I'm stuck! In need of advice! <3

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I'm Amy! I have been with my fitness pal since June 9th of last year (7ish months). In that time I have lost 77 lbs by walking, hiking, stairs, and calorie counting. I believe with all my heart that MFP has changed my life! I'm good at this weight loss thing, and I have begun coaching and encouraging others. So it makes me sad to say that I am stuck at this loss. I am 5ft7in and 213 lbs now, so still really overweight (altho I feel great!) I still have about 65 lbs to loose and I haven't lost anything for a month. In the past I have lost a steady 10lbs a month.

I am a pre-school teacher and get almost 18000 steps in a day. (I have a fitbit). I have again started coaching others, and I post mini challenges everyday (for about two weeks now) so I am even doing new things! The mini challenges that I post everyday I ask others to complete once during the day, but I do them every hour. (Things like planks, jogging, squats, ect.) I burn massive calories, and I eat around 1500 calories a day!

I was hoping that one of you awesome seasoned members can give me some tips!!

I work from 6am to 2pm, and I pick up my kiddos after that. My husband works second shift so I'm kinda on my own in the evenings (altho my kiddos have always walked and hiked with me! they love it) But it is winter right now and too cold to have them out), and my gym does not have babysitting (just a couple things I wanted to add in there.) Not excuses, just real life situations!

Thank you in advance for any help you can give me! I appreciate you taking the time to read this! <3

~amy
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Replies

  • FJMilner
    FJMilner Posts: 407
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    Have you got any fitness DVDs you could do at home?
  • lambertj
    lambertj Posts: 675 Member
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    Do you have stairs in your home? You could try running them and have the kids in on it too by racing and timing each other. The other things that gets a good cardio workout in is step-ups. A bench that you step up and step down on. Or some sort of obstacle course you could set up in your home to get the heart rate up there. Anything that can make it fun for you and the kids.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
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    Search Jillian Michaels on eBay, she has lots of DVD's that people here swear by.
  • harvo
    harvo Posts: 4,676 Member
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    You may have to change things up a bit. Raise your calories for a couple or three weeks as your body may be settled on your routine now.
  • healthyKYgirl
    healthyKYgirl Posts: 272 Member
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    If you are walking the equivalent of almost a half marathon every day (21000 steps) and doing exercises every hour throughout the day, and are only eating 1500 calories, you are not eating enough.

    Please calculate your TDEE and your BMR and please don't set yourself as sedentary but highly active in these calculations

    I did the same thing 4 years ago after losing 75 pounds, and I was working out all of the time and felt great, but I plateaued myself just like this and that plateau lasted for a year and finally I gave up and gained back all the weight.

    Edit: Link for TDEE - http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html
  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    Either increase your calories by 100 or decrease activity. Monitor for 2 weeks and see what happens.
  • ApexLeader
    ApexLeader Posts: 580 Member
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    you could try a lot of different things to jump start your weight loss again.

    you could switch your diet. for instance, if you have a lot of carbs in your diet, try increasing protein and fat and decreasing carbs. whatever your diet is right now try switching it to something different for a few weeks.

    you could also try to exercise more rigorously. buy a jump rope (they are usually fairly inexpensive) and work that into your routine (you can jump rope right outside your house or perhaps even inside your house if you have space). try to build up a really good pace during your jump rope exercise so that your heart is going faster than when you are doing any other type of exercise (as long as your doctor says this type of exercise is fine). which leads me to another point. do interval training. interval training would be something where you alternate high and low heart rates. you could walk for 5 minutes and then run as fast as you can for 15-30 seconds and then repeat that over and over again until you are tired. one of the reasons why your weight loss is stalled could just be that your exercise routines aren't doing it for you any longer. so you could look into changing that up as well.

    another thing could just be that you are retaining water. check to see how much sodium you have in your diet. our bodies need sodium to survive, but you can have too much so keep an eye on that.

    another possible culprit is that you are underestimating how much you are eating. given the fact you have been steadily losing 10 lbs a month and it suddenly stopped, i'm less inclined to think this is true, but it doesn't hurt to verify that you are measuring everything out carefully and tracking calories that you are consuming.

    there are, of course, other biological reasons why you may not be losing weight the same as before. i wouldn't get too worried about it. it has only been a month. you might want to go see a doctor and talk to them about it if it continues much longer.
  • Haley_Adele
    Haley_Adele Posts: 37 Member
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    Hi I started around the same time as you. I weigh once a week and its seeing the numbers go down that keeps me going. I think iv lost 3lb since November :-/.
  • masfe
    masfe Posts: 17
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    Try not to decrease your calorie intake more, or your metabolism will just adapt and make it even harder to lose more weight.

    I would try to change things, like exercise. Do some different workouts, maybe add some weight exercises (don't need to add a lot of muscle if you don't want to, but muscle usually helps raising your metabolism), try some HIT training.

    Also you could as someone said try to increase your calorie intake for a while just to see if your body adapts or change your macros.
  • easycure
    easycure Posts: 152 Member
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    I haven't tried the workout dvd's yet. I'm sure I can get my hands on some of those (ill do some research on them) And in the past I have raised then lowered my calories to successfully continue on the weightloss journey (altho its not working this time).

    I have broken my lower back 3 times (in the same spot) so walking and hiking has always been easiest on my back. But you are all right, I think my body is just so used to that now.

    I do get anywhere from 10 to 30 flights of stairs a day, but I have no problem trying to get them all at once maybe?

    My kiddos are 5 and 7, so all of this is a game to them! They love it! lol <3 They are pretty awesome! lol
  • easycure
    easycure Posts: 152 Member
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    I do want to start heavy lifting eventually, but I was hoping to start it closer to 180lbs to tone.
  • heatherterp
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    Check the library for workout DVDs that way you can find one you like and then buy it. Or keep changing things up with a new dvd every 2 or 3 weeks. I have used the walk away the pounds 3 mile walk. It is all indoors about 40 minutes
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    If you are walking the equivalent of almost a half marathon every day (21000 steps) and doing exercises every hour throughout the day, and are only eating 1500 calories, you are not eating enough.

    Please calculate your TDEE and your BMR and please don't set yourself as sedentary but highly active in these calculations

    I did the same thing 4 years ago after losing 75 pounds, and I was working out all of the time and felt great, but I plateaued myself just like this and that plateau lasted for a year and finally I gave up and gained back all the weight.

    Edit: Link for TDEE - http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

    Agree with this. Eat halfway between your BMR and TDEE, and see how that works.
  • s50s
    s50s Posts: 138 Member
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    Find the group Eat More 2 Loss Weight on here. It tells you why you need to add more calories.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
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    The links aren't working due to a copyright claim :grumble:
  • easycure
    easycure Posts: 152 Member
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    Thank you everyone for your suggestions!

    its scary to up your calories! Everytime I do it I freak out! lol <3
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Your diary shows that you are eating less than 1500 calories, but your calorie goal is just over 2000. Is 2000 supposed to be your TDEE?

    Try slowly increasing your calories. Add about 100 a day each week until you get to your TDEE. Eat at TDEE for 2 weeks, then cut 100 calories a day until you are at a 20% cut.
  • masfe
    masfe Posts: 17
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    I do want to start heavy lifting eventually, but I was hoping to start it closer to 180lbs to tone.

    Don't need to start by heavy lifting, you can still lift and lose weight, just go for lighter weights and include cardio
  • bcumak
    bcumak Posts: 18 Member
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    I agree with the posts that said to up your calories. If you are getting that much exercise you are not eating anywhere near enough. Up your calories for a few weeks and see what happens.