OMG, why can't I lose anymore?!
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Are you completely stalled or just losing very slow? If you are losing very slowly, that's simply the reality of being relatively lean. Weight loss slows and becomes less linear. You might go 2-4 weeks with no weight loss then all of a sudden lose a lb or 2 in a few days. Also, have you been in a deficit for a long time with no break? This can cause some slowdowns to your metabolism. It is not damage (a word people love to through around), its just a temporary adaptation that can be easily reversed. You can do a 2 week "diet break" to aid with this. I do a break every 8-12 weeks of eating in a deficit. You do not stop counting calories on a break, you simply raise them to maintenance for 2 week, then go right back to your deficit. It's a mental break as well as physiologically beneficial. This can also help things like water retention causing stalls to resolve.
Also, many times when you weight is where you want it but you don't look like you want to, it's more a problem of being under-muscled rather then over weight. Do you do any kind of resistance training? If not, you really should consider it!
Good post and I agree whole-heartedly.
Now may be a good time to focus less on the scale and more on decreasing body fat if you still want to "lose".0 -
I've lost a bunch of weight and hit a plateau that lasted about a year. I went to a nutritionist and she explained how our bodies use less calories, so my count should be lower, however, she says I should stay around 1800 because anything lower puts my body in starvation mode. Well actually she says that in the long term, the body adjusts to weight loss better at about 1800 then doing 1400 for a year and then changing it. She says that helps body maintain weight better. Also it is easier to maintain. She told me that I should focus more on changing my diet to more whole, less processed foods, and cutting way back on sugar. She also said to watch out for artificial sweeteners because the body thinks they are sugar and gear up to receive the energy, and when it doesn't come, it makes you hungrier. My lifestyle also changed from working to staying at home, so my exercise needs to go way up! I am so used to doing the standard, but my endurance has improved a lot, so I need to increase the intensity. She said I need to walk 1-3 miles /day at least 5 days a week to replace the time spent working, plus do a workout at least 3 times a week. I am still working on these things. It is a definite adjustment. She also said that I should move at a slower rate of weight loss to keep it low, (9 lbs in 6 months). These things should combat the bodies desire to stay at a certain weight. My example is that in this past year, my body weight fluctuated up and down within a 10 lb range. Whenever it got 3-5lbs lower, it would pop back up and vice versa). I've also noticed and learned that body weight can fluctuate 2 lbs or so a day depending on the depending on the digestive cycle.
I hope these things help people who are also on a plateau. If possible, I also recommend visiting a nutritionist or attending a TOPS club. These two things do help a lot when you are working on losing weight! By the way, even if the weight is not changing much, the body will tone and build muscle. Mine did!0 -
Are you completely stalled or just losing very slow? If you are losing very slowly, that's simply the reality of being relatively lean. Weight loss slows and becomes less linear. You might go 2-4 weeks with no weight loss then all of a sudden lose a lb or 2 in a few days. Also, have you been in a deficit for a long time with no break? This can cause some slowdowns to your metabolism. It is not damage (a word people love to through around), its just a temporary adaptation that can be easily reversed. You can do a 2 week "diet break" to aid with this. I do a break every 8-12 weeks of eating in a deficit. You do not stop counting calories on a break, you simply raise them to maintenance for 2 week, then go right back to your deficit. It's a mental break as well as physiologically beneficial. This can also help things like water retention causing stalls to resolve.
Also, many times when you weight is where you want it but you don't look like you want to, it's more a problem of being under-muscled rather then over weight. Do you do any kind of resistance training? If not, you really should consider it!
It's like this, whenever I tell people in person that I need to lose weight they look at me like I'm crazy. With clothes on, I look decent. Without clothes, holy cow the fat is ever-apparent. I do weight train and cardio, (been doing this about 1 1/2 months) about half and half. It's like I lose, and gain, lose and gain. It's VERY easy for me to gain, and takes everything to lose.0 -
Are you completely stalled or just losing very slow? If you are losing very slowly, that's simply the reality of being relatively lean. Weight loss slows and becomes less linear. You might go 2-4 weeks with no weight loss then all of a sudden lose a lb or 2 in a few days. Also, have you been in a deficit for a long time with no break? This can cause some slowdowns to your metabolism. It is not damage (a word people love to through around), its just a temporary adaptation that can be easily reversed. You can do a 2 week "diet break" to aid with this. I do a break every 8-12 weeks of eating in a deficit. You do not stop counting calories on a break, you simply raise them to maintenance for 2 week, then go right back to your deficit. It's a mental break as well as physiologically beneficial. This can also help things like water retention causing stalls to resolve.
Also, many times when you weight is where you want it but you don't look like you want to, it's more a problem of being under-muscled rather then over weight. Do you do any kind of resistance training? If not, you really should consider it!
It's like this, whenever I tell people in person that I need to lose weight they look at me like I'm crazy. With clothes on, I look decent. Without clothes, holy cow the fat is ever-apparent. I do weight train and cardio, (been doing this about 1 1/2 months) about half and half. It's like I lose, and gain, lose and gain. It's VERY easy for me to gain, and takes everything to lose.
You can see from my profile pic though that there is fat on my legs and tummy, so it's not like I'm trying to starve myself or set unrealistic goals.0 -
Bump0
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Holy cow is that you in your profile pic?
Yes, I lift...do cardio. ::sigh::
Yeah...but flexing ha. I don't know. I've been at 142/143 for an entire month and it's getting annoying. How long have you been stalling?
Wow you look amazing! I'm a tub of fat compared to your pic, even if I am a few pounds lighter. It just goes up and down. I may not be consistent enough.0 -
Maybe your not fighting weight right now but body composition. Your older with kids and maybe judging your body in younger years or ideas of what it should be. My body is doing that now. Things are moving and changing and sometimes with the weight staying the same it doesn't look the same.
Just keep at it.0 -
I find that I don't care quite as much what the scale reads when things look nice from lifting.
^ THIS!
The scale is just a number. How you look and feel is what's really important. So just focus on that and forget the number on the scale.0 -
Holy cow is that you in your profile pic? Yes, I lift...do cardio. ::sigh::
Yeah...but flexing ha. I don't know. I've been at 142/143 for an entire month and it's getting annoying. How long have you been stalling?
Wow you look amazing! I'm a tub of fat compared to your pic, even if I am a few pounds lighter. It just goes up and down. I may not be consistent enough.
No, you are definitely thinner. Anyway it is useless to discuss that. We are all shaped differently. I hold a lot of weight and fat in my butt and legs. Even at 163 pounds I didn't have a very large stomach or upper body. I do support lifting heavy and staying on a routine as best as you can though.0 -
Maybe your not fighting weight right now but body composition. Your older with kids and maybe judging your body in younger years or ideas of what it should be. My body is doing that now. Things are moving and changing and sometimes with the weight staying the same it doesn't look the same.
Just keep at it.
Nope, not the case at all. I'm the smallest I've been even before kids and high school! I've always fought with fat on my lower half though. I thought at this weight though it would've disappeared. Perhaps I'm built smaller than I thought.0 -
I find that I don't care quite as much what the scale reads when things look nice from lifting.
^ THIS!
The scale is just a number. How you look and feel is what's really important. So just focus on that and forget the number on the scale.
I'm not concerned about the scale, I'm more so concerned about the lack of fat leaving my body LOL.0 -
I find that I don't care quite as much what the scale reads when things look nice from lifting.
^ THIS!
The scale is just a number. How you look and feel is what's really important. So just focus on that and forget the number on the scale.
I'm not concerned about the scale, I'm more so concerned about the lack of fat leaving my body LOL.
Well, it didn't sound that way from your original post, but I'm glad to hear that that's not the case! Based on your profile pic, you look great! So I'm not really sure what you're frustrated about. You look properly proportioned to me. Is it that you still feel too flabby, like you think you have too much body fat and not enough lean mass or something? If that's the case, just keep up the weight lifting and it'll come with time!
You look great though! Really! You should be proud! *hugs*0 -
I can second the recommendation to take a break. I am actually aiming for maintenance at the moment. I hit a wall a few weeks ago but I figured hell, I've been losing for 8 months and have lost neatly 9 stone in that time my body could probably use a break. So I decided to maintain till next summer comes around with the warm weather for cardio n all. And decided to start increasing my calories. Which resulted in my "Plateau" Immediate breaking and me losing weight again. I'm still looking to maintain and wasn't looking to lose. But as you can see that hormonal stall that happens when you lose weight for too long and your body starts fighting you is very real. I am sure you can lose the weight all at once. But it is probably easier just to give your body a break every now and then.
I also still have a bulging stomach area. Though honestly I don't know how much of that is still fat and how much is loose skin. When I pinch myself there I can feel there's some fat still in there. But not much. I'm down to a 39" Waist from a 53" so I'm not complaining
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You sound a lot like me. Skinny fat is no fun.
I'm the same weight (not sure what your height is) and I started to get the "too skinny" comments from people IRL. I look great with clothes on, but carry all my weight in my hips and lower belly.
In my case I came to the conclusion that losing any more weight with the amount of muscle I had on my frame (or lack thereof) would not help. So I did a 15 week bulk earlier this year and gained 8 pounds. I cut over summer and am back down to 136. I look better, but still not satisfied, so I'm doing an even longer and slower bulk this time. I'm hoping with more muscle on my frame I can eventually cut down my body fat and be happy with my body composition.0 -
Look into the 5:2 diet or ADF, Alternate Day Fasting. It's the ONLY thing that blasted me out of my plateau!0
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