Was really fat. Now less fat. Stuck being less fat. So why?

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  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    alfiedn wrote: »
    BFDeal wrote: »
    As you get closer to your goal the grind becomes HARD!!! Your loss may slow to 0.5lbs a week or the scale may stay static and measurements may be the only thing changing, some weeks there may be no change at all. You just have to keep grinding that last little bit off and starving to death isn't the way to do it. There are plenty of tools at your disposal to help you, changes to your work outs, utilizing different cardio training variables, diet breaks eating back to your maintenance calories, carb cycling and on it goes.

    You rebounded because you went on vacation and did vacation things there's not much mystery there.

    Keep grinding it out and you'll get there..... in other words 'suck it up buttercup'
    But I'm not close to my goal? I'm 30lbs from it. That's super far from my goal. That's 30 weeks at a pound a week. 60 by your plan. Without stalls or breaks. Which would put it at 2 years or more. So why? Why are my 30lbs going to supposedly take 2 years but someone else just loses them and gets ripped in 6 months? That's the answer I'm looking for. What can I do to make my loss take 6 months like that guys.

    30 pounds IS close to your goal! You're so close! :) Also, I looked at your chart and it looks like you're still trending down overall. Just because someone else can do it in x amount of time, doesn't mean you have to. There is no race to lose the weight here, unless I'm missing something. If you want to eat more, you may have to deal with it taking longer. If you're ok with eating less, it may take less time. Personally, I'd rather eat more and it sounds like you are similar to me.

    The only thing that you are missing is that this poster has a long history of asking for and getting great advice and then ignoring it, only to return and complain that people who are younger/fitter/a different sex, etc. can eat more than him and still lose weight at a faster rate than he can. There is literally nothing that anybody is going to suggest that is going to appease him.
  • newhealthykim
    newhealthykim Posts: 192 Member
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    BTW, 165 lbs is a person. My bff is 130 lbs. You lost a person. It's going to get harder.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,459 Member
    edited June 2015
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    BFDeal wrote: »
    usmcmp wrote: »
    yopeeps025 wrote: »
    tomatoey wrote: »
    Don't have time to dig them up, but some studies have shown that formerly obese people have to eat less (I think it was ~10% on average?) than never-obese people to stay at the same weight, due to obesity-related changes in metabolism. Can't remember how long those studies lasted, though, might be people recover over time.

    I think that might make sense due to the fact its hard to maintain LBM when you lose weight.

    Lean mass loss, hormonal responses and suppressed cellular metabolic activity.

    Well how long and how long will the 30lbs take. Everyone else gets there goal pretty quickly. It's a little BS to have to wait 2 years for something someone else gets in 6 months.

    This attitude isn't going to help you, dude. It feels like it's not fair, ok. It's hard to accept obstacles, I get it, I struggle with this in other ways. (I'm annoyed that I have a bunch of tendon problems and osteoarthritis that set in at age 34, when it sometimes seems like everyone else can sprint and do whatever with no problems.) But you have to, to deal with them and move forward. And seriously, some people have it a lot worse than you do (and worse than I do). Try to keep a sense of perspective.

    It's good that you're going to the doctor.
  • flaminica
    flaminica Posts: 304 Member
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    BFDeal wrote: »
    Lost to 230 not even counting calories accurately (estimates). Went off my low carb plan. Gained to 250. Counted calories down to 230. Stuck again. Cut calories down to a bonkers starving 1800. Lost some. Then boom, back up over one week.

    I'm approaching this as someone fairly new who doesn't know your history and has no bias. One big problem leaps out at me here -- one I see over and over on these "why am I not losing" threads.

    You're not changing your life: you're dieting. Stop Dieting.

    You try something for a while and it works. Then you stop and the weight comes back. Well derp, of course it does. Albert Einstein defined insanity as "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." So stop with the unsustainable gimmicks, like starvation calories, no-carb, all-jello-all-the-time, or whatever the fad diet du jour is. Log accurately, eat sensibly and don't stop. This is it, this is your life. Not your diet.
  • ToreiMira
    ToreiMira Posts: 6 Member
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    Weakness my friend. You really need to get into a serious lifting routine and build up some more lean body mass, with a better engine you will quickly make waste to any extra fat. I looked at your food diary and it doesn't look that great you might also want to think about a better diet.
  • mattyc772014
    mattyc772014 Posts: 3,543 Member
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    Best advice is to go back to the beginning....look at all the first step threads on here and make sure you are adhering to the advice in those threads. Congrats on your success and dont give up!
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,459 Member
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    BFDeal wrote: »
    flaminica wrote: »
    BFDeal wrote: »
    Lost to 230 not even counting calories accurately (estimates). Went off my low carb plan. Gained to 250. Counted calories down to 230. Stuck again. Cut calories down to a bonkers starving 1800. Lost some. Then boom, back up over one week.

    I'm approaching this as someone fairly new who doesn't know your history and has no bias. One big problem leaps out at me here -- one I see over and over on these "why am I not losing" threads.

    You're not changing your life: you're dieting. Stop Dieting.

    You try something for a while and it works. Then you stop and the weight comes back. Well derp, of course it does. Albert Einstein defined insanity as "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." So stop with the unsustainable gimmicks, like starvation calories, no-carb, all-jello-all-the-time, or whatever the fad diet du jour is. Log accurately, eat sensibly and don't stop. This is it, this is your life. Not your diet.

    I get the thinking but for me life starts at 200 when I'm not obese by definition anymore. Even then it will still probably all be some endless "program" or cycle of changing things up in one way or another.

    You're alive right now.
  • richln
    richln Posts: 809 Member
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    You are getting large weight gain spikes every weekend. You sure you are logging accurately on the weekends?
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    BFDeal wrote: »
    flaminica wrote: »
    BFDeal wrote: »
    Lost to 230 not even counting calories accurately (estimates). Went off my low carb plan. Gained to 250. Counted calories down to 230. Stuck again. Cut calories down to a bonkers starving 1800. Lost some. Then boom, back up over one week.

    I'm approaching this as someone fairly new who doesn't know your history and has no bias. One big problem leaps out at me here -- one I see over and over on these "why am I not losing" threads.

    You're not changing your life: you're dieting. Stop Dieting.

    You try something for a while and it works. Then you stop and the weight comes back. Well derp, of course it does. Albert Einstein defined insanity as "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." So stop with the unsustainable gimmicks, like starvation calories, no-carb, all-jello-all-the-time, or whatever the fad diet du jour is. Log accurately, eat sensibly and don't stop. This is it, this is your life. Not your diet.

    I get the thinking but for me life starts at 200 when I'm not obese by definition anymore. Even then it will still probably all be some endless "program" or cycle of changing things up in one way or another.

    Life starts when you reach a random number on a box. That's sad.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    BFDeal wrote: »
    A one week "plateau" is nothing. It could be water weight, it could be your body's natural day-to-day fluctuations in weight, it could be you're eating a little more than you think you are. Give it another week or two.

    I've been 230 since last December. I went from 250 to 230 eating 2300 calories LOL. That's the silly thing. It just stopped working.

    your cut level at 230 pounds is not going to be the same as it was at 250 pounds.

    I would say consistently eat 2000 accuratecalories a day for a month.

    OR

    do the diet break that I have suggested five thousand times.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    BFDeal wrote: »
    As you get closer to your goal the grind becomes HARD!!! Your loss may slow to 0.5lbs a week or the scale may stay static and measurements may be the only thing changing, some weeks there may be no change at all. You just have to keep grinding that last little bit off and starving to death isn't the way to do it. There are plenty of tools at your disposal to help you, changes to your work outs, utilizing different cardio training variables, diet breaks eating back to your maintenance calories, carb cycling and on it goes.

    You rebounded because you went on vacation and did vacation things there's not much mystery there.

    Keep grinding it out and you'll get there..... in other words 'suck it up buttercup'
    But I'm not close to my goal? I'm 30lbs from it. That's super far from my goal. That's 30 weeks at a pound a week. 60 by your plan. Without stalls or breaks. Which would put it at 2 years or more. So why? Why are my 30lbs going to supposedly take 2 years but someone else just loses them and gets ripped in 6 months? That's the answer I'm looking for. What can I do to make my loss take 6 months like that guys.

    If you continue to eat at 2300 calories a day, that's going to take a long time to get to your goal weight. Without exercise, 2300 calories is about maintenance for a 205 pound person. The reason I know that is because my non-exercise calorie goal is 1600 and I'm looking at 2300 when I switch to maintenance. I don't normally eat 2300 calories even on days when I exercise. If you want to lose weight, cut your calorie intake. Or if you like, you can just keep posting things here about why it is so terrible that you aren't losing weight while eating at maintenance.
  • harpsdesire
    harpsdesire Posts: 190 Member
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    Since I think all the obvious, probable answers have been given, I'll offer a couple of exotic suggestions that might or might not help.

    First, you could try getting tested for food allergies and sensitivities. The inflammation response from eating something you have a mild intolerance to can keep you full of water weight that's very difficult to shed. It's probably not this, but if you've tried everything else, may be worth a check.

    Secondly, you could try a very different WOE and/or very different exercise plan. Scientifically, CICO is all created equal, but some people have had luck breaking a stubborn plateau by really shaking things up. I'm not convinced that this is anything more than a placebo effect, but there's no harm in trying as long as you stay under your calorie goal, right?

    Sorry I can't do more to help, I'm not close to my goal either, nor an expert in these things.
  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
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    Let's put it this way...if you stop now out of frustration in a year from now you will have gained 50+ pounds. You seem to think this is a sort term diet. We'll if you haven't gotten the memo there's no going back to the way you use to live and eat. Your definition of what "normal people eat" is probably what got you into this mess in the first place. You're worried about it taking two years...LOL. Dude this if for the rest of your life. Get use to smaller portions or you are going to be a yoyo dieter. You're attitude is what will keep you from your goal and will also be the reason you gain the weight back.
  • epido
    epido Posts: 353 Member
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    BFDeal wrote: »

    Well how long and how long will the 30lbs take. Everyone else gets there goal pretty quickly. It's a little BS to have to wait 2 years for something someone else gets in 6 months.

    You do realize everyone loses at different rates. I've been at this for just over a year and a half, and have only lost 15 pounds since July of last year. Part of that is because I have chosen to take a break here or there, and part of it was because I wasn't being honest about what/how much I was eating. Prior to that 15 pounds, I had already lost 75 pounds between Halloween 2013 and July 2014. I still have 20 pounds to go. And who knows, maybe I will decide to lose a little bit more once I finally get there. It might take me 6 months, or it might take me another year. That doesn't really matter to me, as long as I am seeing progress in the right direction.

    You need to stop worrying about how quickly everyone else is losing, and focus on yourself. Your circumstances are unique, so you will never be able to do things "just like" someone else or have identical results. If you are 100% sure you are doing everything you should, then, like previously mentioned, you need to meet with your doctor. If not, you need to be honest with yourself and just admit you aren't doing things quite as accurately as you know you should. In the end, it doesn't matter to any of us if you are being honest about everything - you're only cheating yourself.
  • ImitatetheSun
    ImitatetheSun Posts: 44 Member
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    tomatoey wrote: »
    Don't have time to dig them up, but some studies have shown that formerly obese people have to eat less (I think it was ~10% on average?) than never-obese people to stay at the same weight, due to obesity-related changes in metabolism. Can't remember how long those studies lasted, though, might be people recover over time.

    I was just reading about that! And it depressed me thoroughly. Here's the link I just read about it:
    http://www.science20.com/deconstructing_obesity/blog/metabolic_adaptations_to_weight_loss-156281#ixzz3du4WjNUJ

    For what it's worth, I don't blame you for feeling this way. Lots of people believe that the science of weight loss is a settled matter, but I think that is hardly the case. Even everyone's favorite four-letter word - CICO! - doesn't align with the latest reports on how bacteria in our guts influence every process in our bodies, let alone the fact that some foods are more bioavailable than others (see the researchers who were able to lower the calories of rice by adding cococut oil and refrigerating overnight, or the re-estimation of the true, bio-available calorie content of almonds). So I'm with you - I think there are some mysteries in this process, much like epileptics probably didn't believe that getting their blood sucked by leeches in the middle ages was really all that helpful. That was the CICO of its day.

    Central to your questions is the fact that your "body" is not one thing. It's a mega-metropolis of bacteria, hungry mitochondria, hormones and diabolical, unkillable, hormone-spewing fat cells. You want the mega-metropolis to weigh a certain amount and have a certain waist size and inseam, but unfortunatley, the denizens of your body disagree. There is no relationship between our highly socialized aspirational goals for ourselves and the ground truth inside our bodies.

    My suggestion is to be your own scientist, and conduct your own experiments. Change your calorie intake, increase and change your weight training or cardio, cut certain foods that seem like they're sticking to you more than others, etc. Do each thing for two weeks (I do this to myself and I think two weeks has been the magic number - one isn't enough to trick your body into thinking this is how it's going to be from now on) and keep what works and ditch what doesn't. All my best successes came from doing that - never from reading studies or following conventional wisdom on weight loss.
  • harmar21
    harmar21 Posts: 215 Member
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    ok so in may when you gained that 8lbs over the course of 2 weeks.. what did you do differently? I find it hard to believe you ate an extra 28,000 calories.

    I find pretty much every one of my plateus is actually water weight fluctuations. Back in march I went a full month with only losing a lb.. Then I lost 7lbs within 3 days. No clue why it happens, but it happens sometimes.

    Just make sure you are being honest with your logging. Do you go get an apple or some other fruit or veg before bed thinking "I am not going to log it... it is healthy anyways and low cal" Well dont think that.
    I started 350lbs last september and 260lbs today.

    I eat 1800-2000 cal per day. I eat out twice a week (so no clue how accurate I am on those days). I jog three times a week (I sometimes eat back some calories, but usually only 100-200).

    Just log accurately, keep eating the 1800 calories, but try adding in cardio if you havent yet.
  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
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    Go on the show Naked and Afraid. I'll bet you lose weight.
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