Another "I'm not losing weight" post...

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trustymutsi
trustymutsi Posts: 174 Member
in Motivation and Support
I'm very frustrated. I've been counting my calories very closely, and eating pretty healthy. About 75-90% of my food is prepared at home. My first week I went from 199 to 194. Second week I went to 192. Now for the last two weeks I've been stuck at 194. No idea what I'm doing wrong.

I'm wondering if I'm eating too LITTLE. I remember back when I did Weight Watchers, I got to a point where the lbs came off VERY slowly. When I finally hit my goal weight, I went to maintenance calories. I started dropping lbs faster than when I'd been eating less! Could be the same thing now.

I'm male, 40 yrs old, and 6' 2". My calories intake has been 1320 (to lose 2 lbs a week). Perhaps that's been too aggressive?

Any advice is MORE than welcome.

Thanks :)
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Replies

  • RatherBeInTheShire
    RatherBeInTheShire Posts: 561 Member
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    1320 calories for a male seems really low! I think you should add more calories back in and see what happens! =)
  • TigressPat
    TigressPat Posts: 722
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    It's much too low. I am female and almost a foot shorter and I eat more than that. Why would you eat so little?
  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
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    I would imagine you are not eating enough. I am 5' 5", female and weight about the same as you and I eat 1600 calories a day plus my exercise calories.

    How much weight are you trying to lose? At 6' 2" 194lbs is a good weight. Maybe what you need to do is up your calories to a surplus and start lifting heavy to build muscle.

    Unless you have well over 50lbs to lose you should not have your goal set at losing 2lbs per week... it is far too high of a deficit. TOo large of a deficit and you will lose muscle.
  • itsmyvwbeetle
    itsmyvwbeetle Posts: 272 Member
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    I think more calories may be the answer. Also, check sodium intake and carb intake. Some people (myself included) are very touchy with carbs. I can be well below my calorie and carb limits but have carbs at every meal and stall out until I readjust.
  • eyeshuh
    eyeshuh Posts: 333
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    That seems super low for how tall you are! You only have 20lbs to lose. Set it to .5 or 1lb a week and be patient! Also, be sure to eat back your exercise calories. It will be much easier to go into maintenance and keep it off if you lose slow and steady!
  • LilacDreamer
    LilacDreamer Posts: 1,365 Member
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    you've been at this less than a month. you need to give it more time. you are also not eating enough. you are only 20lbs away from your goal and I'm pretty sure you have it set to "lose 2 lbs a week" which is not advisable when you have so little left to lose.

    You didn't put the weight on in a month and you're not going to lose it that fast either. The faster you lose it the easier it is to gain it back.
  • jareno0919
    jareno0919 Posts: 18 Member
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    You are NOT eating enough. 1300 calories for a male your height is WAY too little food. Realistic weight loss is .5 to 1.5lbs per week. Aim for that. And if you are working out, you need to eat some of those calories too. You are putting your body into starvation mode when you don't consume enough calories (to a point where it is THAT low)
  • martinh78
    martinh78 Posts: 601
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    It's much too low. I am female and almost a foot shorter and I eat more than that. Why would you eat so little?

    Because MFP sets it as this if you are sedentry and want to loose 2lbs a week.
  • TigressPat
    TigressPat Posts: 722
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    to my mind, 6'2" and 194 is certainly not overweight. While I understand that you might still want to lose weight and that is certainly up to you, trying to lose 2 lbs a week when you have so little to lose is ridiculous. It's always harder to lose weight when you are close to your goal weight.
  • 2credneck208
    2credneck208 Posts: 501 Member
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    I've been stuck for 3 weeks, just went online to figure my bmr and wasn't eating enough. I just fixed my calories to my bmr and hope to god I don't put on weight.
  • saxmaniac
    saxmaniac Posts: 1,133 Member
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    Yes, 1300 is too darn low if you're 6'2" and only 200. Change back to lose 1/2, maybe 1 pound a week and focus on consistency and habit.
  • mapnerd2005
    mapnerd2005 Posts: 363
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    It's not going to hurt you to experiment with adding calories for a couple weeks. I eat about 1700 a day and have been steadily losing now. If that doesn't get the scale moving, re-evaluate and try making other adjustments. What works for some doesn't work for others. You have to find what will work for you. Also check your measurements, because I have found that sometimes the scale will pause, but my measurements will shrink.
  • bestbassist
    bestbassist Posts: 177 Member
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    That's a hard one to judge. I've been stagnant in my weight loss for a few months and I've tried raising and lowering my calories, changing my workouts...everything you can think of. I've stumped 2 trainers in the process. I think, in my case, it is low testosterone and/or testosterone converting to estrogen, as I'm on medication for it. Have you checked your t-level with your doc? Also - different medications can slow/halt weight loss entirely - like antidepressants.
  • da_bears10089
    da_bears10089 Posts: 1,791 Member
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    Don't follow what MFP sets. Even for me being 5'5" female looking to lose 30 more lbs, i'm still eating like 1900 a day. You need to figure out your TDEE & BMR. Don't go any lower than 20% below your TDEE. Then you can go into MFP and customize your macros to help you out.

    Edit: Also start doing some heavy lifting at a gym or at home. Right now the scale isn't moving a lot for me, but i'm definitely losing inches.
  • TigressPat
    TigressPat Posts: 722
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    It's much too low. I am female and almost a foot shorter and I eat more than that. Why would you eat so little?

    Because MFP sets it as this if you are sedentry and want to loose 2lbs a week.


    there are tons of posts in this forum about the flaws in the MFP system so I'm not going to reiterate. Nevertheless, it's too low, and he's probably not sedentary.
    Not to mention, at 6'2" he's not overweight, and 2lbs a week is unrealistic.
  • martinh78
    martinh78 Posts: 601
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    As above though, I got stuck around the 78kgs mark after loosing 14kgs. Changed mfps goals to loose 1lb a week and am loosing weight again.


    Remember, you won't put on weight by upping your goal, so long as it remains in a deficit.
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
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    Really? Two pounds per week? Gee 1320 might be too low; ya think?

    Wow, I must be doing it wrong, I'm eating more than you (I'm a woman), exercising less (but adequately), and eating high fat foods that are filling and make me feel awesome. And I'm not expecting to lose 2 pounds per week, but I am averaging about 1.33 which will DECREASE over time. It's a journey, not a race with a finish line; at least for me.

    Edit: and as already pointed out, you are already likely at a healthy weight for your size. Maybe your body is trying to tell you something? Two pounds a week when you have so little to lose? These posts are funny.
  • eAddict
    eAddict Posts: 212 Member
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    I've been stuck for 3 weeks, just went online to figure my bmr and wasn't eating enough. I just fixed my calories to my bmr and hope to god I don't put on weight.
    THIS. Just don't understand eating to lose weight. I have been tracking since last Feb and am down from 270 to 210. Been 210 more or less since the beginning of Nov '12. Can't seem to bust through this plateau.
  • martinh78
    martinh78 Posts: 601
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    It's much too low. I am female and almost a foot shorter and I eat more than that. Why would you eat so little?

    Because MFP sets it as this if you are sedentry and want to loose 2lbs a week.


    there are tons of posts in this forum about the flaws in the MFP system so I'm not going to reiterate. Nevertheless, it's too low, and he's probably not sedentary.
    Not to mention, at 6'2" he's not overweight, and 2lbs a week is unrealistic.

    Not disagreeing with you. But loads of folk get asked teh same thing/bashed for having too low calories. MFP DOES set them at this and it takes a lot of reading and understanding to have the courage to move up/away from it.
  • 2credneck208
    2credneck208 Posts: 501 Member
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    I've been stuck for 3 weeks, just went online to figure my bmr and wasn't eating enough. I just fixed my calories to my bmr and hope to god I don't put on weight.
    THIS. Just don't understand eating to lose weight. I have been tracking since last Feb and am down from 270 to 210. Been 210 more or less since the beginning of Nov '12. Can't seem to bust through this plateau.

    I don't either but after 3 weeks of sweat and tears I gotta try something.

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