Any suggestions for getting back on the "losing" streak?

KimHill2002
KimHill2002 Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have lost 38 pounds since April of this year. The first 30 came off pretty quickly and easily. The last 8 took longer to achieve and I've actually been in a holding pattern for a little over a month now - go up 1 pound, go down 1 pound, up 1 pound, down 1 pound. Very frustrating.

I have been keeping diligent track of everything I eat (even when I disappoint myself and eat junk) and have, for the most part, kept fairly close to my daily caloric goal this entire 6-7 months. My lifestyle is sedentary for a few reasons - I edit photos most of the time which is a sitting job by nature and I have chronic health issues (ulcerative colitis, auto immune arthritis, severe degenerative disc disease). I could certainly get more exercise in to my daily routine and am certainly trying to. However, it is a balancing act of doing enough to be beneficial vs doing a little too much and suffering in pain for several days afterward.

Regardless, I am doing more exercise now in the last month than I ever did during the first 5 months and yet I'm stalled with the weight loss. I find this to be very confusing since I have not changed my eating habits at all in the last month, but have increased my activity. To me, it seems like I should be losing since I'm exercising more.

Suggestions on what I can do to ramp things back up again?

Replies

  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Way to go on your loss. Are you using a food scale? Have you adjusted your calories to reflect your loss? Remember, water retention, from increased exercise, can often mask a loss.
  • KimHill2002
    KimHill2002 Posts: 5 Member
    Yes, I got a digital scale this week because I thought maybe my other one (not digital) may have been inaccurate.
  • KimHill2002
    KimHill2002 Posts: 5 Member
    I don't know how to adjust calories due to the lost weight. Really confused on that. I'm still pretty sedentary....I do about 10 minutes of strength training each day as that seems to be all I can handle and I walk about 1-2 miles a day. The walking is not continuous. I will get up and walk maybe half a mile around my neighborhood, come back to do more editing for a few hours, and then repeat that on and off throughout the day.
  • KimHill2002
    KimHill2002 Posts: 5 Member
    Bumping up for other input please. :)
  • PrincessRina112
    PrincessRina112 Posts: 18 Member
    Have you re-calculated you calorie allowance since losing the 38 pounds? Maybe you're eating closer to maintenance now that you've lost quite a bit.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    KimHill2002 wrote: »
    I don't know how to adjust calories due to the lost weight. Really confused on that. I'm still pretty sedentary....I do about 10 minutes of strength training each day as that seems to be all I can handle and I walk about 1-2 miles a day. The walking is not continuous. I will get up and walk maybe half a mile around my neighborhood, come back to do more editing for a few hours, and then repeat that on and off throughout the day.

    It means have your calories been updated to accommodate your weight loss? Your needs will go down as you lose.
  • julescba04
    julescba04 Posts: 40 Member
    I have lost 38 pounds since April of this year. The first 30 came off pretty quickly and easily. The last 8 took longer to achieve and I've actually been in a holding pattern for a little over a month now - go up 1 pound, go down 1 pound, up 1 pound, down 1 pound. Very frustrating.



    I have the same problem. As I was eyeing up the chippies this morning my husband made a comment about me complaining about not reaching my goal.......
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
    38 pounds in six months is a lot, about 1.5 pound a week. I'm in the same predicament. I think after losing that "first" 32 pounds, I was caught in a zone where I was looking oh-so-much-better and even though there are still 28 pounds to go, I haven't been trying as hard. I just need to kickstart myself again. Before I start gaining it back, ewwwwww!
  • jcow84
    jcow84 Posts: 75 Member
    If you make your food tracker public you'll probably get more detailed responses.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Have you updated your current weight in your diary? you'll have to eat less now than you did 30lbs ago
  • davefh0_0
    davefh0_0 Posts: 42 Member
    I've lost 70lbs in 6 1/2 months when I hit the 60lb mark my progress came to a halt, I did some research and decided to change my macros from what mfp suggests, I maintain the same calorie intake but take in 50% Cals from protein 25% fat 25% carbs, mfp had me at 50% carbs. The next day I put up a new loss. Good luck
  • KimHill2002
    KimHill2002 Posts: 5 Member
    Thanks all. I do keep my weight up to date in the app. If I have to eat less now than I used to, I think I'd faint. I'm still at 1200 calories a day eating back a small portion of the exercise calories.
  • icequeen120
    icequeen120 Posts: 4 Member
    Hey, I don't know how true this is for everyone but I've heard that when you sustain a deficit for a long time your body gets used to running on less calories making the deficit not as effect.
    I only mention it because for me I lost 65 pounds relatively regularly in about 9 months and then started stalling and going up and down for the next 5 pounds or so. But this last summer I was out of the country for three months and decided to eat at maintenance because I was traveling.
    Now I'm back at a deficit the weight is coming off steadily again. Just a suggestion that if your not in a rush to lose maybe eating at maintenance for a while will give you a kick start when you go back to a deficit. But that's my personal experience, tightening up your logging is a good point of call. :smile:

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