Slooooow weight loss, can't figure it out...

lv1977

Hello. I have been on MFP since early June, and lost 5-6lbs of the 12lbs I need to lose but keep hitting a plateau. Its frustratingly slow, I am exercising 3-4 times a week (running/cardio/strength/tabata) and was sticking well to the 1200-1300 calories a day but some people were saying that maybe that is not enough calories and that perhaps I need to eat more. I don’t eat the extra I burn off, as that seems to defeat the object, but maybe eat ~100-200 extra on these days so I am still calories down as such. In the last few weeks I have tried to up it and eat maybe 1400-1500 calories/day and have a day where I’ll go say 1600 to “shock” the body but since I have been doing this in the last few weeks I appear to have gained 2 – 2.5 lbs back on, so I don’t think this is working for me either. Wish I had a magic formula! I know they say you have to eat or your body goes into starvation mode, but colleagues doing say Weight Watchers points have lost 17lbs in 2 months by eating lettuce at lunch! So, how come that works if its not meant to work?! Interested to hear any advice... thanks!

MrsJBro

You need to figure out your BMR. Google it, it will help you see what your daily calorie requirements should be. 1200-1300 may be too low for you. Personally, my body requires 1483 to survive. If I eat under that sure I'll lose weight, but a lot of that will be muscle mass, which I don't care to lose, and it slows my metabolism (thus reducing the amount of calories I burn daily).
Eating around my BMR has lead to consistant weight loss. On days I exercise, I have to increase my caloric intake to ensure I hit my minimum caloric requirments. Eat too little and your body will starve. Eat too much and you'll gain. Eating 1600 in a day is no shock to the body, it loves to store extra calories.
When you hit a plateau it means you're at a point when your calories out matches your calories in.

My advice, calculate your BMR and go from there.

psuLemon

Hello. I have been on MFP since early June, and lost 5-6lbs of the 12lbs I need to lose but keep hitting a plateau. Its frustratingly slow, I am exercising 3-4 times a week (running/cardio/strength/tabata) and was sticking well to the 1200-1300 calories a day but some people were saying that maybe that is not enough calories and that perhaps I need to eat more. I don’t eat the extra I burn off, as that seems to defeat the object, but maybe eat ~100-200 extra on these days so I am still calories down as such. In the last few weeks I have tried to up it and eat maybe 1400-1500 calories/day and have a day where I’ll go say 1600 to “shock” the body but since I have been doing this in the last few weeks I appear to have gained 2 – 2.5 lbs back on, so I don’t think this is working for me either. Wish I had a magic formula! I know they say you have to eat or your body goes into starvation mode, but colleagues doing say Weight Watchers points have lost 17lbs in 2 months by eating lettuce at lunch! So, how come that works if its not meant to work?! Interested to hear any advice... thanks!

As you lose more weight and come closer to a natural/normal weight, it will come off slower. The more you have to lose the eaiser. An obese person can lose 100 lbs in a year but can take 6 months to lose the last 10 lbs.

Also, I can bet that 2 lbs you gained back is just water weight. YOu would have to have a very very slow metabolism as well as 0 activity to gain new fat. Also, when you spike your meals, your body needs time to adjust. Usually when people eat more calories, they eat more carbs. More carbs means more glycogen stored (aka more water). I would almost bet you, if you ate 1600 calories daily for a month, you would probably still lose weight.

If you open your diary we can evaluate your foods too. And if you provide your weight and height, I can run your numbers and estimate your caloric requirements.

MinnieInMaine

Meh, that doesn't mean anything... You're seeing them eat lettuce at lunch but what are they eating for breakfast and dinner? Are they as satisfied as you are? Not likely...which means they won't stick with it long term and are likely to regain that weight once they're "done with their diet". And how much weight do they have to lose in comparison to you? People with more to lose can afford a higher calorie deficit and have more changes to make which means they tend to lose faster.

My points are: 1) you're obviously trying to do this the healthy way and learn to eat better as you go, not wasting your money on a diet that just teaches you tricks and won't likely work long term. 2) you're almost halfway to your goal - be proud! 3) because you have less to lose, a 1/2 pound per week goal is reasonable and you're not too far off from that target.

Did you gain those 2 pounds quickly? It's likely they're water weight. Or you may still be adjusting to the slightly higher calorie goal. Where did those numbers come from? Did someone just suggest them out of the blue or are they based on BMR and TDEE estimates?

lv1977

My husband and I have a personal trainer once a week, she suggested that maybe 1200/day is too low if I am not seeing weight loss as I am doing exercise. (My husband lost 15 lbs in around 3 months earlier in the year and drinks alcohol calories, maybe that’s my downfall?! Haha). One calculator on google suggests 1291/day (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/bmr-formula.php) but another (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/) states 1290/day, then use the Harris Benedict Formula based on exercise so for me that’s x 1.55 = 1999/day – so do I need to eat 1290 a day or 200 a day? Confusing.... and 2,000/day seems a lot to me.

The 2.5 lbs I have gained has been over 2 weeks after I hit my lowest weight annoyingly... but also coincides with eating more calories. A friend who lost a lot of weight said she hit plateaus and found that she had to exercise really hard for a few weeks to get over the ‘hump’ and lose the next few lbs to then hit a new plateau sand safely stay there, I wonder if thats what I need to do know. (Easy to say, difficult to do with travelling husband, full time work and two young kids!  )

I’m currently about 118.5 lbs (was 116.2 lbs 2.5 weeks ago), 5 ft 1, and want to get to my pre-children weight of 110 lbs or thereabouts. Thanks for your suggestions!

Another Q - I find even if I consume my calories I over-run on the protein and have about half the fat in my daily intake (I naturally am used to a healthy low fat diet) - is it necessary to follow the guidance on grams for each category, would that make a difference?

From post below I changed the goal to 0.5 lb/week - my daily intake is now set to 1,330 calroies/day by MFP...

erickirb

with the amount you have to lose yo should not be looking to lose more than 0.5lbs/week (based on your ticker)

Change your goal to 0.5lbs/week

ponyfan81

You're not eating enough. With a TDEE of 1999, and the small amount you have to lose you should not be eating below about 1,750 calories per day.

Eat more. It works.

kellicci

I agree try eating a little bit more not a whole lot. I'm 5'1" too right now around 131 (with a goal of 127 which was the lowest I ever got even in my teens). And I eat 1300 a day and eat back almost all my exercise calories. You sound more active than I am in general so you could probably be around 1400 a day and still lose. Take thier advice .5 pounds a week is a better goal when you're this close.

lv1977

You're not eating enough. With a TDEE of 1999, and the small amount you have to lose you should not be eating below about 1,750 calories per day.

Eat more. It works.

Hmmmm ok, I could give it a go .... if I gain again you're in trouble

twinmom01

For me I found it isn't necessarily the calories but rather what I eat.

I spent a few months journalling and keeping my calories to about 1200/day with exercise and barely saw any sort of budge - went to my Dr. - checked me out and could not figure out why I wasn't loosing more based on what i was doing...

I read and read and read and decided to try and restrict my carb intake and that is what helped me...

Now before everyone jumps on me and starts screaming how carbs aren't bad...I am not saying that...if your body tolerates it and you can lose weight by eating a lot of carbs good for you- for me eating 70-80 carbs a day over a sustained period of time results in weightloss...if I have under 150/day over a period of time I can maintain my weight (as I have for the past few months - to much yummy summer fruit available) - if I have more then 150/day over a period of time I will gain some weight back...even if the calorie count in the three scenerios are the same...It took me a LONG time to understand my body in this way...

Just something to look into and read more about

LorinaLynn

Also be sure you're tracking your progress through more than just the scale. Your pre-children weight might not be an option any more. People's bodies change.

Check this side by side photo of what I looked like at 120 pounds ten years ago and at about 134 pounds now.



I can wear the clothes I have from back then. I'm the same size. I just have a lot more lean mass than I did back then. If I kept all my lean mass and tried to get to 120 pounds now, I'd only have about 10% body fat, which is pretty unsustainable.

psuLemon

You're not eating enough. With a TDEE of 1999, and the small amount you have to lose you should not be eating below about 1,750 calories per day.

Eat more. It works.

Hmmmm ok, I could give it a go .... if I gain again you're in trouble

Also, stop worrying about weight. It is completely meaningless. Look at body composition (get some body fat calipers). Cutting body fat will make you look good, not cutting weight.

crap lorina beat me to it.

lv1977

Yeah, I'm basing weight as the goal as I can measure it. I have excess fat, I know that, so if I lose weight and am keeping exercise up it means I am losing the fat.... though could also be gaining muscle at the same time. Goodness. I need to quit my job and research this 24 hours! :laugh:

kernrivergirl

I have hit a plateau too. I weigh 122 and my goal is 115 and I am also 5'1. I have only been doing this for 25 days and I started out at 125 and had gone down to 120 right before October 6th. Since October 6th I went up to 122 and now I am appear to be staying there. I have eaten the calories that I have burned off and am thinking that maybe I shouldn't but there doesn't seem to be any substantive guidance on MFP about that. When you sign up it says that it will adjust your net intake goals according to how much you exercise.

psuLemon

Yeah, I'm basing weight as the goal as I can measure it. I have excess fat, I know that, so if I lose weight and am keeping exercise up it means I am losing the fat.... though could also be gaining muscle at the same time. Goodness. I need to quit my job and research this 24 hours! :laugh:

Well you won't be gaining muscle on a calorie deficit unless you get some noob gains, but I highly doubt it. Also, are you heavy weight training? If not, you should start as it's better for fat loss.

Also, when you up your calories, you should give it a month to adjust. One thing you can do is slowly add 200 calories a week to allow yoru body to get used to the addition calories. I would also suggest making most of those calories protein based.

psuLemon

I have hit a plateau too. I weigh 122 and my goal is 115 and I am also 5'1. I have only been doing this for 25 days and I started out at 125 and had gone down to 120 right before October 6th. Since October 6th I went up to 122 and now I am appear to be staying there. I have eaten the calories that I have burned off and am thinking that maybe I shouldn't but there doesn't seem to be any substantive guidance on MFP about that. When you sign up it says that it will adjust your net intake goals according to how much you exercise.

It's based on NET calories. So if you eat 1200 and burn 600, your net calories is 600. Also, since you are close, you should set your goal at 1/2 lb per week as you are in a normal weight training. And if you haven't started weight training, I would suggest picking up some heavy weights.


If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

lv1977

Yeah, I'm basing weight as the goal as I can measure it. I have excess fat, I know that, so if I lose weight and am keeping exercise up it means I am losing the fat.... though could also be gaining muscle at the same time. Goodness. I need to quit my job and research this 24 hours! :laugh:

Well you won't be gaining muscle on a calorie deficit unless you get some noob gains, but I highly doubt it. Also, are you heavy weight training? If not, you should start as it's better for fat loss.

Also, when you up your calories, you should give it a month to adjust. One thing you can do is slowly add 200 calories a week to allow yoru body to get used to the addition calories. I would also suggest making most of those calories protein based.

Hello. Yes, I normally end up with half the fat intake it recommends and double the protein. At least 2 of my workouts a week are multi muscle exercises e.g. shoulder press and squats together, plank and row together, mixed with cardio or tabata bursts. I think for me it sounds like I need to play with calories and eat more (even though that feels like the wrong thing to do) and see what progress I get back. I have manually changed my settings now to 1600 calories a day from doing some reading around TDEE -20% working for people, and see how that goes. I guess I also need to eat all my exercise calories too rather than leave me a deficit or should I eat 1600 calories every day and the days I exercise I'll just be down 400-600 calories that day which will help the fat loss? Thanks a lot for your posts.

jogo8995

bump to reread for encouragement

PNCTink

I agree that you need to eat more. Check out www.fat2fitradio/tools/bmr Their podcasts are very informative as well.

lv1977

Thanks I will take a look. So really it seems that MFP needs to correct its calculator to base it on TDEE not BMR - otherwise its telling me I am going to gain weight every day now rather than lose it! Have they acknowledged this correction needs doing, its misleading people??

twinmom01

Yeah, I'm basing weight as the goal as I can measure it. I have excess fat, I know that, so if I lose weight and am keeping exercise up it means I am losing the fat.... though could also be gaining muscle at the same time. Goodness. I need to quit my job and research this 24 hours! :laugh:

Scale weight is NOT a good indicator of how your body is reacting to diet and exercise...ESPECIALLY if you are lifting and constantly breaking and repairing muscle...

Read this - eat and don't worry about a number on a scale

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

twinmom01

Also be sure you're tracking your progress through more than just the scale. Your pre-children weight might not be an option any more. People's bodies change.

Check this side by side photo of what I looked like at 120 pounds ten years ago and at about 134 pounds now.



I can wear the clothes I have from back then. I'm the same size. I just have a lot more lean mass than I did back then. If I kept all my lean mass and tried to get to 120 pounds now, I'd only have about 10% body fat, which is pretty unsustainable.

Awesome visual

lv1977

Thanks for that link, maybe I have to hope that perhaps some of the gain is muscle! I am eating 1700 calories a day as of yesterday (sure seems a lot of food after 1200 calories, like a whole extra meal!) - just hoping it doesn't backfire