Eating at maintenance / creating exercise deficit?

morningrunner

I have 15-20 pounds to lose and I have been stuck for a year and a half. I'm beyond frustrated. I've tried eating less and eating more and nothing has worked so far. I think what I'm going to try now is setting my cals at maintenance for my goal weight (1720) and creating my defiicit solely through exercise. Through running and biking I burn around 2500-3000 cals a week, so in theory, that should work, right?

Has anyone else tried this?

melsinct

I did that for the last 10 pounds. It worked to get rid of 8 pounds but I am now stuck on the last 2! My goal is 145 but I have been stuck at 147 since September. So yes, for me it did work up until my most recent plateau.

katkins3

Have you tried seeing a doctor? You may need a blood panel to see what's going on.
Maybe there is another reason you are stuck.
My DIL found out she has a thyroid problem and medication helped her. I'm not saying you have a thyroid problem, this is just an example.

morningrunner

Have you tried seeing a doctor? You may need a blood panel to see what's going on.
Maybe there is another reason you are stuck.
My DIL found out she has a thyroid problem and medication helped her. I'm not saying you have a thyroid problem, this is just an example.

Yes, I've had every blood test in the book...nothing is wrong. I almost wish at this point that there was something medical I could point to

I know one big problem is that I completely wrecked my metabolism when I was training for a marathon in the spring of 2010. I was running double what I run now and was trying to eat 1200-1400 cals per day. I realize now why that didn't work and I am trying to eat more. I would think my metabolism would be on the mend by now, but the scale still isn't moving.

morningrunner

I did that for the last 10 pounds. It worked to get rid of 8 pounds but I am now stuck on the last 2! My goal is 145 but I have been stuck at 147 since September. So yes, for me it did work up until my most recent plateau.

Good to know, thank you! You're stuck right around where I am. Curse the high 140's!

Sidesteal

Yes, I've had every blood test in the book...nothing is wrong. I almost wish at this point that there was something medical I could point to

I know one big problem is that I completely wrecked my metabolism when I was training for a marathon in the spring of 2010. I was running double what I run now and was trying to eat 1200-1400 cals per day. I realize now why that didn't work and I am trying to eat more. I would think my metabolism would be on the mend by now, but the scale still isn't moving.

Can you define "trying to eat more" in terms of calories and duration?

Also, what are your stats?

morningrunner

Yes, I've had every blood test in the book...nothing is wrong. I almost wish at this point that there was something medical I could point to

I know one big problem is that I completely wrecked my metabolism when I was training for a marathon in the spring of 2010. I was running double what I run now and was trying to eat 1200-1400 cals per day. I realize now why that didn't work and I am trying to eat more. I would think my metabolism would be on the mend by now, but the scale still isn't moving.

Can you define "trying to eat more" in terms of calories and duration?

Also, what are your stats?

Well, when I first started MFP in September, I was still eating around 1200-1400 for about a month. Didn't lose anything. Then in October I bumped it up closer to 1600. Still didn't lose anything. Then, from November until now I tried closer to 2000 cals. Still stuck. And by stuck I mean the scale fluctuates, but always within the same few pounds - 148 - 151.

I'm 5'4, 148ish.

The most frustrating thing is that from September 07 through November 09 I lost 70 pounds and didn't track a thing. From what I remember, on average then I probably ate about 1800 cals a day. And not even all that healthy - starbucks lattes a few times a week, candy in the afternoons. As soon as I started trying to "tighten" up my diet, the weight loss stopped. Then right after my marathon I gained 10 pounds in 2 months. And now I'm stuck!

Sidesteal

Considering the length of your stallout, I would recommend a full diet break for 2 weeks.

Please see here and specifically note the physiological section in this article.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

After you complete the diet break I'd stop using MFPs intake recommendations and instead take an arbitrary 10-15% reduction from TDEE and set that as your intake.

morningrunner

Considering the length of your stallout, I would recommend a full diet break for 2 weeks.

Please see here and specifically note the physiological section in this article.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

After you complete the diet break I'd stop using MFPs intake recommendations and instead take an arbitrary 10-15% reduction from TDEE and set that as your intake.

Ok, so he says to eat at maintenance for 2 weeks...but I'm assuming that he means NET. So if I'm still running during that time I need to eat it all back? I physically don't know if I can do that. When I was trying to eat 2000 I was literally stuffing myself.

Ugh, this was so much easier when I wasn't trying.

Sidesteal

Considering the length of your stallout, I would recommend a full diet break for 2 weeks.

Please see here and specifically note the physiological section in this article.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

After you complete the diet break I'd stop using MFPs intake recommendations and instead take an arbitrary 10-15% reduction from TDEE and set that as your intake.

Ok, so he says to eat at maintenance for 2 weeks...but I'm assuming that he means NET. So if I'm still running during that time I need to eat it all back? I physically don't know if I can do that. When I was trying to eat 2000 I was literally stuffing myself.

Ugh, this was so much easier when I wasn't trying.

Anywhere outside of MFP-land, it will refer to NET basically. MFP is unique with the whole exercise calorie concept.

"Maintenance" by definition (TDEE) is the caloric level at which you do not gain or lose weight, and this includes calories burned during exercise.

So in short, you would need to eat back all of your exercise calories.

I would also consider, for your own benefit, using a few different calculation methods to estimate your TDEE. You should do this to compare it with what you've actually been eating.

You'll get some bloat/water weight gain over the diet break but it will subside once you resume deficit.

morningrunner

Considering the length of your stallout, I would recommend a full diet break for 2 weeks.

Please see here and specifically note the physiological section in this article.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

After you complete the diet break I'd stop using MFPs intake recommendations and instead take an arbitrary 10-15% reduction from TDEE and set that as your intake.

Ok, so he says to eat at maintenance for 2 weeks...but I'm assuming that he means NET. So if I'm still running during that time I need to eat it all back? I physically don't know if I can do that. When I was trying to eat 2000 I was literally stuffing myself.

Ugh, this was so much easier when I wasn't trying.

Anywhere outside of MFP-land, it will refer to NET basically. MFP is unique with the whole exercise calorie concept.

"Maintenance" by definition (TDEE) is the caloric level at which you do not gain or lose weight, and this includes calories burned during exercise.

So in short, you would need to eat back all of your exercise calories.

I would also consider, for your own benefit, using a few different calculation methods to estimate your TDEE. You should do this to compare it with what you've actually been eating.

You'll get some bloat/water weight gain over the diet break but it will subside once you resume deficit.

Looking back at my log (now that it's set to maintenance) it appears that I wasn't at as much of a deficit previously as I thought. I was closer to eating at real maintenance for most of December. I think I might try my new plan of creating the deficit only through exercise and eating 1720 every day - including my days off of running.

If that still doesn't work after a couple weeks I will try the diet break you suggested. I really appreciate your help. Thank you!

DixiedoesMFP

Shout-out for Sidesteal....I did his diet break and upped my calories overall, and I have LOST 4 pounds in the past month. He's pretty good at this stuff.