One month with no weight change :(

douglerner

Thanks for the extra notes people. As you can tell, I'm wary about eating more calories. In fact, I'm not sure where the more calories would come from. But like I said, one easy thing I can do is add an extra serving of brown rice every day and see how that works. That will still be within both my doctor-prescribed and MFP-recommended daily calorie limits.

Thanks again,

doug

kalieah

your weight fluctuates every day, it can fluctuate as much as 2 kg. a day! Take some measurements, take some before and after pictures. Theres more results than just the number on the scale. Up the intensity on your workouts. Also, you may have just hit a plateau. To get out of this, you could try zig zagging your calories every day :

monday : net intake = 1900 cal
tuesday : net intake =1300 cal
wed, : net intake = 1800 cal
thurs. : net intake =1500
fridday : net intake = 2000 calories

you get the point. And also, watch your sodium levels, and make sure your eating clean foods, and staying mostly away from processed foods. Drink lots of water as well. Good luck, hope I helped!

Feel free to ask me if you have any more questions!:)

douglerner

Heading into 2 months with no weight change.

Unfortunately I can't take *everybody's* advice, because different people suggest different things.

Some of the suggestions don't seem to work. Some seem impractical. Some - I just don't know.

Between these forums and the others it still seems the best and most consistent advice I've had is to eat less and exercise more.

doug

katy_trail

there would be nothing wrong with eating a small serving of nuts? more calorie dense, easy to add a bit of calories if
you're already pretty full from lots of fruits and veggies.

also, the bmr is the calories burned if you are laying in bed all day.
we're supposed to always eat more than our bmr, but less than TDEE which is the bmr PLUS calories burned from activity.
if we want to lose weight.
eating equal to TDEE is maintenance.

jgcurry3

Everybody has different calorie requirements for the activity and life style that they live. If you are not meeting those requirements in your diet then you will have great difficulty in meeting your goals. Your body has an amount of calories that it burns off in a 24 hour period from doing absolutely nothing. This comes from your body's natural processes to keep you alive and is called a basal or resting metabolic rate (BMR/RMR). That number of calories plus about 200-500 calories more will balance an individuals intake versus expenditure in an individual with a sedentary to moderately active day. Any additional energy expenditure needs to be compensated by the appropriate intake. In order to "burn off" 1 lb of body mass you would need to expend 3500 calories. The same is true vice versa in order to gain 1 lb of body mass you would need to take in an extra 3500 calories. A safe way to do this is to burn 500 more and intake 500 less for a net loss of 1000 calories a day, over the course of a week that is 7000 calories resulting in a 2 lb loss in body mass. This will only apply if your adequately meeting your body's calorie needs BEFORE. Prolonged time in a calorie deficit can lead to negative results. If you are already at a significant calorie deficit, which it seems like you are, then expect to gain some weight as your body adjusts to the increase in calories.

douglerner

Well, I just got back from the doctor. I showed him my daily calorie intake, and my exercise output and my net calorie intake and he insists for a 56 year old 174 cm man trying to continue weight loss at my weight that I am eating and exercising just right and that it's just a plateau and that I should not change anything and just be more patient.

He says absolutely, definitely I am not eating anywhere near starvation levels, which would be int he 600-800 calories/day range for me.

It's been 8 weeks stuck in the 95-96 kg range, but I will try to be more patient.

doug

p.s. On my "heart disease reversal diet" no added oils or nut are allowed.

acpgee

I think my diet break worked.

I upped my calories from 1310 net, where I was losing maybe 1 or 2 pounds a month to 1900 + half my exercise calories for 3 weeks. Although I initially fluctuated up a pound or two up, by the end of three weeks I was back at my lowest weight again. I take this as evidence that my metabolism has returned to normal.

Started cutting again to 1310 two days ago and am a pound down. At 1900 net, I should have been losing 0.5 a pound a week according t MFP calculations. Close enough for me.

andrederosier

Well, I just got back from the doctor. I showed him my daily calorie intake, and my exercise output and my net calorie intake and he insists for a 56 year old 174 cm man trying to continue weight loss at my weight that I am eating and exercising just right and that it's just a plateau and that I should not change anything and just be more patient.

He says absolutely, definitely I am not eating anywhere near starvation levels, which would be int he 600-800 calories/day range for me.

It's been 8 weeks stuck in the 95-96 kg range, but I will try to be more patient.

doug

p.s. On my "heart disease reversal diet" no added oils or nut are allowed.

Older people have slower metabolisms and are often less active than younger people, so they require fewer calories. Generally speaking, a 40- to 60-year-old man weighing 200 lbs. requires about 2,600 calories, and a 60- to 80-year-old man requires about 2,400 calories.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/339852-how-many-calories-does-a-200-pound-man-need/#ixzz2OsKYDaxx

I have no clue what information your doctor has on nutrition but him telling you that you could restrict yourself 850 calories seems borderline dangerous thing for a doctor to say. I would really get a second opinion from a qualified nutritionist in your area.

douglerner

My doctor didn't at all say I could restrict my calories to 850 calories! He said what I wrote in my message: that I should stick with what I am doing - aiming for a high of 1800/day but if I eat in the 1400-1500 calorie/day range + exercise that's fine.

Anyway, my experiment with "eating more" has been a disaster. Today was my weekly weighing and I'm up 1.4 kg from last week to 96.6 kg. That was my weight 2 months ago.

I'm not going to try to "eat more to lose weight." I'm going to eat the right amount of calories to lose weight. And that is apparently not anywhere near 2,000 calories a day.

So thanks for everybody's suggestions. I do appreciate it. Naturally I can't agree with everybody. I can just do the best I can.

Thanks!

doug

ndj1979

Well, I'll try to eat more and see if that helps.

But starvation mode isn't supposed to kick in until under 1,000 calories per day.

Anyway, I'll add some extra tofu or something with protein in it to add a few hundred calories a day and see if that (despite what seems like common sense to me) actually sparks weight loss again.

Thanks,

doug

no, just no ...

True starvation mode only 'kicks in" when you do not eat for 72 hours and even then the initial effects are minimal....

What MFP defines as "starvation mode" is in reality not accurate, and at best a myth....

douglerner

Yes, I suspect starvation mode is mostly wishful thinking, unless you really are drastically undereating - like my doctor said. And that should only be done under medical supervision.

For the most part I think the less you eat and the more you exercise the more weight you will lose. I just need to eat less and/or exercise more.

doug

douglerner

Still haven't been able to break through the plateau. Weight up today.

douglerner

I'm at exactly the same weight I was 2 months ago.

mockchoc

How much fat do you get? Are you sure you are having healthy amounts of fat. We need it for homones etc..

viajera99

I've read a few of your threads/posts, and I have to say, the scale is not your friend. You might be less frustrated if you make a reasonable, achievable plan, and follow it consistently for 6 weeks, and NEVER once step on the scale.

I second the recommendation that you check out the Eat, Train, Progress group and fill out SideSteel and Sarauk2sf questionnaire. But you need to be willing to follow their advice and not push back with how it won't possibly work for you. Good luck!

bluebear_74

Hang in there!! I've given up a few times after being stuck and put weight back on, and regret it now.

Have you tried changing your exercise? Sometimes just doing something different will tell your body to get out of it's rut.

concordancia

Well, I just got back from the doctor. I showed him my daily calorie intake, and my exercise output and my net calorie intake and he insists for a 56 year old 174 cm man trying to continue weight loss at my weight that I am eating and exercising just right and that it's just a plateau and that I should not change anything and just be more patient.

He says absolutely, definitely I am not eating anywhere near starvation levels, which would be int he 600-800 calories/day range for me.

It's been 8 weeks stuck in the 95-96 kg range, but I will try to be more patient.

doug

p.s. On my "heart disease reversal diet" no added oils or nut are allowed.

Did you have blood work done? The most important thing here is how your blood work is coming along.

ndj1979

But starvation mode isn't supposed to kick in until under 1,000 calories per day.

Who told you that? Knowledge is power my friend read this and you will be in control. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013

www.leangains.com

no food for 72 hours and then you are barely in starvation mode. All the studies are posted.

douglerner

I don't get much fat at all - intentionally. I'm on the Ornish program, which like the Esselstyn program is vegan + no added oils + no nuts. So my total fat intake is extremely low - intentionally.

douglerner

Hang in there!! I've given up a few times after being stuck and put weight back on, and regret it now.

Have you tried changing your exercise? Sometimes just doing something different will tell your body to get out of it's rut.

I've tried increasing my cycling and varying it with walking.