Losing one pound a month...no matter what

tmcpeake4
tmcpeake4 Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am 5'6, and weigh 166. I've lost 112 over the past 2 years usingbMFP. For about a year, I have only lost about 1 pound a month. I worked with a nutritionist and she set my calories at 1700-I have an active job, and work out (run, instantly, lift, yoga, swim, bike) 6 days a week. I try for about 1500-1700 calories a day and don't eat back exercise calories. I have gone down to 1400 at times, but had headaches and slept poorly. Plus, there was no change in weight.

I hired a trainer about 6 months ago. She has been measuring me, and I am still losing inches. Slowly. She is recommending a low-carb/high protein diet, and to stop counting calories.

I would like another 6-10 pounds off. I'm 42 and this is the healthiest I have ever been. I started at a size 26 and now I am a 10/12.

Go low carb? Just start living and testing out my new healthy knowledge?

The mental part of losing weight, for me, has been much harder than the physical!
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Replies

  • amyk0202
    amyk0202 Posts: 666 Member
    I think a pound a month is better than nothing. Personally, when I stop counting calories, I regain. There is no magic to low carb eating that's going to make you lose weight if your calories aren't right. If you want to eat low carb, I would still count calories to make certain you are within your range. It could be that eating higher protein & fat & less carbs would make you feel more satisfied at 1400 & that will help you break through. It wouldn't hurt to try.
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited February 2016
    If you are losing one pound a month and you want 6-10 more pounds off, won't doing what you are doing now and waiting 6-10 months (or a bit longer) put you at your goal?

    Why change what's been working for you?
  • tmcpeake4
    tmcpeake4 Posts: 8 Member
    I should probably add that part of my frustration is that I've been stalled for about 3 months. Holding steady at 166, with changing work outs and calorie goals. High protein is what my trainer thinks might restart things. My doctor thinks that this is it for me, and that I should be content where I am.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    You're eating 1700... switch to 1600.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
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  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    I would try eating back half your exercise calories too. if you are that active you are most likely netting really low calories.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    I would try eating back half your exercise calories too. if you are that active you are most likely netting really low calories.

    No...
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    what do you mean no? with MFP you are supposed to eat back at least half your exercise calories. if she is really that active then she is probably netting less than 1200 calories a day,she stated she has an active job and works out 6 days a week. I know for many people once they started eating back some of their calories they started losing again, especially the really active one.she also stated she tries to have between 1500-1700 calories,so if she eats 1500 and is active with work and exercise its possible she can be netting under 1200. I mean yeah it could be she is eating more than she thinks, or something else.
  • Rocknut53
    Rocknut53 Posts: 1,794 Member
    tmcpeake4 wrote: »
    I should probably add that part of my frustration is that I've been stalled for about 3 months. Holding steady at 166, with changing work outs and calorie goals. High protein is what my trainer thinks might restart things. My doctor thinks that this is it for me, and that I should be content where I am.

    I need to go to your doctor. A couple years ago when I went in for my annual physical I weighed 170. I'm 5'6" as well and my doctor told me I was obese. When I explained to her that I had lost 20 pounds, her attitude changed and she told me to keep up the good work.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    It's not unusual to lose pounds and inches at different times & different rates.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    I mean yeah it could be she is eating more than she thinks, or something else.

    i would bank on it
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    what do you mean no? with MFP you are supposed to eat back at least half your exercise calories. if she is really that active then she is probably netting less than 1200 calories a day,she stated she has an active job and works out 6 days a week. I know for many people once they started eating back some of their calories they started losing again, especially the really active one.she also stated she tries to have between 1500-1700 calories,so if she eats 1500 and is active with work and exercise its possible she can be netting under 1200. I mean yeah it could be she is eating more than she thinks, or something else.

    I mean that if she's not losing at 1700, she won't lose by eating more. Because science.
  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
    If your doctor says you're good, you should probably listen to them.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    what do you mean no? with MFP you are supposed to eat back at least half your exercise calories. if she is really that active then she is probably netting less than 1200 calories a day,she stated she has an active job and works out 6 days a week. I know for many people once they started eating back some of their calories they started losing again, especially the really active one.she also stated she tries to have between 1500-1700 calories,so if she eats 1500 and is active with work and exercise its possible she can be netting under 1200. I mean yeah it could be she is eating more than she thinks, or something else.

    I mean that if she's not losing at 1700, she won't lose by eating more. Because science.

    ok she said she wasnt losing on 1400 or 1500 either and had headaches and slept poorly. yes,you should lose the less you eat. but that is not always the case. if you dont eat enough your metabolism can slow down, I would think that it would be the same if you are causing a large deficit through exercise,but then again the op doesnt state what her job is or what days she does what exercise and for how long. so that is another thing that would be helpful
  • tmcpeake4
    tmcpeake4 Posts: 8 Member
    I am a middle school band director and exercise an hour a day, using a chest strap heart rate monitor. I don't eat my exercise calories back, so I don't worry too much about what that number is. I weigh and measure my food. Drink only water and tea. My goals are to lose .5-1 pound a week, and my activity level is 'lightly active'. Recommended calories are 1750. I do about 1600-1700.

    I'm sure everyone *says* that they don't overestimate calories in, but I have lost 112 pounds, so I must be doing (or did) something right along the way :) right???
  • tmcpeake4
    tmcpeake4 Posts: 8 Member
    edited February 2016


    My doctor believes that your body is comfortable at the weight you had in college age years. I am about 50 pounds lower than that. She knows it is *possible* to lose more, but maybe not healthly, practical or sustainable. She had an eating disorder, so is sensitive to taking things too far.

    I get that, but I have this goal, and have come so far and I am so close!

  • sympha01
    sympha01 Posts: 942 Member
    tmcpeake4 wrote: »
    I'm sure everyone *says* that they don't overestimate calories in, but I have lost 112 pounds, so I must be doing (or did) something right along the way :) right???

    I agree with you, fwiw. You've been doing it right. I have lost 168ish lbs with MFP over a few years so I get where you're coming from with that. I'm also about your height and weight and age.

    I'm a little confused though as to whether you're saying you're frustrated that you're not losing faster (i.e., 1 lb a month is definitely happening but you want it to be 2 lbs a month), or that you are not losing weight at all (you are "stalled"). Not the same thing at all.

    My guess is that you mean are used to losing weight faster, and you want to keep doing so. My advice is to get used to a slower rate of loss and chalk the next few months up to learning to ease into maintenance. No matter what anyone says about a "lifestyle change" when you're losing weight you will likely find that maintenance is a different game. And in my experience, it took some time to make the mental adjustment -- and commitment -- to it. The truth is that, for me, as a formerly obese person who REALLY FREAKIN' LOVES FOOD maintenance will always be something of an effort and something I'm going to have to work at it. With all the habit changes I built up over my years working on weight loss, that effort is not so huge as the effort to lose was, but it's a big mental adjustment.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    tmcpeake4 wrote: »
    I am a middle school band director and exercise an hour a day, using a chest strap heart rate monitor. I don't eat my exercise calories back, so I don't worry too much about what that number is. I weigh and measure my food. Drink only water and tea. My goals are to lose .5-1 pound a week, and my activity level is 'lightly active'. Recommended calories are 1750. I do about 1600-1700.

    I'm sure everyone *says* that they don't overestimate calories in, but I have lost 112 pounds, so I must be doing (or did) something right along the way :) right???

    have you reset your calories?

    as you get smaller, the amount of calories your body needs decreases.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    I personally would try something new. You've been counting calories for so long. It's good to learn new tools. Changing things up can help, for whatever reasons-- physical or mental. :)
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    What works to lose 112 lbs doesn't always work for losing that last 10 or 20 no matter what your weight.

    You are closer to your maintenance calories so a couple of olives here, a taste of what you are cooking there all add up over a week or month.
    I know you weigh and measure, but really it does come down to adding the 2 olives, weighing the slice of bread from the middle of the loaf, because it is bigger than the end one and the label is a batch average.

    Unless your doctor has missed a medical condition, it is down to your logging.

    I can't see how lowering your carbs would help except for the drop in water weight will give you a lower scale weight. If you are willing to adopt it as a life style fine, but just to see the scale move, I can't see the advantage, medical conditions aside.

    Not logging at this point doesn't make sense to me, especially as weight loss is slower than expected, unless you are happy with body measurements.

    And yes, re run your stats at the weight you are now. MFP doesn't automatically adjust your calorie goal as you lose weight. Good catch @callsitlikeiseeit

    Cheers, h.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    the less you have to lose the slower its going to be
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    middlehaitch wrote: »
    And yes, re run your stats at the weight you are now. MFP doesn't automatically adjust your calorie goal as you lose weight. Good catch @callsitlikeiseeit

    Cheers, h.

    thats why i had to drop mine from 1500 to 1450.

    i was not pleased.

    LOLOL
  • mom2my4boys
    mom2my4boys Posts: 148 Member
    Let me tell you a little story...
    I'm a 5'4/33yr old female that spent 8-10months loosing 1 lb a month, after having lost close to 100lbs over the course of 2 1/2yrs. Then i stalled for a couple months. In the beginning i set my settings to sedentary and never ate back exercise calories. I ended up with dry skin and hair, hangry, fustrated that it was SO much work to loose 0.25lbs/week. I was doing atleast an hour of running a day and weight training 2x/week ontop of a physical job and taking care of my large family.

    I took a month long diet break. (December) Yes, the scale jumped up about 5 lbs. (Glycogen/water? I'm not sure) I tried not to panic and just focused on being healthy. Early January i got a fitbit. I quickly realized that i was burning on average 3000 calories a day. Netting very low calories, sometimes negative calories. I connected my fitbit with myfitnesspal and started eating what it was recommending. (About 2200cals/day) I've lost about a pound a week since doing this. I've made more progress in the past 5 weeks than i did in 6 months last year!

    I know what they say about eating more never results in more weight lost, just wanted to share my story with you in hopes it can help you. And no, i don't work for fitbit either :wink: Congrats on your weight loss so far, thats an amazing accomplishment!
  • trjjoy
    trjjoy Posts: 666 Member
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    the less you have to lose the slower its going to be

    No. All she has to do is to make sure that she's eating at an appropriate deficit for the weight she's at. Our bodies need fewer calories at lower body weights than at higher body weights. So she probably needs to adjust her calorie limits and eat less.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    A trainer is not a registered dietician

    She is regurgitating the low carb maxim that is the current majority view in press and society ...unsurprising but not necessarily helpful

    It's just a way to hit your calorie defecit

    For someone who is clearly achieving such a small real like cut of around 100 calories a day I would personally suggest focusing on accurate logging of food by weighing and double checking
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited February 2016
    I would take a diet break for 2-4 weeks, eat at maintenance ...calculate your TDEE on Scooby

    You will probably gain 5lbs or so in water weight ...ride it out

    Then reset your calorie goal on MFP and log properly ...no measuring, just weighing. A cut of 0.5lbs per week

    Read this: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    Scooby says 2000 at lightly active and 2300 at moderately active ...
  • maddu87
    maddu87 Posts: 4 Member
    edited February 2016
    Maybe try new workouts that burn more calories? High impact aerobics? If you suffer from headaches, watching what carbs you eat would help.
  • lemonychild
    lemonychild Posts: 654 Member
    Try maintaining for at little a while, ur leptin levels are prolly depleted if u been in a deficit for over a year
  • WendyLaubach
    WendyLaubach Posts: 518 Member
    "I mean that if she's not losing at 1700, she won't lose by eating more. Because science."

    Couldn't agree more.

    I also don't understand why a doctor would say that 166 is some kind of inevitable position for life for someone who's 5'6". (That might be true psychologically, but physiologically it's balderdash.) There could be all kinds of reasons why your weight loss has stalled: you may be eating more calories than you think, or your body may have become so accustomed to your exercise routine that it's no longer burning as many calories as it used to. Or, if 1400 calories was an unpleasant grind for you, you might still try 1500 or 1600 and see what happens.

    Or, you might find that low-carb is an easy way to cut calories and still feel full. Some people do report that.

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