Why have I stopped losing?

Hue_Hercle
Hue_Hercle Posts: 20 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello! I have been struggling this month with weightloss. As a New Years resolution, I made a pledge to myself I would exercise and be super healthy. I've only had 3 cheat days (and it was like a square or two of chocolate at the most) in that time period. I lost 10 pounds in the month of January. But at the end of January and start of February, I did not lose any. Infancy I gained a pound and a half! I do not know why. I do the stationary bike for a half an hour in the the evenings every single night. I'm going to start doing an hour though. I eat really healthy and eat less that 1200 calories a day (just a little.... And it's not on purpose.... I just get full c: ). I understand net calories and stuff like that. I just do not understand why I am not losing anything!? By the way I forgot to mention, I am 205 pounds and trying to get down to 135. I am not trying to rush things because I want to be healthy. Can someone help me?

Replies

  • hollyprn
    hollyprn Posts: 2
    I'm dealing with the same issues, but after reading several articles and forums I've decided to increase my calories a bit. I m pretty sure you and I both are eating too few calories. I workout and run 3-4 days a week with an average calorie burn around 400 but was only netting around 1100-1200 calories. Our bodies need fuel or our metabolism slows down and holds on to what it can! I'm aiming to net at least 1500 a day now. I'm 5'4" and 148 with a goal of 135 that seems unattainable!! I've logged consistently for 45 days straight with only a 3 lb loss so far. Have been stuck for the past 3 weeks and hoping this increase will bring a positive change! Good luck with your journey!!
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    I'm dealing with the same issues, but after reading several articles and forums I've decided to increase my calories a bit. I m pretty sure you and I both are eating too few calories. I workout and run 3-4 days a week with an average calorie burn around 400 but was only netting around 1100-1200 calories. Our bodies need fuel or our metabolism slows down and holds on to what it can! I'm aiming to net at least 1500 a day now. I'm 5'4" and 148 with a goal of 135 that seems unattainable!! I've logged consistently for 45 days straight with only a 3 lb loss so far. Have been stuck for the past 3 weeks and hoping this increase will bring a positive change! Good luck with your journey!!

    I'm sorry, but this is just not the case. The whole "starvation mode" thing is a myth. Increasing calories will not help you lose weight or lose it faster. If increasing calories to lose weight seemed counter intuitive when you heard it, it's because it does not work. Yes it is true that if you run a caloric deficit for an extended period of time your metabolism will eventually begin to slow, but that takes a matter of months to happen, not hours, days, or even weeks. Your metabolism doesn't even begin to slow down until you have zero calorie intake for 72 hours, so eating a few hundred calories under your TDEE or even under your BMR will not cause any sort of metabolism slow down. Also understand that the desired goal is not loss of body weight, but loss of body fat. For this reason it's a good idea to take body measurements to track progress along with weighing yourself. Water weight can fluctuate based on exercise, sodium intake, and water intake, so that can play tricks on the scale, but measurements will show if you are losing fat or not.
  • hollyprn
    hollyprn Posts: 2
    I'm not increasing my calories above what my body needs, but just not creating a huge calorie deficit to the point that I'm not fueling my body with enough calories to keep up a great balance. So far it's worked. 2 more lbs lost in the last 2 weeks since I've done this. I'm aware that measurements are also an indicator of weight loss as well as lean muscle build being the ultimate goal as well. I know I'm building muscle and my measurements are smaller but a loss in weight will also come along with that. Maybe not initially as fast as we want it to, but it will come.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,208 Member
    Don't eat so much.
  • SuperCrsa
    SuperCrsa Posts: 790 Member
    Are you measuring your loss in other ways besides on the scale?

    Are you 100% accurately tracking, food scale? Guestimations can be way off too.
  • SEAFOODMAN
    SEAFOODMAN Posts: 342
    you really only need a 500-600 deficit, people assume that if cut 1000 calories its going fall off, nope. it comes down to getting the right amount calories and having that deficit, also if you burn 500 a day, that should help. drink alot of water. should be netting at least 1200 too
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
    OP, you will get more help if you open your food diary.

    Are you weighing and logging everything accurately?
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    Did you reset your goals after your 10 pounds loss? Generally it will be because you're eating too much either your goals are wrong or your not weighing and measuring your food accurately so eating far more than you think
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,950 Member
    Your body stores energy in the form of glycogen (carbs) and fat. Initial losses are glycogen which is stored with 3 parts water. When glycogen is depleted, you start losing fat which is only stored with 1 part water. When weight loss slows significantly it is because you are losing fat instead of glycogen.

    Link to scholarly article on the phenomenoon.
    http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/56/1/292S.full.pdf

    And a nice layman's explanation here.
    http://justinowings.com/understanding-bodyweight-and-glycogen-de/
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    christinaxhen, Do you know how many calories per day you're eating on average? Do you know your BMR and TDEE? This calculator can help you figure those things out http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/.

    You might be eating too much, and not weighing your food carefully. Or maybe you're not eating enough because you're exercising too much. It's hard to say without more information about you.

    There's people here who are really smart and helpful, so if you opened your diary so we could see it, we could target our advice better to your situation.

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