Frustratingly slow weight loss

douglerner

My weight has still been frustratingly going up and down, again this week. I was really really really hoping to get under 100 kg by the end of the year. And the other day I was tantalizingly close at 100.4 kg. But then my weight over the last few days went up to 100.6, then 100.8 and this morning it's 101.0. So I don't think it's possible.

I'm pretty sure I could force my weight to go under 100 for a day by either (1) drinking a lot of green tea or (2) taking an alcoholic drink, both which seem to cause sudden drastic dehydration for some reason. But the effect would only be for 1 day, and I would feel "shaky" afterwards.

Since the middle of November I've really only lost 1.2 kg if you count today's weight. I don't know what's wrong. I'm really eating not that many calories (certainly less than 1500 a day, and most days around 1300) and I'm doing at least 30 minutes of indoor cycling every day, which is about 300 calories of exercise. Sort of frustrating.

Eating more calories, as some have suggested, doesn't help. But I'm not anywhere near "starvation mode" which doesn't kick in until real deprivation levels, like around 1000 calories.

Oh well, I hope I pick up speed again. I still have a long ways to go, even though I've lost about 62 lb so far.

doug

douglerner

... and I ended up gaining 0.6 kg (1.3 lb) for the week. I don't know why at all. Sigh.

doug

jzammetti

So, without looking at your diary, I think it is reasonable to believe the gain is just a natural body fluctuation - water weight, etc.

How often do you weigh?
You said more calories doesn't work, but you are a male (I assume from your photo) and I am a small female and eat more than your 1500 calories a day to lose weight. Have you calculated your BMR? If you are consistently and for a significant period of time eating below it, that would explain the stall.

ninerbuff

Increase the intensity of your exercise. Doing the same program for more than 2 months allows the body to adapt to it.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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taso42

I remember you from a thread you posted weeks ago. We were trying to warn you that undereating would slow down your efforts.

Told ya so?

I would like to see you start eating a reasonable deficit of around 20% off your TDEE, and I would like to see your next thread stating how good you feel, how your exercise performance has increased, and how much looser your pants are feeling.

MoreBean13

I remember you from a thread you posted weeks ago. We were trying to warn you that undereating would slow down your efforts.

Told ya so?

I would like to see you start eating a reasonable deficit of around 20% off your TDEE, and I would like to see your next thread stating how good you feel, how your exercise performance has increased, and how much looser your pants are feeling.

Seconded. Good luck.

Barbellerella

I remember you from a thread you posted weeks ago. We were trying to warn you that undereating would slow down your efforts.

Told ya so?

I would like to see you start eating a reasonable deficit of around 20% off your TDEE, and I would like to see your next thread stating how good you feel, how your exercise performance has increased, and how much looser your pants are feeling.

Seconded. Good luck.

Agreed. And why would you dehydrate yourself to see a lower number on the scale? It wouldn't be fat loss so whats the point?Sounds like an unhealthy relationship to me.

Barbellerella

Oh and by the way, I am a 5 foot tall little thing, and I eat more than you and i still lose fat.

Lone_Wolf70

id like to help, but i dont know the metric system. Eat more...or eat less.

douglerner

I HAVE increased my calorie intake. So the "I told you so" messages are not particularly helpful.

My BMR is 1679 calories/day. My TDEE is 2919 calories/day.

A deficit of 20% off of 2919 calories/day is 2335 calories/day.

That is (1) Way over my doctor prescribed limit of 1800 calories/day and (2) I know from years and years and years of eating that much per day that I will regain a lot of the weight I've already lost if I eat that much.

It's also WAY more than MyFitnessPal calculates for a weight loss of just 1 lb/week. Here the tools say I should lose a moderate 1 lb/week if I limit my calories to 1800 calories a day. If I increase it to 2300 calories/day I will not lose weight.

Thanks anyway.

Sigh.


doug

amdahwd

Sometimes our bodies just react differently than we want them to. I have no advice to offer except that you should stop relying on the scales to make you feel good. If you are eating properly and exercising your body, then you are already winning the game!

taso42

Ok. I guess you must just be different then. Well good luck. I can imagine the frustration of knowing with such certainty that you're doing everything right, yet not getting the results you want. It's like the time I spent over an hour trying to reinstall a motorcycle wheel the wrong way, because I couldn't possibly have had it backwards.

sarahstrezo

So....if MFP is telling you to eat 1800 cals per day to lose 1lb per week....why are you netting 1000?
Maybe you should try to NET 1800 cals each day for a few weeks.

lovinlandl

1300 is way under the 1800 even your Dr. recommended.

Agree with the comment on switching up the routine...might help.

paijing

I just wanted to post and say that I feel you! Weight loss is not easy, and it often feels like one step forward, two steps back.

If only we all worked like well-oiled machines...

a_certain_shade_of_green

yep - why dehydrate yourself to get a false reading on the scale? i just cant understand why you would want to do that to yourself...

but im not you, and i cant say what you should or shouldnt do.


i guess if you want some advice from me it would be to not be so obsessed with the weight. i know its why most of us are here, but there are other ways of judging "success". maybe you should give yourself a break because it sounds like it's affecting your mood and health-based decisions.

good luck though!

deksgrl

Your TDEE is 2900.

To lose 2 pounds per week you would subtract 1,000 for a daily goal of 1900. So why are you eating 1300?

jzammetti

I HAVE increased my calorie intake. So the "I told you so" messages are not particularly helpful.

My BMR is 1679 calories/day. My TDEE is 2919 calories/day.

A deficit of 20% off of 2919 calories/day is 2335 calories/day.

That is (1) Way over my doctor prescribed limit of 1800 calories/day and (2) I know from years and years and years of eating that much per day that I will regain a lot of the weight I've already lost if I eat that much.

It's also WAY more than MyFitnessPal calculates for a weight loss of just 1 lb/week. Here the tools say I should lose a moderate 1 lb/week if I limit my calories to 1800 calories a day. If I increase it to 2300 calories/day I will not lose weight.

Thanks anyway.

Sigh.


doug

Ok - so if your BMR is 1679 (Did the doc test you for BMR?) then 1800 -2000 sounds good for pretty rapid weight loss based on the TDEe number you gave (which honestly seems pretty high to me, unless you are very active). I don't know how long you tested a higher caloric intake, but in case you only did it for a little while, I suggest committing to it for 4-6 weeks and avoid the scale the entire time giving your body time to adjust. You reportedly eat less than your BMR which is why you need to give your body time to adjust.

douglerner

A couple of replies before I run off off for some errands. Today is the last day banks are open for a week here in Japan! The big New Year's holiday season is revving up.

First, thanks again to the people who have replied. I appreciate it. I'm just feeling a bit down because I really wanted to get under 100 kg before the end of the year.

To the people who have commented about dehydration: I am *not* trying to dehydrate myself. I wrote that while I *could* do that I don't want to do that because it is meaningless, temporary and makes me feel shaky. I think it's unhealthy.

As for total calories, some people were saying I should strive for higher eaten calories and others for higher net calories. To clarify a bit, the suggested intake for 1 lb/week weight loss here is 1800. I thought that includes that 300/day in cycling I've been doing.

I could try eating still more. But the result of eating more this past week was to gain weight.

OK. Tell you what. I will go for a NET calorie intake of about 1800 calories for a few weeks and see what happens. Will that satisfy the "I told you so-ers"?

doug@I'll be back

cmriverside

Open your Food Diary.

Are you eating back those Exercise Calories. If not, you're doing it wrong. Just like last time.

douglerner

Oh, and I calculated the TDEE number myself at a site I looked up where I had to account for every minute of the day. 7 hours sleep, 30 minutes of cardio exercise, 15 minutes of lighter exercise, 60 minutes of light housework and the rest of the day sitting like a lump in front of my computer. So I'm really very sedentary.

doug

douglerner

I'm not always eating back all the exercise calories.

Anyway, I bought some extra (healthy) stuff to eat and will eat more and see what happens. I remain skeptical that I am anywhere near "starvation mode" which every medical site I've read said doesn't kick in until you are below 1,000 calories/day. But I'll try it for a month and see what happens.

doug

Barbellerella

My TDEE is 2919 calories/day.

If I increase it to 2300 calories/day I will not lose weight.

Thanks anyway.

Sigh.


doug

So you BURN 2919 calories a day, but if you eat 2300 you won't lose weight??
Wow you must be quite the special snowflake. Sorry for trying to help!

LinaS1976

hahah special snowflake...thats funny.

Doug, its all trial and error, I would suggest increasing your exercise to maybe 45 mins a day and mix it up. Maybe going for walks/jogs, treadmill, bike etc and some weights. Some bodies like mine need to be shocked with exercise. My weighloss has bee frustratingly slow (3.5kgs in almost 4 months) but im not stopping. My body is different and requires alot of attention (3 times cancer survivor and the chemo has totally kicked my metabolism in the butt).

Keep at it. It took a long time to gain weight and it wont be overnight to take it off.

Goodluck from Sydney

douglerner

Amanda - Apparently the TDEE and BMR equations are not all they are cracked up to be, and we are not all clockwork mechanisms, wouldn't you say?

Lina - Yes, I guess it must be some amount of trial and error. Nevertheless, in my past diets (I've rebounded) I've tended to notice that basically the less net calories I eat the more weight I lose. It's never really been more mysterious than that. I've gotten older though, and my overall metabolism might have slowed down. Anyway, we shall see.

doug

douglerner

One thing I've been thinking of this past week is that in my previous successful diets (in the pre-MyFitnessPal era) is that I created my own logging system. It was similar to, but different from MFP in a couple of respects.

The main difference was the way I logged how many calories I had remaining for a day. Basically I would start with, say, 1800 calories.

Then I would keep a row of balances, subtracting food I ate and adding in exercise I did.

So in the past, I really never was conscious of how many calories I ate. All I cared about was the total net calories remaining, after food and exercise.

In MFP you always see the total calories you ate, and I suppose that has been preying on my mind. I think I should at least concentrate more on the net calories, which I'm going to do.

Thanks again, people. Even those with snarky remarks who took the time to post.

doug

douglerner

Well, I ate more, so gained weight yet again. I'm 1.3 lb heavier than I was a week ago - and right back to where I was on December 1st. And entire month wiped out.

I'll try this some more, and I'll be willing to eat crow if it turns out that eating more causes me to lose weight. But as of right now color me skeptical. I still think it's simple: the less net calories you eat the more you lose. I think I'm just eating too many calories for my age, metabolism and level of activity.

doug

deksgrl

I'm female, and going into menopause and eating more than you, and losing weight. I do not think it is your age. It is likely your metabolism because you have suppressed it by eating too little. In order to fix it so that you can eat a healthy amount of food to lose weight, you are going to have to eat more. And, you tried it for what, two days since your last post? Try it for two months before saying it failed.

douglerner

I'll compromise and try it for a month. I don't think I could stand gaining weight for two months.

Anyway, yesterday might have been a typical water weight fluctuation. Today I'm down that 1.3 lb I gained yesterday.

Thanks,

doug

douglerner

Actually, it's a bit better than I wrote in my previous note. I had gained 0.4 kg yesterday and lost 0.6 kg today, and I'm actually down 0.4 kg from 1 week ago and down 0.6 kg since the first of the month. Still, a very up-and-down month.

doug

taso42

I still think it's simple: the less net calories you eat the more you lose.

What exactly are you trying to lose? If you are like most people, you are trying to lose FAT.

How to lose fat is a well known and well documented process, and there is a certain rate at which it is optimal (1-2 lbs/week, for most people). And I will just leave it at that.