I'm stuck, big time weight plateau?

Navroop

Eating too few calories puts your body in fight/flight mode where you stop losing weight. Your body isn't getting enough calories so it stores the food you do eat as fat. My suggestion would be to up your calories by 100. Ive been where you are and stuck, the problem was eating too few calories. Its difficult because you think eating less calories will make you lose more weight and you feel slightly guilty for eating more calories, thats only a short term thought and when the weight starts dropping off you won't be thinking that. Add weights into your diet and another portion of vegetables and a fruit, drink lots of water (I mean finish a glass and go fill up another one so you always have water near you). Hope that helps .

rodduz

Open your diary so we can have a look at what you are eating. My guess is you're eating more than you think and eating in excess of 1200 calories and eating at maintenance.

Hellbent_Heidi

Its very possible you're eating more than you think, but if you're truly eating UNDER 1200, then you shouldn't 'eat less' at all.

I'd suggest mixing up your workout routine though. Have you been doing the same thing for a long time? Maybe add some new strength training or different cardio to shake things up. Based on how good you look now, it seems like you don't have much to lose, so often the last pounds are the ones that take the longest to drop.

Good luck...and hang in there!

1saturn

First of all, you look amazing, second of all you sound like you have a food issue if you are eating so little, I would see a dietician and therapist. I don't know you but if what you are saying is actually true, that is not good to be eating like that, it's no where near enough. Your body needs a certain amount to be keeping it running.

Second of all, if you haven't got a clue what you are doing I would read those thinks that previous poster put up.

Are you going strictly for a weight goal or a look? Cos a if it is a look, you can get that with exercise. Add a weights.

Ditch the high levels of caffeine, drink lots of water, that will make you lose water weight, not fat, but you will feel better.
You are not having enough protein at all if that is a typical day (other than not actually having enough though you didn't say what your dinner was but if it is low cal there won't be room for enough protein).

Thankyou. I think I fill up more on dinner than I made it seem. The dinners are filling and reasonable. I don't get much protein because I am veggie and I am allergic to a few things. I have eggs or chicpeas for lunch a lot though.
It is possible that I have a food issue but I am not thin at all so it can't be very bad haha. I get positive comments from my friends but my family always hint I could/should lose more weight. Being that my body is curvy it's quite easy for people think of me as fat or chubby etc.
I think I would look better if I lost ten pounds. Yes, I am striving for a number because I really don't like the one I'm at. Is that bad? My BMI is okay but because I'm only 5'3 my weight seems a lot to me.

tangobaby15

When I first started with MFP I lost 4 kilos very rapidly. It was actually kind of scary how fast the weight came off. Then nothing. I read how many people said to increase your food. Finally I did that. I went from 1200 calories to 1400 - 1500 per day. At first I gained a kilo back, then after a couple of weeks I lost it again and since then, the weight has been coming off again.

I think that if you are eating less than 1200 calories you have put your body into starvation mode. It will look to conserve as much as possible. You need to eat more. I know that sounds weird, but that is what you need to do.

1saturn

I'm not sure what your "cardio/toning" program is right now, but you might want to look into lifting heavy weights plus HiiT cardio. I am a pear trying to lose the last few stubborn pounds myself and the last ones are the hardest. Every half pound is a victory. I also have a weight that my body likes to stick at, but I would prefer 5-8 lbs less. I have been doing the Strong Curves program by Bret Contreras and it is really shaping up my glutes and hips. My upper body is also toning up with makes my hips look better proportioned.

To me it seems like you are not eating enough. Is MFP telling you to eat 1200? What is your weight loss goal per week? If it is the last 10 lbs it shouldn't be more than .5 to 1 lb a week.

Hi
I go jogging for 20 mins and probably spend about 10 mins doing full body toning/exercises. I mix that up but I stick to my usual cardio because gym isn't ideal for me right now.
That programme sounds fun. I have an hourglass body so weight pretty much goes everywhere on me. My thighs are a massive problem area for me though, inner thighs especially. Awfully stubborn.
No I set my goals higher because if I set my goal lower it would probably be more effective as I am stuck at this weight. I can't get past it. Every time I diet I get stuck here and it's so frustrating.

1saturn

When I first started with MFP I lost 4 kilos very rapidly. It was actually kind of scary how fast the weight came off. Then nothing. I read how many people said to increase your food. Finally I did that. I went from 1200 calories to 1400 - 1500 per day. At first I gained a kilo back, then after a couple of weeks I lost it again and since then, the weight has been coming off again.

I think that if you are eating less than 1200 calories you have put your body into starvation mode. It will look to conserve as much as possible. You need to eat more. I know that sounds weird, but that is what you need to do.

I think this could be true. Today I've eaten a weightwaters toast and a glass of water and I feel full. Like I don't need to eat till dinner but that can't be a good sign. I get scared to eat more though, it just seems like it wouldn't work for me but I might be wrong entirely. So hard to know . I always get stuck at the same weight though, which is the most strange thing.

1saturn

Eating too few calories puts your body in fight/flight mode where you stop losing weight. Your body isn't getting enough calories so it stores the food you do eat as fat. My suggestion would be to up your calories by 100. Ive been where you are and stuck, the problem was eating too few calories. Its difficult because you think eating less calories will make you lose more weight and you feel slightly guilty for eating more calories, thats only a short term thought and when the weight starts dropping off you won't be thinking that. Add weights into your diet and another portion of vegetables and a fruit, drink lots of water (I mean finish a glass and go fill up another one so you always have water near you). Hope that helps .

Thanks. I think I might try this but I'm not sure. I absolutely need to drink more water though, this might help. (Prepare for massive overshare) I only go to the toilet like twice a week. I have no idea what this means but it can't be good. I'm not sure what's doing on but it's the same story every time I try to lose weight. I get stuck and go around in circles.

rodduz

You go to the toilet twice per week? To p*ss?

Something is drastically wrong!

ttpop

Go here:
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Type in your information. Look at the number it calculates for you. That is the amount of calories you burn if you sleep in bed and watch tv all day (BMR). Do not eat below this range or your body will go into starvation mode and you will slow down your metabolism drastically.

Multiply the number you get according to how active you are. Be honest with how active you are otherwise you will either go back into starvation mode, or over eat. Use this equation:
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

Example:
Pretend your BMR is 1377, multiply it by 1.375 because you're lightly active. You get 1893.375. This is the amount of calories to eat a day to maintain weight. To lose a pound a week you must eat at a deficit of 3500 calories a week. (3500 calories = 1 pound) So if you wanted to lose weight, you'd subtract 1893.375 - 500 = 1393.375. (3500 calories/7 days = 500)

I would eat 1394 calories a day to lose a pound a week.

rodduz

Starvation mode is a load of b*llocks people. My BMR is 1823 and I eat below that at the minute and lose perfectly well, loads in fact. Just don't do it long term. We all need to spend period in a deficit, at maintenance and in a surplus.

1saturn

Ok.

There are a few places where people fail here.

1) measuring their intake. People just screw this up constantly. Weigh and measure EVERYTHING. And be accurate. This is the number one problem here. Studies have proven that people grossly underestimate how much they actually eat. If you don't weigh it, you really don't know. Don't ever just guess, or eye-ball it. At least not while you are trying to figure things out.

2) measuring their outflow. This is much harder than #1 because it cannot actually be measured without some very expensive lab equipment. This is the second area where people grossly overestimate. Now, there are a few ways to figure this out. With as little as you're eating, I think you need to eat back exercise calories, but I'd also not eat them ALL back, and here's why...let's say that you burn 1200 calories a day. So, that is your maintenance. If you continue eating 1200 cals a day for the rest of your life, you stay right where you are forever. Now, let's say you run on the treadmill for one hour. In that one hour, you burned 600 calories. Well, you burned 600 calories, but some of those 600 calories you would have burned anyway just sitting on your couch. To be exact, if you burn 1200 calories a day, that means you burn 50 calories an hour just existing. So, you need to subtract 50 calories for that hour you were on the treadmill, and log 550 calories burned. Now, you can safely eat 550 calories, plus your 1200. The 50 calories you subtracted is already part of your 1200.

Obviously the numbers I am using are purely to explain the point of eating back exercise calories. You should always eat them back. Some people eat half and some people don't eat them back, but be careful with that and make sure you understand what's going on here. MFP build in a calorie deficit. It's calked the NEAT method. This means that when you exercise, you create an even larger deficit, and this can be unhealthy. But, if you eat back your exercise calories, you ensure that you maintain that healthy deficit and you don't fall into the weird zone with your health. Many people here do not understand this at all and proceed to give absolute crap advice.

The above are the two largest contributors of failure.

Lastly, as you lose, you need to eat less. About every 5 to 10 lbs, you need to adjust down your calorie intake. MFP does not always adjust automatically. What I do is when I weigh in, I go back to the settings, and just reset, and then it adjusts automatically. I weigh once a week. So, every week I adjust my calories by resetting. It doesn't move much, but that's ok. It makes slight adjustments based on my new weight.

Ohh, okay! I think I'm starting to get it. See, I would never eat the calories back at all. I will start following this technique and see how it goes.
How much does exercise effect the whole process? I am not sure how much I should do since I'm trying to get past the plateau. Can you see a reason why every time I try to lose weight I get stuck at my current weight? I haven't been below this weight since puberty! I don't understand. It is literally the exact weight as well. I've been here for months. I also only go to the toilet twice a week. Something must be going wrong .

1saturn

You go to the toilet twice per week? To p*ss?

Something is drastically wrong!

To pee? No of course not. I need to pee often, ha. I only actually go like once or twice. I heard that's quite bad.

rsanchez920

Have a little patience even though its hard.....Try bringing your workout to 1 hr and stay in the fat burning zone which is a moderate level. Up your water intake and try to eat different things for breakfast,lunch, ect to change it up a bit....

CharleePear

First of all, you look amazing, second of all you sound like you have a food issue if you are eating so little, I would see a dietician and therapist. I don't know you but if what you are saying is actually true, that is not good to be eating like that, it's no where near enough. Your body needs a certain amount to be keeping it running.

Second of all, if you haven't got a clue what you are doing I would read those thinks that previous poster put up.

Are you going strictly for a weight goal or a look? Cos a if it is a look, you can get that with exercise. Add a weights.

Ditch the high levels of caffeine, drink lots of water, that will make you lose water weight, not fat, but you will feel better.
You are not having enough protein at all if that is a typical day (other than not actually having enough though you didn't say what your dinner was but if it is low cal there won't be room for enough protein).

Thankyou. I think I fill up more on dinner than I made it seem. The dinners are filling and reasonable. I don't get much protein because I am veggie and I am allergic to a few things. I have eggs or chicpeas for lunch a lot though.
It is possible that I have a food issue but I am not thin at all so it can't be very bad haha. I get positive comments from my friends but my family always hint I could/should lose more weight. Being that my body is curvy it's quite easy for people think of me as fat or chubby etc.
I think I would look better if I lost ten pounds. Yes, I am striving for a number because I really don't like the one I'm at. Is that bad? My BMI is okay but because I'm only 5'3 my weight seems a lot to me.

You really do sound like you have body image issues, BMIs are BS, you need to be happy with yourself, for yourself and not for other people, you aren't big, you have curves cos you are a woman and you are supposed to. It would be quite difficult for people to think YOUR body is fat of chubby! Seriously! Nothing wrong with looking for a better you, just don't over strive.

I do think you need help. I would get therapy above all else.

Hellbent_Heidi

You go to the toilet twice per week? To p*ss?

Something is drastically wrong!

To pee? No of course not. I need to pee often, ha. I only actually go like once or twice. I heard that's quite bad.

Add more fiber into your diet....maybe you're not getting enough?

_lyndseybrooke_

Eat less. You're obviously in maintenance. You need to eat less, workout more, ir with more intensity, or some combo of both. Barring any medical condition, it's an energy equation of cals in/out.

My advice is to never ever take advice from this guy. Eat less than 1200 calories and work out more? 1200 calories per day is maintenance? Unless you're 3 feet tall, 1200 calories isn't maintenance.

1saturn

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Kind of agree there^^^

OP, what is your current weight?
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I am 139lbs at 5'3