What is going on?!!

prrizza425
prrizza425 Posts: 43 Member
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
I am so frustrated! How long do plateaus last?! I started really sticking to my calories at the beginning of Feb. and I lost 11 pounds in about three weeks. But since mid feb. (going on 3 weeks now!) my scale has been stuck at around 201. I have not been slacking on counting calories. But the scale is not moving. When I exercise or workout I eat those calories too. I know plateaus happen and the weight I lost was more than I should have in that amount of time. 11 pounds should take about five weeks and this is my fifth week so maybe after this week I'll start going down again. The scale has been the same for two plus weeks of eating 1200 calories! I should have lost four pounds in that time! I feel like my body has just adjusted to the amount of calories I am eating now and that's it. I am just gonna weigh 200 and eat not nearly as much as I want and be miserable forever! OK, I am being a little dramatic, and I guess I am mostly venting because I believe that if I just stick with it it will eventually work.

Anybody else had this happen? Did it eventually start working? Or did you have to make a change to get the weight to come off again?

Replies

  • Starrotts
    Starrotts Posts: 164
    i too am at a plateau i have lost 12 pounds and have stayed ther for about 2 weeks..lol...it will come off i kno this keep the faith and just relax...:yawn:
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    You weigh 201 and are ONLY eating 1200 calories. That is probably why you are at a plateau, try changing your goal to 1.5 pounds per week instead of 2, this will allow you more calories to feed your fat burning machine (your body).

    Also keep in mind that when logging exercise calories that you should minus off the calories you would have burned during that time anyway. As an example say you do cardio for 30 minutes and burn 300 calories, during that 30 minutes you would have burned say 2 calories per minute so a total of 60. the amount you should enter into MFP would be 240 (300-60). Good luck.
  • EmilyStrick
    EmilyStrick Posts: 267
    you should totally try uping your daily calories! i think there's something to be said for changing your calorie goals WEEKLY!!! keep your body guessing, keep that metabolism in overdrive and forgo the chance to go into the dreaded "starvation mode"! i am trying weekly calorie changes and have had success with it so far! and it's nice to be able to eat a little more for a week! good luck!!! you'll get there!
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    Yeah, that was the first glaringly obvious thing that stuck out to me. Your caloric intake is far too low for someone your size. When you cut calories so drastically, negative things happen like water retention (which can mask actual fat loss, remember the scale weighs everything... not just fat), metabolic slowdown, etc.

    If you're going to control weight for the remainder of your life, you need to develop a plan that can be adopted as a natural part of your life. Anything else is temporary which will invariably lead to temporary results.
  • prrizza425
    prrizza425 Posts: 43 Member
    Thanks for the tips everyone. I usually eat more than 1200 a day probably like 1300, but I will try a week or two of eating at a one pound a week loss rate. That would bring my calories up too 1900 a day. (that'll be like a feast!). Maybe I'll split the difference and eat 1500.

    Eric, Thanks for that tip about gym calories. I don't think many people know that. I didn't know it until a couple weeks ago when I read an article that explained it in Mens Health magazine.
  • mromnek
    mromnek Posts: 325
    I have to echo what they said... Try going a week or two with a 1/2 - 1 lb weight loss goal. 1200 calories is the minimum recommended caloric intake for a woman. A man needs more around 1800.

    Check your BMR on the tools tab (I assumed you to be 5'10" and came up with a BMR of 1903). Then look around to find what your TDEE is (assuming you have a lightly active lifestyle you are burning over 2500 calories a day). At a weight loss goal of 2 lbs per week, you should be eating at least 1500 calories, plus any calories for your exercise. 1200 calories is definitely putting you into starvation mode.

    You should eat no fewer than 80-90% of your BMR calories (a little over 1500 is bare minimum for 1900 BMR). Anything less will put you into starvation mode, which can cause your BMR to decrease by 30% (1330 calories for 1900 BMR). Now your deficit is gone, and you have a plateau.
  • prrizza425
    prrizza425 Posts: 43 Member
    I just looked at/recalculated my goals here and it says for two pounds a week I should be eating 1400 calories a day. I haven't updated my goals since I signed up on my fitness pal like two years ago and I thought the 1200 calories was the setting for two pounds a week but I guess that has been wrong all this time. I must have done a custom plan and forgot about it.
  • prrizza425
    prrizza425 Posts: 43 Member
    Does anybody know what starvation mode really is? Or have any links where I could read about it? I hear it talked about all the time but never hear any real facts about it. Are there any other signs your in it? I haven't lost any energy or anything. I still feel good and sleep good and am not tired or anything.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    I'll shoot you over a link right now via email.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    Sorry, double post.
  • prrizza425
    prrizza425 Posts: 43 Member
    I just wanted to add that although the scale hasn't moved in a couple weeks, I am fitting into some of my pants that didn't fit a few weeks ago and some people at work just complemented me and said I looked like I was losing weight. So even though my weight hasn't changed my waistline is getting smaller so I must be losing some fat.
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    Hence the importance of relying on more metrics to gauge progress than solely the scale. In my opinion, anthropometric measurements and pictures at regular intervals come long before the scale.
  • mromnek
    mromnek Posts: 325
    We focus on 1 metric - a silly device that measures a totally arbitrary number... weight.

    How many different measures of fitness are there?
    - body fat percentage
    - clothing size
    - VO2
    - BMR
    - BMI
    - before/after pictures
    - how far can you run without stopping
    - blood pressure
    - cholesterol
    - number of heads that turn as you pass by
    - number of compliments on our weight loss
    - number of times someone tells us we are in inspiration to them

    That is just a few. I am sure if we played this game we could come up with hundreds of metrics that display our progress on getting fit. However, we are still stuck on 1 single number. Are we stupid, or just hard headed?
  • stroutman81
    stroutman81 Posts: 2,474 Member
    It's not about stupidity in my opinion. I mean for some, it's ignorance which isn't the same things as stupidity. These folks simply know no better. But for most, it's simply a matter of being brainwashed. Our society is so focused on weight it's silly. What we should be focused on is health, ability, and if anything with regards to image.... body composition.

    I find many people let the number on the scale dominate their lives. It's the same with many of my clients who come to me. Almost invariably, after I shift their perspective and focus, they're a whole lot less stressed.

    It's amazing what an alleviation of stress can do in terms of motivation and success.
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