question for those who have lost 50ish or more pounds..

schustc
schustc Posts: 428 Member
edited December 2024 in Motivation and Support
This might apply to those who have lost less, but for me, right around 40 is when it seemed to happen, so I figured if you've lost 50 maybe you've dealt with it.

Anyhow, I noticed right around 38-40 lbs my weight loss started to crawl. I think it's starting to pick up again, but I was struggling for the slightest little bit of loss for about a month.

I have been testing my Body Fat percentage to get my BMR, and in reality, my BMR hasn't changed much because I have been lifting weights and maintaining/building muscle mass. At least I think thats the reason - but my BMR really has not changed. My body fat percentage is dropping, lean mass increasing (slightly, but still)..

That said, with my BMR not dropping, I assumed my caloric expenditure would not drop either. Then again, not lugging around an extra 40 lbs, has probably reduced my caloric burn - NO?

So, if you have lost a lot of weight, but still strove to maintain or increase lean mass, did you notice a slow down on the scale? is it in my head? It seems reasonable, that carrying a lot less weight, means my body burns less, but then having more muscle it should burn more - but does it really even out?

I think I broke the mini-plateau I had, but won't know until the end of the week - giving it a few more days. I was just wondering if I have to look forward to this every 40 or so pounds - stall etc..

Thank you!

Replies

  • FireBrand80
    FireBrand80 Posts: 378 Member
    Not sure how you know your bmr isn't changing, but anyway, there's a lot more that goes into TDEE.

    Its normal for your weight loss to slow down to get leaner, it's harder to mobilize fatty acid from your cells.
  • schustc
    schustc Posts: 428 Member
    I have a body fat percentage monitor, and use scooby's site to calculate my bmr based off of lean body mass - it's been right around 1650 consistently. I'm losing fat, retaining muscle, mostly..

    I also had it tested with a specific machine a couple months ago, and will have that done again to see if it's the same that way too.

    I appreciate the response, but I don't fully understand it.. :( Can you elaborate? I don't follow exactly..
  • FireBrand80
    FireBrand80 Posts: 378 Member
    Your BMR Is the amount of calories you burn just for your body to function. A lot more goes into how many calories you might burn on a particular day. I'm not sure work with sorry you're using, but it's a well known fact or smaller body woburn fewer calories Also, your body will seek to burn fewer calories when its in a calorie deficit, because your body is sort of "hard wired" to hold on to fat.

    The bottom line is, all of these calculations are really just guess work. Yes, weight loss will be slower. And your progress will likely stall all together at some point, and you have to eat less or do more activities in order to continue to lose weight.

    I might not be back to this thread, so pm me if you want more info.
  • schustc
    schustc Posts: 428 Member
    I appreciate it. I have done a lot of research on bmr. Used a number of calculators as well as had an actual test (physical test) which put my bmr around 1540. The katch mcardle method has me at 1640 ish. About 100 off from the machine test. According to match mcardle, since my muscle mass has increased, even with the weight loss my bmr hasn't gone down - supposedly. That being the case, my tdee would be the same respective to activity. Just questioning it because it makes sense losing a lot of weight would mean less burned... unless the muscle mass really does compensate..
  • schustc
    schustc Posts: 428 Member
    I am going to request the machine test this week to see if it really did change or if katch mcardle is still pretty close. Thank you!
  • TexanThom
    TexanThom Posts: 778
    I did notice this myself. All I did was change my exercise a little bit. I increased my speed on the treadmill by .3 mph. It worked. I am at 70lbs total lost since Feb.
  • trinitrate
    trinitrate Posts: 219 Member
    I'm right at 50 at the moment, and the last 3-4 lbs have taken me 6 weeks.... I'm targeting 1800 a day and exercising 4-5 hours a week.

    Let me know when you find the secret... For now Im just assuming consistency will eventually pay off!
  • dalgal26
    dalgal26 Posts: 781 Member
    I have plateaus every few weeks. At first, it really bothered me, but I have changed my mindset and now I just roll with it. :smile:

    I feel that it is my body's way of catching up with the losses. And it does pass. :happy:

    Wishing you continued success in your journey to a healthier, fitter life.:flowerforyou:
  • dlwyatt82
    dlwyatt82 Posts: 1,077 Member
    I started to slow down a bit at about 35 pounds lost, but that's also when I started hitting the gym regularly, lifting weights / etc. I don't mind if the "weight loss" slows down to get the results I've been getting, both visually and in performance.
  • schustc
    schustc Posts: 428 Member
    I think I broke the plateau! Not sure this will help anyone else, but, I cut my calories down about 350 each day for 5 days, then reallllly high for 2. What that means to me: avg 1380(some higher some lower) for 5 days, then I ate 3200 or so on friday and 4000 or so Saturday. As of today I am 3.5 pounds down from last week at this time. An additional 2~3 overall. Good luck!
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