Weight loss stall

smittybuilt19

I completed W2D3 today and feel pretty good about the program so far. Like a lot of folks I see on here I never thought I would enjoy running but I do!

So here's the deal. I have logged for 140 days with success. I've lost almost 30 lbs. I was losing 1-1.5 lbs. a week and very happy about that! I was also excited about having a 300-500 calorie deficit most days, and was actually shooting for that. Well it then dawned on me that MFP already had me on a deficit based on my initial parameters. So I felt like maybe I was in "starvation mode" even though I didn't feel hungry. I came to this conclusion when I started barely losing a pound a week and sometimes not even a half pound. So I started eating those calories trying to get to zero left at the end of the day, which has affected me mentally. About the same time I started C25K.

To sum up this rambling post, the weight loss has stalled. And that stinks!

Stinks!...reminds me, I can't go number two either. I kind of figured increasing fiber and water intake mixed with C25K would get things moving.

Comments, suggestions?

smittybuilt19

Anyone?

Maybe the poop talk was a little much?

mayberry310

LOL! Poop talk isn't a problem. Happens to the best of us.

How long have you been stalled? A week? A month? Did you reset your MFP daily goals to take into account your activity level? If you're doing the C25K you're no longer sedentary, which was something I had trouble adjusting to. As for me, when I stalled and upped my daily calorie intake I got over the slump of no weight loss. If that is it, give it a full two weeks before changing around your calorie goals again. I find that you need at least those 14 days to see anything "happen".

With that being said... I do hope it doesn't take you 14 days to get the poop issue resolved!

smittybuilt19

Haha. Sometimes poop talk is a little weird to folks. In my case, my Mother in law made me realize it's not weird and many people have trouble in that area.

So I did lose a pound last week, but for about the last month and a half I was only losing around .5 lb week or 0, which is when I realized I might not be eating enough. I have not reset my daily goals, since I had it set initially at light active. I don't feel like my c25k training is intense enough to bump it up a notch. I have become a little impatient. I really should wait and see what happens, it's just hard mentally to eat more when I had become adjusted to more of a deficit than MFP had me on to begin with. It's also tough always feeling full of food.

LeonnieH

When I started C25k my weight loss slowed right down and has continued to drop at a slow steady pace, I've just finished week 6. I believe it's because of muscle gain so probably still losing fat at the same rate as before but as muscle weighs more and you'll be building it now that you're running it will appear that your weight loss is stalling. Are you taking measurements? Although my weight loss slowed down the tape measure is showing that I'm getting slimmer. Sorry, can't help with the poop talk, have no idea what to suggest apart from maybe drink more water.

smittybuilt19

Unfortunately I have not been taking measurements. I have been told by several folks that it could be muscle/fat situation you're describing. Also had one tell me that my body may be in shock from starting the c25k program and it's trying to hold on to whatever it can.

Ps. Drinking tons of water and eating more fiber...waiting...

domsmoms

Hmm, maybe there is a trend here. For seven months, as long as I've been disciplined, I've been losing steadily. Last week I was quite good, and gained 0.5 lb. I wonder now if it is at all related to starting C25K. I just did week 2 day 2 today - I didn't really think this was long enough to build up any more muscle mass though.

cobracars

I may not be a good barometer to judge your weight loss, but I too had been steadily losing for a long time, like 80 - 90 days, and then in the middle of C25K I seemed to stall. I don't know if its the timing of having been on MFP for a few months or if its the addition of the training program. Around Week 7 or 8 I started doing more than the program suggested and was running 3 miles by the end of Week 8. I graduated and ran a 5K a week ago.
This past week I've run 4 miles on 3 different days, burning around 750 calories. I eat some back, but not all.
My weight loss has picked up again.
On days I run I can see a 1-3 pound difference on the scale, which is probably water but it doesn't seem to come back.
I'm currently set at 1610 calories ( 52 yrs old 223 pounds) and I rarely go under that, usually I hit 1800 - 2000 on the days when I've gone biking or running, but with logging the exercise calories based on my Heart Rate Monitor I'm usually at a 500 shortage on top of my 1000 deficit goal.
I started MFP again in June and I've gone from a highest, weight of 262 to my current 223, almost 40 pounds down.

smittybuilt19

Hmm, maybe there is a trend here. For seven months, as long as I've been disciplined, I've been losing steadily. Last week I was quite good, and gained 0.5 lb. I wonder now if it is at all related to starting C25K. I just did week 2 day 2 today - I didn't really think this was long enough to build up any more muscle mass though.

I keep telling myself it's muscle but I can't seem to believe it. I just finished W3D1 yesterday.

smittybuilt19

I may not be a good barometer to judge your weight loss, but I too had been steadily losing for a long time, like 80 - 90 days, and then in the middle of C25K I seemed to stall. I don't know if its the timing of having been on MFP for a few months or if its the addition of the training program. Around Week 7 or 8 I started doing more than the program suggested and was running 3 miles by the end of Week 8. I graduated and ran a 5K a week ago.
This past week I've run 4 miles on 3 different days, burning around 750 calories. I eat some back, but not all.
My weight loss has picked up again.
On days I run I can see a 1-3 pound difference on the scale, which is probably water but it doesn't seem to come back.
I'm currently set at 1610 calories ( 52 yrs old 223 pounds) and I rarely go under that, usually I hit 1800 - 2000 on the days when I've gone biking or running, but with logging the exercise calories based on my Heart Rate Monitor I'm usually at a 500 shortage on top of my 1000 deficit goal.
I started MFP again in June and I've gone from a highest, weight of 262 to my current 223, almost 40 pounds down.

First off, great job on the weight loss!!! The more people I talk to the more they tell me to be patient and the weight loss will eventually pick back up. It just gets discouraging to know that for the last 4.5 months I've been losing more than a pound per week and now nothing. I will continue logging and running and wait for good things to happen!

LarryPGH

Did you reset your MFP daily goals to take into account your activity level? If you're doing the C25K you're no longer sedentary, which was something I had trouble adjusting to. As for me, when I stalled and upped my daily calorie intake I got over the slump of no weight loss.

This still confuses me. OK -- the "sedentary" / "light" / "moderate" activity levels are used as a multiplier for BMR, to get you up to your total daily calorie usage, right? So, if we bump up our activity levels to correspond to a greater amount of exercise, why do we also eat back our exercise calories? Why isn't that 'double-counting' our calories burned due to exercise? :huh:

domsmoms

Did you reset your MFP daily goals to take into account your activity level? If you're doing the C25K you're no longer sedentary, which was something I had trouble adjusting to. As for me, when I stalled and upped my daily calorie intake I got over the slump of no weight loss.

This still confuses me. OK -- the "sedentary" / "light" / "moderate" activity levels are used as a multiplier for BMR, to get you up to your total daily calorie usage, right? So, if we bump up our activity levels to correspond to a greater amount of exercise, why do we also eat back our exercise calories? Why isn't that 'double-counting' our calories burned due to exercise? :huh:

It seems like it is double counting... that's why I leave my activity level at sedentary and log my exercise. If I bumped my activity level I guess I'd stop logging exercise. However... on week 2, I'm still only burning about 140 calories each time (per my treadmill - I go slow with no incline). I don't think that would buump me to lightly active.

domsmoms

Checking back in to report that happily my weight loss is back on track... 3 lbs down from last week. Hooray!

smittybuilt19

Glad to hear your loss has started back up again!! Did you change anything, or just stay on track and wait it out?

secretlobster

C25K is not a replacement for a good diet...

From looking at your diary, I'd be surprised if you weren't retaining water due to a ton of fast-food, notoriously high in sodium. While if you're within your calorie limit, you will still see weight loss over time, water retention will reflect your day-to-day progress.

smittybuilt19

C25K is not a replacement for a good diet...

From looking at your diary, I'd be surprised if you weren't retaining water due to a ton of fast-food, notoriously high in sodium. While if you're within your calorie limit, you will still see weight loss over time, water retention will reflect your day-to-day progress.

C25K is not a replacement for a good diet... Agree!

I have never been concerned about my diet, I've just always complained about being fat. I started watching my intake and first off realized I ate way too much. Now that I am controlling the amount I would like to start looking into the quality. Fast food has been the way of life since I was a kid so I find it difficult to even think about things I could make at home. My wife has virtually no time for cooking so we end up eating whatever we can find. I have been thinking of picking my most frequent fast food meals and trying to replicate them at home.

I have been told by a friend of mine also tell me that it could very well be water retention.

Thank you so much for your response!

secretlobster

Oh and trust me I'm not here to judge you... My dinner last night was approximately one box of fruit snacks LOL

smittybuilt19

I know you're not. Thank you for your input! It's great to hear from others on here.

smittybuilt19

By opening my diary I put myself out on a limb, and am quite surprised I haven't been blown up yet. I eat fast food generally 3 times per day. I am starting to work fruits and yogurt into the mix but it's slow going.

PixieGoddess

My 2 cents: If you're consuming a lot of fiber and/or sodium, you might need to up your liquid intake even MORE to get your bowels moving. I say liquid because water is BEST, but the important thing is to stay HYDRATED, so drink more of whatever you're willing to drink. Also, I'm not a huge advocate of medicine until it's really necessary, but I am an advocate of trying some different drinks/foods to help that department, such as coffee or a probiotic (yogurt, acidophilic (sp?) milk, and even some cottage cheese - look for "live cultures" on the package)

Also, I agree that muscle does not build that fast, but it could be lactic acid build-up and/or inflammation in the muscles due to this new stress. Once again, maximize your hydration to flush out the lactic acid. The inflammation will go away on its own; you can take an NSAID such as aspirin or ibuprofen to get rid of it faster, but I wouldn't recommend it (see note above about not being a huge medicine advocate) unless you're actually having pain.

Again, this is just my 2 cents, not an expert or anything. Good luck! :drinker:

domsmoms

Glad to hear your loss has started back up again!! Did you change anything, or just stay on track and wait it out?

Just stayed on track and waited it out! Might have been excess water weight the time I gained...

domsmoms

My 2 cents: If you're consuming a lot of fiber and/or sodium, you might need to up your liquid intake even MORE to get your bowels moving. I say liquid because water is BEST, but the important thing is to stay HYDRATED, so drink more of whatever you're willing to drink. Also, I'm not a huge advocate of medicine until it's really necessary, but I am an advocate of trying some different drinks/foods to help that department, such as coffee or a probiotic (yogurt, acidophilic (sp?) milk, and even some cottage cheese - look for "live cultures" on the package)

Also, I agree that muscle does not build that fast, but it could be lactic acid build-up and/or inflammation in the muscles due to this new stress. Once again, maximize your hydration to flush out the lactic acid. The inflammation will go away on its own; you can take an NSAID such as aspirin or ibuprofen to get rid of it faster, but I wouldn't recommend it (see note above about not being a huge medicine advocate) unless you're actually having pain.

Again, this is just my 2 cents, not an expert or anything. Good luck! :drinker:

I'm confused about why consuming a lot of fiber would stop your bowels from moving... wouldn't it have the opposite effect? (Although I seem to be having similar issues myself, and consume plenty of fiber, so what do I know?)

smittybuilt19

My 2 cents: If you're consuming a lot of fiber and/or sodium, you might need to up your liquid intake even MORE to get your bowels moving. I say liquid because water is BEST, but the important thing is to stay HYDRATED, so drink more of whatever you're willing to drink. Also, I'm not a huge advocate of medicine until it's really necessary, but I am an advocate of trying some different drinks/foods to help that department, such as coffee or a probiotic (yogurt, acidophilic (sp?) milk, and even some cottage cheese - look for "live cultures" on the package)

Also, I agree that muscle does not build that fast, but it could be lactic acid build-up and/or inflammation in the muscles due to this new stress. Once again, maximize your hydration to flush out the lactic acid. The inflammation will go away on its own; you can take an NSAID such as aspirin or ibuprofen to get rid of it faster, but I wouldn't recommend it (see note above about not being a huge medicine advocate) unless you're actually having pain.


Again, this is just my 2 cents, not an expert or anything. Good luck! :drinker:

Thanks a lot for responding!

MericoX

I did W5D1 today, and the scale has been going up and down since I started the c25k. From what I've found it's most likely a combination of muscle gain, muscle tears that have become inflamed, and/or water retention in your muscles. On the other hand, I also have been taking measurements and that has been going down a lot every week.

smittybuilt19

I really need to start measuring. I need to quit saying that and actually do it lol.

secretlobster

Do you have a weight lifting routine?

smittybuilt19

Do you have a weight lifting routine?

No I don't.

xtrout

Did you reset your MFP daily goals to take into account your activity level? If you're doing the C25K you're no longer sedentary, which was something I had trouble adjusting to. As for me, when I stalled and upped my daily calorie intake I got over the slump of no weight loss.

This still confuses me. OK -- the "sedentary" / "light" / "moderate" activity levels are used as a multiplier for BMR, to get you up to your total daily calorie usage, right? So, if we bump up our activity levels to correspond to a greater amount of exercise, why do we also eat back our exercise calories? Why isn't that 'double-counting' our calories burned due to exercise? :huh:

One of the things I picked up from the MFP that I use for a rule of thumb is that your activity level is basically what you do for a living. I sit in a desk all day so I consider myself sedentary. Helps me to be a little conservative in my goals. Not that it the right thing to do, it just happens to work for me. I exercise 6-7 days a week.

duckfloats

Coming into this thread a little late. I just finished C25K last weekend, and have seen my first plateau during the past 3 weeks. Frustrating to say the least.

Thanks everyone for your responses. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and be patient.

smittybuilt19

It's very frustrating. I decided to take a week off from the scales. Tomorrow will be my first weigh-in in two weeks. I'm actually feeling very good overall right now, so if the scale hasn't moved, I won't read too much into it.