Weight loss stopping. Am I eating too little?

momRN2B
momRN2B Posts: 247 Member
edited December 26 in Motivation and Support
I am on day 6 of the 30 day shred and this week all I lost was 0.2 lbs. I did lose an inch off each my waist, hips and arms. I don't eat back my exercise cals and I also don't eat the extra 500 cals that I am allowed as a full time breastfeeding mom. So do I need to up my calorie intake in order to see the numbers on the scale go down? If yes, howany calories should I increase by? Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.
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Replies

  • momRN2B
    momRN2B Posts: 247 Member
    bump
  • theblitz
    theblitz Posts: 32
    It's going to take more than a week for the scale to show difference. Plus you are probably gaining muscle, which has mass, but looks way better, hence the inch you lost. Keep at it, the scale will show in time.
  • I think before anyone should/could comment, you should open your diary.
  • Mysticdi
    Mysticdi Posts: 60 Member
    I firmly believe you need to eat more.

    I compared two of my weeks where weight loss was different. Week 1 was more calories eaten, less burned and I lost MORE. Week 2 was less food and more calories burned and i lost LESS!

    Hope that helps, Diane
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    What were you doing before 30DS for exercise?

    You probably do need to eat more- generally when people ask this the answer is almost always yes. That being said, when you start a new routine, your muscles retain water to help protect and repair, which temporarily slows/stalls weight loss on the scale, even though you are still achieving fat loss. It's very likely that is happening, and if you stick with the program it will eventually go away.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    Dont forget to add 500 extra cals a day for breastfeeding.

    Check the link on my profile to figure out your numbers.
  • davidlaplante
    davidlaplante Posts: 9 Member
    As long as you keep the carbs at 100g or less (preferably from veggies, not wheat) up you healthy fat (grass-fed butter/beef, cocoa oil) to satisfy your hunger/energy needs. Keep your protein up as well.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    As long as you keep the carbs at 100g or less (preferably from veggies, not wheat) up you healthy fat (grass-fed butter/beef, cocoa oil) to satisfy your hunger/energy needs. Keep your protein up as well.

    Shes doing 30DS and breastfeeding.

    Dont you think a keto diet probably isnt the best advice needed?
    OP unless you have specific food allergies please dont follow a carb cutting diet.
  • momRN2B
    momRN2B Posts: 247 Member
    I think what i need to do is to make sure that i am netting at least 1200 cals a day. If i dont eat my breastfeeding calories then i am already at a 500 cal deficit a day. then plus another 300-500 calorie deficit from my BMR I get to about 1200. That doesnt factor in any activity though so therefore i need to make sure to eat back my excercise cals in order to net a minimum of 1200 cals a day to lose about 2 lbs a week. Does this make sense?
  • momRN2B
    momRN2B Posts: 247 Member
    I am bumping this up since I really need help. I ave been doing the 30 day shred for about 2 weeks now . This week upon the advice of others I upped my calorie intake to include my exercise calories in order to ensure that I was netting 1200 calories. Not only did I not lose any weigh, I gained 3 lbs. This is very frustrating, what am i doing wrong!
  • juicemoogan
    juicemoogan Posts: 994 Member
    You are not eating enough... that's what you are doing wrong.

    GO read HelloitsDan's post and the info on his profile.
  • BandForAlyAnne
    BandForAlyAnne Posts: 321 Member
    i have found that i will have a period of loss followed by a period of stall. after losing weight your body kinda goes into "redistribution mode" which may be why you are losing inches. but thats just whats happening for me. like last month was a plateau, but my jeans started fitting me much better in the stomach. my dr calls it the "staircase" theory.
  • corn63
    corn63 Posts: 1,580 Member
    I am bumping this up since I really need help. I ave been doing the 30 day shred for about 2 weeks now . This week upon the advice of others I upped my calorie intake to include my exercise calories in order to ensure that I was netting 1200 calories. Not only did I not lose any weigh, I gained 3 lbs. This is very frustrating, what am i doing wrong!

    You got some really good advice.

    - Eat more. Body needs fuel to burn. Think of it as a furnace. If you don't stoke the fire... what happens to it? It dies out. Feed your furnace. Sounds counterintuitive but it works.

    - You are working out. Your body is repairing muscles. It repairs by retaining water. Make sure you're drinking water as well to help with repair.

    - You are not gaining muscle mass so extreme that you're gaining weight. It's likely water. Follow the above posts for success.

    Good luck. Don't get discouraged. You're introducing something new to your body by working out. It needs time to adjust.
  • mywayroche
    mywayroche Posts: 218 Member
    Weight loss doesn't stop because you're not eating enough... that would be a cure for world hunger. It slows down so you need to eat less again or take a break from it
  • bloodbank
    bloodbank Posts: 468 Member
    What's your height/age/weight?
  • Telugammayi87
    Telugammayi87 Posts: 170 Member
    I was eating 1200 cals a day, doing 30DS, going to gym 5 days a wa (3 cardio 2 strength) and the numbers were NOT movie.

    I now eat about 1950 calories per day and I've only been able to do light exercise (walking for about an hour) 2-3 days per week.

    I've lost 6 lbs in 3 weeks.

    Not only that, my strength is better, my stamina is better, I have more energy... the dark circles under my eyes are gone.. the list goes on and ON! :)

    Eat more, weigh less! You've got to be giving your body enough fuel!! If you just laid in bed all day, you'd burn around 1500+ calories (depending on age and a few other variables, this is an estimate) 1200 calories is not even enough to keep your organs functioning properly.

    A note.. I gained about 4lbs when I started eating more because my body was like "OMG!! Fuel!!" But then it finally let those 4lbs go once it realized I wasn't going to starve it again.

    Hope this helps...
  • haylz247
    haylz247 Posts: 435
    don't listen to anyone that says it's muscle. can't grow that in less than a week!

    most days i eat about 1300. i sometimes eat some exercise cals back if i'm hungry and i have a cheat day/meal once a week. I try to drink as much water as i can. I exercise 4-5 days a week. 30-40 mins cardio for 4-5 days and i do strength workouts 3 days a week. I'm losing inches too :)

    You just gotta push youself!
  • Tex_Zen
    Tex_Zen Posts: 10
    ah the olde plateau. probably conserving calories due to increase in exercise?

    As you replace muscle w fat weight loss seems to slow.

    I personally would be happier about shape loss than reading on the scale.
    Waist to hip ratio iMHO is way more important measure of a woman's health, go for it!!!
  • grrrlface
    grrrlface Posts: 1,204 Member
    I think you should look up the info on HelloIt'sDan's page... He gave some good advice.

    If you aren't providing your own body with enough nutrients to sustain itself then what nutrients are going to be left for the baby you are breastfeeding?

    I think you should maybe stop doing 30DS, up your calories and concentrate on you baby first and foremost.

    Work with the 500 calorie deficit from breastfeeding you already have, to NET at 1200 you need to eat 1700 calories a day. If you continue to do 30DS you need to add whatever you burn on to that, you should probably be eating around 1900 - 2000 calories a day.
  • momRN2B
    momRN2B Posts: 247 Member
    Thanx for all the advice...keep it coming, I needed some medical forms filled out since I am a nursing student and I will be starting school again in September. As part of the requirements I had a blood test and a urinalysis done. I just got back the results and on my urinalysis it says that my ketones are trace abnormal. I am afraid that this indicates that I am indeed eating too little and therefore I am breaking down protein/ muscle. I am not sure how much I will up my calories by but I guess I really have to start eating more.
  • islandmonkey
    islandmonkey Posts: 546 Member
    Thanx for all the advice...keep it coming, I needed some medical forms filled out since I am a nursing student and I will be starting school again in September. As part of the requirements I had a blood test and a urinalysis done. I just got back the results and on my urinalysis it says that my ketones are trace abnormal. I am afraid that this indicates that I am indeed eating too little and therefore I am breaking down protein/ muscle. I am not sure how much I will up my calories by but I guess I really have to start eating more.


    Eat more. Eat more. Eat more. At MINIMUM you need to be adding those 500 extra calories for breastfeeding.

    Baby will get whatever it needs; and your body will take from its own stores to produce the breastmilk. Therefore, you need to eat more not just for weight loss, but for general health and wellbeing.

    Eat more. For the love of god, eat more.
  • momRN2B
    momRN2B Posts: 247 Member
    What's your height/age/weight?

    my stats as of today are:
    height 5 foot 2 in
    'weight 144.6
    age 22
  • islandmonkey
    islandmonkey Posts: 546 Member
    my stats as of today are:
    height 5 foot 2 in
    'weight 144.6
    age 22


    Even if you're at only a "light" activity level, and wanting to lose 1 lb/week - without breastfeeding you should be eating around 1500 calories/day (plus eating back most or all of your exercise calories). With breastfeeding that's at least 2000/day...


    Any chance you'd consider opening up your food diary for us to look at?
  • momRN2B
    momRN2B Posts: 247 Member
    my stats as of today are:
    height 5 foot 2 in
    'weight 144.6
    age 22


    Even if you're at only a "light" activity level, and wanting to lose 1 lb/week - without breastfeeding you should be eating around 1500 calories/day (plus eating back most or all of your exercise calories). With breastfeeding that's at least 2000/day...


    Any chance you'd consider opening up your food diary for us to look at?

    what if i want to lose 1.5 to 2 lbs a week?
    i'll open up my diary for now
  • meeper123
    meeper123 Posts: 3,347 Member
    Watch the sugar and water less sugar more water :D also maybe you could try this drink unsweeted green tea ( fresh brewed) it has some fat burning potential :D also maybe try eat small miny meals about every 2 hours breast feeding might be making your blood sugar drop
  • islandmonkey
    islandmonkey Posts: 546 Member

    what if i want to lose 1.5 to 2 lbs a week?
    i'll open up my diary for now


    Take a look online for a tool to calculate your TDEE - Total Daily Energy Expenditure
    (I use this one: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html)


    It will give you a general idea of your caloric requirements - you'd want to add in your breastfeeding allowance, and subtract calories based on desired loss (deduct 500 cals/day for 1 lb/week loss, 750 cals/day for 1.5 lb/week loss, etc). I'm rushing so this is a really simplistic explanation. If you are doing this: you should be eating back all your exercise calories, as your weight loss plan is already built into your daily calorie goal.

    Personally, I find a 2lb/week weight loss approach very aggressive. A more sustainable plan is 1lb/week - but it really depends on the individual. I would also encourage you to speak with your doctor and/or a nutritionist regarding the best approach for you, particularly as you are breastfeeding.
  • momRN2B
    momRN2B Posts: 247 Member

    what if i want to lose 1.5 to 2 lbs a week?
    i'll open up my diary for now


    Take a look online for a tool to calculate your TDEE - Total Daily Energy Expenditure
    (I use this one: http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html)


    It will give you a general idea of your caloric requirements - you'd want to add in your breastfeeding allowance, and subtract calories based on desired loss (deduct 500 cals/day for 1 lb/week loss, 750 cals/day for 1.5 lb/week loss, etc). I'm rushing so this is a really simplistic explanation. If you are doing this: you should be eating back all your exercise calories, as your weight loss plan is already built into your daily calorie goal.

    Personally, I find a 2lb/week weight loss approach very aggressive. A more sustainable plan is 1lb/week - but it really depends on the individual. I would also encourage you to speak with your doctor and/or a nutritionist regarding the best approach for you, particularly as you are breastfeeding.

    According to that calculator my TDEE with little or no excercise is 1759. So in order to lose a lb a week i need to net 1259 cals. Now since I am breastfeeding i am losing another 500 calories so that should make me lose 2 lbs a week netting about 1250 cal per day. Does that make sense? Or should i rather try to lose 1.5 lbs a week and net 1500 cals a day?
  • islandmonkey
    islandmonkey Posts: 546 Member

    According to that calculator my TDEE with little or no excercise is 1759. So in order to lose a lb a week i need to net 1259 cals. Now since I am breastfeeding i am losing another 500 calories so that should make me lose 2 lbs a week netting about 1250 cal per day. Does that make sense? Or should i rather try to lose 1.5 lbs a week and net 1500 cals a day?


    Your calculations are correct.

    As to what is the correct approach - again, I personally think 2 lbs/week is a very aggressive approach, and gets more and more difficult as you lose (because you are trying to lose a larger % of your total weight). You should consult with your doctor regarding a safe and healthy approach for you.


    My personal goal in using MFP is a total loss of 20 lbs. I've lost 13lbs over the last 13 weeks, and have just changed my goal to .5 lb/week. In part because I have fewer lbs to lose now, but also because I like to eat and want this to be a sustainable, healthy loss.
  • holly3585
    holly3585 Posts: 282 Member
    Too much- toolittle- it can take months and months of experimenting to see how many calories your body FEELS good with while doing consistant exercise! Slow your roll! I think just for the little one you should up cal's right now b/c if your breastfeeding you NEED to supply those calories so that your body will keep producing rich milk. Up the calories A LITTLE Give it about 3 months....see where you are at.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    You should absolutely be eating your allowance for breastfeeding! You have your babies health and nutritional needs to consider!

    6 days is too soon to expect results.
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