Hit the proverbial wall... no what to do?

freew67

I started this journey 280 days ago at 340 lbs. This wasnt a crash diet to just lose weight but more so a change of lifestyle. I decided I wasnt going to stop eating some of the food I love, just less of it. So far Ive lost around 80 lbs by eating better and getting off my rear (walking with a little but of jogging in the past few months). For about the past month Ive been stuck between 260-264 ish. While 80 lbs is great, Im still wanting to lose 10-20 more lbs. I stepped up my exercise the past 2 weeks but that hasnt seemed to change much (walk/light jog).

Was at the doc last month, blood work done and all is good on that front. Only issue I have had, is where I used to do #2 daily, is now 3-4 days between. It seems to be the norm for some folks but just not something I have ever dealt with before.

Im sure a good chunk of it now is what I eat and the fact this was bound to happen. Ive read, eat more to get the scale moving again. Im already eating 2200-2400 cals a day, should I really eat more? You can see what Ive done, any suggestions what I should do?

Thanks for the advise in advance!

Mceastes

I would not eat more calories to lose weight - I don't think that's the problem. Three things I see: You are WAY over on sodium the last several days. I would cut back on that and make sure you're drinking enough water. Try eating at home more - even low calorie fast food has tons of sodium. Second, your meals look a little large - for example: Having a grilled chicken sandwich and large fries and a side of nuggets from Wendy's seems like too much in one sitting. Leave out the nuggets or just have the sandwich and a baked potato. Third, start lifting weights. Personally, I have found that makes all the difference for guys (I'm a trainer). This isn't "professional" advice, just one person to another, but based on my experience guys lean out when they lift. Keep doing your cardio as well, but increase the intensity. But I think weight lifting is going to make the difference for you at this point. Good luck - you've come so far, 80 lbs. down is amazing! Just make a few tweaks and you'll get to your goal! :happy:

Mceastes

One more observation: breakfast - you need more protein and less sweets at breakfast. If your schedule permits, make some eggs. If not, at least have a protein bar instead of a cinnamon roll. It can still give you that sweet fix, but have like 15-20 grams of protein to start your day and not just sugar and empty calories. OK, that's it - good luck!

rileysowner

The eat more advice is for people who are eating way to few calories, generally below their BMR. That is not good in the long run, although obese people can do it for a while, it is still not advised. Not knowing your vital statistics, I can't enter it into some handy dandy calculators. I would suggest you use this one http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ and see what number it gives you and how it compares to what you are at right now. I would suggest you probably need to lower your calories if you have not, after an 80 pound loss, you will be burning significantly less calories daily and in exercise.

adietron

I agree, you've got lots of calories to work with right now, you can definitely afford to lower your intake. A great way to do this would be to start preparing more meals yourself, that way you can control the amount of calories and nutrients MUCH more easily. Even if you're not much of a cook, it's pretty easy to poach a chicken breast and dump a bag of salad onto a plate twice a week.

Great bodies are made in the kitchen

freew67

Mceastes- The nugget meal was right after my 95 min 1153 cal walk/jog but point taken. Ive kinda been eating like this thru this entire process but it looks like its finally caught up with me.

Weight training, I would love to! 1 car family, wife works/school, 2 boys (3 & 2ish), and no gym close enough to walk to. Plus forking over $100+ for free weights just isnt an option for me right now. Once I figure out how I will start. Ive shed all this weight to go, "Hey, I used to have muscle, here, here, and here!"

I agree, breakfast I need more options. Due to 2 concussions my short term memory sucks. lol Wife goes to the store but I always forget to tell her to pick up some eggs and a few other things. Thats the story Im sticking with here. I want to try some eggs but the protein bar might be a good start. Eggs or egg whites? You talk about this eating at home stuff. Ive heard of people doing it, but its such a strange concept to my family.

freew67

rileysowner- Shows about what I eat daily now (if I didnt exercise). M/260/75/33

adietron- I do eat a salad on the norm once a week but I dont count the greens. Yeah I should I know, but its so little in the cals department I dont see the point. TBH thats about the only thing I dont record on here. Much of a cook? lol When I was a kid I wanted a hotdog but my mom was sleeping. So I grabbed a plastic bowl and well the stove was never the same. Poaching a chicken breast required me to look up what poaching was. Granted when you say poaching, I was thinking, "Poaching is the illegal taking of wild plants or animals; the law concerned may be e.g. the law of property or local or international conservation and wildlife management laws. Violations of hunting laws and regulations are normally punishable by law and, collectively, such violations are known as poaching." lol Its more not that I cant cook but never have had to.

Also, when I looked at your avatar I thought it was Sam from the show ICarly.

jg627

I started about the same weight you started and had the same problem about the same weight you have it. Actually earlier. I think I was around 60-80 lbs down when I had my colonoscopy done. It came out pretty clean though. Being overweight can and will cause IBS. I'm a lot more conscious about what I eat now, but I still indulge. I had ice cream last night, in fact. Learn what things can slow you down and what things can help, but, if you have the same problem I had, it will get better with time. My doctor told me that weight lifting, among other things, can help you out down there, so I've been hitting the weights like an animal ever since. Some other things that help are lots of fiber and water, avoid very low fat diets, avoid any fad diet for that matter, watch out for iron (multi vitamins). Too much iron and I'm on the toilet for hours nursing my burning butt.
Also should mention that just changes in your diet can cause changes in the toilet bowl, so it could just be as simple as that too.

psuLemon

First congrats on your loss. But at some point, it does becomes more about what you eat than how much. You are very high in carbs and very low in protein. You generally want .1g of protein per lean body mass. Now, I am 5'11, 200 lbs, 29 years old and 12% body fat and eat 2700-3000 calories in order to lose 1 lb. I also do P90X2 so I am burning some good calories. It really depends on what else you are doing in terms of exercise. I will say, if you don't clean up your diet, it will make it harder to cut fat.

SteveTries

The nugget meal was right after my 95 min 1153 cal walk/jog but point taken. Ive kinda been eating like this thru this entire process but it looks like its finally caught up with me.

More like YOU have caught up with IT. You're a smaller bloke now, you need less calories for maintenance than you used to and by extension you need less calories in to maintain a defecit.

I wonder, is your caloric burn measurment accurate? Again you're a lot smaller than you used to be, how are you measuring burn? In my opinion most calculators exaggerate.

Best thing to do is change 'something', observe progress then evaluate. If I were you I'd try a 500Cal reduction and see what happens.

freew67

Im using a FT7 Polar HRM. I walk a very hilly area plus I normly have my kids in a stroller. Thats an additional 30-50 lbs Im pushing. There is a dif in cal burned 1 kid vs 2.

sjb74yuk, on a dif subject, Ive been to Warwick Castle.

freew67

Exercise wise Im currently only doing walking/light jogging. As the post above, I do walk a good amount of hills.

Past few weeks have looked like this:

Last week: 348 mins 4451 cals burned
2 weeks: 423 mins 6039 cals burned
3 weeks: 447 mins 5101 cals burned
4 weeks: 284 mins 3233 cals burned

Unless my HRM is wrong, Im doing a decent job buring off the cals. 2 weeks ago I turned up the intensity which I feel shows in cals burned. Which also shows I needed a few extra days of rest last week. lol

Im not going to lie, I have done this just off of cals up till now. I knew at some point I would need to change if I wanted to lose more weight. At 33 yrs old and 340 lbs, obviously I could care less what or how much I was eating. I needed a permanent change not a short term one. Thats why Ive just based it off of cals at first. If it would have been to hard to keep this up, no way I would have lasted over 280 days (how long ago I started and how many days in a row Ive logged in). Now you can see why I posted. I needed some advice on what to adjust to keep me going in the right direction.

Thanks!

adietron

Im not going to lie, I have done this just off of cals up till now. I knew at some point I would need to change if I wanted to lose more weight. At 33 yrs old and 340 lbs, obviously I could care less what or how much I was eating. I needed a permanent change not a short term one.

I think you've hit the nail on the head here. If you want something you've never had before, you have to DO something you've never done before. If you truly desire change, and you have the right motivation (those little things in the strollers you're pushing around?) then you have all the tools you need to make permanent changes that will help you live a longer, healthier, happier life.

I can assure you, your own kitchen is your best friend in this lifelong journey. Challenge yourself, and involve the whole family! Check out this site, and slowly start to work your way up the ladder... take your health into your own hands and don't trust drive-throughs and restaurants to do it for you.

http://www.teambeachbody.com/eat-smart/michis-ladder

wftiger

I would up your protein and cut your carbs. You should really try to get at least 30 grams 4 times a day. With protein you can only use 30 grams at a time so more than that is overkill. So you want to spread it out over the day.

You can try to do protein shakes in the AM to get protein in. I find I fall back on those a lot because i am lazy and don't like eggs. Would definitely up your veggies for health.

rileysowner

You don't need weights or a gym to do resistance training. Look into bodyweight training. Check out the bodyweight training group here as there are a bunch of resources linked there.

SteveTries

With protein you can only use 30 grams at a time so more than that is overkill.

This is a bit of an old myth. It's been debunked now.

luzmidd

You don't need weights or a gym to do resistance training. Look into bodyweight training. Check out the bodyweight training group here as there are a bunch of resources linked there.

luzmidd

Sorry, I replied before I could reply on the quote :-)

I agree, you don't need gym to do resistance.

Push ups, squats, lunges, jumping jacks... some of the best exercises in the world, done in the comfort of your own home!

Well done on the loss so far though, you are a real inspiration.

freew67

Thanks everyone for the info! I finally did break into the 250's (258.6 lost 2.2 last week). I worked out for 528 mins burned 6789 cals. Starting to jog a lot more. I did add some egg beaters for breakfast. Which was very yummy on an english muffin. Sodium is a big struggle for me. Try to eat better (what I thought was better) and its loaded with sodium. I understand with fast food I will get it, but even when I attempted to make a salad at home it was over 1100 mg. Little over 800 of it was the fat free Italian dressing. Didnt think about it till I put it in MFP. I just need to do my homework for better alternatives.

rileysowner thanks for the group idea, tbh I had no idea this place had groups! lol