Need Help/Advice

SuzMac1981

I've drastically changed my eating habits over the past (almost) 2 months and have lost 38 pounds in doing so. This week I've been a little stuck. I am an extremely heavy girl and it used to take a miracle to get me off the couch to do any physical activity. Now I "workout" at home for at least 20 mins/day - doing Just Dance for the Wii, On Demand aerobics, or walking outdoors when it's nice.

I've been eating a net of 1200 but lately I just cannot eat up to 1200 net calories. I am struggling to get there and I am not hungry enough to eat 1200 net. Is this why my scale has stalled? TOM is not here, I am really watching sodium, I drink at least 8 but usually 10-14 cups of water per day... what am I doing wrong? Why did I lose over Easter weekend after binging on cheese curls and Easter candy and now that I am back on track I am not losing anything?

Thanks for any help/advice.

(And yes, I weigh myself everyday... I do it because I used to see trends and I've read a lot of data backing that a weekly weigh in is actually more destructive, so please don't ask/tell me not to weigh everyday.)

Atlantique

With as much weight as you have to lose, you shouldn't get into too much difficulty if you can't eat all of your exercise calories because your body has a large supply of fat to pull from to make up the extra calories.

This sounds more like a normal part of dieting. You've lost a significant amount of weight (congratulations on that!) and your body is sort of recalibrating itself. Your body noticed that it lost 38 pounds!

It's normal for everyone to have a few weeks , sometimes consecutively, with no weight loss because all of our bodies at some point say" Hey, we're not doing our job of maintaining weight!" If it goes on for more than a month straight, then it is considered a plateau.

So try not to panic and just keep doing what you're doing.

angelaeg75

Hi, how are you going with the the break up of fats, carbs, and proteins? Maybe trying to mix it up with high and low carb days and high and low protein days... it is ok to have a bit extra protein instead of carbs as you are trying to preserve your muscle mass and reduce the energy food so your body converts to using fat as an energy source...

RGJeff

Its normal for the weight loss to stall occasionally. My only advice is do not get more intense with your diet- just keep recording everything you eat. If you do, you will know that you are losing fat for sure, and the scale will reflect it eventually.

I also weigh myself all the time. It helps me when I record my weight, to only record a maximum of one-half pound loss per day. I think that more accurately reflects the actual fat loss, and avoids the depressing feeling of losing 5 pounds one day, then gaining 4 back over the next few days, etc..

dlaplume2

Wow!! 38 lbs in 2 months is a lot. That's good for you, but it is not a surprise that your body is reacting like this. I tried to view your diary but it is closed, you might want to consider opening it up. But here is what I think based on your message. Your body is in shock. You have lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time. You need let your body adjust to that. Make sure you are eating between 1000 and 1200 calories. NET everyday. It may cause you to plateau or even gain a pound or two, but be patient it will catch up. IF you are not feeling hungry, that is a sign that your metabolism is shutting down. You should work very hard to fix thie now.

Best wishes,

MissMe2morrow

I've been told that it takes 10 days for food to "show up" on the scale, so if you were binging over Easter, that probably accounts for the current weight. Now that you're back on track, you should see progress next week. I've done the same thing myself and thought, "well if I can eat like *that* and still lose, why am I trying so hard to stay under calories?!?" But then my binge shows up on the scale...

It sounds like you've been doing great so far-- congratulations on the loss!-- just keep it up and the scale will show the difference in a few more days.

SuzMac1981

I have my diary open to friends only, I will see if I can change that.

Thank you so much for all of your input so far... It's extremely helpful. I am at work now so I can't respond fully, like I'd like to, but I will be home and responding tonight.