Having a hard time losing anymore weight. Need advice!
kaylo008
Posts: 10
Hey my name is Kayla. Im 5'3. A year ago I had my second child. When I gave birth I weighed 241 lbs. Ive gotten myself down to 181lbs. But Ive been dieting and exercising for over two weeks now and i havent lost inches or any weight. Im thinking maybe Ive hit a plateau.? Any tips to break out of this would be greatly appreciated. I dont want to give up but im starting to feel a little discouraged since im working my butt off everyday with exercise.
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Replies
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If you're not losing, then you're not eating at a deficit. You're underestimating your food 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. Log your exercise, and eat back your exercise calories. If you're not losing, 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-Sexypants0 -
Use a food scale to measure everything, calculate your calorie goals (if you don't know TDEE do a search for it), exercise, and try not to overestimate.
2 weeks isn't a plateau.. you just need to refocus and see if something happens.. maybe switch your macro's around.0 -
I'm having a similar problem and it's frustrating. I've done my research at the Scooby site and found that I should be eating 1718 to lose. My personal setting is 1500 and most days I eat just under that. Some days honestly I struggle to get past 1200. I exercise at least twice sometimes three days a week and burn on average 700 calories per week. My water intake is average 4 glasses [I know that's low. It's hard to eliminate because of my job, so I drink before work and then after…which keeps me up at night :-( ]
Please, I need help! I've logged my food faithfully for 26 days and no real loss since then. I log truthfully too.0 -
First of all, congratulations on losing 60 lbs in a year! That's awesome!!!
I don't think 2 weeks is long enough to consider yourself on a plateau. I find with my own body and weight loss that it take a couple of weeks to get things going. How many calories are you currently eating every day? Are you logging everything you eat? Also, be sure you aren't over-estimating how many calories you burn during exercise.
Just keep logging and keep exercising - it'll happen!0 -
Had the same problem, I have trying to lose two pounds for over two weeks and I changed my calorie and my exercise. For some reason It just was not coming off. A friend stated that I may need to just cleans my body she stated to try Magnesium Citrate. So last night I did. I have drop three pounds I am passed my problem. Sometime it just a good cleansing we all need.0
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Kayla and Dee,
It sounds like neither of you are eating at a calorie deficit. This happens often from underestimating calories eaten and overestimating calories burned.
Echoing advice above: log every single thing you eat, but make sure that your calorie input is accurate. Read food packages, look calorie info up on the internet, do whatever you can to ensure accuracy. Weigh all your solid food and measure your liquids. If you exercise and use gym machine or MFP calorie burned estimations, eat about only half of your exercise calories back because they are way over estimated.
Remember- if you use MFP to estimate your calories, your calorie deficit is already built in. You don't have to eat less than that amount.
If you figure out the TDEE method, you don't eat your exercise calories back.
Losing weight via a lifestyle change takes some trial and error. Hang in there.0 -
Hey my name is Kayla. Im 5'3. A year ago I had my second child. When I gave birth I weighed 241 lbs. Ive gotten myself down to 181lbs. But Ive been dieting and exercising for over two weeks now and i havent lost inches or any weight. Im thinking maybe Ive hit a plateau.? Any tips to break out of this would be greatly appreciated. I dont want to give up but im starting to feel a little discouraged since im working my butt off everyday with exercise.
2 weeks is not a plateau. When I was losing weight, I'd weigh and measure once every 4 weeks.
You should work out your tdee and subtract 20% from that, and use that as your calories. Since I can't see your diary, I can't offer any advice on that. What sort of things do you eat? And what exercise are you doing?
You've already lost weight, so obviously you can do it!
I was 220 after my 2nd child (I'm 5'6) and I got down to 154. I made sure I ate a lot of protein, and I was eating 1500 calories a day. I was also working out 5 or 6 times a week, doing a variety of things, and a mix of cardio and strength training. I'm currently pregnant now with my third.0 -
Well for awhile my calories were set at 1200 a day but i wouldnt eat back the calories i burned so i thought maybe i wasnt eating enough. But now the app upped my calories to 1400 so ive been trying to hit 1400 after exercise and everything. My husband said it might just take a little bit longer for the weight to start coming off again. Im going to keep going. Im almost certain im not doing anything wrong. Unless maybe underestimating the calories. I dont have alot of protein in my diet. Will eating protein help?0
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Had the same problem, I have trying to lose two pounds for over two weeks and I changed my calorie and my exercise. For some reason It just was not coming off. A friend stated that I may need to just cleans my body she stated to try Magnesium Citrate. So last night I did. I have drop three pounds I am passed my problem. Sometime it just a good cleansing we all need.
No. Just no. You dropped water weight.0 -
Are you at the end of your weight loss goal? Or do you still have significantly more to lose? I ask because the less you have to lose the harder it is and the more precise you have to be in your logging.
I have found that I don't lose weight evenly. Meaning I'll consistently lose for awhile and then I won't lose for awhile and then I'll start losing again. It's like I'm binge losing :happy: if that makes any sense.0 -
Im not that close to my ideal goal. Right now i want to be back dowm to my pre-children weight which was 150. Im 181 right now. My ideal is 1300
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Thank you so much everyone for yalls advice! Im happy to hear that 2 weeks is not considered a plateau! Im going to keep pushing! I have a new balance elliptical i use from time to time (the pulse and calories are not accurate on it). I lost alot of weight just doing the elliptical so i started changing things up around august and starting doing 30 minutes elliptical and 30 minutes pilates. Currently im doing The Biggest Loser Cardio Max dvd. I feel like i get a better workout from that then the elliptical. My side will hurt so bad and ill be hyperventalatng by the end.0
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I use MFP's protein & fiber goals as minimums & ignore the rest. But everybody's different, and if you ask 100 MFPers you'll get 100 different opinions. I find that eating more protein makes me less hungry.I dont have alot of protein in my diet. Will eating protein help?0 -
I don't always lose weight the way the numbers say I should either. Is it that TOM? Are you retaining water? Have you eaten a lot of salt? Are you stressed out?0
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Its is that TOM today but for the past two weeks no. I dont use salt anymore. Im a SAHM with two small children, its hard not being stressed
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Well for awhile my calories were set at 1200 a day but i wouldnt eat back the calories i burned so i thought maybe i wasnt eating enough. But now the app upped my calories to 1400 so ive been trying to hit 1400 after exercise and everything. My husband said it might just take a little bit longer for the weight to start coming off again. Im going to keep going. Im almost certain im not doing anything wrong. Unless maybe underestimating the calories. I dont have alot of protein in my diet. Will eating protein help?
If you are not losing weight, you don't increase calories because you are already eating too much.
If you are underestimating calories, you can kill your deficit with that.
A healthy balance of protein, fats, and carbs is good for you, but it doesn't have anything to do with weight loss per se. Weight loss comes from eating at a calorie deficit. in other words, you can eat nothing but cookies, but if you eat them at a calorie deficit you will lose weight (but you might feel pretty horrible in the process).0 -
Is been almost a month for me at 1200 cal and working out a lot! Scales are moving very slowly. I track everything and just looked into my eating charts here on mfp and realized while I'm trying to stay around my calories I'm regularly going over my carbs and fats...so now that I know that I will eliminate and see how my body changes. Two weeks isn't enough time, keep going, track everything, and change things accordingly, you'll find what works and the pounds will fall off. I have to tell myself it takes time, and the scales may not always move but I'm getting faster, stronger and healthier! It will happen!0
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I start a new fitness challenge every month in addition to my standard walking and elliptical use. I rarely lose any pounds the first two weeks of a new program since my body is being used differently than it is accustomed to I suppose. Hang in there. Also I don't know what is a plateau, but I often now have weeks/months that I don't lose a pound and then I will drop another one or two. That started after losing the first 40. Trying to convince my body that ideal is a bit lower has been tough!0
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I use MFP's protein & fiber goals as minimums & ignore the rest. But everybody's different, and if you ask 100 MFPers you'll get 100 different opinions. I find that eating more protein makes me less hungry.I dont have alot of protein in my diet. Will eating protein help?
Me too.0 -
Thank you so much everyone for yalls advice! Im happy to hear that 2 weeks is not considered a plateau! Im going to keep pushing! I have a new balance elliptical i use from time to time (the pulse and calories are not accurate on it). I lost alot of weight just doing the elliptical so i started changing things up around august and starting doing 30 minutes elliptical and 30 minutes pilates. Currently im doing The Biggest Loser Cardio Max dvd. I feel like i get a better workout from that then the elliptical. My side will hurt so bad and ill be hyperventalatng by the end.
It also helps alot of if you open your diary. People can give you much more advice, if they can see what you are logging. I don't know if anyone has mentioned, but you'll also be even happier with your results if you add resistance training.0 -
I didnt know my diary wasnt. Ill look into the settings. Im not always consistent on logging.0
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I didnt know my diary wasnt. Ill look into the settings. Im not always consistent on logging.
Well, there ya go. Get consistent! Knowledge is power.0 -
Hi, It could be a lot of things that are causing the plateau. It's hard to say without knowing certain things, such as: How many calories a day are you eating? Are you logging in everything you eat each day? Are you going overboard on things such as carbs, cheese, sweets? Are you exercising? How much/how often? Maybe we can help you figure this out.0
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Don't forget that as a woman the point you are at in your menstrual cycle will affect your weight so you need to compare 'like for like' .0
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Its is that TOM today but for the past two weeks no. I dont use salt anymore. Im a SAHM with two small children, its hard not being stressed
If you're being consistent logging & re sure you're eating at a deficit, I think this is the problem. The week before and the week of TOM, I either gain at least 1 - 2 pounds from where I should be, or I don't lose at all those weeks. The next week after TOM leaves, I'm back at losing normally. TOM makes you gain/retain water weight.
If you're not sure you're eating the right amount of food, then you'll want to make sure you're eating and logging consistently and then give it a few weeks to see if you're losing.0 -
Are you at the end of your weight loss goal? Or do you still have significantly more to lose? I ask because the less you have to lose the harder it is and the more precise you have to be in your logging.
I have found that I don't lose weight evenly. Meaning I'll consistently lose for awhile and then I won't lose for awhile and then I'll start losing again. It's like I'm binge losing :happy: if that makes any sense.
It makes sense to me. I go 2 or 3 weeks sometimes and the scale will show no loss...then all of a sudden I will lose 5 to 7 pounds in a week. I have learned to accept this about myself.0 -
I wouldn't weigh yourself if it's TOM. Even my measurements go up when it's TOM.
Give it another couple of weeks before weighing yourself again.
I have to say, I get fed up with people saying that people aren't being accurate logging and eating more wont help. I upped my calories from 1200 to 1500 and lost more! For the first year I was losing weight I didn't know about MFP so didn't use it, and would eat as little as possible, so when I first started logging I was often under 1200 calories. Then I decided to increase to 1500 and that's when my body shape started changing for the better and my hips got smaller. I was working out a lot, looking after 2 small kids plus working part time as a teacher so on my feet all day at work.
Even now, eating 1800 a day (28 weeks pregnant tomorrow), MFP tells me I'll lose weight in 5 weeks!
I find protein helps me lose weight and it does fill me up. I try not to eat too much bread, rice and pasta as I find that starchy carbs don't help me with weight loss. But that's just me. I know people who follow the slimming World diet and eat lots of rice and pasta and lose weight.0 -
A measuring tape is a lot more useful than a scale for trimming down. I hate calling it weight loss because it's not about what you weight. It's about being in better shape and felling better about yourself. If you looked like you wanted to and felt great, would you really care what you weighed?
Anyway, often when the scale doesn't budge, there still may be fat reduction going on that doesn't show on the scale due to water retention of whatever. Keep running a deficit and stay active and it will move eventually.
If you're stuck in a real plateau for an extended period, then mix things up a bit. Put some wild swings in your macros for a few days. Exceed you calories one day and cut them by different amounts for the next few. Do some new exercises working different muscle groups for a change. The body is really good at adapting to patterns and most of us fall into a rut of eating the same foods and doing the same workouts every day or week. Keeping your body guessing what's coming next prevents it from adjusting to what it expects and can be what you need to break you out of a plateau.0 -
I didnt know my diary wasnt. Ill look into the settings. Im not always consistent on logging.
^^This is where you should begin. Start with the basics. By logging consistently and accurately you can see whether you have a calorie deficit and make changes accordingly.0 -
I'm not the best diary analyzer.... but you look like you're logging reasonably accurately. What are you doing for exercise to burn 383 calories per day?
I wish I could find the explanation a guy wrote about how easy it is to be 'off' with your calories in vs calories out... due to all the variables. Consider though, if you're set to a 500 calorie per day deficit... and your base is off by say, 100 calories.... making you think you should be eating 1500 per day, and say it should be 1400.... then, if you overestimate your calorie burn by 100, and underestimated your calorie intake by 300 per day.... you'd be eating at maintenance.
So, it's important to try to log accurately. It gives you something to work with, if you need to make changes. You also seem to be taking in a fair amount of sodium, which most MFP's will tell you will cause you to retain water.0
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