Hit a wall ...

Well...

If you are a guy and you are that size you probably could and should be eating more food.

The first 5-6 weeks are to be expected...water weight etc.

But if you haven't lost in the last 7-8 days that's normal...weight loss is not linear...I have gone 3 weeks with nothing lost then lost 1.5 for 3 weeks straight.

I will say this however...the goal should be to eat as much food as you can and still lose a reasonable amount of fat (not weight as that could be muscle and fat if you do it too fast)...and with about 40 to go 1lb a week is a good rate.

I went to IIFYM.com and took your stats for your TDEE...even if you don't exercise you could eat anywhere between 2000-2300 calories and still lose weight...TDEE Said 2929 (give or take for margin of error however I find IIFYM pretty close to actuals for me)

Hi there, so I guess I am looking for a little reassurance that I am not doing something wrong. First my stats:

Age: 43
Height: 6'3
Starting Weight: 293
Using MFP: 46 days
Weight Loss so far : 18-19 lbs
Daily Net Calorie Goal: 1780

So the first 5-6 weeks were amazing - lost 2-3 lbs per week, feeling amazing, and really getting the hang of it. However over the last 7-8 days no progress, and in fact seemed like I gained a pound. My average net calorie intake has actually gone down and I average over 7 days at about 1600 net calories per day.

Has anyone else experienced this type of issue ? I know this has to work, and I know I have to stick with it ... but just feeling a bit frustrated now .....

basically, same specs as you except Im at 105 days. Nothing to be frustrated about.18 pounds in 7 weeks is 2.5 pounds. 18 pounfs over 8 weeks is 2.25 pounds. Sounds like you are right on schedule. Slow and steady progress. Some weeks you wont lose.

Fsunami

Maybe this would be a good time to stay away from the scale for a week or two? Reward yourself for staying on plan, not for weight loss, because staying on plan always produces results sooner or later.

Keep up the good work!

Tips:

1. Get a digital food scale and weigh EVERYTHING. You would be surprised how much you might overestimate your calorie intakes.
2. Get a heart rate monitor and don't base your calories burned off of the calories that automatically populate in MFP. They tend to be overestimated.
3. Take measurements and pictures. Sometimes you will go a few weeks without losing pounds, but you are losing inches. This will help to keep you from being discouraged about your weight not changing.
4. Don't weigh or measure everyday. Try to keep it at once a week to prevent discouragement.

Good luck in your journey! You seem to be doing great so far!

You're not eating enough. Just to breathe and run your internal organs, you need about 2200 calories (gross) at your height/age/weight.

To maintain your current weight with NO exercise, you need about 2700 calories (gross).

Adding in 3-5 hours of exercise per week sends your maintenance up to 3400 calories, so to lose weight you should be eating about 2800 calories per day (gross) in order to best support your activity and still drop fat. If you're getting 2200 a day (gross), you are short over 4000 calories per week. That's a lot of missing energy and would certainly account for you hitting a wall.

Not that 7-8 days of no loss is "a wall." Plateau is usually considered 6 weeks with no loss. However, the fact remains that you are not eating enough.

You're NET calories should be around 2000 a day for you to lose weight successfully. I'm 6'2" and that worked out really well for me. You'll have occasional days where you're under a bit but generally you should hit the 2000 mark. Some weeks you'll lose a pound. Some weeks you won't. The good news is that once you get to where you want to be it's not a huge transition to maintain your weight. Count on your weight going up and down a pound here and there. It's the overall trend that matters. What did it do THIS month?

I weigh almost daily. That won't stop you from losing or make you gain weight.

So fivethreeone - A friend of mine told me the same thing as what you said (basically), however this site (and others I have looked at ) seem to indicate that I am pretty much right on target for my calorie intake daily.

so for example Friday, I consumed 2,427 calories and then burned 647 calories via exercise. That meant that I was only 347 under my goal of 1780 NET calories for the day. Are you saying that AFTER the workout I should be at 2800 calories ? or before ?

Sorry, gross intake means you would not log exercise calories, they are built into the number. So 2800 total, not counting the exercise.

Your goal already has a deficit built in, so you shouldn't be "only" 347 calories under or you're already overly restricting. I wouldn't call that anywhere close to your target. I also wonder about the accuracy of the exercise burn that you list. What exercise did you do that burned 647 calories and how was it measured (ie, gym machine, MFP database, etc)?