Only one pound lost so far..insight please?

sundrine

I've been doing the 30 day shred and keeping my calories mostly under 1400 per day for as long as I've been on MFP, which is around 15 days or so. My net calorie goal is 1200 and I tend to "eat back" my calories when I exercise. My weight has been fluctuating between 130-127 for a few weeks now, but it seems to have stabilized at 128. Am I at a plateau? Why am I not losing weight if I'm following my calorie goals? Should I stop eating back my calories, or will that damage my metabolism?

bsharrah

Stop eating back your calories.

Apresner

Idk because your diary isn't public. You could be eating 12 to 14 100 calorie packs for all I know. What you eat makes a big difference.

Lesa_Sass

You should not only EAT BACK your exercise calories you should probably raise your calorie goal as well.

I did not lose my last 5 lbs until I raised mine to 1400 PLUS exercise calories, then I raised it to 1500, kept losing then raised it to 1600 and STILL kept losing.

I was at a stand still for months on 1200.

The hardest part about eating more was wrapping my head around it. After I did, I was one happy gal.

Now in saying that, I did not eat crap, I ate whole, clean ( or as clean as possible) foods and incorporated more foods that were low on the glycemic index.

I am 44 years old, 5"3 and now weigh 108. Trust me, it really works

ashsmile78

Idk because your diary isn't public. You could be eating 12 to 14 100 calorie packs for all I know. What you eat makes a big difference.

That is true. You might want to make your diary public or at least open to friends. I was a little reluctant at first but it has really helped me. It makes me accountable and people can give you better feedback, encoragement, and support. Feel free to add me as a friend. My take is the more support the better!

LorinaLynn

You have less than 15 pounds you want to lose. It's going to come off slowly. A half pound a week is all you should expect and aim for.

Also, depending on your height, 115 might not be a realistic goal.

So my suggestions...

Switch your calorie goal to lose a half pound a week and eat back most if not all of your exercise calories. You're young. You have a good metabolism. There's absolutely no reason at all for you to eat so little. You'll lose weight eating significantly more than 1200 calories. I'm more than twice your age and lose weight eating 2000 calories a day.

Get adequate protein. This could be a challenge as a vegetarian, but it can be done.

Get regular exercise including strength training. Heavy weights that challenge you, not just reasonably light dumbbells to 30DS. That's a cardio workout. A good cardio workout, but still not strength training.

Track your progress through how clothes fit, measurements and progress photos. Forget the scale. It's meaningless when your'e this close to your goal.

For instance, here's me 10 years ago at about 120 pounds, and me a few weeks ago at about 134 pounds. Do I look nearly 15 pounds heavier?

kittyhasclaws

You have less than 15 pounds you want to lose. It's going to come off slowly. A half pound a week is all you should expect and aim for.

Also, depending on your height, 115 might not be a realistic goal.

So my suggestions...

Switch your calorie goal to lose a half pound a week and eat back most if not all of your exercise calories. You're young. You have a good metabolism. There's absolutely no reason at all for you to eat so little. You'll lose weight eating significantly more than 1200 calories. I'm more than twice your age and lose weight eating 2000 calories a day.

Get adequate protein. This could be a challenge as a vegetarian, but it can be done.

Get regular exercise including strength training. Heavy weights that challenge you, not just reasonably light dumbbells to 30DS. That's a cardio workout. A good cardio workout, but still not strength training.

Track your progress through how clothes fit, measurements and progress photos. Forget the scale. It's meaningless when your'e this close to your goal.

For instance, here's me 10 years ago at about 120 pounds, and me a few weeks ago at about 134 pounds. Do I look nearly 15 pounds heavier?

You know, every time I see you post your before/after, I sigh. Because it's awesome. Something to aspire to.

SuffolkSally

Hard to help, without a few more bits of information...

Heather_Rider

Maybe this?

My diet isn't as good as I'd like it to be since we have hardly any fresh fruits and veggies in the house. As it is, I eat as much fruit and vegetables as I can, and eat whole grains to help me stay full. Since I'm a vegetarian, I get my protein mainly from soy and nuts. I try not to eat junk but I do anyway..although I try to keep it within my calorie goal. :P

You eat junk and not enough fruits & veggies. Your words, not mine.

californiagirl2012

Those calories are just a starting point for you. You may need to adjust in 100 calorie increments until you find what is right for you.

We’ve been trying to figure out an exact NUMBER of calories that everyone should be eating, without recognizing that everyone is slightly different. In truth, the calories aren’t the end game. Your body is. So the EXACT amount of Calories that are right for you is the EXACT amount that will allow you to maintain your ideal bodyweight no matter what some calculator or chart says.

In other words, an online calculator might tell you that you need to eat 2,500 calories
per day to maintain your ideal bodyweight. But the only way to know for sure if this is
the right amount for you is to test it out. If you gain weight or can’t lose weight eating
that much, then you know you need to eat less to lose weight no matter how many
calculators and text books say otherwise.

This doesn’t mean your metabolism is broken, it just means the estimate of your needs
was just a bit off.

-John Barban

If you have a lot of body fat reserves you would be surprised at how little you can eat (unless you have emotional eating issues or disorders). The leaner you get the less your body has to draw from and then you have to taper up your calories. There is no such thing as starvation mode for woman over 12% body fat or men over 6% body fat. I pretty much proved that for myself by staying strong and building muscle and doing what I did. I'm the leanest, most muscular, and most fit that I have ever been in my life at almost 52 years old.

Separating out the the two things worked for me:

1) Eat less to lose fat.

2) Exercise to gain or maintain lean body mass.

Ignore exercise calories because it's insignificant when you don't have to worry about starvation mode anymore and it's highly over rated. Of course you burn energy, but not nearly what any of the devices say you do.

If you are not doing a weight training routine you need to start one and do it the rest of your life to ward off osteoporosis.

You body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You can not make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

socdocme

The scale is an awful tool if you are trying to change how your body looks and feels. First of all the scale cannot measure the increasing muscle a person gains from exercise and weight training, nor all the fat that is reduced from those things. The scale also can't measure how great regular exercise makes a person feel emotionally. If I never lose another pound I will always stay active just for the emotional and health benefits alone. I tend to use a zig-zag pattern of eating--1500 calories for a few days, then 1800 or so for 2 days. Like many other people I also mix up my activity. The theory is that eating and exercising that way keeps your body from holding on to weight because it doesn't go into starvation mode--I guess it's too confused to respond, lol. I've lost about 60 lbs. since the beginning of February 2012 and its what got me out of two 3 to4 week plateaus..

CoderGal

Stop eating back your calories.

The opposite of whatever this person says.

I'm 10 years older then you and with time metabolism slows down. I'm also eating about 600 calories more then you. I'm now 5'7 and weigh 120 lbs. I have my height and age working against me and had no problem getting to where I am, so the solution is definately not eating less. You're relatively light now, and with that things slow down, expecially if you're after losing some weight. Things will be slow going for you, you're not going to drop weight like an obese person, and if you do it's concerning and probably water and nutrients your washing out of yourself. Take your time, exercise and eat healthy. If you come to a real stall for months, eat your TDEE for a couple weeks and do a cut again, that's my advice

RobynMWilson

How tall are you? What is your goal weight?

macromouth

Adjust your calories over periods of time. BUt just as an instrinct of mine....you say you eat back all of your exercise calories. Try eating only half of them for a few weeks. If you havent lost at least 3 pounds in 4 weeks, cut back 75% of your exercise calories instead.

CoderGal

You have less than 15 pounds you want to lose. It's going to come off slowly. A half pound a week is all you should expect and aim for.

Also, depending on your height, 115 might not be a realistic goal.

So my suggestions...

Switch your calorie goal to lose a half pound a week and eat back most if not all of your exercise calories. You're young. You have a good metabolism. There's absolutely no reason at all for you to eat so little. You'll lose weight eating significantly more than 1200 calories. I'm more than twice your age and lose weight eating 2000 calories a day.

Get adequate protein. This could be a challenge as a vegetarian, but it can be done.

Get regular exercise including strength training. Heavy weights that challenge you, not just reasonably light dumbbells to 30DS. That's a cardio workout. A good cardio workout, but still not strength training.

Track your progress through how clothes fit, measurements and progress photos. Forget the scale. It's meaningless when your'e this close to your goal.

For instance, here's me 10 years ago at about 120 pounds, and me a few weeks ago at about 134 pounds. Do I look nearly 15 pounds heavier?

You know, every time I see you post your before/after, I sigh. Because it's awesome. Something to aspire to.

Ditto...and I'm just going to quote this again because people are still giving bad advice. Eating less and less does not equal being thinner.

sundrine

thanks for all your help, guys. I think it is the fact that I don't eat as cleanly as I should. No excuses, I need to eat healthier (and more)! )

sundrine

Maybe this?

My diet isn't as good as I'd like it to be since we have hardly any fresh fruits and veggies in the house. As it is, I eat as much fruit and vegetables as I can, and eat whole grains to help me stay full. Since I'm a vegetarian, I get my protein mainly from soy and nuts. I try not to eat junk but I do anyway..although I try to keep it within my calorie goal. :P

You eat junk and not enough fruits & veggies. Your words, not mine.

Kind of blunt but I agree.

LorinaLynn

Ditto...and I'm just going to quote this again because people are still giving bad advice. Eating less and less does not equal being thinner.

In 2002, I had a jaw problem that seriously limited my ability to eat. It's pretty difficult to chew when you can only open your mouth 11mm without pain. I wasn't tracking calories, but there's no way I could have been eating a lot. I'm now eating 2000 calories a day, and still losing, trying to find my maintenance sweet spot, which will probably be around 2200-2300.

bsharrah

Eating back your calories to lose weight is sound advice, in theory, but it implies two important things.

First, it implies you did not factor your exercise into your TDEE calculations. If you did, then the calorie count it gave you already took your exercise calorie burn into account.

Second, you are accurately measuring your calorie burn, and no consumer device can do this, not your Polars, Bodybugs, Fitbits, or Apps. They all have a margin of error significant enough to cause one to eat back far more than they burned.

If your goal is to lose weight, don't eat back your calories, at least not all of them. Use whatever device you have to calculate calorie burn to track your exercise intensity from day to day, but don't log it anywhere that will effect your calorie intake.