Ok, why have I stopped losing weight? Please help.

therobinator
therobinator Posts: 832 Member
edited September 26 in Health and Weight Loss
I started eating right and doing the Beach Body Insanity program on February 14th. For the first half/5 weeks I consistently lost weight each week except for one (probably a PMS thing). Anyone who knows this program knows that the second half is even more intense than the first half - harder, longer workouts. Starting with the second half of the program, I stopped losing weight, and it seemsI have been actually gaining weight (I have not recorded any weigh-ins for the last few weeks because there has been no loss). Right around that same time (the transition from the first half to the second half of Insanity) I also started *weighing* all my food rather than measuring it in cups/tablespoons/etc. The weight gain/lack of losing weight also coincided with PMS and getting my period....but the assumed PMS weight never went away. I've been stuck at the same weight, even gaining slightly, for three weeks now. What do you think is going on here? Is it becuase the second half of Insanity is so intense that I am gaining muscle so fast, faster than losing fat, hence not losing pounds? Is it that am weighing my food and somehow now eating more than I was when I was measuring it in cups/tablespoons/etc? I really don't think that I have been eating poorly enough to have screwed this up for three straight weeks now. So what's going on? Help?

Edited to add -- I am following the Insanity Nutrition Guide's recommendations for weight loss, not weight maintenance, on the Insanity program. That allows for my weight/age/level of activity about 2,000 calories per day with 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fat.

Replies

  • asallen7
    asallen7 Posts: 301
    I went through the same thing when I first started Turbo Fire. I couldn't understand why I wasn't looking when I was working so hard. I finally realized that my caloric intake was too low. If you are burn 500-1000 calories a workout and only eating 1300-1500 calories per day, you could be starving your body without knowing it. It wasn't until I consistently ate around 1800 calories for a few weeks that the scale started to move again. It seemed like BIG jump at first.

    My previous settings were set to lose 2 pounds a week and I was burning a ton of calories on top of that already 1000 calorie deficit. So I changed my MFP settings to lose 1 pound a week and try to lose the other pound through exercise. It seems to be working.
  • angisnee
    angisnee Posts: 236 Member
    Sorry I don't have any advice for you. I've been struggling with the same thing. I've stepped up my workouts (adding strength training), am using an HRM, and am weighing all my food. Before this, my average weight loss per week was 1.5 pounds. But now I've been losing and regaining the same 3 pounds for 2 months. Can't wait to see what some others have to say...
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
    What do your MFP settings look like (loss per week, activity level)? I'm a little confused because I don't see any of your exercise logged. It looks like you are routinely 300-500(ish) calories below target. And on top of that there is unlogged exercise. Let's say you're doing 300 cal/day exercise. That puts you roughly 600-800 cal per day below target. That would make total sense if you have MFP set to "maintain weight" and are implementing your calorie deficit "manually" and via exercise.

    If you already have MFP dialed in with a deficit then the most obvious issue I can think of is that you've restricted calories too much for too long and you're in that infamous "starvation mode", where you body is reluctant to shed fat. Bump up your intake, and you're likely to see the fat start melting away again.

    Edit: just saw your edit. Ok that makes much more sense to me. Do you have a guess as to how much you're burning every day doing your exercise program? I've seen some really high burns from people doing that sort of routine. It's possible your net cals are still quite low?
  • forty3fab
    forty3fab Posts: 148 Member
    I wish I had something helpful to say to you! I am not familiar with that workout at all, but you always work hard and eat healthy, so I hope someone on here has the advice you seek!
  • ladyhawk00
    ladyhawk00 Posts: 2,457 Member
    Since your sodium and water intake seem to be doing well, I would guess a couple of things. First, you likely have water retention in the muscles. When you exercise, especially with resistance training, you create small tears in the muscles. As the body tries to repair these, it retains water in the muscles to help with protecting them and to aid repair. That water retention can last for weeks or longer, or until you take a break from the workouts. Also, especially if you are prone to large muscle mass (for a woman), you may very well be increasing muscle size - but the amount is probably still pretty small - maybe a lb or two.

    If your settings are correct (not too high of a loss/wk goal, or too low of an activity setting), then I would guess the above is the main issue, as everything else appears to be in line. Don't get discouraged! :wink:

    Edit: Taso has some good points too - depends on your stats and your burns, you may not be eating enough.
  • mjf0461
    mjf0461 Posts: 470 Member
    Dont starve your body. Do an increase in your food and you will see a change in things. Working out as much as you are with the intensity you need to feed those muscles.
  • W0zzie
    W0zzie Posts: 262 Member
    Are you measuring as well - not just relying on scales.

    And there may (or may not) be something useful in amongst this:
    - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/217761--unexplainable-fat-loss-plateaus-explained-tom-ve

    Good luck
  • michelle4271
    michelle4271 Posts: 194 Member
    I would guess that you should probably increase your water a bit, the muscles will hold onto it to try and repair themselves, also recalculate your calories and make sure that your deficit is not so much that you have gone into starvation mode. Another option is to zig zag your calories to keep your body guessing. Any change though should be consistant for appox 3 weeks to see if its worked.
  • karensoxfan
    karensoxfan Posts: 902 Member
    I agree about retaining water when you kick up your workouts.

    I also agree about taking measurements, instead of just relying on the scale.

    Otherwise, it might just be a plain old-fashioned plateau for a few weeks where your body kind of says "hold the phone, what's going on here? Too many changes!" If so, that should just break by itself if you stay consistent with your plan.
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
    Edit: just saw your edit. Ok that makes much more sense to me. Do you have a guess as to how much you're burning every day doing your exercise program? I've seen some really high burns from people doing that sort of routine. It's possible your net cals are still quite low?
    The Insanity workouts (which I do 6 days a week) burn 500+ calories per session.
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
    As for non-scale changes/measurements, I did notice this week that my pants are FINALLY looser. But I want to see a lowering number on the scale, too! :)

    I will be doing official new progress pictures and actual measurements in a few days after I finish the program.
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
    The Insanity workouts (which I do 6 days a week) burn 500+ calories per session.

    So you're netting around 1000 cals or less on many days. Many sources say 1200 should be the bare minimum for women. Besides doesn't your program recommend you eat 2000?
  • veggeslady
    veggeslady Posts: 64
    So sorry!! I am doing P90x and went through 6.5 weeks of no weight loss. I dr said this is normal if you are eating enough calories for your fat and muscles to finally work together. YOu are losing fat but gaining muscle, because muscle is more dense then fat it weighs more. Also I would suggest taking a cranberry supplement to help with excess water it is natural. I am so sorry and I know it sucks really. I do not know what to tell you. I am also reading master your metabolism by jillian michales and It is a good book. Keep up the good work!!
  • veggeslady
    veggeslady Posts: 64
    This is what my coach on Beach body told me:
    How do your clothes fit? Is your body changing? Most people that do P90X reach a point where they simultaneously build muscle and burn fat at an almost equal rate. This very often happens with women around this time because they tend to take longer to get into a muscle building mode. Muscle is at least 3 times as dense as fat so the body shrinks, but the scale doesn't move. Take a look at this: http://www.thefitclubnetwork.com/2011/03/p90x-and-weight-gain/. Now if that's not the case, we need to take a serious look at your calories and your breakdown of carbs/fat/protein.
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
    So you're netting around 1000 cals or less on many days. Many sources say 1200 should be the bare minimum for women. Besides doesn't your program recommend you eat 2000?
    You know what -- you are very likely right! I totally need to practice what I preach re: eating enough food. Fail on me. I guess I was assuming that my once a week "free days" were making up for my not eating the full 2,000 per day. It's such a hard concept to wrap one's mind around -- to eat more than we ever have, more than we want to, and more than we feel we even *can" sometimes, in order to lose weight. But, how long does it truly take, though, for a body to really, truly get into starvation mode? I know it's longer than most people think.

    And that's it -- I am pigging out today. Lol. :)

    PS -- as a follow-up, I weigh 4 pounds less this morning than I did last night, but that's still 2.5 pounds more than last week.

    Another coincidence, is that for the second half of the Insanity program, I have been doing my workouts in the evening, rather than at 5:00 a.m. like I was for the first half....simply because I don't have enough time in the mornings to complete the longer workouts. That couldn't possibly have anything to do with this weight gain, could it? I am still doing everything else the same.....eating the same, weighing-in at the same day/time, etc.
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
    because muscle is more dense then fat it weighs more.
    Muscle does *not* weight more than fat. A pound is a pound is a pound. A pound of feathers weights the same as a pound of bricks. I think what you are trying to point out is that a pound of fat is bulkier/more noticeable/lumpier than a pound of fat. They look different, sit on the body differently -- but they don't weigh differently. :)
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
    Okay, I think I am an IDIOT. I just put together a very detailed Excel spreadsheet of all my calorie intake and weigh-ins and other relevant data since I started Insanity.....and I think I simply FORGOT what my last recorded weight was. I was remembering it bo lower than it actually was. I guess I should have looked at the data, huh? Duh!

    So, if I am correctly remembering what I weighed this moring (I the dope didn't write it down because I thought it was not a loss), I am actually 1.4 pounds *less* than I was 3 weeks ago. To take 3 weeks to lose that much weight, I hate, but at least it's a loss....I think. I will have to weigh in again tomorrow morning to be sure I am not fooling myself/totally ditz-ing out again. Wow, I am really not this much of a flake in real life, I swear. I went to an Ivy League college, really! :)

    Edited to add -- but I still agree that I probably need to (or at leat it won't be a harm to) eat more if I continue to work out the way I am.....my spreadsheet shows, pretty much regardless of sodium, that I lost over 2 pounds on the weeks where I averaged over 1,800 calories intake per day, and I lost under 2 pounds or nothing at all on the weeks where I averaged under 1,800 calories intake per day. There were a lot of other variables, such a Free Days and other unavoidable random/one time information pieces, but the data is the data is the data. Very interesting.
  • ellenluck
    ellenluck Posts: 1
    I have the same problem starting from the 2nd month. Weight gain noticed after the first week of month 2 and no inches lost. Eating according to Elite Nutrition Guide for weight loss. My daily calories intake 1800, 40/40/20.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    If you are doing insanity or any high level activity you would need more calories.
    Period!
    Dieting puts stress on the body and central nervous system. (CNS)
    Working out puts stress on the body and the CNS.
    Eventually that stress adds up to a hormonal nosedive.
  • ShelfRelianceMom
    ShelfRelianceMom Posts: 83
    Something else I just thought of...

    Are you eating at a later time since you are doing the workouts in the evening? Also, the morning workouts might be getting your metabolism going for the day. Have you measured yourself recently to see if there are any changes? So frustrating.
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