foods which makes it very easy for me to know what I'm taking in.

I fully understand that as I near my goal weight, my weight loss will slow - it's just strange to me that it would slow from such steady to loss to having difficulty telling if I'm even losing virtually overnight, with no noticeable change to my routine other than that I'm running faster and eating even less than before. Especially given that I still have a hefty body fat percentage, I didn't expect to plateau so early.

LaneB89

You tend to lose weight faster when you have more weight to lose, so having that slow down isn't unreasonable.

Also, have you recalculated your TDEE since losing that weight? I just plugged your info into the IIFYM BMR calculator, and your BMR dropped by about 325 calories/day (2275 calories/week, = 0.65 lbs/week less that you are burning, even at rest) !

Another thing- if you cut too low, your body will slow down your calorie burn even more b/c it thinks food is scarce and wants to conserve energy. I upped my calories from 1200/day to 1400/day and my average loss went from 1/week to about 1.5.

Log/measure everything you consume to identify trouble spots, and adjust accordingly.

Yes, I'm basing all my TDEE calculations on my current weight of 188 lbs, and I use conservative numbers for everything. I'm closer to 6 foot than 5'11" but I use 5'11". I work out 4 days a week but use 3 on the calculator, and I use the lean mass formula because I know my body fat % (which I round up). With these numbers, and using the "reckless" fat loss option of a 25% deficit, it says I should be eating 1847 calories a day, which I'm comfortably beneath.

lavendy17

Sounds like one of two things:
1. A plateau- you simply wait it out for 6-8 weeks
2. You might be eating too much and not notice- keep logging accurately and consistently, make sure to recalculate TDEE with new lower weight.

SezxyStef

again if you aren't losing you are not in a deficet...

and you are eating less than me...doesn't that make you wonder about what you could be doing to your metabolism?

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/another-look-at-metabolic-damage.html#more-9313
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html

LaneB89

I've read both of those articles previously, and they make clear that the adaptive function of metabolism is not enough to completely halt weight loss in a person on a low calorie diet. The article also insinuates that a lot of people seem to omit their binges - I can confidently say this isn't the case for me. All that popcorn I ate on Saturday? That was my binge - I was experimenting a little to see if the carb spike would do anything for leptin levels and potentially help my metabolism. I guess if I don't have a deficit at 1300-1600 calories, then this is where my weight loss ends because I'm not comfortable going any lower. Seems strange that my metabolic rate would be that low when I'm still overweight by all measures, but I guess there it is. I'm confident that even if my logging is off, it's not off by enough to be at maintenance. I'd have to be eating more than an entire extra meal's worth of hidden calories every day for that to be the case, and I know that I'm not.

Vigilance88

For me, the 'whoosh' experiences are real.
My scale won't budge for 4 weeks sometimes, and then in a week or so it goes down 3 pounds.
I change up my excercise regularly and keep eating the goal cals.

If you're so confident in your intake being correct without counting calories strictly, wait it out some more before changing anything.

lavendy17

For me, the 'whoosh' experiences are real.
My scale won't budge for 4 weeks sometimes, and then in a week or so it goes down 3 pounds.
I change up my excercise regularly and keep eating the goal cals.

If you're so confident in your intake being correct without counting calories strictly, wait it out some more before changing anything.

Yes.
Listen, you sound very confident in your routine. It may very well be a typical plateau. Don't worry, takes 6-8 weeks for a plateau to break.

Mean while, some tips I am familiar with are to eat different foods, or eat one greasy meal like a hamburger, but just the one time, drink more water, watch sodium intake, and log accurately for a while so you can control that variable.

Topsking2010

Bump

laurenawolf

I was just looking at your diary, and I don't think you're logging everything correctly. I mean two containers of gum in a day? I would really make sure that you are logging everything as it says on the package it came in.

thavoice

I still do a cheat meal once a week, but I also make sure I dont surround it with alot of other garbage that day. Usually fast or eat very little that day up to that point so I get to enjoy the great meal, and dont have to worry about going over the cals for the day.

Win win

LaneB89

I was just looking at your diary, and I don't think you're logging everything correctly. I mean two containers of gum in a day? I would really make sure that you are logging everything as it says on the package it came in.

Yes, the two containers of gum in one day is correct. I actually went through all 36 pieces in about 2-3 hours this morning. A habit I formed when I quit smoking a year or two ago. Usually do that twice a week.

laurenawolf

I was just looking at your diary, and I don't think you're logging everything correctly. I mean two containers of gum in a day? I would really make sure that you are logging everything as it says on the package it came in.

Yes, the two containers of gum in one day is correct. I actually went through all 36 pieces in about 2-3 hours this morning. A habit I formed when I quit smoking a year or two ago. Usually do that twice a week.

Understandable then! Just was looking out for you!

Francl27

For me, the 'whoosh' experiences are real.
My scale won't budge for 4 weeks sometimes, and then in a week or so it goes down 3 pounds.
I change up my excercise regularly and keep eating the goal cals.

If you're so confident in your intake being correct without counting calories strictly, wait it out some more before changing anything.

This! Also make sure to adjust your calorie goal now that you've lost weight, but yeah, you should still be losing if you haven't changed anything in the last month and lost 1.5 lb a week before.

MagnumBurrito

Your protein intake looks way to low. You've probably been burning fat and muscle. I guessing your body is going to survival mode.

I suggest upping your calories, protein, and good fats. Also, forget the treadmill and just lift with free weights and/or do body weight circuits.

lindsey1979

It sounds like water retention as many others have noted. I had a similar experience and started instituting a weekly refeed day where I eat more carbs than usual (as I usually restrict them) and at maintenance for that day. My overall deficit for the week is still considerable, but the refeed day seems to help avoiding the water retention stalls. I've found this to be very help in keeping the scale going downward and not stalling with water retention. Here are some good articles on it that I found very helpful and why I decided to institute a refeed day myself.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html
http://www.leangains.com/2010/01/how-to-deal-with-water-retention-part_28.html