Weight refuses to to drop below 154lbs

KLL1985
KLL1985 Posts: 24 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been a bit of a yo yo dieter fora few years now and seem to lose weight relatively easily compared to some but each time I get to between 154-157 lb my body refuses to drop below this weight. I am only 5'4 so I know that this is quite a lot more than what my weight should be so it's frustrating that my body seems to refuse to go below this. Ideally I'd like to be somewhere around 135 lbs.
This most recent attempt at losing weight I lost 14 lbs in about 10 weeks, and previously I have done the same, but I have now been at 155-157 lbs for the past 6 weeks and the same has happened in the past, hanging around that same weight for up to 3 months before I have lost motivation and the healthy lifestyle has disappeared. I don't want that to happen this time.
I weight out all my food and usually net between 1400-1600 calories. I have a fairly active lifestyle with my job involving walking dogs for 4-5 hours a day.
Any suggestions as to why this might be happening?

Replies

  • Sophiareed218
    Sophiareed218 Posts: 145 Member
    That is very frustrating! So, I have good news, and bad news. Bad news is that you're not creating the calorie deficit you THOUGHT you were. I can't say for sure, but seeing as how you seem very active with the walking I don't think exercise is the problem. I'm guessing the issue is that MFP is overestimating calories burned. I noticed you *NETTED 1400-1600 a day. If you're calories burned were exaggerated, the deficit was not there and you were actually netting higher than that. The good news is that..... You found your maintenance! So, knowing that, all you have to do is select your desired calorie deficit and subtract. Sorry that's the only answer I have! If I were you, I would only eat back a fraction of those calories for a few weeks, and that should give you your culprit for the plateau! Good luck!
  • KLL1985
    KLL1985 Posts: 24 Member
    That definitely could be the case, but I lost 14 lbs eating the same amount of calories and doing the same exercise which is the bit that confuses me! I'll give it a go though, thank you :)
  • lyrics09
    lyrics09 Posts: 217 Member
    Well being at a heavier weight than you currently are, wouldn't you need more energy i.e more calories in order to carry that extra weight. Now you don't have extra weight so you need to change slightly what you're eating/doing to accommodate your new weight? Just a thought, I could be wrong, I'm rather new but noticed as I'm losing weight it suggests now I eat lower amount compared to 40 lbs ago. Your sweet spot for your new current weight could just be different than what MFP suggests.

    Could just be a bit of time for your body to adjust before losing more too, I've seen that suggestion used a bit.

    You're not that heavy either, so you can be in that range where it takes a long time to lose say another 10 lbs since you're closer to your goal. If you just literally started too that first 10lbs is usually very fast and mostly water then it slows down/averages out over time.. Like my starting weight I wanted to lose 2lbs a week, and currently so, but once I get much closer to my goal I would have accept I'll only be able to lose about 1 lb a week, then maybe even only .5lb a week etc.

    GL :) Hope you get some good ideas/tips from the veterans!
  • forkofpower
    forkofpower Posts: 171 Member
    Your TDEE decreases when you lose weight. You might have underestimated calories before but your TDEE was high enough at the time that you were still in deficit. Now that you've lost weight and your TDEE is lower, you are possibly no longer in deficit. Maybe reevaluate how you're estimating calories burned?
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    II weight out all my food and usually net between 1400-1600 calories.

    Open your diary.

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