Stalled weight loss

alq76

So Ive started exercising and diet for about 3 months now, For the past year or so I never really ate but maybe once or twice a day but since starting a diet plan I eat anywhere from 1500-2000 calories and Im still not dropping just maintaining. I had one or two good weeks where I finally broke under the 300 mark but Im back to maintaining again. Im at a loss as to what step I should take next. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

wheird

Hey bud, welcome to MFP.


Could you please set your diary to "public" so we can take a gander at it?

brower47

Hey bud, welcome to MFP.


Could you please set your diary to "public" so we can take a gander at it?

This. It's the only way people can give informed advice. Without it, we'd just be making uninformed guesses.

AzaleaNicole38

I'm no expert, but it could be an array of things.
1. You may not actually be eating at a deficit. Measuring your food is a big help.
2. Go to the doctor. You may have an overactive/underactive thyroid or something else. I know this is my problem.
3. You may have messed up your metabolism by eating so little. This also happened to me. I wasn't eating anything in the day, and ate late at night and went to sleep. I gained so much weight doing this and screwed up my metabolism real bad. Which leads me to my next point.
4. You may not be getting enough sleep. And lastly
5. It takes time!

Christ, I hate that last one, but I've been dieting for a month, and the weight has only just started to come off, and as a matter of fact I'm at a stand still now, but I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing!

alq76

Got it set to public sorry bout that, I imagine that would help a bit.

wheird

Thanks for opening it!

The first thing that jumps out at me is that you're not logging daily, therefore you cannot accurately say what calorie level you have been eating at.

My suggestion for now is to start logging diligently every day for 4-6 weeks and see what the scale does then.

alq76

Thyroid may be it been considering going to get it checked, I go to the gym with 3 other chaps and they're in their 30-40lb loss right now which is fantastic for them, but 11lb loss or so just doesnt seem to add up.

alq76

Diet for the longest time was shakes in the morning then fish and broccoli for lunch and dinner.

wheird

That does not sound like a very nutritious diet.

alq76

Probably not, lol figured baked tilapia and broccoli was better than smashing a pizza though.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

wheird

Probably not, lol figured baked tilapia and broccoli was better than smashing a pizza though.

In terms of pure nutrition, a pizza is actually superior to what you were consuming.


Ok, I'll amend my prior advice to add: Add more variety to your diet.

AzaleaNicole38

I still try to work in a pizza if I can, because I did the whole clean eating thing and I'm like, "I can't bloody eat like this for the rest of my life!" So everything is good in moderation. But I think also your body might be holding onto weight if that's all you're eating AND you're working out. Do you eat back your cals? I know that depending on the workout, I can burn almost 1000 cals. Now that I eat more, I weigh less!
I think overall a check up is in order. Even if it isn't your thyroid, maybe your doctor can give you a meal plan or recommend a nutritionist.

lindsey1979

Probably not, lol figured baked tilapia and broccoli was better than smashing a pizza though.

In terms of pure nutrition, a pizza is actually superior to what you were consuming.


Ok, I'll amend my prior advice to add: Add more variety to your diet.

How do you figure that? Pizza is mostly bread and cheese -- not exactly the most nutrient dense food, though calorically it packs a whopper. I didn't think I'd ever see someone say nutritionally speaking, pizza is superior to fish and broccoli. Wow.

alq76

Diet for the longest time was shakes in the morning then fish and broccoli for lunch and dinner.

Besides it being a bit bland you also made no mention of the actual calories in those meals. Do you weigh and measure all your food and liquids?

4oz fish 100 calories
2 cups broccoli 62 calories
Whey shake 150 calories 1scoop to 6 oz of water
Usually lemon pepper seasoning on the fish
Water is my main go to for liquid with the occasional ice tea limited sugar

wheird

Probably not, lol figured baked tilapia and broccoli was better than smashing a pizza though.

In terms of pure nutrition, a pizza is actually superior to what you were consuming.


Ok, I'll amend my prior advice to add: Add more variety to your diet.

How do you figure that? Pizza is mostly bread and cheese -- not exactly the most nutrient dense food, though calorically it packs a whopper. I didn't think I'd ever see someone say nutritionally speaking, pizza is superior to fish and broccoli. Wow.

Um, are you kidding me? It is nutritionally superior because it had a wider array of micronutrients depending on the toppings.

AzaleaNicole38

Probably not, lol figured baked tilapia and broccoli was better than smashing a pizza though.

In terms of pure nutrition, a pizza is actually superior to what you were consuming.


Ok, I'll amend my prior advice to add: Add more variety to your diet.

How do you figure that? Pizza is mostly bread and cheese -- not exactly the most nutrient dense food, though calorically it packs a whopper. I didn't think I'd ever see someone say nutritionally speaking, pizza is superior to fish and broccoli. Wow.

I think he means in the sense if you have a veggie pizza, you can get maybe 2-3 servings of veggies depending. Whole wheat thin crust is an option (grains). Cheese is dairy. Throw some meat on there and nutritionally speaking, you've got all your food groups.

alq76

I still try to work in a pizza if I can, because I did the whole clean eating thing and I'm like, "I can't bloody eat like this for the rest of my life!" So everything is good in moderation. But I think also your body might be holding onto weight if that's all you're eating AND you're working out. Do you eat back your cals? I know that depending on the workout, I can burn almost 1000 cals. Now that I eat more, I weigh less!
I think overall a check up is in order. Even if it isn't your thyroid, maybe your doctor can give you a meal plan or recommend a nutritionist.

Im gonna say not so much on eating them back I would just stick to my calorie goal.

Oi_Sunshine

Diet for the longest time was shakes in the morning then fish and broccoli for lunch and dinner.

Besides it being a bit bland you also made no mention of the actual calories in those meals. Do you weigh and measure all your food and liquids?

4oz fish 100 calories
2 cups broccoli 62 calories
Whey shake 150 calories 1scoop to 6 oz of water
Usually lemon pepper seasoning on the fish
Water is my main go to for liquid with the occasional ice tea limited sugar

that's maybe 600 calories a day. My three year old eats more. Please eat pizza. Or something. The food choices are healthy but there isnt enough of it.

lindsey1979

Probably not, lol figured baked tilapia and broccoli was better than smashing a pizza though.

In terms of pure nutrition, a pizza is actually superior to what you were consuming.


Ok, I'll amend my prior advice to add: Add more variety to your diet.

How do you figure that? Pizza is mostly bread and cheese -- not exactly the most nutrient dense food, though calorically it packs a whopper. I didn't think I'd ever see someone say nutritionally speaking, pizza is superior to fish and broccoli. Wow.

I think he means in the sense if you have a veggie pizza, you can get maybe 2-3 servings of veggies depending. Whole wheat thin crust is an option (grains). Cheese is dairy. Throw some meat on there and nutritionally speaking, you've got all your food groups.

Perhaps, but most pizzas don't have super awesome veggies, at least not in good proportions. If you're looking to get your vegetable servings from pizza, wow, that's going to be a challenge. I can see perhaps the comparison if the guy was eating something very nutritionally shallow like celery or iceberg lettuce, but broccoli is incredibly nutrient dense and one of the most bang for your buck veggies calorie-wise.

But, yes, I suppose you can get more micronutrients if you have a few mushrooms, onions or peppers on a pizza. I just can't believe anyone thinks that is nutritionally superior to tilapia and broccoli. Wow.

cmurra6745

1. figure out your tdee
2. eat 500-600 cals a day below that (aka if your tdee is 2700 cals eat 2200 NOT 1500 not 30000)
3. when more than 5 lbs has dropped off yourself recalculate your tdee and continue to eat at a deficit
4. lift weight , replacing with muscle or gaining muscle will burn more cals throught the day the scale will not show weight loss always as muscle is denser and weighs the same
5. do atleast 2 days of cardio to start not only is it cardiovascularly good for you but will garner you a larger deficit
6. DO NOT EAT BACK CALORIES!!
7 eat more variety for god sake!

Unknown

This content has been removed.

alq76

Diet for the longest time was shakes in the morning then fish and broccoli for lunch and dinner.

Besides it being a bit bland you also made no mention of the actual calories in those meals. Do you weigh and measure all your food and liquids?

4oz fish 100 calories
2 cups broccoli 62 calories
Whey shake 150 calories 1scoop to 6 oz of water


Usually lemon pepper seasoning on the fish
Water is my main go to for liquid with the occasional ice tea limited sugar

that's maybe 600 calories a day. My three year old eats more. Please eat pizza. Or something. The food choices are healthy but there isnt enough of it.

My bad I should have put servings as well,
4 pieces of fish 2 cups of broccoli for each meal which still isn't enough, but I find it hard to try and eat more.

wheird

Probably not, lol figured baked tilapia and broccoli was better than smashing a pizza though.

In terms of pure nutrition, a pizza is actually superior to what you were consuming.


Ok, I'll amend my prior advice to add: Add more variety to your diet.

How do you figure that? Pizza is mostly bread and cheese -- not exactly the most nutrient dense food, though calorically it packs a whopper. I didn't think I'd ever see someone say nutritionally speaking, pizza is superior to fish and broccoli. Wow.

I think he means in the sense if you have a veggie pizza, you can get maybe 2-3 servings of veggies depending. Whole wheat thin crust is an option (grains). Cheese is dairy. Throw some meat on there and nutritionally speaking, you've got all your food groups.

Perhaps, but most pizzas don't have super awesome veggies, at least not in good proportions. If you're looking to get your vegetable servings from pizza, wow, that's going to be a challenge. I can see perhaps the comparison if the guy was eating something very nutritionally shallow like celery or iceberg lettuce, but broccoli is incredibly nutrient dense and one of the most bang for your buck veggies calorie-wise.

But, yes, I suppose you can get more micronutrients if you have a few mushrooms, onions or peppers on a pizza. I just can't believe anyone thinks that is nutritionally superior to tilapia and broccoli. Wow.

Two slices of pizza with some veggies is by far nutritionally superior than 100 calories of tilapia and 62 calories of brocolli. You're getting much more dietary fat and a wider array of micronutrients.

If I am wrong, please tell me how.

lindsey1979

Diet for the longest time was shakes in the morning then fish and broccoli for lunch and dinner.

Besides it being a bit bland you also made no mention of the actual calories in those meals. Do you weigh and measure all your food and liquids?

4oz fish 100 calories
2 cups broccoli 62 calories
Whey shake 150 calories 1scoop to 6 oz of water
Usually lemon pepper seasoning on the fish
Water is my main go to for liquid with the occasional ice tea limited sugar

that's maybe 600 calories a day. My three year old eats more. Please eat pizza. Or something. The food choices are healthy but there isnt enough of it.

These calories do seem WAY too low as an average. VLCD are not recommended unless you're considerably obese and under a doctor's supervision because they can wreak havoc on your body if not done correctly -- can cause all sort of hormonal problems that create all sorts of problems.

If you want to do this as part of an intermittent fasting plan -- like 5;2 -- to get your weekly deficit, that's a reasonable path. But, as a general rule, you should be averaging WAY more calories than this.

lindsey1979

Probably not, lol figured baked tilapia and broccoli was better than smashing a pizza though.

In terms of pure nutrition, a pizza is actually superior to what you were consuming.


Ok, I'll amend my prior advice to add: Add more variety to your diet.

How do you figure that? Pizza is mostly bread and cheese -- not exactly the most nutrient dense food, though calorically it packs a whopper. I didn't think I'd ever see someone say nutritionally speaking, pizza is superior to fish and broccoli. Wow.

I think he means in the sense if you have a veggie pizza, you can get maybe 2-3 servings of veggies depending. Whole wheat thin crust is an option (grains). Cheese is dairy. Throw some meat on there and nutritionally speaking, you've got all your food groups.

Perhaps, but most pizzas don't have super awesome veggies, at least not in good proportions. If you're looking to get your vegetable servings from pizza, wow, that's going to be a challenge. I can see perhaps the comparison if the guy was eating something very nutritionally shallow like celery or iceberg lettuce, but broccoli is incredibly nutrient dense and one of the most bang for your buck veggies calorie-wise.

But, yes, I suppose you can get more micronutrients if you have a few mushrooms, onions or peppers on a pizza. I just can't believe anyone thinks that is nutritionally superior to tilapia and broccoli. Wow.

Two slices of pizza with some veggies is by far nutritionally superior than 100 calories of tilapia and 62 calories of brocolli. You're getting much more dietary fat and a wider array of micronutrients.

If I am wrong, please tell me how.

The guy is eating too little, without a doubt. How much do you think 162 calories of your veggie pizza is? 1/3 of a slice? Maybe...

If you're suggesting the pizza because he needs more calories, sure -- he certainly needs more calories. But to say its nutritionally superior is a stretch. To compare, you've got to compare servings of similar calories. Calorie-for-calorie, tilapia and broccoli is going to be FAR superior to two slices of pizza. Unless you're doing something highly irregular to the pizza and making it some sort of super pizza. Your average pizza isn't going to come close to that. You're going to have a fairly low calorie-to-nutritent ratio because pizza is so calorically dense with the crust and cheese.

alq76

1. figure out your tdee
2. eat 500-600 cals a day below that
3. when more than 5 lbs has dropped off yourself recalculate your tdee and continue to eat at a deficit
4. lift weight , replacing with muscle or gaining muscle will burn more cals throught the day the scale will not show weight loss always as muscle is denser and weighs the same
5. do atleast 2 days of cardio to start not only is it cardiovascularly good for you but will garner you a larger deficit
6. DO NOT EAT BACK CALORIES!!
7 eat more variety for god sake!

My workout week consists of 2 days of lifting, 3 days of cardio
My tdee is close to 4000

wheird

While I agree that the caloric difference is huge, my main point is that he needs a much wider variety of veggies in his diet.

lindsey1979

While I agree that the caloric difference is huge, my main point is that he needs a much wider variety of veggies in his diet.

I totally agree with you that. That was just the first time I've ever seen someone suggest veggie pizza as a way to increase the variety of veggies in a diet.

pjarellano

The body is curious thing. It would be great if we could just say...so this is the plan. And it would say got it. But the problem is, the body is a know-it-all. And sometimes it says, hey I think this is a good set weight. So you need to let it know you don't agree. You might try switching up your exercise routine. Work different muscles, different cardio. I have had some stubborn battles with my body over mind. But have found by throwing something new to my stubborn body, naturally started reacting to what my mind wanted it to do. Just keep a good sense of humor. It will keep your body on it's toes.

wheird

While I agree that the caloric difference is huge, my main point is that he needs a much wider variety of veggies in his diet.

I totally agree with you that. That was just the first time I've ever seen someone suggest veggie pizza as a way to increase the variety of veggies in a diet.

I just said it was better than what he was currently eating!