Seem to be stuck

bmbellamy

Ok, I've been at this for 3 weeks now with a 5 pound total loss. I'm not diminishing those efforts at all, but over the past week, I have been playing racquetball at the competitive and casual level for 60-90 minutes for 5 out of 7 days. My net calories have ranged between 300-600. The scale has not budged! I prefer to weigh at least every two days because I find that "out of sight, out of mind" leads me into temptation. Seeing the scale number at least every other day keeps me focused.

Also of note, I am hypothyroid for approximately 4 years.

Any advice? Anything I'm doing wrong?

Thanks in advance!

bka8

First of all congrats! 5lbs in three weeks is great! Are you net under or net over on those calories? Because if you're net under, you need to eat more, your growing muscles are starving for energy.

morganadk2_deleted

Are you eating enough?

Maybe this will help


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits


"Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle tone, and reducing fat. This means is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode) "


plan your meals put a little something sweet in there , but plan for it...

polo571

I personally weigh myself once a week. I usually do it on wed morning on a empty stomach and first thing in the morning. The reason I do this is I take sundays off from working out and i like being in the middle of a week. If I dont like what im seeing I have 3 days to kick it in gear before the weekend. If I dont see the results I want I dont get a day off on sunday. I personally feel the calories you can consume is a little high on here. This is what works for me I hope this helps. One last thing up your water intake and track your sodium

marber

I weigh myself every time I go to the gym and have notices that I have approx 1 kg hormonal weight change. So my weight fluctuates but the general trend is down.

It took a number of months for me to read my weight fluctuations so don't worry too much and give it a few more weeks. I will point out that the fluctuation at my heaviest was nearer to 2.5kg which was quite disheartening but even this has improved as my weight has dropped.

yanicka

You are not eathing nearly enought. Fuel you body and you will start losing weight again

Lazyboy09

Also, start measuring your body fat percentage, you might be losing there even though the pounds are the same if you are exercising.

xxquzme

Weight loss is just simple math. When you have a net cal of 300-600 cals a day you are really right where you should be. 3500 cals equal one pound. If you have a net of 500 each day x 7 days equals 3500 cals or one pound. One pound a week is all that you can expect with that net cal deficit. If you want more weight loss than you need to have a bigger deficit. The only other thing could be is that you are giving yourself more cals burned playing racquetball that you are really burning. Not sure.

bmbellamy

Net over.

And thanks for responding!

bmbellamy

Thanks to everyone for the responses. Greatly appreciated. I guess I need to remind myself too that even though the scales may not show it, I do have small victories:

Overall, I feel better
No longer short of breath climbing more than one flight of stairs
No more daily knee pain (UNLESS I overdo it on the racquetball court)
Can actually enjoy more than 2 hours in a mall or department store without pain
More energy
And "cleaner eating" (fewer processed foods) boosts me psychologically because I no longer feel as if I'm poisoning myself with food additives and chemicallly altered foods.

I'll keep the faith and hopefully keep losing....:happy: