eating at a deficit and not losing weight

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sanzipopa
sanzipopa Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone! I've been using mfp for a month now , tracking all calories in&out, no cheating, working out diligently and it seems like my weight is stalling. I 'm 27, 5'10 and 144lbs, I should be eating around 2200 cals/day but I'm eating 1200 to create a deficit, out of which I burn around 600 cals at the gym 5 days/week. I was wondering if anyone here has struggled with the same issue of sticking with the calorie deficit, burning as many calories as possible and not losing weight. If so, how did you manage to break the plateau?
Thanks in advance :)
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Replies

  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
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    To break your plateau, I'd suggest increasing your calories from 1200. I'd say a more realistically amount for you would be 1700. If your TDEE is correct, you are eating far too little. This could be the reason for the plateau. :)
  • robspot
    robspot Posts: 130 Member
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    Firstly, how much are you trying to lose? Your current weight is already in the lower half of the healthy weight range for your height and age. Your deficit is aiming to lose 2lbs a week, this is way too high for your weight. You should be looking at around 0.5lbs per week. Also, if you're only eating 1200 calories and then adding 600 of exercise on top, your actual net intake is only 600 calories which is far too low.

    I would suggest setting your goal to 0.5 lbs a week and then eating back half of your exercise calories which would put you on about 2250 a day, giving a net of 1650 which should have you losing around 1 lb a week, assuming your exercise calories are correct.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    Open your diary
  • snowflakesav
    snowflakesav Posts: 647 Member
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    You are at a very low weight. those last pounds take a long time. Stressing your body with very low calories, lack of sleep, low carb will not help. Increase calories, sleep more, add in some activities during your day like relaxed walking or yoga to reduce stress.
  • NotGnarly
    NotGnarly Posts: 137 Member
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    Sounds like you're not eating enough to fuel your workouts. I dabbled with eating 1200 cals a couple of months ago and didn't like the way I felt. I developed insomnia, super hangry, couldn't focus, etc. I now eat 2100 cals a day and set my goal to lose .5 lbs per week. I'm much happier. My weight loss plateaued at 1200 cals and I said screw this because there was no point in being miserable if the scale wasn't moving.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    sanzipopa wrote: »
    Hello everyone! I've been using mfp for a month now , tracking all calories in&out, no cheating, working out diligently and it seems like my weight is stalling. I 'm 27, 5'10 and 144lbs, I should be eating around 2200 cals/day but I'm eating 1200 to create a deficit, out of which I burn around 600 cals at the gym 5 days/week. I was wondering if anyone here has struggled with the same issue of sticking with the calorie deficit, burning as many calories as possible and not losing weight. If so, how did you manage to break the plateau?
    Thanks in advance :)

    If you are not losing weight, you are not in a deficit. Whatever the calculators say, they are just estimates. Experience will show what your real numbers are.

    Are you sure you aren't losing weight? How often do you weigh yourself? The greatest losses usually occur in the beginning, and taper off. But there are no such things as plateaus, see above.

    In addition to not blindly following TDEE calculators, you shouldn't blindly follow activity trackers and estimates. Eat back no more that half of what you (think you) burn.

    I think you know what the problem is - sticking to the reduced calorie intake. Maybe you are restricting too much? Do you hit your macros? Do you eat your fruit and vegetables? Do you eat treats in moderate amounts? As the amount to lose is getting smaller, weight loss will be slower, and you have to be more vigilant. Do you weigh everything you eat? Doublecheck database entries?

    You are already at the lower end of healthy weight. If you still feel a need for improvement, you should work on body composition instead of weight loss.
  • sanzipopa
    sanzipopa Posts: 7 Member
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    Thank you all for the great suggestions! These are, in fact, the last 2 kilos I'm trying to shed , maybe that's why it's so hard after all. I've switched to a low calorie diet after 1 year of eating a ketogenic diet because I simply couldn't keep eating so much fat and protein anymore. Now I just eat clean, lean meat, veggies, no sugar, no grains and every now and then I allow myself a cheat day. I'm pretty athletic as is and I perform weight training 3-4 times/week other than my cardio sessions, so yes, I'm more focused on the body composition rather than the actual weight and yet I feel there's place for improvement :)
    I guess I should just add more calories and see what happens, I already experience pretty bad fatigue after and sometimes during my workouts and insomnia.
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
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    Yeah, a deficit like that for 4-5 pounds is WAY too much stress on your body, hence the fatigue and insomnia. Give this a read if you're looking to recomp:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    The recomp thread above is a good starting point. This might also be a useful read: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/113609/relatively-light-people-trying-to-get-leaner/p1
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
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    PinkPixiexox wrote: »
    To break your plateau, I'd suggest increasing your calories from 1200. I'd say a more realistically amount for you would be 1700. If your TDEE is correct, you are eating far too little. This could be the reason for the plateau. :)
    No, it couldn't.

  • sanzipopa
    sanzipopa Posts: 7 Member
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    Thanks, that's very useful!
  • elikayparly
    elikayparly Posts: 4 Member
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    I am having a problem, I weigh 80 kgs and am 165cm tall, I just started this app cause I was counting calories on another app for 4 weeks my car intake is like 1000-1200 and I run as well as standing all day and bending as I'm a dental nurse but that scale is not budging at all. I drunk loads of water as well what is going on
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    elikayparly wrote: »
    I am having a problem, I weigh 80 kgs and am 165cm tall, I just started this app cause I was counting calories on another app for 4 weeks my car intake is like 1000-1200 and I run as well as standing all day and bending as I'm a dental nurse but that scale is not budging at all. I drunk loads of water as well what is going on

    If you're looking for advice for your situation, I would recommend beginning a new thread.
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
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    Eating more food might make you feel better, but it will never break a weight-loss plateau.

    If you aren't losing, you are not in a caloric deficit. Simple as that. Gotta eat less or exercise more or both.

    When you think you are in a deficit and you are not losing weight the usual culprit is you are not actually in a deficit. You are probably eating more than you think you are or you are giving more credit to exercise than is warranted or both.

    The scale, however, does not lie.
  • sanzipopa
    sanzipopa Posts: 7 Member
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    Well I really track all the calories I eat and some days they barely reach 1200, while the net calories remain around 600-700 after the workouts (which I also track) that's why I'm so confused about the calories in/out right now :)
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    sanzipopa wrote: »
    Well I really track all the calories I eat and some days they barely reach 1200, while the net calories remain around 600-700 after the workouts (which I also track) that's why I'm so confused about the calories in/out right now :)

    If you are truly netting 600-700 and not losing weight, something else is going on. l
  • DWBalboa
    DWBalboa Posts: 37,259 Member
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    Are you accurately measuring everything and logging everything? I would suggest that you ensure that everything is weighted and measured, and logged before or soon after eating.
    Also I would recommend increasing you intake as suggested above. Additionally eat most of your exercise calories back, MFP already has the calorie deficit built in.
    Good luck.
    V/r,
    DW.
  • robertf57
    robertf57 Posts: 560 Member
    edited September 2015
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    sanzipopa wrote: »
    Well I really track all the calories I eat and some days they barely reach 1200.How do you track? If you aren't WEIGHING everything, you are just guessing, while the net calories remain around 600-700 after the workouts (which I also track)Short of fancy calorimetry, you really can't track you expenditures accurately. Every monitor or table you use for estimates are just that: Estimates. The advise to eat back 50% is probably a good place to start that's why I'm so confused about the calories in/out right now :)
    And I concur with the other respondents that shooting for an excessive deficit isn't a great plan.

  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
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    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    PinkPixiexox wrote: »
    To break your plateau, I'd suggest increasing your calories from 1200. I'd say a more realistically amount for you would be 1700. If your TDEE is correct, you are eating far too little. This could be the reason for the plateau. :)
    No, it couldn't.

    I don't claim to be an expert here you know. I'm offering my 2 cents. If you have a better answer (which I'm sure you probably do) then brilliant. I'm not a weight loss expert - I'm just offering food for thought. *Sigh*
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    PinkPixiexox wrote: »
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    PinkPixiexox wrote: »
    To break your plateau, I'd suggest increasing your calories from 1200. I'd say a more realistically amount for you would be 1700. If your TDEE is correct, you are eating far too little. This could be the reason for the plateau. :)
    No, it couldn't.

    I don't claim to be an expert here you know. I'm offering my 2 cents. If you have a better answer (which I'm sure you probably do) then brilliant. I'm not a weight loss expert - I'm just offering food for thought. *Sigh*

    There isn't any reason to think that someone who isn't losing weight will lose weight if they begin taking in more energy. This runs against everything we know about how energy is used and stored by the body -- weight loss is caused by a deficit. If someone isn't in a deficit, eating more isn't going to generate weight loss.

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