A little hope please...
schustc
Posts: 428 Member
I am more of a lurker here, but believe in the principles (haven't taken the plunge out of fear of dissappointing my trainer) - but, I try to keep from doing a VLCD...
That being said, when I started this journey on March 26th, my trainer put me on a 1400 calorie diet. I was dragging and felt this was FAR too low. Unintentionally, I would do the 1400 or so and end up having a really high day once a week or so. I think this helped me and hope it prevented damage..
I finally moved myself up to 1500, with a large cheat day once a week - so that my calories averaged to around 1700-1900/day for the week.
This has been working awesome for me up till now. I lost 40 lbs in 4 months (actually a little over 4 months). But, Now everything seems to have come to a halt.
this past month was my worst loss of the 4, and I barely eeked out about 6 or so pounds (to average at the 10/month-ish)...
now it's flat stopped - or appears to have. For the past 2 weeks, zero loss. I lose a pound, gain it back, over and over.
I am baffled at the harsh stop. Last month we had a vacation for a week so I attributed the slow loss to that week kind of throwing me off.
But I don't understand the last 2 weeks. Usually the scale moves better for me. When I checked scooby's site, I was right on target with my calories - even not realizing it, so it's not eating too low.
I figure it's a plateau, but, hear that 2 weeks is NOT a plateau. I read somewhere that dropping your calories for a few days, can help shake up a plateau, and then get back on track - so I tried that. I really cut them down the past few days - last night was around 1100 (no that's not what I intend to keep doing!)
I figure I'll shoot for 1500 today, and then have a really high day tomorrow or Saturday to average it out.
I guess I was hoping, by having the high days once a week or so, I'd have prevented a plateau. Obviously it didn't work. I know 10 lbs a month is a high target, but when I looked at scooby's site, the 25% cut only has me losing a bit over 1 lb a week. I'm a little lost as to how ot make this go with 2 lbs/week consistently. at this rate, it's going to take me 2 years to lose the rest. That doesn't really seem right to me.
starting weight 268. current weight 228(or 227) depending on the day.
tentative calories 1500/day with one high day aroudn 2600 ish per week..
thoughts
That being said, when I started this journey on March 26th, my trainer put me on a 1400 calorie diet. I was dragging and felt this was FAR too low. Unintentionally, I would do the 1400 or so and end up having a really high day once a week or so. I think this helped me and hope it prevented damage..
I finally moved myself up to 1500, with a large cheat day once a week - so that my calories averaged to around 1700-1900/day for the week.
This has been working awesome for me up till now. I lost 40 lbs in 4 months (actually a little over 4 months). But, Now everything seems to have come to a halt.
this past month was my worst loss of the 4, and I barely eeked out about 6 or so pounds (to average at the 10/month-ish)...
now it's flat stopped - or appears to have. For the past 2 weeks, zero loss. I lose a pound, gain it back, over and over.
I am baffled at the harsh stop. Last month we had a vacation for a week so I attributed the slow loss to that week kind of throwing me off.
But I don't understand the last 2 weeks. Usually the scale moves better for me. When I checked scooby's site, I was right on target with my calories - even not realizing it, so it's not eating too low.
I figure it's a plateau, but, hear that 2 weeks is NOT a plateau. I read somewhere that dropping your calories for a few days, can help shake up a plateau, and then get back on track - so I tried that. I really cut them down the past few days - last night was around 1100 (no that's not what I intend to keep doing!)
I figure I'll shoot for 1500 today, and then have a really high day tomorrow or Saturday to average it out.
I guess I was hoping, by having the high days once a week or so, I'd have prevented a plateau. Obviously it didn't work. I know 10 lbs a month is a high target, but when I looked at scooby's site, the 25% cut only has me losing a bit over 1 lb a week. I'm a little lost as to how ot make this go with 2 lbs/week consistently. at this rate, it's going to take me 2 years to lose the rest. That doesn't really seem right to me.
starting weight 268. current weight 228(or 227) depending on the day.
tentative calories 1500/day with one high day aroudn 2600 ish per week..
thoughts 0
Replies
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Hello!
Congratulations on losing the 40lbs. That is awesome.
But I think your deficit is too big. We do not recommend to go lower than 15%.
And it is also important to take diet breaks in between. Every 4 weeks I would do 1 week of eating at TDEE. so your body does not get used to the cut value.
Are you hitting your macros? It is really important that you get enough protein in.
And how is your exercise routine?
I would not use low cal days to smash the plateau. I think it is more important to eat at TDEE to keep your metabolism up.0 -
1-2 lbs a week is a healthy loss on average and something to be proud of! For those with a lot to lose, the first pounds seem to melt off at first and then slow down - its totaly normal!
im not sure how great it is to keep at a low cal during the week and then make such a drastic jump in cals for one day. maybe someone else can weigh in i=on that one. The people in this group are selecting a daily cal count based on their unique stats, not just picking a number out of the blue. IMO 10 lbs a month is not realistic after that first rush
this is a marathon, not a race! be smart, be healthy and you will get to your goal and have a greater chance of staying there!0 -
I think 2 years does seem reasonable to take off the weight if you don't want to mess with your metabolism.
2 weeks is most definitely not a plateau.
I didn't lose anything for 8 weeks. I just kept at it, threw in a diet break in there and then back to my 15% cut and I finally started dropping weight again.0 -
Hello!
Congratulations on losing the 40lbs. That is awesome.
But I think your deficit is too big. We do not recommend to go lower than 15%.
And it is also important to take diet breaks in between. Every 4 weeks I would do 1 week of eating at TDEE. so your body does not get used to the cut value.
Are you hitting your macros? It is really important that you get enough protein in.
And how is your exercise routine?
I would not use low cal days to smash the plateau. I think it is more important to eat at TDEE to keep your metabolism up.
I agree with everything here! Keep your defecit at a modest 15%. You may need to have a conversation with your trainer also about expectations of weight loss. I've worked with a trainer in the past and he definitely wanted to see 2 pounds a week. I lost tons of weight. I looked fantastic - I was so proud. I gained it all back and A LOT more. That is not success. This is about what will work for you for the rest of your life. Better to take it slow and be done with the extra weight for good!
Noor touched on this, but it bears repeating that the philosophy here is that when you plateau, go UP in calories - not down. See, what happens when you go down is that you might start losing weight again until your body equalizes at that new lower calorie level. Then you will have to cut again. And so on it goes. And that's how it ends up that people eat 1200 calories and swear that they gain if they eat a calorie over that. So go UP to TDEE and take a diet break of 1-2 weeks, then drop back down to a more modest cut of 15% and you'll be good. If you're still stalled at that point, it's possible you could need a full reset. But try the diet break and let us know how that goes. That would be my recommendation.
Good luck. You've come a really long way already!0 -
Hello!
Congratulations on losing the 40lbs. That is awesome.
But I think your deficit is too big. We do not recommend to go lower than 15%.
And it is also important to take diet breaks in between. Every 4 weeks I would do 1 week of eating at TDEE. so your body does not get used to the cut value.
Are you hitting your macros? It is really important that you get enough protein in.
And how is your exercise routine?
I would not use low cal days to smash the plateau. I think it is more important to eat at TDEE to keep your metabolism up.
I agree with everything here! Keep your defecit at a modest 15%. You may need to have a conversation with your trainer also about expectations of weight loss. I've worked with a trainer in the past and he definitely wanted to see 2 pounds a week. I lost tons of weight. I looked fantastic - I was so proud. I gained it all back and A LOT more. That is not success. This is about what will work for you for the rest of your life. Better to take it slow and be done with the extra weight for good!
Noor touched on this, but it bears repeating that the philosophy here is that when you plateau, go UP in calories - not down. See, what happens when you go down is that you might start losing weight again until your body equalizes at that new lower calorie level. Then you will have to cut again. And so on it goes. And that's how it ends up that people eat 1200 calories and swear that they gain if they eat a calorie over that. So go UP to TDEE and take a diet break of 1-2 weeks, then drop back down to a more modest cut of 15% and you'll be good. If you're still stalled at that point, it's possible you could need a full reset. But try the diet break and let us know how that goes. That would be my recommendation.
Good luck. You've come a really long way already!
^^^^ this.
Good luck ...keep at it !0 -
I just wanted to thank you all soo very much!!
I stopped my massive cut today. I indulged (planned) to 3100 or so calories. I still average around 1600 for the past 6 days, Tomorrow, and Sunday, I am planning a diet break. I am going to eat at 2300 both days - that gives me 3 good days off. it's not a week, but I'm going to try this and see how it goes.
I wanted to thank all of you for your wonderful advice and help.
I haven't had the guts to discuss with the trainer, so am going to try to get back to a healthy loss (1 to 2 lbs per week) by not cutting calories drastically.
Thank you again!0 -
I haven't had the guts to discuss with the trainer, so am going to try to get back to a healthy loss (1 to 2 lbs per week) by not cutting calories drastically.
Thank you again!
This is a brilliant plan. The 1lb per week especially. Sometimes it's really tough to go the slower, healthier way because we all want results now now now!
One of my faves to remember: If it comes off too quickly, it will come back on even quicker.
You are definitely doing the right thing 0
