Hitting Plateau and 1000 calories. need help!

samairablack
samairablack Posts: 33 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have lost around 100 pounds in the past 3 years. Sometimes I end up losing 10 in a month and then maintain it for 4-5 months and then go on. This way I have managed to NOT gain any weight and keep the pounds off. Now I am down to 133 and for my 5 foot frame need to lose 10 more to get into a normal BMI range at least.
The last month I stuck to 1200 cal diet, exercised -5-6 days a week for an hour or so and lost 5 pounds. Now, for the last 3 weeks, I am stuck on my weight.
I know 1200 cal is too low but I am only 5 feet and I am tiny!!! Plus now my head is so mixed up with no weight loss for the past 3 weeks and a tail bone injury that I cant even gym, I am losing the plot completely. What should I do to get back on the weight loss tracks?
Any tips would be welcome or any kind of motivational support. Please.

Replies

  • kimbux
    kimbux Posts: 154 Member
    "I know 1200 cal is too low..."

    Increase your calories and make sure you are tracking everything you put into your mouht!
  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
    Throw the scale away, it is causing too much stress. What is your BMR?
  • fivethreeone
    fivethreeone Posts: 8,196 Member
    Eat more. But it sounds like you already know the answer and are unwilling to go there.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    Do you own a food scale? And if you know 1200 calories is too low, why would you do it? I know 50 year old 5' women eating 1700+ calories a week and losing.


    But at this point, you want to minimize your deficit, concentrate on resistance training and eating at adequate levels to support muscle retention.
  • pettychia
    pettychia Posts: 109 Member
    Those last few are the hardest to lose. I agree with everyone, you need to eat in a range somewhere between your BMR and TDEE to help your body know it's not starving.
  • sarahstrezo
    sarahstrezo Posts: 568 Member
    FIrst off….BMI is junk. If you are already "tiny" then why do you need to lose more weight.

    My guess is you are at a point where you need to start working on body recomposition rather than dramatic loss. Your lean body mass is likely on the low side from such a large deficit for such a long time.

    Maybe try eating at maintenance and working on increasing your LBM rather than continuing to trying to lose.
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
    It's really no surprise that you've hit a plateau. You should be eating above your BMR at minimum everyday. I eat atleast 1730 a day (my approx BMR) and aim to eat 2300. I used to eat 1600 last year @ 180lbs and after 3 months I just stopped losing. I ate more and the scale/measurements started moving again.
  • samairablack
    samairablack Posts: 33 Member
    Yes I agree. And my tiny I mean, short. I want to get toned muscles and I know I need to eat more. I do consistent weight training as well but coming down from being an obese, my mind just doesn't adjust to eating more part and now I get confused about the foods I need to eat. There is always a fight with food in my head and stresses me out.
  • Amberh82
    Amberh82 Posts: 468 Member
    I am 4'9.5 and 132. I have a fitbit and HRM so I know about how many calories I burn in a 24 hour period....so when I'm lazy...like don't get off the couch period. I burn about 1500...when I go to work only...I burn between 1700-1900. and when I walk/jog/exercise/weights whatever I'm usually between 2000-2200. I normally eat between 1200-1500 calories a day (to lose weight....but maybe a pound a week, normally it isn't more, normally its less...we are small, we don't always get to see those big weekly losses). Now that being said, I would calculate your BMR and TDEE because those calculations seem to be very close to what my fitbit and HRM tell me I burn in a 24 hour period...then whatever your TDEE says only eat like 70-80% of that. It does work... You just have to remember, because we aren't very big, we don't get to have as large of deficits and weight comes off a little slower.

    If that doesn't work...look at what you are eating...sometimes changing what you eat for a bit could help...
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,431 MFP Moderator
    If you want to be tone, you need to eat adequate levels of protein and lift heavy to sustain the remaining muscle mass. I would advise adding 100 calories extra a week until you hit around 1700-1800. The longer you suppress calories heavily, the more likely your metabolic rate will slow from increased muscle loss. Ideally, you need to aim for around 1g of protein per lb of lean body mass, about .35g of fat, and the remainder carbs.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    have you done an online calculator to see what your weight range should be based on your height, gender, and age? maybe you are closer than you think?
  • sabrina31
    sabrina31 Posts: 4 Member
    I know you know but I would suggest eating, specially if your 1200 hundred is not net calories, but actually food calories. You seem to be doing a lot of exercising, for 1200 cal even if you are 5'. I would suggest visiting this site http://eatmore2weighless.com/faqs/, they also have a group in MFP, these ladies can bench some weight :)

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