Weight doesnt seem to be going down?

vickyboots
vickyboots Posts: 2
edited September 21 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone :smile:

For the past 3 weeks I've had a diet of 1200 calories a day (roughly) and seem to have hit a point where my weight doesnt seem to be getting any less, but my body fat % is? Also my muscle % is increasing?
I wondered if my body has gone into starvation mode and the weight loss will start again?
Should I increase the amount of daily exercise im doing? (30 mins cardio)

Any advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated!! :smile: :smile: :smile:

Cheers,

Vicky xx

Replies

  • toddonage
    toddonage Posts: 2
    Hello Vicky :o)

    I seem to be having the same problem. I weighed myself this morning and had actually gained 1lb. Its very frustrating!

    xx
  • caro83
    caro83 Posts: 11
    Hey Vicky,

    Tell me about, it, I've been trying to keep to my calorie count (OK I might not be doing it too well but its quite hard when your boyf cooks your dinner for you) , i've cut out heavy breakfasts for a bowl of cereal, and having small lunches and then just dinner and I seem to have put on 3lbs. Today I've just ordered a new scales coz I swear the one I have is doing it on purpose. I appear to have put on 2 stone in 6 months so getting the scales to be sure. if its not the scales fault it looks like i'm gonna have to try harder.

    The reason for you not losing weight I guess is the fact that muscle weighs more than fat. If your body fat percentage is going down then this is being replaced by the heavier muscle. You may not seem to be losing weight but I bet if you measured your waist etc it would be getting slimmer

    Best of luck
    Caroline
  • SharriRae
    SharriRae Posts: 3
    Experts claim that an average person should get 30 minutes of exercise daily...this isn't for weight loss. You might want to vary your exercises for awhile...trick your body. Go to 45 minutes of cardio. Are you doing a weight circuit?

    If you're losing inches...then the weight shouldn't matter. Don't get stuck on a number. That's much easier said than done...but if your body keeps changing and you're noticing differences in the way your clothes fit...then a number is just a number.

    Good luck.
  • Holton
    Holton Posts: 1,018
    I had great success at breaking my plateau by actually upping my calories to about 1490 for a week, then start zigzagging up and down between 1290 and 1490.
  • TabiHerbalifeCoach
    TabiHerbalifeCoach Posts: 691 Member
    Ok if you know for a fact your muscle is going up and your body fat percent is going down, then it is a simple case of muscle weighs more than fat. I think that is thrown around more than it should be but if your getting measured and bodyfat perctages done, then thats whats happening
  • sunshine79
    sunshine79 Posts: 758 Member
    I'm not an expert so only speaking from my personal experience:glasses:

    I had this problem for over a month. I did some research and then started zig zagging my calories, 3 days of 1250 cals,,1 day of 1700 cals. This apparently stops your body from going into starvation mode and so yo keep burning fat.

    I also helped to speed up my metabolism by eating every 3 hours 250 - 300 cal small meals and I in creased my protein being sure to eat lean protein with every meal.

    After a week of doing this I immediately lost weight, 2lbs in the first week.

    Hope this helps :smile: :smile: :smile:
  • Hibpshman1
    Hibpshman1 Posts: 20
    Don't be discouraged! Every person's body is different, all I can share is my experience. I've lost over 30 pounds twice in my life, and this will be the third time, hopefully the last as I am making more permanent lifestyle changes this time.

    My body fights weight loss for the first four to six weeks. I have to keep my calorie count at my goal with one day every seven to ten days where I splurge for one meal to keep me from blowing the calorie goals...it gives me something to look forward to. Keep working out, at least 30 minutes per day, preferably for 60 minutes. It is easier to do if you vary it up by doing 30 minutes of walking and 30 minutes on the bike, jog, or elliptical trainer. Try to not do the same thing every day either...like someone mentioned earlier, an hour of circuit training (light weights, lots of reps, no rest between exercises) will get your heart racing at your fat burn level.

    Biggest thing - don't quit! Keep working out regularly and watching calories, fat grams and keep up the fiber. Lots of fiber is a great way to eat the right kinds of calories. Fiber has helped me keep the right kinds of food in my stomach.

    Has anyone else had the same experience? In time, you'll see the weight burning off...REAL weight loss takes time, like ONE to TWO pounds a week, maximum. Weigh yourself only once a week, the same time of day, on the same scale. I weigh myself on Friday morning before I get ready for work since I've been working out all week and it gives me a sense of accomplishment to see one pound missing...but sometimes my weight is the same. The next week I've usually lost a pound, sometimes two. :o) It took me six months to lose 25 pounds, that's about one pound a week, average.

    Stick to it and don't look back, it will work, just put in the effort and you're guaranteed to see the results.

    Al.
  • wendytobin
    wendytobin Posts: 208
    Hello everyone :smile:

    For the past 3 weeks I've had a diet of 1200 calories a day (roughly) and seem to have hit a point where my weight doesnt seem to be getting any less, but my body fat % is? Also my muscle % is increasing?
    I wondered if my body has gone into starvation mode and the weight loss will start again?
    Should I increase the amount of daily exercise im doing? (30 mins cardio)

    Any advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated!! :smile: :smile: :smile:

    Cheers,

    Vicky xx

    Hi Vicky, dont get disheartened with no loss, sometimes this happens to our bodies and nothing budges.

    you say you roughly have 1200 cals per day, and assuming from the end bit you are currently doing 30min exercise per day? and want to increase this.

    The thing is if you are putting in 30min excercise per day and only eating your 1200 cal allowance, then you are putting your body into starvation mode and thats why there has been no loss. if you are burning of for example 300 cals for exercise, eating 1200, your body is only getting 900cals for the whole day, this is not enough. you must eat your exercise cals as well, you could try shaking things up by upping and downing cals on a daily basis.

    it will happen, give it time. i know we all want it to happy straight away, but we have to readjust our bodies.
  • beckbeck
    beckbeck Posts: 31
    It definitely sounds like you're just gaining muscle and losing body fat so the weight will be coming down for sure! Just watch how your clothes fit instead of what the scale says.

    Caro83, I can see one big reason you might have gained weight--DON'T make breakfast and lunch smaller and keep dinner the same! Breakfast should be the biggest meal, then lunch, and dinner should be lighter. I know that is just the opposite of what most of us do on a daily basis but that's why we're overweight!

    Good luck, girls! I'm in a little slump myself but I have to remind myself that I am doing P90X and working VERY hard and it's probably just muscle coming on and fat burning off!
  • jeans4
    jeans4 Posts: 7
    Ok, i'm going through the exact same thing, and i find myself getting so discouraged that I have one real blow out day every two weeks to console myself, which only slows things more it seems.

    Are you supposed to eat the exercise calories? i am only 4-11, so i don't get that many to begin with, but don't want to eat up what i just spend an hour trying to work off? If I am only eating 1200 calories a day, and it supposedly takes over 1700 a day just to keep me moving and alive, why is there weeks with no weight loss?
  • LotusF1ower
    LotusF1ower Posts: 1,259 Member
    Hello everyone :smile:

    For the past 3 weeks I've had a diet of 1200 calories a day (roughly) and seem to have hit a point where my weight doesnt seem to be getting any less, but my body fat % is? Also my muscle % is increasing?
    I wondered if my body has gone into starvation mode and the weight loss will start again?
    Should I increase the amount of daily exercise im doing? (30 mins cardio)

    Any advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated!! :smile: :smile: :smile:

    Cheers,

    Vicky xx

    Your eating plan is definitely working as your fat % is down and your muscle % has increased. It is due to this increase in muscle that your scales are staying the same. The sacles will shift again you just have to persevere.

    The body shifts fat here, builds muscle there, sometimes weight decreases and water excess goes. Nothing will ever work in the same way all the time.

    You are not in starvation mode because your % are changing.

    Do you measure yourself? I bet you find your measurements have changed quite a lot and in that respect you can safely know that your eating plan is a good one.

    Is your fat % lower than 5%? If not, take starvation mode out of the equation, it is used too loosely :flowerforyou:
  • countdowntotarget
    countdowntotarget Posts: 108 Member
    Erm...... Im probably going against what everybody else on here is saying but contrary to popular belief muscle I believe does not weigh heavier than fat - a lb of muscle weighs the same as a lb of fat it just takes up less space in your body so you lose inches and look leaner than if you had no muscle tone. So apologies if this goes against what you have heard

    Also, new recommendations say that 30 min MINIMUM is required for a person of a healthy weight to MAINTAIN their weight not lose it they recommend a MINIMUM of 60 min 5 times per week as a mixture of cardio and weight training to burn fat reserves as far as I can remember it is 10-15 min warm up then 20-25 min at the high fat burning intensity then 15 min cool down then stretching

    For the weight loss i have had on quite a few times lost inches and still maintained and as annoying as it is you cant help saying WHY????? it has reduced me to tears before now, because you are probably like me, regardless of what the tape measure, BMI, Fat % says - unless the scales are moving your not doing well.

    But you are, it may be tweeking your calories, it may be stepping it up in the exercise dept it will be trial and error - but stick with it and it will start to move again - x x x x
  • LotusF1ower
    LotusF1ower Posts: 1,259 Member
    Erm...... Im probably going against what everybody else on here is saying but contrary to popular belief muscle I believe does not weigh heavier than fat - a lb of muscle weighs the same as a lb of fat it just takes up less space in your body so you lose inches and look leaner than if you had no muscle tone. So apologies if this goes against what you have heard

    Yes exactly.

    It doesn't weigh heavier than fat - however, if a piece of muscle and a piece of fat - both pieces being 4 square inches each were side my side the muscle will weigh more, this is what many people mean when they say muscle weighs more than fat.
  • dj_stevie_c
    dj_stevie_c Posts: 270
    Hello everyone :smile:

    For the past 3 weeks I've had a diet of 1200 calories a day (roughly) and seem to have hit a point where my weight doesnt seem to be getting any less, but my body fat % is? Also my muscle % is increasing?
    I wondered if my body has gone into starvation mode and the weight loss will start again?
    Should I increase the amount of daily exercise im doing? (30 mins cardio)

    Any advice/opinions would be greatly appreciated!! :smile: :smile: :smile:

    Cheers,

    Vicky xx

    How do you feel? apart from confused :)

    Don't worry about it, if things are moving in the right direction then there's nothing to worry about. Muscle is more dense than fat is so if you're losing fat % and gaining muscle % you're probably swapping one with the other. Don't fret it too much just look and have a think if there's anything you can change to improve things.
  • Thank you so much everyone for all your great advice!

    I'm going start measuring my waist, hips, arms etc so hopefully I'll start to see a change there!
    Will now see it as a positive that my fat percentage is decreasing and muscle is increasing without a change in weight...need to stop fixating on the number on the scales!

    Think I'm expected big changes far too soon, need to learn to pace myself and take it slowly!

    Once again..thank you! :happy:
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