HELP! Weight has stalled for 6 weeks now

tonileighsteele

Hi guys, I'm after some advice from people who have survived a weight loss plate.
I have lost 25lbs so far. I haven't gone about it the right way. I went from eating really well, my diet before weight loss was already very strict, whole foods, no junk, no sugar, no grains.
I was on medication that made me put on weight but after stopping it I stuck to my strict diet and lost a little weight. It stalled so I dropped down my calories to between 500-1000 a day (STUPID) and got a fitbit and started to walk around 20/25000 steps a day.

My weight has not totally stopped for the last 6 weeks.

This week I've increased my calories up to 1200ish a week (A HUGE jump from what I was eating) I eat 5 small meals, drink 3ltr of water a day and still stick to the pale life style.
This week I've been gaining.

People who increased calls after a plate, did you gain before you lost? Any other tips?

I have started light strength training every second day too.

I can't physically add anymore exercise due to physical injury (The amount of steps I do is already killing me)

I'm on a time crunch and have a 20lbs more to lose (I'm moving from Australia to the USA in 50 days so want to lose as much as I can before I leave, I do know I won't lose the lot by then though!)

I am willing to try this diet thing the right way now instead of starving myself. I just need help of how to get it right.

Thanks and any advice would be appreciated.

Leenda62

I think your body is confused. I think you need to just keep eating right and doing what you can and it will catch up with itself. Best of luck to you.

StaciMarie1974

Give it some time. The gain this week (Temporary I'm sure) could be due to hormones/TOM/stress/sodium. Or glycogen stores rebalancing due to the increased calories.

Trust the science. Eat enough to fuel your body - but less than your body uses in a day. And give it a few weeks.

Branstin

You don't need to kill yourself with exercise in order to lose weight. However, you need to get the calories part straight. Unless you are doing Intermittent Fasting, it's not healthy to eat such a low amount of calories. Exercise, especially strength and weight training causes the body to retain water for muscle repair. With 20 lbs. left to lose, set your MFP profile to lose 1 lb. per week and eat back about half of your exercise calories.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

higgins8283801

Exercise isn't really important to weight loss. You have just confused your body. When I switched from 1200 cal to tdee minus 20% I gained for a brief time before I started to lose. Let your body adjust.

MelodyandBarbells

A new exercise program can make you temporarily gain weight as the muscles retain water to repair themselves, but after a few weeks this should be gone and you should be back to your regular weight loss progress

But the idea of a "huge" jump from 500 cals to 1200 and suddenly putting on weight or stalling does seem highly suspect. I would question whether you were truly consuming the amount of calories you thought you were, or if much more.

So I'll ask you to read these links and see if there are places where you weren't logging accurately, and consider opening up your diary for further comments specific to your current logging practices:

Can set your diary to public here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1296011-calorie-counting-101

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide

Liftng4Lis

A new exercise program can make you temporarily gain weight as the muscles retain water to repair themselves, but after a few weeks this should be gone and you should be back to your regular weight loss progress

^This