Weight-loss has stalled...

red869
red869 Posts: 59
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been stuck at the same weight now for 5 weeks (well actually this week I gained a pound). I am still eating around the same amount that I was before but I have been a little more relaxed about the quality of food that I'm having. I don't have takeaways or eat out but I allow myself a little junk food daily.

When I started out last year, I was eating less than I am now but have slowly brought up my calories by a little each week. I was losing weight fine before, but I've been stuck at the same weight now since December. It didn't bother me too much as I've always lost weight slow, but today I weighed myself and I have gained a pound. I still have a lot of weight to lose (around 30 lbs), so why am I gaining weight? This last week my calorie average for the week was 1293 per day, which although slightly more than usual, is still well below my TDEE. I had hoped to increase it further but now am not going to do so.

What can I do to start losing weight again? I'm going to start doing more exercise; I know I've been very lazy so far when it comes to getting it done, but other than that, what can I do to make sure that I start losing weight again?

Replies

  • ATGsquats
    ATGsquats Posts: 227 Member
    Cut more calories and increase intensity of exercise.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    Hard to offer advice without knowing more about you - height, weight, goals, etc. But if your calorie average is 1293, I would advice against cutting more cals and increasing exercise, unless you plan to eat back burned cals, and/or you are a very tiny person. :tongue:

    Skimming through your diary, your daily goal is 1500 cals, yet you are often several hundred cals under that. Why not try eating to, or very close to goal for a week and see what happens? I've had my best success and consistent fat loss by hitting my goal within 50 or so cals on either side (and often going over). Food is fuel, and the body functions well, shedding fat and feeling good when it's getting the proper amount of calories.
  • ATGsquats
    ATGsquats Posts: 227 Member
    Hard to offer advice without knowing more about you - height, weight, goals, etc. But if your calorie average is 1293, I would advice against cutting more cals and increasing exercise, unless you plan to eat back burned cals, and/or you are a very tiny person. :tongue:

    Skimming through your diary, your daily goal is 1500 cals, yet you are often several hundred cals under that. Why not try eating to, or very close to goal for a week and see what happens? I've had my best success and consistent fat loss by hitting my goal within 50 or so cals on either side (and often going over). Food is fuel, and the body functions well, shedding fat and feeling good when it's getting the proper amount of calories.

    How else do you lose weight without being in a caloric deficit?
  • Muddy_Yogi
    Muddy_Yogi Posts: 1,459 Member
    Hard to offer advice without knowing more about you - height, weight, goals, etc. But if your calorie average is 1293, I would advice against cutting more cals and increasing exercise, unless you plan to eat back burned cals, and/or you are a very tiny person. :tongue:

    Skimming through your diary, your daily goal is 1500 cals, yet you are often several hundred cals under that. Why not try eating to, or very close to goal for a week and see what happens? I've had my best success and consistent fat loss by hitting my goal within 50 or so cals on either side (and often going over). Food is fuel, and the body functions well, shedding fat and feeling good when it's getting the proper amount of calories.
    How else do you lose weight without being in a caloric deficit?


    At 1293 she is at a deficit...question is ... is she being honest with herself on her intake. Don't take this wrong sweetie but if you are eating 1293 on average and accurately counting your exercise, you should still be losing weight. I would re-evaluate how you are measuring your intake. Are you weighing your food or are you using measuring cups. Weight is much more accurate. Are you eating back your exercise calories? If so, how are you measuring your burn? If you are using MFP...I would recommend only eating half of them back and see if that helps.
  • janupshaw
    janupshaw Posts: 205 Member
    My weight loss stalled for 7 weeks...I upped my calories (120 more per day) and started losing again.
  • red869
    red869 Posts: 59
    Hard to offer advice without knowing more about you - height, weight, goals, etc. But if your calorie average is 1293, I would advice against cutting more cals and increasing exercise, unless you plan to eat back burned cals, and/or you are a very tiny person. :tongue:

    Skimming through your diary, your daily goal is 1500 cals, yet you are often several hundred cals under that. Why not try eating to, or very close to goal for a week and see what happens? I've had my best success and consistent fat loss by hitting my goal within 50 or so cals on either side (and often going over). Food is fuel, and the body functions well, shedding fat and feeling good when it's getting the proper amount of calories.

    I don't intend to cut out more calories as I'm already eating below my BMR (1421). I'm 5'2, currently 140 lbs, have a very small frame (under all the fat! :D) and aim to get to 110 lbs or so. I've been increasing my calories slowly since I started, so maybe that's why my weight loss has stopped.

    When I started MFP I changed my daily calorie goal to 1500 even though MFP told me to eat 1300. If I were exercising consistently then I probably would eat 1500 calories, but as I haven't been, I'm happy to eat less than that. I'm definitely going to start doing exercise more often and hope that that will help.
  • smc864
    smc864 Posts: 570 Member
    If you are not losing weight then you are eating more than you think... If you were truly eating 1200-1300 calories you would lose weight.

    1. weigh your food
    2. weigh EVERYTHING that goes in your mouth, this includes things like coffee creamer and peanut butter. Measuring with spoons and cups is not very accurate.
    3. weigh your food.


    Please ignore the people that tell you to eat more... Weight loss is a result of a caloric deficit. How much sense does it make to eat more calories to create a deficit? None... absolutely NO sense at all.
  • red869
    red869 Posts: 59
    [/quote]
    At 1293 she is at a deficit...question is ... is she being honest with herself on her intake. Don't take this wrong sweetie but if you are eating 1293 on average and accurately counting your exercise, you should still be losing weight. I would re-evaluate how you are measuring your intake. Are you weighing your food or are you using measuring cups. Weight is much more accurate. Are you eating back your exercise calories? If so, how are you measuring your burn? If you are using MFP...I would recommend only eating half of them back and see if that helps.
    [/quote]

    I measure everything using a digital scale, every day, without fail. I don't even have a grape without measuring it first. I never eat anything when I'm out as I can't measure it. When I go to someone's house, I don't even have a cup of tea or drink as I can't weigh it out first! The only things I don't measure are pre-packaged items with the calories already on the package. Trust me, I am extremely strict when it comes to what I eat.

    I haven't been exercising much like I said, but when I have I don't eat back calories. I always lose weight pretty slow.
  • red869
    red869 Posts: 59
    If you are not losing weight then you are eating more than you think... If you were truly eating 1200-1300 calories you would lose weight.

    1. weigh your food
    2. weigh EVERYTHING that goes in your mouth, this includes things like coffee creamer and peanut butter. Measuring with spoons and cups is not very accurate.
    3. weigh your food.


    Please ignore the people that tell you to eat more... Weight loss is a result of a caloric deficit. How much sense does it make to eat more calories to create a deficit? None... absolutely NO sense at all.

    I weigh everything! Seriously. When I cook, I even weigh out spices to the gram which have next to no calories in them anyway. I have a digital scale; I weigh everything on that.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member

    Please ignore the people that tell you to eat more... Weight loss is a result of a caloric deficit. How much sense does it make to eat more calories to create a deficit? None... absolutely NO sense at all.
    If her BMR is around 1400, then a goal of 1500 is still a deficit. :huh: The deficit comes from a cut from TDEE, not from BMR.

    How much sense does it make to eat below one's BMR? (other than for a time, in cases of severe obesity)

    You can ignore people who tell you to eat more, but there's a whole bunch of us who went from eating too little to eating the proper amount of cals (hence, eating more) and watched the fat and inches come off. I had much better success eating 1800-2000 cals a day than I did when I tried to stick to 1500 or less (and my progress has not stalled in 2 years of doing so).
  • Muddy_Yogi
    Muddy_Yogi Posts: 1,459 Member
    At 1293 she is at a deficit...question is ... is she being honest with herself on her intake. Don't take this wrong sweetie but if you are eating 1293 on average and accurately counting your exercise, you should still be losing weight. I would re-evaluate how you are measuring your intake. Are you weighing your food or are you using measuring cups. Weight is much more accurate. Are you eating back your exercise calories? If so, how are you measuring your burn? If you are using MFP...I would recommend only eating half of them back and see if that helps.

    I measure everything using a digital scale, every day, without fail. I don't even have a grape without measuring it first. I never eat anything when I'm out as I can't measure it. When I go to someone's house, I don't even have a cup of tea or drink as I can't weigh it out first! The only things I don't measure are pre-packaged items with the calories already on the package. Trust me, I am extremely strict when it comes to what I eat.

    I haven't been exercising much like I said, but when I have I don't eat back calories. I always lose weight pretty slow.
    [/quote]

    Something isn't adding up then. First. You should not be eating below your BMR. You would be losing if you were eating at that big of a deficit. I am not going to tell you to eat more because you will just argue. I am going to tell you that eating below your BMR is unhealthy and damaging.

    Second, might be time to change the battery in the food scale or go see a doctor because if you are not losing at that big of a deficit, there may be something wrong.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    If you're not losing weight, then you're not eating at a deficit. You're underestimating your intake &/or overestimating your burn. Log everything you eat accurately & honestly. Find reliable database entries. (There's a lot of incorrect data in there.) Weigh your food. Eat back half your exercise calories.

    Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • smc864
    smc864 Posts: 570 Member

    I'm going to start doing more exercise; I know I've been very lazy so far when it comes to getting it done, but other than that, what can I do to make sure that I start losing weight again?

    I think you answered your own question. Start small and just do 30 minutes of cardio 3 times/week. Lifts weights twice per week... it will make a huge difference in your progress.
  • gwhitw01
    gwhitw01 Posts: 5 Member
    I weigh everything! Seriously. When I cook, I even weigh out spices to the gram which have next to no calories in them anyway. I have a digital scale; I weigh everything on that.

    Looking through a few days of your eating log, I would recommend cutting your carbohydrate grams intake in half. You can then add those deducted grams back into your Protein grams intake. 50 net grams of carbohydrates per day and I will bet you will be back on track to losing weight quickly and easily.

    Just my recommendations anyway. Once you get back on track to losing, you can always add a few more carbohydrate grams back in until the weight loss stops. Then back off a little and keep losing. :smile:
  • TArnold2012
    TArnold2012 Posts: 929 Member
    Carbs = 120
    Protein = 75
    http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
  • red869
    red869 Posts: 59
    At 1293 she is at a deficit...question is ... is she being honest with herself on her intake. Don't take this wrong sweetie but if you are eating 1293 on average and accurately counting your exercise, you should still be losing weight. I would re-evaluate how you are measuring your intake. Are you weighing your food or are you using measuring cups. Weight is much more accurate. Are you eating back your exercise calories? If so, how are you measuring your burn? If you are using MFP...I would recommend only eating half of them back and see if that helps.

    I measure everything using a digital scale, every day, without fail. I don't even have a grape without measuring it first. I never eat anything when I'm out as I can't measure it. When I go to someone's house, I don't even have a cup of tea or drink as I can't weigh it out first! The only things I don't measure are pre-packaged items with the calories already on the package. Trust me, I am extremely strict when it comes to what I eat.

    I haven't been exercising much like I said, but when I have I don't eat back calories. I always lose weight pretty slow.

    Something isn't adding up then. First. You should not be eating below your BMR. You would be losing if you were eating at that big of a deficit. I am not going to tell you to eat more because you will just argue. I am going to tell you that eating below your BMR is unhealthy and damaging.

    Second, might be time to change the battery in the food scale or go see a doctor because if you are not losing at that big of a deficit, there may be something wrong.
    [/quote]

    Both the kitchen scale and the bathroom scale are new - brought within the last couple of months. I know they're accurate. My weight loss is always slow compared to others. I've been dieting on and off since I was a child; I guess that hasn't helped.

    This time around, I wanted to eat more to lose weight. It was working fine at first, but now the weight loss has suddenly stalled. It doesn't worry me that I don't lose weight every single week, even every couple of weeks, but I would love to lose at least something. Hopefully doing some more exercise will help.

    Also, I was aiming to bring my calories up further to reach my BMR or thereabouts. I just want to do it slowly.
  • red869
    red869 Posts: 59
    Looking through a few days of your eating log, I would recommend cutting your carbohydrate grams intake in half. You can then add those deducted grams back into your Protein grams intake. 50 net grams of carbohydrates per day and I will bet you will be back on track to losing weight quickly and easily.

    Just my recommendations anyway. Once you get back on track to losing, you can always add a few more carbohydrate grams back in until the weight loss stops. Then back off a little and keep losing. :smile:

    I'll give it a try. I struggle with that though as I love my carbs!

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