Why am I so stuck?

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nespinosa3
nespinosa3 Posts: 116
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been making slow, steady progress for the last 7 months, losing about 2 pounds per month. However, for these last 6-8 weeks it seems like it all stopped. I haven't lost any weight, my waist measurement is the same; on the plus side, I do have less body fat% than in the last 3 months...but it seems like these past few weeks everything is the same. I keep working out a lot (6x a week), eating my 1500 calories, even the very few days when I go out to eat I'm still very careful about what I choose. What is happening? I had a week at the beginning of May where I traveled and wasn't careful with my food, but that was it...that shouldn't have set me back all this time. But that's around the time that my weight and measurement just got stuck :(

FYI - Yes measuring/weighing everything. I don't log it here, but I do log it in a spreadsheet and I also log in my exercises every day.

Replies

  • PunkyDucky
    PunkyDucky Posts: 283 Member
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    Hmm, could be two things:

    1) Could either be water retention from the workouts/lifting (if you're doing heavy lifts)--i've been holding onto water for the past 6 weeks due to my lifting
    OR

    2) You're eating at maintenance

    *It's really hard to give you a clear solution to your problem without seeing your food journal.
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
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    Have you tried TDEE - 20%? It's a very accurate way to calculate calories, and works very well for people who have a regular predictable activity level.

    Basically you will factor in your average activity level in advance, and get a number of calories to eat DAILY regardless of working out. You don't need to add exercise calories back in. Eat the same whether you ran 15 miles or sat on the couch bc it balances out. Believe it or not, if you are a hard-core exerciser, eating too few calories will slow down your weight loss. It can also make you really tired and more prone to injury.

    Give it a shot and see.

    See info here:

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

    Don't miss the opportunity to download the 30-day calorie calibration spreadsheet ... about 3/4 down the page. It's really really helpful. Once downloaded (it's an excel platform) I like to add columns for the date and exercise (just to keep track of what I'm doing). You can see where you're going EVERY DAY and then use excel to average your calorie intake for you so you can see what you're really doing on a graph.

    Blessings.
  • nespinosa3
    nespinosa3 Posts: 116
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    2) You're eating at maintenance

    *It's really hard to give you a clear solution to your problem without seeing your food journal.

    Pretty sure I'm not eating maintenance, they measured my RMR and it's almost 1600 calories - I'm eating 1500 daily.

    I do know about the diary :( hopefully this gives you more or less an idea of my food.
    1500 calories - 20-25% from fat, 30-35% carbs, 40-45% protein. Usually this is what my day would look like:
    Breakfast - whole wheat thin bread, lean turkey ham, cheese made with 2%
    Snack - cup of strawberries and half an ounce almonds
    Lunch - Potatoes (or sweet potatoes, nothing added) with ~6oz turkey (or chicken breast)
    Snack - Greek non-fat yogurt
    Dinner - Same as lunch most days
    Snack - Protein shake, sometimes with 1cup of 1% milk
    Extras: cup of coffee on the morning with creamer (non-milk based, just 10 calories) and Splenda
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
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    2) You're eating at maintenance

    *It's really hard to give you a clear solution to your problem without seeing your food journal.

    Pretty sure I'm not eating maintenance, they measured my RMR and it's almost 1600 calories - I'm eating 1500 daily.

    I do know about the diary :( hopefully this gives you more or less an idea of my food.
    1500 calories - 20-25% from fat, 30-35% carbs, 40-45% protein. Usually this is what my day would look like:
    Breakfast - whole wheat thin bread, lean turkey ham, cheese made with 2%
    Snack - cup of strawberries and half an ounce almonds
    Lunch - Potatoes (nothing added) with ~6oz turkey (or chicken breast)
    Snack - Greek non-fat yogurt
    Dinner - Same as lunch most days
    Snack - Protein shake, sometimes with 1cup of 1% milk
    Extras: cup of coffee on the morning with creamer (non-milk based, just 10 calories) and Splenda


    With TDEE -20% I get 1658 per day, based on 5 days moderate activity. I am 46 years old (way older and therefore get fewer calories than you), and I am 5'4. I lost the 12 lbs. I needed to lose in 2 months a few years ago (then I was eating 2100/day bc my activity level was 6 days strenuous).

    Due to a family crisis I got away from logging for a year and gained the 12 lbs. back, but I've been back 6 weeks, and eating 1658/day I've lost 6.2 lbs. That's a pound a week and I'm halfway to goal. It works.
  • nespinosa3
    nespinosa3 Posts: 116
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    With TDEE -20% I get 1658 per day, based on 5 days moderate activity. I am 46 years old (way older and therefore get fewer calories than you), and I am 5'4. I lost the 12 lbs. I needed to lose in 2 months a few years ago (then I was eating 2100/day bc my activity level was 6 days strenuous).

    What would be a very high activity level? I never know if I'm moderate or high, so I'm afraid of trying out the TDEE and just gaining weight. Usually I do 2-3x/week of resistance training, 2x/week a group class of cardio and a little bit of weights, and about 3x/week cardio on low intensity, with one rest day.

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