OMG, why can't I lose anymore?!

tsalagi82

Ok, so I got down to my original goal weight of 140/135ish. Apparently I still need to lose though because my lower half is still fighting the battle of the bulge. I keep getting hung up at this weight though, so I'm guessing I'm at my plateau. I've been eating 1200-1400 calories, exercising daily (about 30 minutes of moderate aerobic/weights), but nothing.

HELP!!

arditarose

I'm in the same boat and want to get down to 135 as well. I think a lot of people are going to say you/we need to eat more. Which is slightly annoying, even if they're right. Because what does that mean? If 1400 calories worked for awhile, did we screw up our metabolism? And how do you fix that?

Anyway, do you lift weights? I find that I don't care quite as much what the scale reads when things look nice from lifting.

tsalagi82

Holy cow is that you in your profile pic? Yes, I lift...do cardio. ::sigh::

annassong

As with anything if you keep at the same thing everyday your body learns to adjust. Try changing your workout routine or pig out for 2 days. Change it up and your body should kick start up again. Or try fasting for 1 or 2 days a week.

arditarose

Holy cow is that you in your profile pic? Yes, I lift...do cardio. ::sigh::

Yeah...but flexing ha. I don't know. I've been at 142/143 for an entire month and it's getting annoying. How long have you been stalling?

tigerblue

Do you log and eat back exercise calories, or so you do TDEE deficit method? I have a theory as to why it is difficult for small women to continue to lose. . .

_Terrapin_

I'm in the same boat and want to get down to 135 as well. I think a lot of people are going to say you/we need to eat more. Which is slightly annoying, even if they're right. Because what does that mean? If 1400 calories worked for awhile, did we screw up our metabolism? And how do you fix that?

Anyway, do you lift weights? I find that I don't care quite as much what the scale reads when things look nice from lifting.

Sort of funny and cute...yes eat more, yes it will improve your metabolism, yes you'll lose weight. Be Patient. Write this on a piece of paper and place it your mirror, driver's side visor, your closet door inside and out. . . . BE PATIENT. And eat more

vismal

Are you completely stalled or just losing very slow? If you are losing very slowly, that's simply the reality of being relatively lean. Weight loss slows and becomes less linear. You might go 2-4 weeks with no weight loss then all of a sudden lose a lb or 2 in a few days. Also, have you been in a deficit for a long time with no break? This can cause some slowdowns to your metabolism. It is not damage (a word people love to through around), its just a temporary adaptation that can be easily reversed. You can do a 2 week "diet break" to aid with this. I do a break every 8-12 weeks of eating in a deficit. You do not stop counting calories on a break, you simply raise them to maintenance for 2 week, then go right back to your deficit. It's a mental break as well as physiologically beneficial. This can also help things like water retention causing stalls to resolve.

Also, many times when you weight is where you want it but you don't look like you want to, it's more a problem of being under-muscled rather then over weight. Do you do any kind of resistance training? If not, you really should consider it!

Sharon_C

Are you logging accurately? Every single thing that passes your lips? When you have less to lose you have less of a margin of error so every single calorie counts. My guess is you're eating more than you think you are and you're burning less than you think you are. That's what happened to me when I hit a plateau.

arditarose

Are you completely stalled or just losing very slow? If you are losing very slowly, that's simply the reality of being relatively lean. Weight loss slows and becomes less linear. You might go 2-4 weeks with no weight loss then all of a sudden lose a lb or 2 in a few days. Also, have you been in a deficit for a long time with no break? This can cause some slowdowns to your metabolism. It is not damage (a word people love to through around), its just a temporary adaptation that can be easily reversed. You can do a 2 week "diet break" to aid with this. I do a break every 8-12 weeks of eating in a deficit. You do not stop counting calories on a break, you simply raise them to maintenance for 2 week, then go right back to your deficit. It's a mental break as well as physiologically beneficial. This can also help things like water retention causing stalls to resolve.

Also, many times when you weight is where you want it but you don't look like you want to, it's more a problem of being under-muscled rather then over weight. Do you do any kind of resistance training? If not, you really should consider it!

I'm really interested in this break/eating at maintenance for a week or two. You think it's very beneficial?

Kalikel

I'm a big believer in shaking up the calories, eating more and less as your body desires it.

But just more? All the time? That's nuts. You don't lose more weight by eating more food. God, I wish! I'd be loading up on cakes and muffins, cheeseburgers and fries, etc. it would be lovely to eat our way to skinny!

But, no. It's crazy.

Everyone complains about those last 5-15 pounds. They must be very stubborn pounds, indeed.

Good luck!

berz82

Are you completely stalled or just losing very slow? If you are losing very slowly, that's simply the reality of being relatively lean. Weight loss slows and becomes less linear. You might go 2-4 weeks with no weight loss then all of a sudden lose a lb or 2 in a few days. Also, have you been in a deficit for a long time with no break? This can cause some slowdowns to your metabolism. It is not damage (a word people love to through around), its just a temporary adaptation that can be easily reversed. You can do a 2 week "diet break" to aid with this. I do a break every 8-12 weeks of eating in a deficit. You do not stop counting calories on a break, you simply raise them to maintenance for 2 week, then go right back to your deficit. It's a mental break as well as physiologically beneficial. This can also help things like water retention causing stalls to resolve.

Also, many times when you weight is where you want it but you don't look like you want to, it's more a problem of being under-muscled rather then over weight. Do you do any kind of resistance training? If not, you really should consider it!

I think thats what i need to do, im sure the bit of belly and handles i have will go when i start putting on some muscle to replace it. I think its time to ease of the HIIT training and up the gym time and ive noticed some nice changes since i started going there recently Nice youtube channel btw

vismal

Here is a great article about diet breaks: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/
I also made a video about diet breaks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0jqAXpjCV0

arditarose

Here is a great article about diet breaks: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/
I also made a video about diet breaks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0jqAXpjCV0

Thanks!

Sharon_C

Are you completely stalled or just losing very slow? If you are losing very slowly, that's simply the reality of being relatively lean. Weight loss slows and becomes less linear. You might go 2-4 weeks with no weight loss then all of a sudden lose a lb or 2 in a few days. Also, have you been in a deficit for a long time with no break? This can cause some slowdowns to your metabolism. It is not damage (a word people love to through around), its just a temporary adaptation that can be easily reversed. You can do a 2 week "diet break" to aid with this. I do a break every 8-12 weeks of eating in a deficit. You do not stop counting calories on a break, you simply raise them to maintenance for 2 week, then go right back to your deficit. It's a mental break as well as physiologically beneficial. This can also help things like water retention causing stalls to resolve.

Also, many times when you weight is where you want it but you don't look like you want to, it's more a problem of being under-muscled rather then over weight. Do you do any kind of resistance training? If not, you really should consider it!

I'm really interested in this break/eating at maintenance for a week or two. You think it's very beneficial?

I did this for a few months this year and when I went back to cutting calories I started losing again. I don't know what the science is behind it but I just had a gut feeling (no pun intended) that my body needed a break and even my mind needed a break. So I ate at maintenance for a few months and lifted heavy and exercised the same as what I had been before but eating my exercise calories back. I didn't gain during that time but neither did I lose--but I wasn't planning on losing either.

I think the mental break was good because I was ready to fully commit again and as soon as I did I reached my goal weight.

My goal is to lose 5 more pounds and then I'm going to give myself another break.

But the thing to keep in mind is if you do this (and this is just from my perspective) to not stop counting calories. If you stop counting calories then you have no idea what you're consuming and you might start gaining.

caracrawford1

When at a plateau, SOMETHING you are doing needs to change, because really all a plateau is is calories in=calories out and to be a plateau it should last at least 4 weeks. A stall is less than 4 weeks long. So make sure you are weighing and measuring accurately. If you can bump up your exercise beyond 30 mins, by all means do so. Many people I know exercise at least an hour a day.You don't have to go crazy-- I workout just about 120 mins a day--BUT I am training for something specific and getting down to race weight. My goal is performance. I was already fit.
Change your exercise--your body does get efficient and burns fewer cals doing the same thing all the time.

hearthwood

Ok, so I got down to my original goal weight of 140/135ish. Apparently I still need to lose though because my lower half is still fighting the battle of the bulge. I keep getting hung up at this weight though, so I'm guessing I'm at my plateau. I've been eating 1200-1400 calories, exercising daily (about 30 minutes of moderate aerobic/weights), but nothing.

HELP!!

On women fat is usually stored in hips or thighs, and you'll have to work those areas to thin them down. Muscle takes up 1/3 the space that fat does. I don't know how tall you are but if you have hit your goal weight, you're at your fixed healthy weight already and trying to lose more is going to be difficult and painfully slow. It's just simple math, at your current calorie intake your only choice now is to exercise it off.

paulawatkins1974

bumping to read later. I'm sure I'll need it someday.

arditarose

Ok, so I got down to my original goal weight of 140/135ish. Apparently I still need to lose though because my lower half is still fighting the battle of the bulge. I keep getting hung up at this weight though, so I'm guessing I'm at my plateau. I've been eating 1200-1400 calories, exercising daily (about 30 minutes of moderate aerobic/weights), but nothing.

HELP!!

On women fat is usually stored in hips or thighs, and you'll have to work those areas to thin them down. Muscle takes up 1/3 the space that fat does. I don't know how tall you are but if you have hit your goal weight, you're at your fixed healthy weight already and trying to lose more is going to be difficult and painfully slow. It's just simple math, at your current calorie intake your only choice now is to exercise it off.

?

paulawatkins1974

Here is a great article about diet breaks: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/
I also made a video about diet breaks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0jqAXpjCV0

Just watched the video. I've been cutting about 750 to 1000 cal deficit daily for 7 months. Does diet breaking apply to people with 75 Lbs. more to go? (Love your videos btw)

paulawatkins1974

Here is a great article about diet breaks: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/
I also made a video about diet breaks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0jqAXpjCV0

Just watched the video. I've been cutting about 750 to 1000 cal deficit daily for 7 months. Does diet breaking apply to people with 75 Lbs. more to go? (Love your videos btw)

Oops sorry just watched the rest. Question answered lol.