Under calorie goal but am staying the same weight - help!

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lauren17483
lauren17483 Posts: 12
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, hope to get some help with this, have started using MFP again in the last couple of weeks with some good progress initially but now I have gained a pound (overnight so I think it is just water from a salty meal I had) but I am staying the same and not losing anything despite being under my goal each day and doing a fair bit of exercise. I just made my diary public so I'm hoping someone might be able to help? Some places say I'm eating too many calories and others say I'm eating too few - confused! Thanks for any advice you might be able to give me.

Replies

  • AFWXDUDE
    AFWXDUDE Posts: 53 Member
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    There are always luls in workouts. Everyone eventually hits what is referred to as the "wall". Its not something your doing right or wrong, but that the body has become accustomed to what you have been doing. The best option is to change your workout up. Say if your running 3-5 miles every other day, instead double the distance and use a bike to ride 6-10 miles a day. Also, incorporating more weight lifting may solve the problem. its all about mixing it up. Hope that helps.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Hi, hope to get some help with this, have started using MFP again in the last couple of weeks with some good progress initially but now I have gained a pound (overnight so I think it is just water from a salty meal I had) but I am staying the same and not losing anything despite being under my goal each day and doing a fair bit of exercise. I just made my diary public so I'm hoping someone might be able to help? Some places say I'm eating too many calories and others say I'm eating too few - confused! Thanks for any advice you might be able to give me.

    a couple of weeks isnt long enough, be consistent and be patient!
  • Boe4Life
    Boe4Life Posts: 51 Member
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    Hey Lauren, how are your clothes fitting? I know odd question but I have done this before and I hit a point where my weight had stopped changing, come to find out it was being replaced with muscle. My pants were getting looser but the scale barely flinched. You may be doing a one for one swap. Maybe take some measurements and compare that way or just look. I hope this helps.
  • jetlag
    jetlag Posts: 800 Member
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    I would also suggest weighing everything. You have things in your diary like "chicken, 1/2 fillet" and things measured by volume, not weight. This is really inaccurate.

    How are you measuring your calorie burn through exercise?
  • BernadetteChurch
    BernadetteChurch Posts: 2,210 Member
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    a couple of weeks isnt long enough, be consistent and be patient!

    Yes!

    It looks like you don't really have a lot of weight still to lose. Are you being too aggressive with your goals?

    Also, I'd try and meet your calorie goal every day rather than staying under. Some days you have quite a big deficit, which isn't the good thing you might think it is.
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
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    First...you're right that 1 pound overnight is a normal fluctuation. Second, you say you've been doing this for a couple of weeks with good initial progress....so, where is the stall? You aren't going to lose every day or even every week. Unless it's been several weeks of the scale not moving, you're doing just fine.

    Now, if you really were experiencing no progress...important question... Are you weighing all of your food, or are you using measuring cups? Or are you eyeballing it? If you are not weighing your food, that's the first step. It's the only way to know you are logging accurately, and gives you a starting place to adjust from.

    As far as number of calories...that depends on your weight, height and age. Share your stats if you want more specific feedback.
  • irene4134
    irene4134 Posts: 14 Member
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    you might be on plateau, make changes around your exercises and food...
    switch your meals around eg have your dinner meal or lunch for breakfast and have your breakfast for dinner..

    do new exercises, drink lots of water, get enough slip... mayb try reduce your daily intake a bit. Plateaus are normal in weightloss, but after a plateau u will lose more weigt, just stop weighing and take measurements instead and continue sticking to healthy eating.

    Hope you get through it
  • princessnuriko
    princessnuriko Posts: 50 Member
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    I saw your diary and I think you should up your protein intake. On some days I eat three times the protein that you eat, sometimes twice the amount. I'm not low carb. My profile is set to 40 percent carbs, 30 percent protein, 30 percent fat. My calories are set at 1350. Used to be 1400. I burn about 650 calories per day and I eat about 450 to 500 back. In total, I eat about 1800 calories a day. Every other week I eat a cheat meal. So my carbs are usual about 180 to 190 grams per pay and my protein intake is about 150 per day. I work out everyday, but manage to lose one pound a week and that's okay with me. So far I've lost 18 and I have 6 more to go to get to my goal weight. I don't know if that will help because everyone is different. But you might want to eat more protein.
  • lauren17483
    lauren17483 Posts: 12
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    Hi, I don't know how to make my stats public but I'm 30 yrs old 5'6 and currently 120 lbs, trying to lose just the last few pounds now. I am lightly active in terms of my job but am exercising 6 days a week
  • lauren17483
    lauren17483 Posts: 12
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    Hey Lauren, how are your clothes fitting? I know odd question but I have done this before and I hit a point where my weight had stopped changing, come to find out it was being replaced with muscle. My pants were getting looser but the scale barely flinched. You may be doing a one for one swap. Maybe take some measurements and compare that way or just look. I hope this helps.

    This might be happening as my pants do feel looser. I have been lifting weights so it's a possibility, time to make friends with the measuring tape!
  • lauren17483
    lauren17483 Posts: 12
    Options
    Hi, hope to get some help with this, have started using MFP again in the last couple of weeks with some good progress initially but now I have gained a pound (overnight so I think it is just water from a salty meal I had) but I am staying the same and not losing anything despite being under my goal each day and doing a fair bit of exercise. I just made my diary public so I'm hoping someone might be able to help? Some places say I'm eating too many calories and others say I'm eating too few - confused! Thanks for any advice you might be able to give me.

    a couple of weeks isnt long enough, be consistent and be patient!

    I started at the beginning of the month so it's more than a couple weeks but yes you're right :)
  • lauren17483
    lauren17483 Posts: 12
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    First...you're right that 1 pound overnight is a normal fluctuation. Second, you say you've been doing this for a couple of weeks with good initial progress....so, where is the stall? You aren't going to lose every day or even every week. Unless it's been several weeks of the scale not moving, you're doing just fine.

    Now, if you really were experiencing no progress...important question... Are you weighing all of your food, or are you using measuring cups? Or are you eyeballing it? If you are not weighing your food, that's the first step. It's the only way to know you are logging accurately, and gives you a starting place to adjust from.

    As far as number of calories...that depends on your weight, height and age. Share your stats if you want more specific feedback.

    Hi, I don't know how to make my stats public but I'm 30 yrs old 5'6 and currently 120 lbs, trying to lose just the last few pounds now. I am lightly active in terms of my job but am exercising 6 days a week
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member
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    I'm in a similar boat. I eat around 1600 cal/day and do boxing 3x/week and heavy lifting 2x/week at this point. I had dropped almost 3 lbs the first week with no exercise, 1 lb the second week with just boxing, and then up this week by 1.5 lbs after adding in the lifting. Am I worried about it, no, not at all. First, it has only been 3 weeks since I started eating at a deficit again, 2 weeks since starting boxing, and one week of lifting. I have no consistent reference points to pick out a trend. Everything is still in flux for me. Second, strength training tends to push up the water/glycogen weight. Now I have it in me and as long as I'm consistent in my lifting schedule, it will not throw off the scale. Third, the scale is not the end all be all of measurements for progress. Weight loss is not linear and there are way too many factors that make up what the scale says.

    I'm not worried about this and you shouldn't be either. You have to give it more than a week or two to see an actual trend, especially if this is something you are just starting. You are eating at a reasonable deficit. Hold steady in your plan and give it another few weeks. If at that point you are still the same weight or gaining, THEN you know something needs to be adjusted. It is simply too early to tell at this point if this is just a fluke or the ground truth. You CAN start making sure your logged intake is as accurate as possible. Weigh everything.
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
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    Hi, I don't know how to make my stats public but I'm 30 yrs old 5'6 and currently 120 lbs, trying to lose just the last few pounds now. I am lightly active in terms of my job but am exercising 6 days a week
    You are already at a healthy weight, so, any further losses are going to be very slow. Like .5lb a week or less.
    My sister is 130lbs at 5ft4... she wears a size zero and is very lean. It's because she's densely packed with muscle and has low body fat. So, it's not about the number on the scale, it's about body composition. Do you do any strength training? That will probably benefit you a lot more than losing a few more pounds.
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member
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    Hi, I don't know how to make my stats public but I'm 30 yrs old <b> 5'6 and currently 120 lbs</b>, trying to lose just the last few pounds now. I am lightly active in terms of my job but am exercising 6 days a week

    Okay, that changes a lot. You're already a reasonable weight for your height (and depending on your body composition, you are on the lower end of the range for your height). Your body may not want to go lower. Are you trying to just lose weight or reduce body fat? At this point you may want to look into body re-composition if you don't like how you look. If you are just striving for a number on the scale, then you will probably have a hard time getting anything to move since you are already at the lower end and probably don't really have anything that your body wants to give up.
  • lauren17483
    lauren17483 Posts: 12
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    Hi, I don't know how to make my stats public but I'm 30 yrs old <b> 5'6 and currently 120 lbs</b>, trying to lose just the last few pounds now. I am lightly active in terms of my job but am exercising 6 days a week

    Okay, that changes a lot. You're already a reasonable weight for your height (and depending on your body composition, you are on the lower end of the range for your height). Your body may not want to go lower. Are you trying to just lose weight or reduce body fat? At this point you may want to look into body re-composition if you don't like how you look. If you are just striving for a number on the scale, then you will probably have a hard time getting anything to move since you are already at the lower end and probably don't really have anything that your body wants to give up.


    Hi, yes I am trying to reduce body fat and increase lean muscle. I have started to lift weights and also do body weight exercises like squats and lunges. I guess I need to lay off the scales and find another way to measure any progress. My aim is just to 'firm up' as opposed to lose weight.
  • lauren17483
    lauren17483 Posts: 12
    Options
    Hi, I don't know how to make my stats public but I'm 30 yrs old 5'6 and currently 120 lbs, trying to lose just the last few pounds now. I am lightly active in terms of my job but am exercising 6 days a week
    You are already at a healthy weight, so, any further losses are going to be very slow. Like .5lb a week or less.
    My sister is 130lbs at 5ft4... she wears a size zero and is very lean. It's because she's densely packed with muscle and has low body fat. So, it's not about the number on the scale, it's about body composition. Do you do any strength training? That will probably benefit you a lot more than losing a few more pounds.

    Hi, yes I have started strength training in the form of lifting my body weight and also free weights with also a bit of cardio and yoga most days. My main aim is firming up a bit, I have lost 14 lbs over 2 yrs so am trying to lose the last bit of fat which sits right on my muffin top :-)
  • rockmama72
    rockmama72 Posts: 815 Member
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    Ah. You're a great weight already. You don't need to restrict calories, you need to maintain. Ditch the idea of losing weight (in fact, just hide your scale for now) and embrace the idea of firming up. You'll probably actually gain weight as you firm up, but you'll look SO good.

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