The same 5lbs.

shiseido_faerie
shiseido_faerie Posts: 771 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok all, I could use some help. For the last probably 6 months I've been gaining and losing the same 5lbs and I'm not sure what's up. My diary is closed because I keep track of some other stuff in there too but here's a typical food day (I'm pretty routine/boring, I eat a lot of them same stuff)

Breakfast: one home brewed coffee with milk and sugar, a green smoothie and a hard boiled egg. (sometimes of a weekend I will addin a piece of toast but I don't eat if often because I never know how my belly will react)

Lunch: often is a smaller portion of whatever we had for dinner the night before (we eat a lot of stirfrys without rice or noodles, meat and potatoes, meat and veggies....everything is measured/weighed out into proper servings) if no leftovers then often just some steamed veggies with a bit of cheese or a salad.

Afternoon snacks: things like Greek yogurt, berries, 100-cal almond pack. Usually I will have a couple of these things throughout the afternoon.

Dinner : as I said we eat a lot of lean meats and veggies most of the time. Bread is maybe a once a week thing, pasta maybe once every 6 months. Potatoes usually once a week. Every now and then we will have a Bunless burger with a salad. And usually once a month we will go out somewhere for supper.

I do allow myself a square of 70% dark chocolate if I'm craving it, or a 90 cal pudding cup, or a measured serving of ice cream. But these things always fit into my calories.

Currently my cals are set at 1600, as calculated by one of the members here, and I'm not eating back exercise cals as they're worked in. I usually net around 1300-1400. (i have previously tried 1200 cals and 1350...eating back exercise cals, no success)

My workouts, I walk to and from work every day (about 45 mins) with sometimes an extra 30 min walk at lunch. I try to make it to the gym 3 times a weeks for a out an hour where I do cardio and strength training (I am not lifting Barbie bells but I'm also not lifting what most would consider heavy yet....I can do like 100lbs with my legs but only 30-40 with my chicken arms lol)

Anyhow that's how things look, I feel like I'm doing Alll the right things now but I'm not really seeing any changes. I'm 5'2 135lbs, and would like to get back to 125 with muscles. The only thing I for sure need to improve upon is drinking water, aside from that I'd welcome any suggestions.

Replies

  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    It sounds as if you have found a good maintenance weight. It may not be what you want, but it's what your body wants. That's why you're cycling around that same number.

    Exercise will not help you lose weight but diet will. (Exercise is good for many other things, though.) No matter how well somebody models your body to calculate calories, your mileage may vary. I would suggest dropping a few more calories. If you dropped 100 calories a day, which is an extra 500 a week, and did it for a month, would you lose and keep going downwards?

    I would also look very carefully at your diary - it's your best pal. Do you have too much sodium or is there a difference between the weeks you gain and those that you lose? Is it little things that throw you? I know I'll think I'm hundreds of calories under and then suddenly I'm within a few calories of my net goal - it doesn't take a lot to throw you over. And it's almost always a bite of this or a sip of that.

    Good luck!
  • shiseido_faerie
    shiseido_faerie Posts: 771 Member
    Thanks! I guess it's weird for me to think of this as my maintenance weight because it is the heaviest I've ever been. Perhaps though I should be focusing more on changing the shape of my body as opposed to what the scale says. I will definitely look back and check out the sodium etc, since I know I don't drink enough water that could definitely be playing a role!
  • stellaskies
    stellaskies Posts: 161 Member
    I'm kind of in the same boat and I find that sometimes I get things moving on the scale when I zig zag my diet. It kind of sounds like you are maintaining right now.
  • shiseido_faerie
    shiseido_faerie Posts: 771 Member
    I'm kind of in the same boat and I find that sometimes I get things moving on the scale when I zig zag my diet. It kind of sounds like you are maintaining right now.

    Thanks Stella, I don't know much about zig zagging but I will definitely look it up. You're right, it does sound like I'm maintaining, but even when I was eating 1200 I wasn't losing so not sure what's up.
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    I've been in a somewhat similar position. I should point out that I'm not technically overweight, but joined in March to monitor my eating because an injury (from which I'm still recovering) made it impossible for me to be active. I was afraid that the pounds would creep up.

    When I've scrupulously stuck to my calorie max, right now about 1150, I've lost weight. I have very little margin for error and whenever I've given in and eaten too many sweets in a week or stopped tracking my calories my weight's gone up.

    If I wanted to ensure weight loss (I weighed less when I was younger and did not have an ED) I would have to commit to certain changes that I'm not prepared for right now, say eliminating all sugar, or all alcohol.

    I think I may be at the point where I can do some machines like the elliptical trainer or the bike. Although they're not as good for me as running, they might help. But remember, calorie reduction is the key to weight loss.
  • hottottie11
    hottottie11 Posts: 907 Member
    Take a break from reduce calories and eat at maintenance.

    I do a full diet break every 2-3 months

    Read more about it here: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    I'm kind of in the same boat and I find that sometimes I get things moving on the scale when I zig zag my diet. It kind of sounds like you are maintaining right now.

    Thanks Stella, I don't know much about zig zagging but I will definitely look it up. You're right, it does sound like I'm maintaining, but even when I was eating 1200 I wasn't losing so not sure what's up.

    Zig-zagging seems to work for some people. If you try it, make sure to be rigorous in your tracking of calories, not over-indulging on your higher-calorie days.

    I do a kind of informal zig -zag. If I'm low one day, I don't worry about it. If I'm a bit over the next I don't worry about that either. I don't deliberately set out to eat more than my max because I think that would create the wrong mindset for me. For the same reason, I don't believe in cheat days. I don't want to create in my mind a new normal for eating.

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