Weight loss slowing down massively

nicksj93 · August 2012

According to MyFitnessPal, when hitting my targets I should be losing around 2.5lbs a week and it started off great, I was losing 3-4lbs a week which slowed down to 2lbs a week and now I'm losing 1lb over the space of 10 days and the scales now seem stuck at my current weight, I just can't get it any lower.

I have a very active job which involves walking very fast non stop for 7-8 hours a day and a lot of physical and mental energy is required for it. I eat breakfast every morning, of around 300-400 calories which is usually cereal, or sometimes fruit and a breakfast bar. For lunch, I eat around 800-1200 calories and then usually I just have some fruit in the evening of about 100 calories as I am not hungry after work. There are a couple of reasons of things I think could be the issue (but then I wonder why this didn't affect my weight loss before?)

1. I'm eating too much of my allowance at once (on my lunch break)
2. I'm eating too little (I'm 6 foot 4, 250lbs, and consuming around 1900 calories a day)
3. The food I'm eating isn't the BEST, but isn't terrible. Also, the reason for this is that I want this to be a lifestyle change, rather than a 'be super healthy for a few weeks then regain the weight' (as has happened in the past to me), I am scared of doing the whole 'super healthy' thing, as I have lost weight quick but within a week of returning to my usual eating I have regained as much as 7-10lbs.

What can I do to get the weight moving again? I appreciate I am not doing any exercise, but my job is very active and as such I see this as my 'workout'.

Thanks

(or could it be that as my weight is shifting, my muscle is growing?? I find this unlikely as I am not doing any weight training)

IronSmasher · August 2012

You're eating far too little. I was 6'3" and all the same stats as you at 18. I went on a low calorie diet, lost weight really fast, and aside from all of the stretch marks, I was happy.
However, what followed was a decade of yo-yo dieting, on and off.

You need to aim for a small deficit, stick to it, and wait it out. Losing weight fast on a non; sustainable diet doesn't teach you how to eat properly, it loses you muscle tissue whilst your body still has the ability to put on and store fat. The subsequent weight gain is inevitable.

You're just going to have to be patient.

Where did you get such a low intake value from?

nicksj93 · August 2012

Thanks for your reply - The FitnessPal app told me that to lose 2.2lbs a week I would have to eat 1900 calories a day, and I manage it just fine, I don't go hungry apart from on my days off when I'm doing less physical activity (likely because I'm not distracted by work). I feel like I could easily sustain the way I'm eating at the moment, I don't feel starved or hungry and if I do I eat

and I have, on average, been losing 2-3lbs a week as the app said I would, but the weight loss has pretty much come to a halt. My food diary is public, feel free to take a look.

invisibubble · August 2012

My Fitness Pal is not really the best as estimating your caloric needs. Or your macros. Try Fat2Fit radio's calculators or Scooby Workshop.

nicksj93 · August 2012

Thanks - what are macros?

rileysowner · August 2012

Thanks for your reply - The FitnessPal app told me that to lose 2.2lbs a week I would have to eat 1900 calories a day, and I manage it just fine, I don't go hungry apart from on my days off when I'm doing less physical activity (likely because I'm not distracted by work). I feel like I could easily sustain the way I'm eating at the moment, I don't feel starved or hungry and if I do I eat and I have, on average, been losing 2-3lbs a week as the app said I would, but the weight loss has pretty much come to a halt.

Cut your weight loss goal back to 1 pound per day maximum. Also, what activity level did you put in. If your work is what you say it is you at least active, and could very likely be very active.

rileysowner · August 2012

My Fitness Pal is not really the best as estimating your caloric needs. Or your macros. Try Fat2Fit radio's calculators or Scooby Workshop.

Try this for calculation of your calories http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ and see what it comes up with.

rileysowner · August 2012

Thanks - what are macros?

Macro Nutrients -- Carbs, Protein, Fat

First lets get the calories where they should be. As I said, drop your goal to one pound per week. 2 pounds is much too agressive and only really works for morbidly obese people.

nicksj93 · August 2012

Ok - the Fit2Fat calculator tells me I should eat 3500 calories a day at an 'active'
level - but this seems so much, I'd feel like I was stuffing my face. This is how many I used to eat which made me gain so much weight. So maybe if I aim for 3000 a day? I'd still feel like I was gorging myself but okay, I'll give it a go. The scooby calculator also suggests 3000.

cameralinds · August 2012

I am 5'1 and 125 pounds and eat 1800 calories a day while losing weight. I say 1900 calories a day for you is way too low.

IronSmasher · August 2012

3000 would be the minimum I'd recommend. Minimum. Never under.

Make sure you're not missing something in your food diary, sauce, spreads, fat used in cooking etc.
And if you're struggling to hit enough calories, you may well be low on one of your macro goals. Mfp monitors this for you. You're most likely low in carbs. Choose the healthy, low gi, wholegrain options where possible.

nicksj93 · August 2012

Okay, well I set MFP to lose 1lb a week and it says 2600 but I'll ignore that - maybe my daily activity level is wrong. I have it set to lightly active, should I set it to active? I work at McDonalds as a supervisor and spend 7-8 hours a day on my feet. Lightly active or active? I am also thinking I'm going to struggle to stay within my macros when trying to hit this calorie level.

Thanks again for your replies and help I really appreciate it.

CoderGal · August 2012

This is what people do once they come to a plateau:
Reset:
Eat your TDEE for a couple of weeks, gain some water weight (disappears quickly with then some)
Cut your TDEE back 10-20 percent, losses should start being regular again.

If you're on your feet all day you are much more then lightly active.

Your muscles cannot grow on a calorie deficit.

According to the FDA and Health Canada the average healthy male consumes 2500 calories a day...and you're probably taller then the average male (In Canada it's 5'8). You're a tall male and eating about the same as a older female that works at a desk (me). I would definitely be eating more if I were you.

atownsend5 · August 2012

I think that your activity level overall is lightly active; however, you aren't doing anything to get your heartrate up. I am a nurse and work 12 hours shifts. On my feet all day, walking up and down the hallways at a fast pace, walking all over a hospital that takes up 3 city blocks. Yet my overall activity level (before beginning this journey one week ago) was light - because I did not get my heartrate up and really have any cardiovascular benefits. So even though you are probably extremely tired when you get off work, you should still do some type of exercise.

Great job on the 23 lbs!

bazfitness · August 2012

I had a look through your diary.tbh It ain't pretty! I know you're only 18 and most 18 year olds eat junk food but it ain't good and since you're on a fitness journey the sooner you change from this junk food diet the better irrespective of your weight loss goals. Good luck anyways!

nicksj93 · August 2012

Yeah I know but I don't think it's that bad - thing is I get my lunch free at work and I don't have the money to eat out everyday as I'm saving for uni - I still keep within my macros and calories with what I eat. But yeah, I am going to try and improve it. But at the same time improving it will likely mean less calories.

Thank you atownsend5

CoderGal · August 2012

Yeah I know but I don't think it's that bad - thing is I get my lunch free at work and I don't have the money to eat out everyday as I'm saving for uni - I still keep within my macros and calories with what I eat. But yeah, I am going to try and improve it. But at the same time improving it will likely mean less calories.

Thank you atownsend5

Your logic is flawed. Just because you eat less healthy food doesn't mean you should eat less calories...it just means your food is more calorie dense and less nutrient dense. You're headed towards all kinds of health related deficiencies. Eat less then your TDEE, you will lose, even if you're eating crap.

At your age/height/weight you probably burn close to 3000 calories sitting around all day. Time to start doing the math:
http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

And Learning the science:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_metabolic_rate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harris-Benedict_equation

bazfitness · August 2012

Yeah I know but I don't think it's that bad

Seriously it's horrendous. I know a lot of your peers are probably eating as bad or worse, so not good to compare yourself to other 18 year olds or tbh even the general public. I ate all sorts of junk at your age too and didn't eat any veg back then so I can relate but no point mincing my words. I could just placidly agree with you that it's not that bad but really that wouldn't do you any favours. It's BAD, saying as it is, take that on board or not, it's up to you.

I am going to try and improve it. But at the same time improving it will likely mean less calories.

Improving your diet won't mean less calories necessarily if you do it in the right way. Plenty of healthy fats you can eat like Nuts, Seeds, Olive Oil. Dairy in moderation. Proper meat (Mostly protein obviously but fat also). It might seem boring food at first, but once you get used to it, far nicer than McDonalds french fries and burgers and all that crap - which is terrible for you!

I know making changes that you need to make can take a bit of time to get your head around, but everyone who's successful here has had to make some adjustments so you can do it if you really want to.

Helloitsdan · August 2012

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

nicksj93 · August 2012

Yeah I know but I don't think it's that bad

Seriously it's horrendous. I know a lot of your peers are probably eating as bad or worse, so not good to compare yourself to other 18 year olds or tbh even the general public. I ate all sorts of junk at your age too and didn't eat any veg back then so I can relate but no point mincing my words. I could just placidly agree with you that it's not that bad but really that wouldn't do you any favours. It's BAD, saying as it is, take that on board or not, it's up to you.

I am going to try and improve it. But at the same time improving it will likely mean less calories.

Improving your diet won't mean less calories necessarily if you do it in the right way. Plenty of healthy fats you can eat like Nuts, Seeds, Olive Oil. Dairy in moderation. Proper meat (Mostly protein obviously but fat also). It might seem boring food at first, but once you get used to it, far nicer than McDonalds french fries and burgers and all that crap - which is terrible for you!

I know making changes that you need to make can take a bit of time to get your head around, but everyone who's successful here has had to make some adjustments so you can do it if you really want to.

Of course I'll take it on board, I really appreciate your help.

Thank you everybody for your replies, I'm going to try and work on getting more nutrients into my diet and spreading my calorie intake out throughout the day as opposed to eating the bulk of them in one sitting.

I really am a gymophobe, I hate going to the gym it just isn't for me (as well as exercise in general) is why I try and do a lot to counteract this (eg. having an active job, walking a lot of places, cleaning the house) but I will try and do more to get my heart rate going.

CoderGal · August 2012

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

^this

Oh, and I got to my goal being sedentary without exercising at all...so...that's still not an excuse for hardly eating.

nicksj93 · August 2012

Is waist measurement around your belly or your trouser line?

CoderGal · August 2012

Is waist measurement around your belly or your trouser line?

Belly usually

rileysowner · August 2012

Yeah I know but I don't think it's that bad

Seriously it's horrendous. I know a lot of your peers are probably eating as bad or worse, so not good to compare yourself to other 18 year olds or tbh even the general public. I ate all sorts of junk at your age too and didn't eat any veg back then so I can relate but no point mincing my words. I could just placidly agree with you that it's not that bad but really that wouldn't do you any favours. It's BAD, saying as it is, take that on board or not, it's up to you.

I am going to try and improve it. But at the same time improving it will likely mean less calories.

Improving your diet won't mean less calories necessarily if you do it in the right way. Plenty of healthy fats you can eat like Nuts, Seeds, Olive Oil. Dairy in moderation. Proper meat (Mostly protein obviously but fat also). It might seem boring food at first, but once you get used to it, far nicer than McDonalds french fries and burgers and all that crap - which is terrible for you!

I know making changes that you need to make can take a bit of time to get your head around, but everyone who's successful here has had to make some adjustments so you can do it if you really want to.

Of course I'll take it on board, I really appreciate your help.

Thank you everybody for your replies, I'm going to try and work on getting more nutrients into my diet and spreading my calorie intake out throughout the day as opposed to eating the bulk of them in one sitting.

I really am a gymophobe, I hate going to the gym it just isn't for me (as well as exercise in general) is why I try and do a lot to counteract this (eg. having an active job, walking a lot of places, cleaning the house) but I will try and do more to get my heart rate going.

Eating the bulk of your calories in one sitting is not really a problem. The problem is trying to get to the calories you should be eating, which would require you to eat more, and doing that in one larger meal gets very difficult if you want to make it more nutrient dense. That is where spreading the meals out can be helpful. I am guessing at least part of the many meals a day thing came from the bodybuilding world, but they needed to do it because many of them would eat 4000-5000 calories a day. Having that mainly in one big meal would be rather challenging.

Try to improve the quality of what you eat for the majority of your meals. Get the calories up with healthy options like nuts, nut butters, and other calorie dense natural foods.

As for the exercise, at this point I would say when you walk do so quickly, that will get your heart rate up. I do that when cycling. I never go at a slow pace, I always go as hard as I can while still being able to finish the ride. Since those rides are often 30 plus miles, I can't go at my absolute maximum, but I do go as hard as I can maintain for that hour and a half to two hours.

bazfitness · August 2012

Another simple way to get your heart rate up is skipping. I bought a simple skipping rope a few days ago for just €1.50 ($2) it works wonders for getting your heart rate up. I was gobsmacked how good it was for this, it's good for leg muscles too!

Oh and the whole exercisephobe part... you need to get past that. I know people say you can lose weight without doing exercise but you missing out on one half of the equation for dealing with weight control, never mind missing out on the benefits of vigorous exercise for your overall health and well being. It gets addictive after a while! You don't have to go a gym either, there's plenty of stuff you can do at home.

nicksj93 · August 2012

Yeah I know but I don't think it's that bad

Seriously it's horrendous. I know a lot of your peers are probably eating as bad or worse, so not good to compare yourself to other 18 year olds or tbh even the general public. I ate all sorts of junk at your age too and didn't eat any veg back then so I can relate but no point mincing my words. I could just placidly agree with you that it's not that bad but really that wouldn't do you any favours. It's BAD, saying as it is, take that on board or not, it's up to you.

I am going to try and improve it. But at the same time improving it will likely mean less calories.

Improving your diet won't mean less calories necessarily if you do it in the right way. Plenty of healthy fats you can eat like Nuts, Seeds, Olive Oil. Dairy in moderation. Proper meat (Mostly protein obviously but fat also). It might seem boring food at first, but once you get used to it, far nicer than McDonalds french fries and burgers and all that crap - which is terrible for you!

I know making changes that you need to make can take a bit of time to get your head around, but everyone who's successful here has had to make some adjustments so you can do it if you really want to.

Of course I'll take it on board, I really appreciate your help.

Thank you everybody for your replies, I'm going to try and work on getting more nutrients into my diet and spreading my calorie intake out throughout the day as opposed to eating the bulk of them in one sitting.

I really am a gymophobe, I hate going to the gym it just isn't for me (as well as exercise in general) is why I try and do a lot to counteract this (eg. having an active job, walking a lot of places, cleaning the house) but I will try and do more to get my heart rate going.

Eating the bulk of your calories in one sitting is not really a problem. The problem is trying to get to the calories you should be eating, which would require you to eat more, and doing that in one larger meal gets very difficult if you want to make it more nutrient dense. That is where spreading the meals out can be helpful. I am guessing at least part of the many meals a day thing came from the bodybuilding world, but they needed to do it because many of them would eat 4000-5000 calories a day. Having that mainly in one big meal would be rather challenging.

Try to improve the quality of what you eat for the majority of your meals. Get the calories up with healthy options like nuts, nut butters, and other calorie dense natural foods.

As for the exercise, at this point I would say when you walk do so quickly, that will get your heart rate up. I do that when cycling. I never go at a slow pace, I always go as hard as I can while still being able to finish the ride. Since those rides are often 30 plus miles, I can't go at my absolute maximum, but I do go as hard as I can maintain for that hour and a half to two hours.

Thanks very much, this is a much more simplified way of looking at it. I don't want to overcomplicate it or call it a 'diet' but a lifestyle change, because 'dieting' or changing my eating habits drastically has never worked in the past and I wanted this time to be different. When things get overcomplicated I end up giving in a lot and eventually give up.

Bazfitness thanks a lot for replying, I'm very into music so maybe dancing around my room with weights in my hand would be a good workout. :-) (with the curtains closed of course hahaha)

bazfitness · August 2012

No problem. It's good that you can take some positive criticism. I hope you don't give up anyway. You've already proved that when you set your mnd to it you can achieve a lot and you deserve credit for that. I've read and been told by mfpers I respect that it really helps if you set very specific goals. I think if you set yourself some concrete but realistic goals for a specific date maybe 3 months into the future that might help to keep you on track. Even if that was just to lose 12 lbs or something like that.

In regards to giving up when it gets overcomplicated. I took the view when I started this journey that I was going to have fun with it. I was going to try different things out.

The big change I made was cutting out all bread, cakes and chocolate. (I occasionally have a dessert if I go out for a meal or if we have guests over). I was pretty horrified how much of my cals were taken up by this kind of food. I struggled to eat enough for a little while but just changed the type of food I ate. I basically eat more meat, veg, fruit and nuts (not peanuts - some people here recommend them but I find them a very inflammatory food) and protein powder.

Anyway... for you maybe just initially try to make one or 2 big changes. Maybe something initially as simple as cutting out McDonalds or if that is a step too far for you, cut out French fries.

Exercise :- Firstly do something. Dancing around with weights - sure why not! :happy: Might be worth investing in a HRM (Heart Rate Monitor) also to make sure you have that heart pumping.

Anyway this doesn't have to be daunting, it can be a fun journey, experiment, see where you can take yourself and don't be afraid of stepping outside of your comfort zone.

Weight loss slowing down massively

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