Maintaing weight at calorie deficit?

molson55

Okay so at first I thought this was a plateau, but I've maintained my weight for over a month now and I've supposedly been eating at a calorie deficit. My goal is 1,360 and I usually try and stay about 100 below (as room for error with my measuring). I exercise at least 4-5 days a week (lots of cardio) but I've stayed the same weight for a while. This only concerns me because I'm heading back to college soon so I thought I would up my calories to "maintenance" since that would be easier with college food and all. BUT I don't want to up calories and then risk gaining weight if I'm staying the same with the amount of calories that are supposed to be losing me weight. Does that make sense? Any suggestions?

Branstin

... I've supposedly been eating at a calorie deficit.

This is your issue right here. You are guessing on your calories and don't know for sure. The odds are you are eating too much and blowing your calorie deficiency. You have to find a better way to manage your calories like buying a food scale.

vismal

If you aren't losing weight you aren't eating in a deficit. Plain and simple. Odds are your calories are low enough you simply aren't tracking them accurately and are overeating without knowing it. Do you weigh all your food on a food scale or do you use cups and tablespoons? Or do you simply estimate? Do you do cheat or free days that you don't calculate? If so how often? These things matter tremendously.

SezxyStef

buy a food scale.

However you asked this last week too and you had said you had changed things up in the last couple weeks...you adjusted calories, you changed up exercise...and that was from

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1395527-feel-like-giving-up

If it's only been two weeks since you stopped changing things,

buy a food scale.

I suspect you are eating a lot more than you think.

Unknown

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molson55

I measure everything out but I don't own a scale. I understand that I could be eating more but that's why I try and stay around 100 less than I should and then NEVER eat back my exercise calories.

erickirb

I measure everything out but I don't own a scale. I understand that I could be eating more but that's why I try and stay around 100 less than I should and then NEVER eat back my exercise calories.

Not weighing food may have your cals off by 10-50%, not just 100 cals

MsBetteDavis

If you think that you're inputting is accurate, then maybe you're like me. I eat at a deficit for most of the work week so that I can eat more over the weekends. I've maintained my weight by doing this so perhaps you're actually doing something similar? If you eat about 400 less calories in total over four days, but then you eat that 400 calories somewhere in the next three days, you'd maintain per week.

joannbartosh

Have you increased the intensity and style of your cardio? If not that is why. IF you are eating the same calories then that is not your problem. When your exercising stays the same, your muscle memory kicks in and you won't lose weight or build muscle. You need to change up your program every few weeks.

DeguelloTex

Have you increased the intensity and style of your cardio? If not that is why. IF you are eating the same calories then that is not your problem. When your exercising stays the same, your muscle memory kicks in and you won't lose weight or build muscle. You need to change up your program every few weeks.

What? You'll lose weight if you're in a deficit whether you "confuse" your body with different exercises or you don't.

hill8570

I measure everything out but I don't own a scale. I understand that I could be eating more but that's why I try and stay around 100 less than I should and then NEVER eat back my exercise calories.

100 cals isn't enough scoosh, in my experience. I don't weigh my food either, but try to leave around 250 scoosh...seems to work out for me. I'd say you're doing good on your exercise days (although realize that you're logging gross burn, not net burn), so there's and extra 50-100 calories per hour you're logging for exercise, but probably eating over target slightly on your non-exercise days. Oh, and if you're not logging *everything* (like that flyby piece of candy), those can add up in a hurry.

vballstlgirl

Hi there -

All the suggestions sound great - i.e. making sure you are really eating what you think you are. However I was the same way just maintaining when I should have been losing. Women's bodies and hormones don't always respond to that whole "calories in calories out" lose weight concept. Look at your carbs - maybe try carb cycling and see if you respond to that (i.e. day 1 eat healthy carbs - oatmeal, fruit, sweet potato etc day 2 only have a carb at breakfast, etc). Also, I would make sure you are lifting weights - not just doing cardio. Starting on weights is where I saw my weight drop pretty significantly PLUS really tone up, which makes you look smaller even though your weight might be heavier. Best of luck to break through this!

molson55

Hi there -

All the suggestions sound great - i.e. making sure you are really eating what you think you are. However I was the same way just maintaining when I should have been losing. Women's bodies and hormones don't always respond to that whole "calories in calories out" lose weight concept. Look at your carbs - maybe try carb cycling and see if you respond to that (i.e. day 1 eat healthy carbs - oatmeal, fruit, sweet potato etc day 2 only have a carb at breakfast, etc). Also, I would make sure you are lifting weights - not just doing cardio. Starting on weights is where I saw my weight drop pretty significantly PLUS really tone up, which makes you look smaller even though your weight might be heavier. Best of luck to break through this!

Thank you! That was one of the most encouraging and not angry sounding responses I've gotten hah. I'm doing my best with the limited "measuring abilities" that I have. Once I'm back at school and have access to a gym I will for sure do weights more.

DeguelloTex

It was also the one that didn't tell you that you were eating more than you think if you aren't losing weight. Probably just a coincidence.

nellyett

I suspect that you're calorie deficit is too large. This happened to me way back when I first came to this site and plateaued pretty quickly. MFP already factors in your deficit before exercise, so if you're working out almost everyday, you're creating an even bigger deficit.

In my personal experience, my body started to hold onto every single thing it could since I was NETTING too low. As soon as I upped my calorie base to just over my BMR, I felt immediately better and the weight just started dropping off. I reached my goal weight and then quit smoking. That's when all hell broke loose. lol

It's counter intuitive to eat more than you think you need to, but I know it works and it works well. There is another link within this one that is a must read as well. I wish I'd had this information when I was your age....I wouldn't have had to endure all the fads, yo-yo'ing and everything else that comes with stupid dieting.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here

Good luck!

molson55

It was also the one that didn't tell you that you were eating more than you think if you aren't losing weight. Probably just a coincidence.

No she said to make sure I'm actually eating what I think I am. Just gave me positive support too. I agree with you all that I'm probably eating more than I think. Just needed some nice words as well. Nothing against the rest of you

tfblair

Don't forget that you're still growing - you're adding lean body mass just because you're so young. Don't make the mistake of looking only at the scale - check your body fat percentage and use that to track your fat loss progress, it's much better feedback than the scale.

At 1360 calories you should definitely be losing some fat - how much is hard to tell because you didn't give us any clues on your lean body mass, age, height, etc. so I can't figure your BMR. However, if you're not crazy tall or short, 1360 should be pretty good. You don't have to be perfect with your food tracking and estimating your calories each day - if you get pretty close, you're doing fine. It's not the daily caloric deficits that result in long term fat loss - it's each weeks cumulative deficit, or even each month's. So unless you're really cheating badly or really bad at figuring how much you're eating that's probably not your issue. I'd look more at your macronutrient ratios, how often you're eating, how intense your cardio is (and how conditioned your are to it - if you're really used to your cardio you'll burn far fewer calories than if you do stuff that you're not used to doing), and whether you actually need to eat MORE food to get your metabolism pumping again. 1260 calories per day for months is low enough for some people that their metabolism goes into starvation mode and you're not burning fat, but muscle, to cope with not getting enough nutrition.

All of these thoughts (mine and everyone else's) are mere conjecture, however, without a full-on consult. But they'll give you some things to start thinking about.. Let me know if you have more questions, and check out my website for triathletes at www.fueltrainingandnutrition.com for more detailed analysis of body comp issues, recipes, eating plans, training plans, etc. Good luck at school and keep up the good work! - Jack Blair, ACE-CPT, Certified Sports Nutritionist, Triathlete, Triathlon Coach

molson55

Going to buy a food scale right now

Tonakiga

... Women's bodies and hormones don't always respond to that whole "calories in calories out" lose weight concept. Look at your carbs...

Let me preface this by saying I am NOT in any way trying to sound angry or mean. While the rest of your post seems like good advice, this part is hogwash. Hormones CAN make weight loss a bit more difficult, but for BOTH men and women a calorie deficit is all it takes to lose weight. Heck, my mom had hypothyroidism and had to take steroids to control it. Her weight barely budged because she was able to control her intake. Also, by cutting out carbs a majority of the weight she will lose will be water weight while may pack back on when/if OP changes her diet. Again, not trying to sound mad.

To the OP: from your profile pic it seems like you're an athlete, so just eat a little less and maybe move a little more if you can afford it without getting injured.

Sharon_C

Track your calories per week as well as per day. I found that by looking at my weekly intake of calories I'm better able to track. Like everyone said, if you're eating 100 calories less than maintenance, you might be adding those calories in on a cheat day. One cheat day can ruin an entire week, therefore putting you at or above maintenance.

taylormoooon

I just looked at a few days of your diary and another thing that could be holding you back is simply sodium. You probably are eating more without a scale which is the main thing you should correct but you need to try to keep your sodium to at least under 2000mg, even 1500. You could be holding on to water weight masking any fat loss. Don't forget to also track your measurements!

molson55

Okay! So I went and bought a food scale after this whole thread and made one of my most common meals. What I was most off on was the amount of fruit (I tend to STUFF the measuring cup full of raspberries cause I can't get enough of them) but I was slightly off on other elements as well. SO, I intend to make food weighing a part of my routine. Also, yeah I myself have also noticed that I take in A LOT of sodium, so I'm going to work on that as well. Starting Friday I'll incorporate weight lifting into my routine (weights 3-4 days, cardio 2-3 days). Here we go! Thank you EVERYONE for your help

WalkingAlong

Sodium isn't going to hide fat loss for a month.

You might be maintaining because you don't have much fat to lose. You're young and active and smart, odds are you'd be fine with winging it for a while, too.

Good luck!

brower47

"The evidence presented in this study indicates that even very high and unrealistic levels of metabolic adaptation do not affect the timing of weight plateaus. Rather, the seemingly innocuous intermittent loss of dietary adherence results in weight graphs with 6-mo plateaus, and these results point to the sensitivity of dietary adherence in determining the kinetics of weight loss."

From: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2570111/Am J Clin Nutr-2014-Thomas-ajcn.113.079822.pdf

Basically, you're probably lacking dietary adherence to your calorie goals. Just buckle down, ensure your accuracy in both your intake and output is as tight as possible.