the first few pounds fly off..now every ounce is a struggle.

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joydoncheski
joydoncheski Posts: 26 Member
in Motivation and Support
I started my weight loss journey 4 months ago, and just recently joined MFP. I started at 167lbs, and the first 10 lbs came off easy with diet and exercise, the next 5 required bumping up my cardio and cutting out soda and dairy. Now it seems I have to fight and struggle for every ounce I lose. I feel like I'm doing everything I can to lose weight and my body is fighting me. I work out 6 days a week, a combination of cardio and strength training (free weights, crunches, squats, push up etc) I stay under my calories (1450) and make healthy choices to fill them. I'm so lost on how to lose these last 10 lbs. Anybody else feeling me here?

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  • tammycolbert
    tammycolbert Posts: 236 Member
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    Well I have a LOT more weight then that to lose, but my first 19lbs came off super easy, now I cannot lose even an OZ, I have gained this week. No matter how hard I push myself it doesn't work. I hope you reach your goal and you start losing soon.
  • oX_Vanessa_Xo
    oX_Vanessa_Xo Posts: 478
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    Yup I'm with you. I started at 220 on April 2nd and now I'm 209 and it's starting it slow down :( I knew it would happen but I was hoping I could get to 199 before it started getting really difficult :(
  • JessHealthKick
    JessHealthKick Posts: 800 Member
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    your body is a car. You fill it with 1450cals of fuel every day. It usually takes about 1400cals just to function... but then you push it and ask for it to stretch out an extra 400cals every day by exercising....

    what does it do? There isn't enough fuel?!?! :sad:

    Well at first if finds it in other ways (fat) but it knows that it can't just keep doing this = you'd disappear which isn't very good at all :cry:

    So instead it becomes more efficient. It learns to use only 1100 for those basic activities, and get all it can from the extra 350 it's given to compensate the extra exercise. :glasses:


    moral of my super lame story. You need to eat more. Your body is just conserving because you're telling it 'there isn't much food around, let's be smart about this'. Eat back exercise calories, I am sure you're hungry all the time!
  • kimdawnhayden
    kimdawnhayden Posts: 298 Member
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    Sometimes you need to shake it up. Take a week diet break. Don't freak out if the scale goes up a few pounds that week. It's just water weight. Then go back to your eating plan. Or you can add in a cheat meal once or twice a week to keep your body guessing. The body is very smart and will figure out your plan if you always keep things the same. Some people work in a higher calorie day mixed with low calorie and medium calorie plans. You can google this approach under calorie cycling. Also some people like to do carb cycling. You can also google that. Good luck. I always like to look at a plateau as to what would I do know if I were just starting this.
  • joydoncheski
    joydoncheski Posts: 26 Member
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    Thank you! I was feeling like I was the only one, like I was failing some how. The first few weeks were so great that I was excited to work out, not seeing the scale budge makes it hard to stay motivated. I always eat back my calories, well atleast the ones that calculated from cardio. I'm not sure how much the strength and resistance training burns....i always assumed it was just for muscles definition and didn't burn much.
  • Moviegal77
    Moviegal77 Posts: 65 Member
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    Our bodies get used to a routine so the only thing I can suggest is trying an exercise class of some sort, yoga, zumba or whatever you fancy.

    Best of luck.
  • fuzzymop55
    fuzzymop55 Posts: 70 Member
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    I was in the same boat as you. Kept hitting larger plateaus no weight changes after 2 weeks,3 weeks then 19 days I freaked out. Someone suggested I try calorie cycling. That too also made me hesitant and nervous. One day I ate 2,000 calories then 1,500 then 1,700, then 1,400, 1,300 and back to 1,200. I wouldn't suggest doing it exactly those number variations but you can find out what works for you. That helped me break my plateau along with exercise. [note I wouldn't burn a whole lot at the gym in the lower cal range]. Shoot I didn't exercise for three of those days either. Sometimes it's good to take a break from the gym. Sometimes it's good to take a break from calorie restriction and not even calling it a cheat meal or cheat day. just a few days were you do your best to not count calories. Sure I still logged it the best of my ability but I forced myself to have less guilt about it. Also I might also have little bit more of self control because I just now switched to keto to see what that will do for me. Downfall I want milk which I never wanted before and substitutions bleh bleh. Don't give up!
  • joydoncheski
    joydoncheski Posts: 26 Member
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    Sometimes you need to shake it up. Take a week diet break. Don't freak out if the scale goes up a few pounds that week. It's just water weight. Then go back to your eating plan. Or you can add in a cheat meal once or twice a week to keep your body guessing. The body is very smart and will figure out your plan if you always keep things the same. Some people work in a higher calorie day mixed with low calorie and medium calorie plans. You can google this approach under calorie cycling. Also some people like to do carb cycling. You can also google that. Good luck. I always like to look at a plateau as to what would I do know if I were just starting this.


    I had never heard of calorie cycling...Thank you! This is something that is definitely worth a try. My diet isn't varied a whole lot, fish chicken raw veggies and raw fruit are pretty much it. Maybe if I had a carb day once or twice a week it would help.

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