6 weeks of no weight loss, please help!

jlfs88
jlfs88 Posts: 9
in Health and Weight Loss
Since I started this 4 months ago I have lost 30 pounds. But I still have 60 to go. I'm keeping a diary, watching nutritional values, make my own meals, limiting myself to 1200 calories a day (total, not net) but for the past 6 weeks....nothing. Friends suggested increasing my exercise so now I'm doing 30 minutes of swimming laps a day on top of my normal 30 minutes of stationary bike or exercise video (I try to alternate). For a total of an hour a day of exercise. But I am getting nowhere. Do I need to increase calories to 1200 net? After exercise my net has been between 600-700 calories. I have switched my diet the last week and started trying Special K diet but still see no difference and miss my usual foods since I'm not a fan of cereal. I know I'm at a plateau of some sort, I just can't seem to get out of it! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Replies

  • teamfit2day
    teamfit2day Posts: 213 Member
    How many calories are you eating per day (not NET)?
  • jlfs88
    jlfs88 Posts: 9
    1200
  • CynthiaAnnGA
    CynthiaAnnGA Posts: 95
    It sounds like your doing everything right, just keep doing it. Your body will adjust & the weight will start coming off. Your doing good, 30 lbs. is awesome.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    6 weeks with zero weight loss while at a deficit of at least 500 calories ? Hmm. If you open your diary people may have views on what you eat, also can you share your current height & weight ?
  • jlfs88
    jlfs88 Posts: 9
    I don't know how to change settings...I'm on my phone at work. I'm 5ft 4in, weight is 191. 34 years old. Typical meal is oatmeal for breakfast, chicken salad for lunch, wheat chicken wrap for dinner. It varies but that is my typical....
  • teamfit2day
    teamfit2day Posts: 213 Member
    any late snacks by any chance? if so, what kinds? witht he deficit your running, you definitely should be losing. Either something in your diet is sabotaging you, or you may need to kick up to 1300-1400 and let your body readjust since you have already lost 30lbs. Teh body adapts to repetition. sometimes we need to eat more (not less) to continue to lose weight.
  • ElviraCross
    ElviraCross Posts: 331 Member
    you are not eating enough in my opinion.
  • jlfs88
    jlfs88 Posts: 9
    I try to avoid eating after 7 or 8. My snacks are typically an apple, a banana, a granola bar, or a 1oz slice of mozzarella cheese.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    I try to avoid eating after 7 or 8. My snacks are typically an apple, a banana, a granola bar, or a 1oz slice of mozzarella cheese.
    Stick to the cheese. Avoid the additional carbs.
  • ElviraCross
    ElviraCross Posts: 331 Member
    feel free to add me as a friend, I have an open diary. I eat about 1800 calories a day and am at 142 at 5'9"
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    1200

    IMO, this is the problem. Based on your stats, even if you only workout 3 days a week, you should be around 1800 calories. Yea, I know, scary large number but your body needs fuel. Otherwise, it will release defense mechanism to prevent weight loss and when you do finally lose weight, it will be lean body mass and NOT fat. Also, you have to go to a browser<-- home, settings, dairy
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    I try to avoid eating after 7 or 8. My snacks are typically an apple, a banana, a granola bar, or a 1oz slice of mozzarella cheese.

    There is no reason to arbitrarily set a time to not eat after. Your body will process the calories the same way it would if you eat at noon or 8am. If you have calories left and you are hungry, eat up.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
    I am not going to say you're starving yourself or that you need to double your calorie intake... But I will say that some time ago, I was also stalled eating 1200 calories a day and I didn't see improvement again until I raised my calorie allocation. It's something to consider. Even if you try 1500-1600 a day, you will not gain weight back. It's worth a try. 1200 is very low for almost anyone.
  • iWaffle
    iWaffle Posts: 2,208 Member
    Since I started this 4 months ago I have lost 30 pounds. But I still have 60 to go. I'm keeping a diary, watching nutritional values, make my own meals, limiting myself to 1200 calories a day (total, not net) but for the past 6 weeks....nothing.


    I'm 5ft 4in, weight is 191. 34 years old.

    You need to take a serious look at the calories you're logging. Are you weighing your food and including everything? Salad dressing on salads, butter added to bread. It all matters. Also if I were you I would try to net the calories that MFP says you should be eating. If you burn 200 calories then eat it back so you're net is the MFP goal. Make sure you're honestly burning what you log. Many machines overestimate the calories used. You should probably figure on using about 6-10 calories a minute depending on the intensity of your workout.

    Now let's look at your exercise. If you've been doing the same thing for 4 months your body is probably well adapted to this form of exercise and you're not going to burn as many calories doing the same thing as you did before. Switch to an interval intensity on your stationary bike. Try biking for 4-5 minutes at a moderate level and then switch to 4-5 minutes at an intensity that puts your heart rate up high and almost makes you want to quit but is still manageable. Then switch back to the moderate or easy level for the same period to catch your breath and repeat this for your entire exercise program. I do this on the treadmill by switching to a 5% incline and then back to 0% incline. This keeps your body from adapting to the exercise easily and puts your calories burned back up where it needs to be.

    Log your food accurately, take measurements and don't just look at the scale, do interval exercise and eat back accurate calories, and take a couple days rest each week. This should work for you. I wouldn't add more calories other than eating back your exercise calories. Stick with the MFP suggestion because it works most of the time if you follow it. The only reason you're not losing is that your intake isn't less than your calorie burn. Adding more calories won't help.
  • jlfs88
    jlfs88 Posts: 9
    I weigh and measure everything, including condiments. I keep measuring cups and spoons next to the fridge, and a scale on the counter.I don't like dressing on my salad, I eat it plain. I think I am going to try increasing as many suggested and see if that helps. Thank you so much everyone! I hope it works!
  • ElviraCross
    ElviraCross Posts: 331 Member
    I weigh and measure everything, including condiments. I keep measuring cups and spoons next to the fridge, and a scale on the counter.I don't like dressing on my salad, I eat it plain. I think I am going to try increasing as many suggested and see if that helps. Thank you so much everyone! I hope it works!

    Glad you're increasing!
  • Lpfrogin
    Lpfrogin Posts: 3 Member
    I had been trying to lose weight for most of the last 3 years and even a personal trainer couldn't help me. So recently I have been adding a high calorie day to trick my metabolism into thinking I am not trying to burn away all my fat. I have lost 8 lbs in the past 3 weeks. I think this weight loss will slow but hopefully not before I lose a little more.
  • gorewhore13
    gorewhore13 Posts: 49 Member
    This is so helpful, thank you for posting this question!

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