The Last 10/15 Lbs.?

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Hi,
Thanks for looking at my post; hope you might be able to help. I've hit a wall @ around 185 lbs. and can't seem to kickstart the weight loss again. I had been away from mfp and since coming back have seen some success, but not I'm at another plateau. I've been a consistent paleo eater and have gone completely keto since January 1st. I weight lift 5 days a week (bodybuilder style workouts) and do cardio (uphill walking) a few times a week. I've dropped my daily calories from 1750 to 1480 this morning. My goal is to be @ 171 lbs with a body fat percentage under 10%. Any thoughts, adivce?

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  • strychnine7
    strychnine7 Posts: 210 Member
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    Don't drop your calories! Especially with that much activity. I went on progressively tighter and tighter caloric restriction from June until October last year trying to drop weight for three Spartan races. I am pretty sure I have screwed myself up, metabolically. And despite having dropped exercise to laughable levels and eating to satiety, I am still not where I was. I seem to be hypersenstive to cold, I don't have the energy I used to, and when I do weightlift, my performance is awful - less weight, fewer reps.

    I say keep your activity the same, and eat cleanly and to satiety. I plateaued too, coincidentally right around 185, and despite all the caloric restriction and training, I still never dropped below 178 and even then, I was only that low for a couple days. And, given my decrease in weightlifting performance, I doubt it was all fat.
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
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    I'm ketogenic Paleo and I have about 20 pounds to go. It's normal for weight loss to get very slow at the end. I expect to spend a year or two to lose this last 20 pounds. The biggest mistake I made starting out is following MFP calorie suggestions. I was under-eating relative to my size for the whole first year. I'm still working to correct the repercussions of under-eating for so long.

    I'm not sure of your height but obviously you are at or near a healthy weight so weight loss will be slow. Add to that that you have been under-eating for an extended time and voila, slowed metabolic rate. I don't know of any men that should eat only 1750 (that's my current calorie setting! I'm 5'6 and only lightly active) and 1480 is even worse. Add to that that you are very active and I know that you are not eating enough. That's my opinion, take it or leave it, but under-eating is not healthy and not sustainable.

    I'm not crazy about your macro profile either, but if it's working, none of my business.
  • fatusextremus
    fatusextremus Posts: 9 Member
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    thanks for the advice!
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
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    First, my rant on weight:

    If you were at 10% bf and still weighed 185 lbs, would you care? Weight is something you should consider a natural side effect of how your body grew (like height). Focus on being healthy and the weight will go where it belongs.

    That said:

    Have you considered having a blood test done to check your homones and adrenal health? Like the other said, you may actually need to eat more to change your body composition. But you will only know that one of two ways - 1) try it and see what happens, or 2) get the data (blood test) and set a plan based on that. I have my blood tested about once a quarter and adjust as necessary. That might be a bit extreme for most, but I'm not one for chancing it when I can know more.
  • pattyproulx
    pattyproulx Posts: 603 Member
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    Have you thought of exercising less, even for just a little while? Stress hormones can have a negative impact on weight loss and that could be hampering it. Are you getting enough sleep?