Stuck!

BlackBeltInTraining

Hello! I'm Nelly and I'm kind of stuck on a little weight loss plateau here and looking for some kind of help/guidance cause I don't know what to do. I keep hoping between 167-168 and part of me whenever i see 168 wants to just stop eating (Don't worry, I wont, but that's just a bad mental thought I get when I see that) and another part of me wants to just give up. I've experienced something like this before but it was around 163, not 168! I eat the recommended amount and always go exercise if i go over that amount. Sometimes I even vary the amount if I'm super hungry. Any help would be very appreciated. I'm so lost and unsure. I've come SO far and I'm not going to quit, but I'm so confused and annoyed at this point that I just don't know what to do. Thank you!

Chrisparadise579

Hey Nelly!
So I looked at your diary and I see 2 things that will help you overcome that plateau. First is to change your macro ratios, try eating 40% protein 40% carbs 20% fat. Second try increasing your calories by 100. That should kick start your metabolism and youll be losing weight faster then you ever have!

MKEgal

First, is your weight goal in a healthy range?
Here's a BMI chart to check: http://www.shapeup.org/bmi/bmi6.pdf
If you're aiming for too low a weight, your body is going to fight.
Also, if you're exercising, especially weight training, you might be just fine at the mid to high end of the healthy range based on BMI because you'll have more muscle.

Second, calories.
It looks like you have your cal goal set at 1200. Is that really healthy & reasonable for you?? Are you very short?
And if you really want to go that low, you MUST avoid junk food so you can get the nutrition you need.
In your diary I see lots of pizza, soda, popcorn, fast food, frozen dinners, treats, and very little real food.
(Looks like you had soft tacos a couple nights, which is decent.)

From your ticker, you have 20 lb you want to lose, so it's reasonable to lose less than 1 lb per week.
So cut 250 cal from what you need to maintain your current weight (weight x 10... 1650 - 250 = 1400).
Or just eat to maintain your goal weight, which appears to be 145 = 1450 calories.
(Don't go under 1200 unless you're really short or monitored by a doctor.)
Ignore exercise/net calories. Just eat under that calorie goal.


Some of this is going to seem really harsh, but I'm honestly not trying to be mean. :flowerforyou:
LOG EVERYTHING, log consistently, eat healthy food.
Looking back at just the last week, you have days where you've logged nothing, you have days which are just "quick add calories", you have LOTS of pizza & prepared foods & fast food & liquid calories, 2 days where you'd logged something but were severely under 1200 calories...

Have 80% of your calories be real food, whole less-processed healthy food (e.g. baked/broiled/grilled/poached chicken breast instead of sliced lunch meat; whole-grain bread is about as processed as you want to get),
and 20% can be the pizza you obviously love, the occasional cookie, piece of chocolate, popcorn, goldfish, soda, etc.

Stop drinking your calories. Juice, soda, fru-fru coffee (Sunday 24AUG you had 665 cal in Starbuck's drinks, which if you're really short enough to want to be 120 lb (eating only 1200 cal) is more than half your calories just in drinks)... all take more calories than they're worth for the complete lack of nutrition they give you. Once in a while a glass of juice is OK, and something like V8 is pretty healthy if you get the low-sodium version.


If you need help with healthy food cooking, have a look at the recipes here.
http://www.tasteofhome.com/
They have a section labelled "healthy", and even the rest of their recipes usually have nutritional info.
If you're short on time, look at their crockpot section. Wonderful invention.

Here are some resources; especially see the 'nutrition' and 'meal planning' sections:
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/tools/index.html

This calculator will tell you not only your BMI, but how many servings of various foods to eat to maintain that weight.
If you enter your healthy goal weight, this will help you plan your food intake.
https://www.bcm.edu/research/centers/childrens-nutrition-research-center/healthyeatingcalculator/eatingCal.html


Here are a bunch of help posts:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819925-the-basics-don-t-complicate-it

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read


Sleep enough:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/2014-08-27-sleep-weight-control-690492

Eat more protein:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/2014-08-09-high-protein-diet-685553

Eat a larger breakfast (about half your calories). See the last half of this post:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/2014-06-10-some-studies-about-weight-loss-667818

And for some motivation & encouragement:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/MKEgal/view/2014-07-24-motivation-encouragement-680938

MKEgal

I'm kind of stuck on a little weight loss plateau

How long have you been stuck? A couple weeks is nothing. For a woman, if it's more than a month you really need to change something.

I don't know what to do

Clean up your act w/r/t eating. Log everything, weigh & measure everything, have most of your food be whole, real food, not fast or processed or liquid.
Stay at your 1400-cal goal.
Have lots more fruits & veggies. They'll increase nutrition without costing you lots of calories.
Increase your exercise a bit: walk 5 min longer, lift 5 lb more weight, increase the incline on the treadmill.

another part of me wants to just give up

If you want to change, you can't give up.
Go browse the success stories forum. The one thing we all have in common is that we didn't give up.
Each little thing that you do moves you toward your healthy goal weight:
walk another block, drink another glass of water instead of soda, choose to eat at home instead of fast food.