Weight has stopped moving

I have not lost any weight in almost 5 weeks. I am down 34 pounds (started MFP 10/5/2012). My daily cal are 1440 I eat at that or below. I do have a desk job (12 hours three days week). My question is should I lower my cal to say around 1300 or less would this help?

Replies

  • collingmommy
    collingmommy Posts: 456 Member
    Search for ipoarm. That will get u where u need to be.
  • ChangingAmanda
    ChangingAmanda Posts: 486 Member
    Well, first off, congrats on your progress so far.

    With out knowing more specifics (height, current weight, goal weight, age, workout routine) most of us are only going to give very general advice.

    Make sure you're eating enough. Too much of a deficit can stall/hinder weight loss as much as too little of one. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13 is a great post with links to help figure out BMR and TDEE.

    Don't go by the scale alone. Water retention, a high sodium meal, a large meal the day before, TOM, can all reek havoc on the scale number. Are you taking measurements and are they changing even tho the scale is not? How are you feeling, how are your clothes fitting? Are you seeing a change in pictures? All these need to be considered when the scale stops moving.

    You have a bunch of quick calorie adds in your diary. Why use this instead of what's in the database or creating a new entry in the data base?

    Are you weighing and measuring everything or guessing the portion size? You could be under estimating how much you're eating.

    Are you working out and what are you doing?
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    It is likely you are about to be stuck in a plateau (probably not one yet...)

    Under eating causes a loss of lean body mass which messes up your hormones and slows your metabolism.

    Calculate your TDEE and eat 20% less (with more than 50 pounds to lose); 15-50 to lose, eat at a 15% deficit; less than 15, then a 10% deficit. (if you change up, you have to give it at least 4 weeks to truly see if it works for you - then you may have to readjust again as the weight comes off)

    Incorporate heavy lifting (heavy is relative) - NROLFW is a great place to begin this

    Put the scale away for 4 weeks and see your results - i am pretty sure you will be very happy (I was a 1200 calorie girl for a while until I hit the dreaded plateau for 5 months - did some research, got some advice, switched to TDEE-15% and BAM! started losing again).
  • patersona94
    patersona94 Posts: 4 Member
    I would say based upon the foods you are actually consuming the problem is not that you may be at a deficit of calories it is more the food you are actually eating that is the problem. High cards and low protein: you may be consuming a relatively low number of calories but it is not the calories that are important it is the Carbs, sugar and fat that is. Try to eat less starchy carbs and more lean protein in addition to that log in all of your foods frequently to ensure you are not cheating yourself.
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    I would say based upon the foods you are actually consuming the problem is not that you may be at a deficit of calories it is more the food you are actually eating that is the problem. High cards and low protein: you may be consuming a relatively low number of calories but it is not the calories that are important it is the Carbs, sugar and fat that is. Try to eat less starchy carbs and more lean protein in addition to that log in all of your foods frequently to ensure you are not cheating yourself.

    While i agree that you should eat over 100 grams of protein every day, I disagree with the rest of this post. I eat what I want when i want as long as it fits within my calorie goal. Works for me - but everyone has their own ideas on what foods are good or bad - I just believe none are bad in moderation.