Having some issues after a year of mainanence!

Wade_74 · February 2016

In 2013 I was 375 pounds and I lost 155 pounds over the next 1.5 years or so.. I kept maintenance weight for a long time, around a year or so.. I was eating 2500 calories a day.. at 6'4 my weight was 220 and I was good to go.. Thanksgiving 2015, I gained around 10 pounds and took it off by Christmas without much issue... I ate at 1750 a day and all was well. I exercise 5-6 times a week, around 400 burn a day.. on weekends I have between 700-1000 burn both Sat/Sunday.. I usually eat a little more around 10-20% into burn and see gains on Monday.. I got down to 222 right before Christmas.. then Xmas hit and I gained 10 pounds since then and it's not really budging.. at all.. I've been eating at 1750 like before, I will lose like 3-4 pounds but then it goes back up. I drink 8 glasses of water, I weigh all my food using a food scale.. I'm doing all of the same things that I did to lose the original weight, and the 10 pounds in Thanksgiving, but it's not working anymore. I've exercised for around 2 years now.. The only thing I can think of is because of all of the exercise, maybe I am actually eating too little after looking at the TDEE websites. So I upped my calories starting today to 2000 a day.. Usually I eat around 10-20% of my burn back.. Any idea what might be going on? Why I am not losing like I did before? I realize that I'm only 7 pounds away from my original goal, but it's been yoyoing for almost 2 months now. It should be back to normal.. My jeans fit tight, and I don't own a bigger size and don't want to, and I'm tired of it. LOL..

Francl27 · February 2016

I don't know what to tell you. Even eating 2500 (and 400 exercise calories), you should still have lost weight.

IMO you should go see a doctor because the numbers are just not adding up - I'm a 37yo 135 pounds 5'5" woman and I maintain at 2200/2300 a day with the same amount of exercise as you (counting exercise in that though).

Wade_74 · February 2016

Yea, that definitely confirms that I am probably not eating enough.. What's odd is that I have lost many times on 1750 cals before, even with all that exercise, I will up it for a week and see what happens.. I appreciate the advice though, Seeing that you're maintaining at 135 pounds and eating 2200 cals means I definitely need to eat more. Thanks for the input!

nxd10 · February 2016

What are your macros like? In the winter, I tend to like carbs - they can creep up to 60% or more of my calories. I have to keep them below 50% to maintain easily and 40% to lose. If you've been very heavy, you're probably a little insulin resistant and you will be more prone to this than some other people.

But unlike Francis, I am 5'10" and 56 and I maintain on 1440 net (I usually eat 1600-2000 when you add in exercise).

steph2strong · February 2016

I know it's all about calories and the macro breakdown shouldn't really matter but for some reason it really seems to matter for me. If my Carb's are over 50% I hold on to weight, if carbs are 40% or less I drop it instantly. Also, after a while of doing the same type of exercise my body completely got used to it. Once I switched things up I dropped weight again.

LivingtheLeanDream · February 2016

For a guy if you are accurately logging and 1750 was all you were eating that wasn't enough. I'm only a small fry and eat way more than that to maintain (can lose on 1800).
Sometimes weight loss does stall, just be more vigilent at logging and I'm sure you will soon lose those few pounds.

Great job on your loss though, excellent job!

toe1226 · February 2016

I wouldn't take the caloric needs of other people into account when determining your numbers....weight loss takes time. If you increase your calories, you definitely won't lose weight any faster, not to say you shouldn't increase your calories; just to say that if you do, don't expect that to be the "fix."

I would do what you are doing for a few more weeks, make sure you are vigilant about tracking and weighing your food on a scale, and then come back with a little more data if you are still budged.

Wade_74 · February 2016

I've always eaten high carbs and i lost without any issues.. between 40-60%.. So, I don't think that is the problem.. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to change it up for a week and see what happens though.. yesterday I upped my calories to 2000 for the first time (250 calories upped in one day jump), and lost .4 today, won't really know what happens until I see the big picture with more data, but so far so good. I'm almost at 1000 days straight of logging, and I started weighing food more precisely to make sure that wasn't the problem around 3 weeks ago, only found one snack was off by a little bit, everything else is logged and tracked.. Polar heart rate monitor for exercise, I know my numbers are good... usually that is the issues, over-estimating exercise or under estimating food.. but that is not my issue. Been thinking I was at a plateau maybe, but I did shake it up on Valentine's Day and eat around 3000 calories.. so maybe that will break it.

SIMA80 · February 2016

Eat more cherries!

siraidanpatrick · February 2016

You have hit a plateau in your dieting and exercising. That usually means your metabolism is slowed down and thus your body is not burning as much calories as it normally was before.

I would make an adjustment in your calorie intake. You want to push your metabolism into drive, so to speak.

This is how I'd do it:

I eat: 1250 calories/day to lose 2 pounds a week
Week 1: M/W/TH I would increase my intake of calories, perhaps 400 calories or so. T/F/S/S of that week, I would go back to my original intake.

On the days of my highest calorie intake, I would do HIIT at the gym. Cardio is important here! Running, swimming, rowing, etc., on these days will help you a lot.

I would weigh myself before doing this and record my initial weight. By the end of that week, I would weigh myself to get my final weight and check my progress. Also be sure to calibrate your bathroom scale!

Be sure to eat a lot more vegetables and drink plenty of water too...

Keep up your good work!

http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/10-tips-to-overcome-a-weight-loss-plateau/

http://www.m.webmd.com/diet/features/10-ways-to-move-beyond-a-weight-loss-plateau

5stringjeff · February 2016

I'm also 6'4", and 1750 per day is a good level for me to lose about 1 lb/week. So your calorie level seems pretty spot on. What kind of exercise are you doing?

briscogun · February 2016

I agree with some of the advice already listed here, but I think there are 2 ways to manage the plateau:

1) Watch your macros. 60% carbs is high, and not all calories are created equal. Even though a deficit is a deficit, some bodies react differently to different macros, and you've been at this for over 1,000 days. It's quite possible your body has changed in 3 years. Try to keep your carbs to 50% or less, and keep your protein up if possible. Then your workouts will have building blocks to make more muscle, which burns more calories while at rest. Speaking of workouts...

2) Switch up your workout routine. I try to mix mine up every 8 weeks or so. Your body will get used to the same repetitive exercises and you will see a diminishing return after a few months. Keep it fresh. Mix up weight training with cardio. Find a new activity that you may have always wanted to try, like swimming or biking or some other type of exercise/training.

Throw some new variables at your body and you will probably see some big initial jumps in weight loss within a week.

Good luck!

LivingtheLeanDream · February 2016

siraidanpatrick wrote: »

You have hit a plateau in your dieting and exercising. That usually means your metabolism is slowed down and thus your body is not burning as much calories as it normally was before.

I would make an adjustment in your calorie intake. You want to push your metabolism into drive, so to speak.

This is how I'd do it:

I eat: 1250 calories/day to lose 2 pounds a week
Week 1: M/W/TH I would increase my intake of calories, perhaps 400 calories or so. T/F/S/S of that week, I would go back to my original intake.

On the days of my highest calorie intake, I would do HIIT at the gym. Cardio is important here! Running, swimming, rowing, etc., on these days will help you a lot.

I would weigh myself before doing this and record my initial weight. By the end of that week, I would weigh myself to get my final weight and check my progress. Also be sure to calibrate your bathroom scale!

Be sure to eat a lot more vegetables and drink plenty of water too...

Keep up your good work!

http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/10-tips-to-overcome-a-weight-loss-plateau/

http://www.m.webmd.com/diet/features/10-ways-to-move-beyond-a-weight-loss-plateau

For a guy thats not enough - you will be losing muscle mass with that high a deficit...and by your profile photo you don't look as if you need to lose much...

Wade_74 · February 2016

Well, we will see what happens, I'm 3 pounds down pretty much since I made this post, but this is where it usually stops.. and bounces back up and where I have issues. Hopefully this time I will keep losing, this is the lowest I've been since December though, so its looking pretty good. Weight fluctuates a LOT and I am quite used to that.. it's the long term losses that I'm not seeing.. Maybe all the Valentine's Day yummy food shook things up a bit! Sima, cherries are yummy!

Jeff, I do weights on T/T/Sat and a little cardio.. and the other days I do some variation of Treadmill / Open Stride / Stationary Bike / Stairs and on weekends I do Hiking, Biking or Tennis and sometimes the gym.. I usually make sure I have around 400 burn a day, and I weekends its 600-1000 burn usually, I make up for it by eating more which is why I have crazy gains on Mondays.

5stringjeff · February 2016

Wade_74 wrote: »

Jeff, I do weights on T/T/Sat and a little cardio.. and the other days I do some variation of Treadmill / Open Stride / Stationary Bike / Stairs and on weekends I do Hiking, Biking or Tennis and sometimes the gym.. I usually make sure I have around 400 burn a day, and I weekends its 600-1000 burn usually, I make up for it by eating more which is why I have crazy gains on Mondays.

OK. I asked because I had to be careful about overestimating my weight lifting calories. I found I was estimating those calories too high, which meant I was eating too many exercise calories on those days. Something you might consider, though it seems like you're taking just about everything into consideration already. Good luck!

sbermud · February 2016

Wade_74 wrote: »

Yea, that definitely confirms that I am probably not eating enough.. What's odd is that I have lost many times on 1750 cals before, even with all that exercise, I will up it for a week and see what happens.. I appreciate the advice though, Seeing that you're maintaining at 135 pounds and eating 2200 cals means I definitely need to eat more. Thanks for the input!

sbermud · February 2016

Increasing calories to lose weight is silly.

ahoy_m8 · February 2016

Great job with your loss and maintenance! Has anything else changed in your life? E.g. A job change or anything else that might have changed your non-exercise activity level?

Having some issues after a year of mainanence!

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