Tips for a plateaued weight?

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maxman190
maxman190 Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
Alright, so I've been stuck on around 221ish pound for nearly a week now, whereas I lost at a much steady rate weeks before. At times I try to eat at LEAST 1200 cals, but sometimes I'm not that hungry and I eat less than 900 cals maybe once a week. Is there anyway to push beyond my stalled weight?

I normally eat cereal for breakfast and for linner, I usually eat turkey sandwich or 8 cups of steamed eggplants/broccoli and after that I either eat 2 apples or 2 oranges for dessert.

As of today, I've switched to a protein meal replacement shake, but that lowered my cal intake for breakfast from 300+ to about 120... Now I'm packing in all my nutrients by drinking protein shakes along with Nestle Carnations Breakfast Essentials, also took vitamin E softgel along with fish oil softgels to prevent malnutrition.

P.S. - I'm not sure if what I mentioned about my food intake is completely accurate as I have a terrible sense of time and memory... You can check my food diary for an accurate intake. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/maxman190
I started using MFP on November 18, 2012.
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Replies

  • acm130
    acm130 Posts: 100 Member
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    I am guessing that you're not eating enough and your body is stressed. I abhor the term "starvation mode" but prefer the term "conservation mode". I'm no expert but I didn't lose weight at 1200 kcal. and I felt lousy as well. Sometimes people say they just aren't hungry and it's difficult to eat more, if this is your issue try to incorporate more physical activity. What's your goal weight? If it's 190 lbs as your screen name suggests you should see how many kcal it takes to maintain that weight and eat that amount, you can cut 10-15% from that but 1200 kcal is just not sustainable in my experience. Best of luck.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Have you lost 23 lbs in a month? Or did you manually enter a higher starting weight?
  • maxman190
    maxman190 Posts: 7
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    Yeah, it was in a month and one week. Lol, my doctor was shocked.
  • calisunrise
    calisunrise Posts: 307
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    you weigh too much to eat so little, especially when you are a male.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    You "try" to eat 1200 but end up eating less than 900 O.O.....Ummmmmmm You need to eat more...lots more...


    If you want, check out this link by MFPer Heliotsdan - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    It'll give you a detailed walkthrough (with pictures even) on finding your TDEE and calculating what you should be eating.

    Also, if you are worried about the calorie intake, I also suggest you read this thread that has numerous people who met their goals and are maintaining. Some for years and they also provide their calorie intake and how often they work out.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/816542-let-s-hear-it-for-maintainenance


    And if you are looking for foods to help with upping your calorie intake, I suggest checking this out:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/410771-i-can-t-reach-my-calorie-goal-it-s-too-much-food



    For the whole eating under a 1000 calories, look...you are going to do what you want but check out the link below at some of the stories of people who thought it was okay (especially because they weren't "feeling" hungry a lot of times) but ended up regretting it. These links are just information to give you options. I'm not preaching or trying to tell you or anyone what is the "right way"...just throwing some info your way is all.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/521480-1000-calories-or-less-a-day
  • Weebs628
    Weebs628 Posts: 574 Member
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    Wow... too aggressive! I like to eat *and* lose weight. Eat more. You won't be able to keep up that type of diet for long. I'm hungry just looking at your diary. Why skip lunch?
  • Mighty_Rabite
    Mighty_Rabite Posts: 581 Member
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    Bump up the eating, son!

    Honestly, I think you should aim for 1800-2000 calories per day. It's not as big a deficit as what you've had lately, but it's FAR more sustainable and you'll be less likely to fall off once you reach or get closer to your goal, and you should look to achieve more of your caloric burn from exercise. Do some cardio, do some weights.. your metabolism will creep on that large of a caloric deficit.

    I started my fitness journey at that same 1800-2000 calories per day, concentrating on higher protein consumption and doing P90X. Even at that consumption I was able to go from 185lbs to as low as 160lbs within about five months time - being heavier, you would definitely see much quicker results.
  • plateaued
    plateaued Posts: 199 Member
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    I recommend a Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger, Large Fries and a Chocolate Shake at Burger King. As you can see from my name, it doesn't work either so you have nothing to lose :)
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    1 week is not a plateau, if you stick for 3 weeks that is a plateau and you must shake things up :) your not eating enough, seriously you aren't. You must eat all your cals and eat back most of your exercise cals. At your weight, loss should be consistent most weeks. Up your cals, I upped mine and that worked! Eating more really does help you weigh less! Ok for me I'm almost at goal, it's still darn hard but I'm getting there!

    Persevere!
    Drink loads of water, exercise as much as you can and ready within your allowance and you will see results! :)

    all the best with your journey.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    You are not plateaued. A plateau is not losing weight over a period of a number of weeks, not less than one.
    Weight loss is not linear. You may not lose weight every week, some weeks you may even go up. There are a whole number of things that affect scale weight, like water retention. Just because the scale isn't moving does not mean you aren't losing fat.
  • gaylynn35
    gaylynn35 Posts: 854 Member
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    For a 19 year old male, you are not eating enough!!!!
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    For a 19 year old male, you are not eating enough!!!!

    This! I didn't know you were a young male.
  • Doodlewhopper
    Doodlewhopper Posts: 1,018 Member
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    As everyone here recognizes, you arent eating enough.... & even 1500 cals is not enough. Recalculate your goal to NO MORE THAN 2 LBs loss per week. (1 -1.5 per week is better)

    Eat at least 3 balanced meals daily & dont worry so much as to what. Add a few snacks if necessary, I do.

    I eat anything I want, as long as it fits my daily goal. Check my diary, you will see candy, cookies, cake, butter, & cream...all in moderation. I will worry about eating better once I drop more weight.

    Friend you can plan it taking over a year for you to lose the weight youre trying to drop. It's gonna be long & difficult. Dont make it any harder than it is. Reduce the processed foods, sodas, and sugar, but eat the foods you like.

    You gotta eat to lose.
  • maxman190
    maxman190 Posts: 7
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    The only problem is that I'm Chinese, so everywhere around me is usually Chinese food and not much of it is in the MFP database, so I try to estimate the calories in it by adding the ingredients into the diary, but I worry that I'm eating too much because of the inaccurate calories, so that's why I tend to eat less.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    The only problem is that I'm Chinese, so everywhere around me is usually Chinese food and not much of it is in the MFP database, so I try to estimate the calories in it by adding the ingredients into the diary, but I worry that I'm eating too much because of the inaccurate calories, so that's why I tend to eat less.

    Real chinese food tends to have a lot of veggies. And just watch your portions...but don't NOT eat. There is a recipe part of MFP if you want to put in all the ingredients for a dish and then have it saved for later input. There are also a lot of dishes that people have put into MFP that are homemade. Pick one of those if that is easier.

    Either way, the fact that you are eating so little doesn't change the fact that you are eating too little. Calculate your TDEE, set your calorie goal to -20% below that and eat.
  • Bobby__Clerici
    Bobby__Clerici Posts: 741 Member
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    Wow... too aggressive! I like to eat *and* lose weight. Eat more. You won't be able to keep up that type of diet for long. I'm hungry just looking at your diary. Why skip lunch?
    ^^^^^^
    THIS
    I am in this fight to win the war - not victory in a few fast battles.
    All I would advise is follow MFP recommendations where you can realize steady and lasting results for life.
    This is not a race.
    Good Luck!
  • maxman190
    maxman190 Posts: 7
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    Alright, so I've been checking out my BMR and TDEE, the thing is, when I was 240+ and I ate AT LEAST 1800, no more than 2000, I gained weight! Which is why I'm so cautious with my eating habits now.

    Also, I'm not really understanding the whole TDEE thing, I grew up learning that 2000 calories is the maximum I should eat each day...

    Okay, so the calculator says that my BMR is 2208 and my TDEE is 2649 and I read a tread in MFP that we should not eat below our BMR... so I need to eat at least 2208 cals a day? It just seems like it's A LOT of calories for me... and whenever I see a red mark in MFP app when I go over my goal calories, I just feel really really guilty and I eat a lot less...

    On the app, it just auto set to my current weight and I chose that I wanted to lose 2lbs/week with little to no exercise and that my goal calories is 1520.

    Also, would I need to watch my carb and fat intake? Because for this past month, I'm just focusing on my calorie intake.
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
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    You "try" to eat 1200 but end up eating less than 900 O.O.....Ummmmmmm You need to eat more...lots more...


    If you want, check out this link by MFPer Heliotsdan - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    It'll give you a detailed walkthrough (with pictures even) on finding your TDEE and calculating what you should be eating.

    Also, if you are worried about the calorie intake, I also suggest you read this thread that has numerous people who met their goals and are maintaining. Some for years and they also provide their calorie intake and how often they work out.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/816542-let-s-hear-it-for-maintainenance


    And if you are looking for foods to help with upping your calorie intake, I suggest checking this out:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/410771-i-can-t-reach-my-calorie-goal-it-s-too-much-food



    For the whole eating under a 1000 calories, look...you are going to do what you want but check out the link below at some of the stories of people who thought it was okay (especially because they weren't "feeling" hungry a lot of times) but ended up regretting it. These links are just information to give you options. I'm not preaching or trying to tell you or anyone what is the "right way"...just throwing some info your way is all.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/521480-1000-calories-or-less-a-day

    ^^^^ THIS ^^^^
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    So you were eating at least 1800 when you were overweight..but you aren't sure how much..just that it was at least 1800. You aren't going to gain weight if you are eating below your TDEE. You were probably eating a lot more calorie wise then you realized.

    Your TDEE is 2649. So set your calorie goal to -20% below that which is about 2100 calories.

    Also, you need to be careful about your attitude you are taking. You are going to end up pushing yourself to having an eating disorder if you start feeling guilty about eating. Don't be scared of food. Eat smarter. Make conscious decisions towards healthier decisions and watch your portions. See if eating smaller meals or snacking throughout the day works better for you than 3 set meals.

    Make sure you log everything correctly. I say this especially because you said you tend to eat 900 or less and "try" to get to 1200 but looking at your diary, on average, you have been eating between 1200-1400 just fine. Are you over estimating knowing you aren't really eating that calorie amount??? If so..stop that and record as accurately as possibly.

    Are you exercising at all?
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    Actually can I get your info? Like your height, GW, and your activity level?

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