Hit a plateu, calorie intake is already low enough..help?

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melissavaughan5
melissavaughan5 Posts: 16
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all, I've lost 30 lbs in about 4 and a half months,but i seem to be stuck on 150-149 lbs. Its so annoying cause i feel like i'm getting closer to my ultimate goal weight of 120 lbs but the scale has other ideas! Ive heard a lot of about plateaus and how you should reduce your calorie intake further but ive been eating 1300-1400 calories for a long while now. I recently cut down to 1200 yet theres no change, plus im feeling hungry all the time. I've also upped my exercise minutes and have incorporated strenght training into my regime but theres still no progress. What should I do?
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Replies

  • kellicci
    kellicci Posts: 409 Member
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    Can you give us a little more info. Height,, age...BMR and TDEE if you know them. How much exercise, what kind and do you eat back exercise calories?
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    You are going to have to eat more. Typically 15-20% less than your TDEE. Then when you get closer to your goal, recalculate and eat 10% less than your TDEE.
  • bizco
    bizco Posts: 1,949 Member
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    Can you give us a little more info. Height,, age...BMR and TDEE if you know them. How much exercise, what kind and do you eat back exercise calories?
    In addition, how long has it been since no weight change? A true plateu is 3-4 weeks with no change. Tell us your MFP settings: weight loss goal per week, MFP's suggested calories, lifestyle/activity setting (sedentary, light active, etc.); this setting should NOT include your dedicated workouts, those should be logged using the Exercise tab.
  • melissavaughan5
    melissavaughan5 Posts: 16
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    149 lbs, 5"2. 21 years old, BMR is 1512.3 and my TDEE is 2331. I exercise about 5-6 days a week. 30-45 minutes if im doing high intesity exercises such as running and 90 minutes if im swimming. And no i do not eat back my calorie exercises.
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
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    You are eating less than your BMR. Do this for long enough and you stop losing weight for a while especially working out like you are. You need to eat MORE not less.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    149 lbs, 5"2. 21 years old, BMR is 1512.3 and my TDEE is 2331. I exercise about 5-6 days a week. 30-45 minutes if im doing high intesity exercises such as running and 90 minutes if im swimming. And no i do not eat back my calorie exercises.

    Well, there is your problem. Eat 1800-1900 and do not eat back your exercise calories. Or, eat 1500-1600 plus exercise calories.
  • kellicci
    kellicci Posts: 409 Member
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    Okay that helps a lot. So 1300 isn't terribly low but you need to eat back your exercise calories. a deficit is already built in to the MFP system so by not eating those back you're really only getting a baseline of 700-1000 a day and you body craves 1500. So fo a while it worked and your body was happily using it's stored fuel and now you're getting closer to your goals and it's saying "Hold on I'm going to run out of fuel I need more....CONSERVE!" You need to eat more to even things out.

    It sounds backwards but it's okay I promise. I'm older than you so my metabolism isn't as good anymore (ah to be 21 again!) but I started here at 138 at 5'1" it's been about 2 months and I've lost 6 pounds. I set my goal just barely under my BMR and eat back most if not all my exercise calories. I also chose a slightly higher protein macro profile b/c I have a thing with carbs...I love them! a little too much. I fI were you I'd set my calorie goal at 1500 and eat most of my exercise calories back. It may be slow to work but it will work!
  • melissavaughan5
    melissavaughan5 Posts: 16
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    Ah i see....but the thing is, MFP says i should net 1200 calories a day, so if i start eating 1500 calories a day, and burn 300 through excercise, am i not meeting my net calories goal set by MFP? Therefore would i still need to eat back my excercise calories?
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    No, you would eat 1500 + 300 in exercise calories so you would be netting 1500. You have to go in to your goals and manually change it to your new calorie goal.
  • Erykah3584
    Erykah3584 Posts: 324 Member
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    Raise your calories. :)
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    http://fitnesswithnatalie.blogspot.com/2011/05/most-dreaded-word-in-weight-loss.html

    Good info here.
  • JAllen32
    JAllen32 Posts: 991 Member
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    Yup, time to eat more. :-)
  • melissavaughan5
    melissavaughan5 Posts: 16
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    so on the days I'm excercising, i should really be eating 1800 calories? :noway: ha, i havent eaten that much in forever, not even on my so called 'cheat days'! So I'm guessing i should prepare for the scale to go up at first?
  • Erykah3584
    Erykah3584 Posts: 324 Member
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    You might see a slight gain but just make sure you are eating healthy foods and watch your sodium intake. Dont make it 1800 calories of processed and fast food. :)
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
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    so on the days I'm excercising, i should really be eating 1800 calories? :noway: ha, i havent eaten that much in forever, not even on my so called 'cheat days'! So I'm guessing i should prepare for the scale to go up at first?

    Not necessarily. Don't jump it all at once. Add a little bit every week until you are there. It will take longer but you won't gain. If you go all at once you may gain but you will also start losing again faster (I think). To get to 1800, ditch 'low fat' junk, eat real food. Have meat, pasta, cream sauces and oils. Look at my diary if you want ideas - I'm still trying to get the macros under control but the calories are there. I just went up to 1800 my self.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    Look for some calorie dense foods so that you aren't adding a lot of volume but you are adding cals. 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter is 188 calories. Cook with olive oil, or add some to your salads. 14 almonds is 100 calories. Half a medium avocado is about 125 calories.
  • evereadysmile
    evereadysmile Posts: 137
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    http://fitnesswithnatalie.blogspot.com/2011/05/most-dreaded-word-in-weight-loss.html

    Good info here.

    Hey this was REALLY helpful to me today! Thanks!!
  • melissavaughan5
    melissavaughan5 Posts: 16
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    I know it depends on the person, but if i start upping my calorie intake, (about 100-200 each week till i'm there), when should I start losing weight normally (about 2lbs p/w) again?
  • claudiacarmel
    claudiacarmel Posts: 39 Member
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    I do that too sometimes, I just wait it out! It can be 2-3 weeks. Sometimes if I go off my eating regime, it will kick me back into gear of losing weight again, sounds weird but it actually works. Good luck to you.
  • hipsdontlie1
    hipsdontlie1 Posts: 294 Member
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    eat more! up your calories by a couple hundred. I was stuck at 163 and did this and got to 158 in less than 2 weeks! Give it a try!

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