Two month plateau despite caloric deficit + exercise (food pics included)
Replies
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rileysowner wrote: »I am unclear on something. During this two month plateau, did your other measurement (waist and the like) go down? If so, I cannot think of too many instances where that would be anything but a drop in body fat. If that is the case, and your measurements other than weight continue to go down, weight should eventually follow.
I don't have strict numbers, but I can tell you nothing fits differently or looser0 -
coolcoci_115 wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
but its not. the food on the weekends, any inaccurate logging (oils, dressings, etc), possible bits from other things.... even prepackaged foods (please drop those and eat real food, by the way but okay) - those are estimates. there is a margin of error. You take that margin of error, combine it with the guesstimates from other times, a possibly inaccurate activity level (i dont know what yours is set at but id hope sedentary) ... all these things can add up and eliminate a deficit.
I agree the weekends are the trouble points, but even with the margin of error... why stagnation?
because youre wiping out your deficit on the weekends
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OP, you're 2lb a week goal is too aggressive. Your body regulates to homeostasis to protect itself and that's likely where you're at now. Shoot for the calories for a 1lbs a week loss based on your stats and activity for awhile and BE CONSISTENT. If you're straying over the weekend, you're NOT being consistent.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'm no longer shooting for a 2lb week loss goal (that would be ideal, but has never happened for me). I just want to be loosing 1 lb consistently. I agree on the consistency part, although this makes living a normal enjoyable life super difficult as I dread having to be out of the house during a time when I know I have to eat something, or invited out for social events with friends.0 -
coolcoci_115 wrote: »rileysowner wrote: »I am unclear on something. During this two month plateau, did your other measurement (waist and the like) go down? If so, I cannot think of too many instances where that would be anything but a drop in body fat. If that is the case, and your measurements other than weight continue to go down, weight should eventually follow.
I don't have strict numbers, but I can tell you nothing fits differently or looser
I would say good number in terms of body measurements other than weight would be beneficial. Weight as a measure of progress is far too variable from things other than fat.
I also agree that cutting back the deficit for a while would likely be good. It may give you a needed mental rest, and might just help things get going.0 -
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »coolcoci_115 wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
but its not. the food on the weekends, any inaccurate logging (oils, dressings, etc), possible bits from other things.... even prepackaged foods (please drop those and eat real food, by the way but okay) - those are estimates. there is a margin of error. You take that margin of error, combine it with the guesstimates from other times, a possibly inaccurate activity level (i dont know what yours is set at but id hope sedentary) ... all these things can add up and eliminate a deficit.
I agree the weekends are the trouble points, but even with the margin of error... why stagnation?
because youre wiping out your deficit on the weekends
Oh sorry I didn't complete my thought in the last post, I meant to say even with the margin of error I am at a 3500+ deficit over the entire week, so why am i not seeing any changes.
When I stray over the weekend I mean that I am eating more than 1200 calories. When I estimate ( and I try to be on conservative by overestimating the foods I ate) I don't add 3500 calories to my intake over the course of 2 days. My entire adult (and teenage) life I never could sit down and just eat a gigantic meal. Even before I attempted weight loss I had difficulty eating more than 1/2 a restaurant portion size.0 -
Start tracking your progress by doing body measurements and with body fat calipers as well as your weight.0
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You're probably eating too much. Stick to your 1,200 calorie/day diet (even weekends) and you should start losing (seriously track EVERYTHING, it's easy to miss stuff). Also, try increasing your walks to 3-4 miles. If you don't see the scale move or any other signs of progress within 2 weeks, then consult a physician.0
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That rice looks more to me than 125 grams
But here is i did it.
Cook one time one serving of rice...when cooked weigh it. Now you know approx for every time you take 1 serving of rice what it cooked will be. You only have to do this ones. Make an entree for it here on MFP and you can use it over and over. Best way is to do it in grams. So you dont have to depend on the serving size option anymore.
Also i miss in these pictures any oils and butters etc. they add up 14 gram of butter is 100 calories and a tsp of oil 190.
Than the weekend snacking you probably wipe out your deficit. Even if you think you are not eating a lot. You only gain weight in Surplus and you lose weight in Deficit.
Medical issues can slow the process down. But the science stays the same. Eat less than you burn and you lose weight.
You dont have to cut out food groups only when you have a medical issue with them
You just have to eat in a deficit. You can eat all you want but portion control and weighing ALL your food. Not even use cups and spoons but weigh it! Spices/oils/butters/dressings/veggies etc etc.
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coolcoci_115 wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »coolcoci_115 wrote: »callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
but its not. the food on the weekends, any inaccurate logging (oils, dressings, etc), possible bits from other things.... even prepackaged foods (please drop those and eat real food, by the way but okay) - those are estimates. there is a margin of error. You take that margin of error, combine it with the guesstimates from other times, a possibly inaccurate activity level (i dont know what yours is set at but id hope sedentary) ... all these things can add up and eliminate a deficit.
I agree the weekends are the trouble points, but even with the margin of error... why stagnation?
because youre wiping out your deficit on the weekends
Oh sorry I didn't complete my thought in the last post, I meant to say even with the margin of error I am at a 3500+ deficit over the entire week, so why am i not seeing any changes.
When I stray over the weekend I mean that I am eating more than 1200 calories. When I estimate ( and I try to be on conservative by overestimating the foods I ate) I don't add 3500 calories to my intake over the course of 2 days. My entire adult (and teenage) life I never could sit down and just eat a gigantic meal. Even before I attempted weight loss I had difficulty eating more than 1/2 a restaurant portion size.
Hmmm......If you have your food numbers under control, I'd say then might you be overestimating your burn each day?...are you working out, and if yes, how are you determining your calorie burn? I'm not lecturing you, just trying to help you figure out where you need to adjust to get your numbers moving again.
...oo...and btw, if you're only eating 1200 a day, that's really low, I'd really increase that for your own sake.......I'm still losing weight, and eating 1400-1600 every day...I'm supposed to be at maintenance, but I haven't quite mastered it yet. 0 -
btw i am twice your age
and smaller than you ( 5.5)
I eat atm 2000 calories...and lose weight...i exercise about 300 calories a day ( NET)
I started at 1200 calories a day and ate on top of that 50 to 75% of my exercise back and the weight dropped off. Fast!
After some time i ate 1500 to 1600 till today 2000-2100
But i weigh EVERYTHING i eat. No cheat meals ( yes i eat more sometimes but that is not cheating i keep counting)
And no i dont have a fast metabolism and i dont do low carb ( i do high even) Only dont eat added salt ( because of a medical issue)0 -
Personally I think you need to eat more. You sound like you've totally messed up your metabolic rate by eating at such a deficit for so long. If I were you I would gradually increase your intake especially on the days you lift weights. You need to help your body put on muscle which will help your metabolic rate. You won't put muscle on with the calories you are eating. If I were you I would work out your tdee and start to add food in at around 100-200 calories per week until you reach it. At the moment I'm eating 2200 calories a day and I'm loosing fat and gaining muscle. I'm 5'8" tall and weigh 64kg. Work out at that level for a couple of months to build some muscle and regain your metabolism, once you have done that then you can look at a deficit if you feel you need it xxx0
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BurnWithBarn2015 wrote: »That rice looks more to me than 125 grams
But here is i did it.
Cook one time one serving of rice...when cooked weigh it. Now you know approx for every time you take 1 serving of rice what it cooked will be. You only have to do this ones. Make an entree for it here on MFP and you can use it over and over. Best way is to do it in grams. So you dont have to depend on the serving size option anymore.
Also i miss in these pictures any oils and butters etc. they add up 14 gram of butter is 100 calories and a tsp of oil 190.
Than the weekend snacking you probably wipe out your deficit. Even if you think you are not eating a lot. You only gain weight in Surplus and you lose weight in Deficit.
Medical issues can slow the process down. But the science stays the same. Eat less than you burn and you lose weight.
You dont have to cut out food groups only when you have a medical issue with them
You just have to eat in a deficit. You can eat all you want but portion control and weighing ALL your food. Not even use cups and spoons but weigh it! Spices/oils/butters/dressings/veggies etc etc.
I will try the thing with the rice, but just from the # of times i meal prep. About 2.5 cups of uncooked rice can fill 10 meal prep boxes with 125 grams by weight cooked rice. If 1 cup of uncooked rice is 700 calories, than each box would have 175 calories of rice, and I would be off by 40 calories a day (or underestimating 280 calories a week) --> a possibility.
I repeat NO BUTTER, OIL, SAUCE, what have you is added. ONLY 1 tablespoon of light caesar dressing measured with a measuring spoon and not by weight because my scale is not sensiive enough.
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For clarification of what my weekend actually looked like, and not the "wiping out of deficit" that everyone is claiming. This would be a weekend I consider that I excessively over ate.
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You're eating too much on weekends and erasing any deficit you've achieved during the week. Your calorie goal is unnecessarily low. Change your goal to one pound per week. Eat that every day, including on weekends. Don't try to lose two pounds per week, which forces an extremely low (for your height/size) calorie goal and encourages you to eat more on the weekend.
This!
First, do some math. Write down (on paper, or in a spreadsheet) your calories eaten over the last 21 days. Average them. You might be aiming for 1200 a day, but I bet you will be surprised how much higher your real average is.
Only use cups/tablespoons to measure liquid. Otherwise you NEED to be using a food scale.
Drink lots of water on the off-chance you are retaining water for some reason.
Now for the math you just did. I'll use me as an example. I am aiming for 1500 calories. I also sometimes eat more on weekends. I, like you, don't typically 'go above maintenance' on a weekend. My actual average over the last 21 days is 1700 calories. That means instead of losing 1 lb a week I'd only be losing .5 lb a week. Add in some poor weighing/measuring, some water retention, boom no weight loss.
EVERY WEEK I do this 21 day exercise. If average calories consumed gets up to maintenance, I have a problem. If the math says I should have lost 3 lbs but only lost 2, I know I need to drink lots of water and get serious about accurately logging my food, because that's where the culprit is. When I am doing everything right, the math works.0 -
JustMissTracy wrote: »coolcoci_115 wrote: »
Hmmm......If you have your food numbers under control, I'd say then might you be overestimating your burn each day?...are you working out, and if yes, how are you determining your calorie burn? I'm not lecturing you, just trying to help you figure out where you need to adjust to get your numbers moving again. ...oo...and btw, if you're only eating 1200 a day, that's really low, I'd really increase that for your own sake.......I'm still losing weight, and eating 1400-1600 every day...I'm supposed to be at maintenance, but I haven't quite mastered it yet.
Oh no I don't mind the lecturing at all. I'm trying to figure out how to tackle this from any possible angle. I invested in a heart rate monitor that I wear around my chest. Even if I walk about at only a 3.5 mph (this is a fast walk for me) at a 1.0 to 2.0 incline on treadmill for 2 miles I burn 400-425 calories because most of that time I spend above 85% HR max. That is an approximately 30-34 minute workout, although I do try to jog for about 0.75 miles of that distance at a speed of 5.0 - 6.0 mph.
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And like i said measuring with cups and spoons is NOT accurate. And maybe open your diary so members here can help you any further
Here a good example and it can be off by hundreds of calories.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
But up to you OP. Wish you good luck.
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I have not read through every single post in this thread, but the bottom line is that you are not actually achieving a deficit.
You are either eating more than you think you are, or burning less than you think you are, or more likely, a combination of these things.
You can raise all the objections that you want about how you are weighing your food, or not using sauces, or not "binging" on the weekends, or this, that, or the other.
In the final analysis, whatever you are practicing right now is not resulting in a deficit for you.
So, you need to consume less, burn more, or better, a combination of these two things.
Go back and read carefully the advice that others have given you about improving logging accuracy, and being more consistent with your calorie intake and calorie burns throughout the week.
If you are not already doing this, start keeping a spreadsheet and graphing your averages (intake, burn, weight). Watch the trend lines (not only for your weight, but for calorie intake and calorie burns) and then work on improving the trend lines. Accurate records will help you to analyze exactly where you can make improvements over time.
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coolcoci_115 wrote: »OP, you're 2lb a week goal is too aggressive. Your body regulates to homeostasis to protect itself and that's likely where you're at now. Shoot for the calories for a 1lbs a week loss based on your stats and activity for awhile and BE CONSISTENT. If you're straying over the weekend, you're NOT being consistent.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'm no longer shooting for a 2lb week loss goal (that would be ideal, but has never happened for me). I just want to be loosing 1 lb consistently. I agree on the consistency part, although this makes living a normal enjoyable life super difficult as I dread having to be out of the house during a time when I know I have to eat something, or invited out for social events with friends.
People do this all the time. Do you think that we successful losers stay home and do not socialize or eat foods that we don't prepare? The vast majority of us have figured out how to change our habits *long term* for successful weight loss and management while still living very normal lives.0 -
BurnWithBarn2015 wrote: »And like i said measuring with cups and spoons is NOT accurate.
Here a good example and it can be off by hundreds of calories.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
But up to you OP. Wish you good luck.
Please see prior posts where I state that I weigh everything with my food scale except for 1 tablespoon of dressing on chicken, and 1 tablespoon of coffee creamer in my morning coffee0 -
i see one egg
2 clementines
tsp of dressing
So that is not weighing
See video what the difference can be for a tsp of dressing or really weighing it.
Specially dressing is calorie dense so important to weigh and not to do it by the tsp.
and i read your prior posts
we all try to help here
If you strongly believe you are in a deficit than you have to go to a doctor than there is something wrong with you.
Because EVERYBODY who eat in a deficit lose weight.
But out of here lol
wish you luck OP you can do it.0 -
blues4miles wrote: »
Now for the math you just did. I'll use me as an example. I am aiming for 1500 calories. I also sometimes eat more on weekends. I, like you, don't typically 'go above maintenance' on a weekend. My actual average over the last 21 days is 1700 calories. That means instead of losing 1 lb a week I'd only be losing .5 lb a week. Add in some poor weighing/measuring, some water retention, boom no weight loss.
EVERY WEEK I do this 21 day exercise. If average calories consumed gets up to maintenance, I have a problem. If the math says I should have lost 3 lbs but only lost 2, I know I need to drink lots of water and get serious about accurately logging my food, because that's where the culprit is. When I am doing everything right, the math works.
Math is king, totally agree. I just averaged last 10 days (did not do full 21 days because there are some inaccuracies on some of those days prior), the average is 1301 kcal/day.
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I'm can understand how frustrating this is for you. I read through most of the advice you were given and I didn't see where anyone noticed this. Have you checked your sodium intake? Sodium can make you retain water which will make you feel a little blotted and will move the scale in the wrong direction. And are you eating back some (1/4 to 1/2) of the calories you burn during exercise? If not this could also cause your body to hold or even gain weight because you can end up with a negative intake for too many days.0
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Try adding in 1 more fruit or vegetable at each meal. Calculate it in your calories, but think of it the way weight watchers encourages their adherents to think of it: produce is free. I think you'll see a lot more progress if you up your fiber intake.
Also (and this is SUUUUPER critical here, but I say this only to help), those frozen mixed veggies are not that great. Corn and peas are more like starches than actual vegetables, and carrots are high in sugar for a vegetable so your only great veggie in there is the green beans. I'm not saying don't eat the corn, carrots and peas, just try to get a whole serving every day of leafy greens, broccoli/cauliflower/asparagus-type veggies, or squash. They're powerhouses and you deserve their help.0 -
1. you do not care how much you weigh, you care about losing fat
2. you are strength training, putting on muscle, this balances weight on scale from fat loss
3. you are probably underestimating your caloric intake
4. you are trying to eat too little as people have said
5. weight loss often happens in "whooshes" when working out
6. what body measurements do you take? You should be using a tape measure and calipers once a week, as well as taking progress photos. Scale weight is only one data point, and an unreliable and fickle one at that.0 -
But the ADA (American Diabetes Association) actually recommends it to keep insulin sensitivity in control.fnoblebrown wrote: »Lose the artificial sweeteners. They screw with your insulin sensitivity, and mess up your metabolism.
Fasted cardio doesn't boost fat burn any more significantly that doing cardio after eating.Shock your system with some intermittent fasting, and try things like fasted cardio to boost your fat burn.
Building muscle in deficit is unlikely for most and lifting weights works more on retention of muscle and strength rather than the over exaggerated EPOC.Lift weights - and lift heavy. Heavy resistance training builds muscle and burns more fat over time.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I know you are a moderator but.... I have T2 diabetes/metabolic disorder and the ADA (or CDA in my case) guidelines give some VERY bad advice for diabetics. Using artificial sweeteners as a method to control insulin? Sorry, no. Diet can completely alleviate T2 diabetic symptoms but accurate information on how to do that is nowhere to be found from diabetic associations. There's quite a bit of information out there that organizations like the ADA/CDA conveniently ignore. (Also, why replace sugar with artificial sugars? Just skip both.) Precautionary Principle is no longer employed, if it ever was, and now just about everything is deemed safe until proven otherwise. Hard to prove otherwise when most people just disregard information that goes against what they personally want to believe and food (or non-food, as is the case with artificial sweeteners) processors have a lot of financial influence.
I'm no fitness expert (obviously) but there is research out there that supports the benefits of exercising in a fasted state. So I don't think you should make a statement that it necessarily doesn't. I would think there's ambiguous information on the issue so no conclusions one way or the other should be made. And it might vary by person of course.
Absolutely agree with your last statement.0 -
BurnWithBarn2015 wrote: »i see one egg
2 clementines
tsp of dressing
So that is not weighing
See video what the difference can be for a tsp of dressing or really weighing it.
Specially dressing is calorie dense so important to weigh and not to do it by the tsp.
and i read your prior posts
we all try to help here
If you strongly believe you are in a deficit than you have to go to a doctor than there is something wrong with you.
Because EVERYBODY who eat in a deficit lose weight.
But out of here lol
wish you luck OP you can do it.
I attempted to add dressing by weight and found that I was adding a lot more than the 1 tablespoon measured, thought it would be safer to go by volume.
I do not weigh my clementines, would I do this with skin peeled or not peeled.
Even though egg is not weighed, and I see no nutritional facts that mention weight of hardboiled egg, eggs are very consistent in size and shape.
I understand that you are trying to help, but this is being just a wee bit nit picky to the point of being impractical. Either way I will try and measure these things to see if they make such a huge difference as you say.
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Just throwing these out there.
What are you drinking for hydration? Is it only the coffee and bottle of water? I ask because some of the weight may be related to sodium-water weight balance.
If you've been logging your weight for a month (daily weights would give better data points, but that's me), take those numbers, add them up, and compare them to the total of calories you've eaten. It's possible you're not burning as many calories as MFP is saying. Figuring it out with your own numbers can get you a starting of point of what your maintenance calories are. Myself, I suggest getting an activity tracker like a Fitbit, Nike Fuel band, Jawbone Up, Misfit, etc. and wear it to find out what it says your daily calorie burn is.0 -
I have the exact same issue.. I could NOT lose weight at 1400-1600 calories on the USDA diet ( like the one you show) I stuck to it for 16 months, flogged on by the RD every month..she just shrugged when I showed her how unsuccessful I was!! ( and no..I wasn't sloppy- I was was precise, weighed everything, yada yada, got exercise daily 365 days a year…. not until I went to cutting out all sugars, and dropping rice, breads, crackers, (carbs) etc did I lose 29 pounds in 4 months. I am 5'2', with metabolic issues from DECADES of TRUSTING the "balanced" diet pushed by RDs and the health teams.
Avoiding fats (or keeping to just 10% and going for the 'skinny' low fat foods denies your body fats it needs.)
SURE many people can lose on 1200, or lifting and running a lot, using weights.. they are good for a lot of other health aspects…but you can't count on it to do anything but raise your hunger to compensate. (your body figures it out quick that more demand on muscles means more food needed)
I support idontwantto.. BECAUSE she is telling you about low carb, which may be exactly what is needed. you show a lot of sugar in your diet ( little oranges, low fat yogurt are loaded with sugar etc, not enough real nutrition.)
You said: "but most importantly the brain which can only run on glucose"
Untrue, it is NOT "only"….. This is where all medical training does NOT teach that the brain runs very well on very low carb, and it runs equally well, or better, on ketones…so once you have adapted your body to a low carb diet..( your brain needs a little bit of carbs aka glucose ..easily reached on LC…but there is a lot of information..not taught in med school…that shows the brain does really well with a healthy fats ( butter/olive oil/coconut oil/fatty meats) in a MODERATE protein diet…
So lots of veggies, lots of butter, and protein <70 gr. a day ( Livestrong.com recommends that men requires56, women 46..that is all we NEED ..but what Americans eat is way, way higher.
and LC diets are blamed as 'high protein'..they are not. the real secret of LCHF is you are NOT hungry, enjoy rich foods: coffee with heavy cream, butter on scrambled eggs and cheese, avacado, chicken, steak, bacon, tons of veggies, some berries in whipped cream..
So you can keep doing what you have been doing, and be frustrated beyond belief..or JUST MAYBE…look into a different approach. ( NOT juicing or all fruit/bannanass, HCG drops, Jenny Craig.. There are many studies, medical reports, and books which confirm that most of us function well on very limited carbs. See "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate" by Drs Volek & Phonney..simply check it out..and think for yourself.
+++++++++++
the little canned veggies shown have almost NO real food value at all.....buy and cook fresh whole veggies, steam them, and have with your protein. Eat more string cheese and real cheese, buy full fat yogurt ( White Mountain is great- no added sugars, and good for gut health.)0 -
ChristieisReady wrote: »Try adding in 1 more fruit or vegetable at each meal. Calculate it in your calories, but think of it the way weight watchers encourages their adherents to think of it: produce is free. I think you'll see a lot more progress if you up your fiber intake.
Also (and this is SUUUUPER critical here, but I say this only to help), those frozen mixed veggies are not that great. Corn and peas are more like starches than actual vegetables, and carrots are high in sugar for a vegetable so your only great veggie in there is the green beans. I'm not saying don't eat the corn, carrots and peas, just try to get a whole serving every day of leafy greens, broccoli/cauliflower/asparagus-type veggies, or squash. They're powerhouses and you deserve their help.
Okay yes, some actually practical advice. I could totally go for some asparagus. Or just buy strictly green beans. Maybe I can have another serving of fruit for a snack0 -
nichole_finley wrote: »I'm can understand how frustrating this is for you. I read through most of the advice you were given and I didn't see where anyone noticed this. Have you checked your sodium intake? Sodium can make you retain water which will make you feel a little blotted and will move the scale in the wrong direction. And are you eating back some (1/4 to 1/2) of the calories you burn during exercise? If not this could also cause your body to hold or even gain weight because you can end up with a negative intake for too many days.
I do not eat any of the calories I burn back. I figured this is bonus weight loss on top of calorie deficit from food. I do not monitor sodium intake, but my guess is that it is probably higher than I want it to be.0
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