Stuck at same weight

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amykate19
amykate19 Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been eating healthily and exercising since November and have lost 13lb but the past 4 weeks I have been stuck at the same weight. I weigh 120 or 121lb (depending what day/time I weigh myself. I am 5 ft 5 and eat between 1250-1330 calories a day, I exercise 5 times a week for an hour using an exercise dvd which combines cardio and strength. I am also fairly active in general, I work part time and have a toddler to run round after. Why has my weight loss stopped and what can I do to help? Just eat less? I want to lose another 3lb

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  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    It looks like your diary is closed. If you open it, you may get specific advice.

    In general: Are you using a food scale? Are you using "generic" or "homemade" entries from the database? Are you doing any "cheat days"?
  • katem78
    katem78 Posts: 101 Member
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    Congratulations on your effort! i think that your body has got used to the same routine all this time. You need to change something... change something in your workout routine...more cardio, hiit or more weights? i don't know.
    i think your body needs a change to start losing again!
    Reducing your calories a bit, not less than 1200 though might work as well.
    Good luck!
  • Darjaurhziva
    Darjaurhziva Posts: 28 Member
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    Maby you should add one more exercise day.
  • geministyle67
    geministyle67 Posts: 22 Member
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    120-121 sounds very thin already for someone 5'5" tall. If I were you I'd keep eating healthy and exercise and don't worry about what the scale says!
  • amykate19
    amykate19 Posts: 5 Member
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    I do homemade entries, I have a cheat evening once a week and tbh that keeps me sane, couldn't get rid of that! I am planning on starting running again once it's a bit lighter in the evening and using another dvd too. I was exercising 6 days a week but found that I was feeling drained, I will try cutting my calories though.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    amykate19 wrote: »
    I do homemade entries, I have a cheat evening once a week and tbh that keeps me sane, couldn't get rid of that! I am planning on starting running again once it's a bit lighter in the evening and using another dvd too. I was exercising 6 days a week but found that I was feeling drained, I will try cutting my calories though.

    As in, you use recipe builder to make your own foods? Or you are choosing "homemade" entries from the database?

    Are you logging your cheat evening? It's possible to have a cheat day or meal wipe out the deficit created during the rest of the week.
  • amykate19
    amykate19 Posts: 5 Member
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    I log the ingredients separately or just create a new recipe with the ingredients I use for meals or if I've made snack things etc. I don't always log cheat evening, sometimes I do but sometimes not, so would I have to get rid of cheat evening to lose weight?
  • erinc5
    erinc5 Posts: 329 Member
    edited February 2016
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    Are you measuring yourself in other ways? How clothes fit, how you look, etc?

    You are definitely a healthy weight - if I were you, I'd stop focusing on the scale and focus on measurements, bodyfat, etc... It just seems weird to be so hung up over 3 lbs... Perhaps a goal like losing half an inch or being able to fit into pants that you used to or getting visible abs or something like that would be a better goal?
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    edited February 2016
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    amykate19 wrote: »
    I log the ingredients separately or just create a new recipe with the ingredients I use for meals or if I've made snack things etc. I don't always log cheat evening, sometimes I do but sometimes not, so would I have to get rid of cheat evening to lose weight?

    If the cheat evening is erasing the deficit you're creating the rest of the week, you'll have to change *something* in order to lose weight.

    You need a calorie deficit to lose weight. If I were you, I would begin logging everything I ate (including the "cheats") so that I knew exactly what I was consuming. If it is the "cheats" that are causing the issue, you've got a couple of different options. You can eat less the rest of the week to make room for an evening of "cheats." You can reduce the number of calories you have on the "cheat evening," still going out of a deficit - but not so much that it wipes out what you're doing the rest of the week. Or you can stay on plan each day.

    Lots of people find the concept of a "cheat day" or "cheat meal" useful for sanity when losing weight. But at the end of the day, it's only going to work if you stay in a deficit.

    The closer you are to a healthy weight, the more accurate and consistent you have to be.
  • hectorh82
    hectorh82 Posts: 110 Member
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    hmm, seems your body has hit its platue.. if i spelled that right, now you need to build muscle on that 120 lb frame you have. i dont mean she hulk but 120 at your height i would be cautious to lose more weight. put on some lean muscle (your weight will go up but it will be healthy weight). if you dont want o build on your current frame then just maintain.. but lower i would not advise..
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    hectorh82 wrote: »
    hmm, seems your body has hit its platue.. if i spelled that right, now you need to build muscle on that 120 lb frame you have. i dont mean she hulk but 120 at your height i would be cautious to lose more weight. put on some lean muscle (your weight will go up but it will be healthy weight). if you dont want o build on your current frame then just maintain.. but lower i would not advise..

    While I don't get the specificity of the goal, 117 is a perfectly okay weight for a woman who is 5'5.
  • hectorh82
    hectorh82 Posts: 110 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    hectorh82 wrote: »
    hmm, seems your body has hit its platue.. if i spelled that right, now you need to build muscle on that 120 lb frame you have. i dont mean she hulk but 120 at your height i would be cautious to lose more weight. put on some lean muscle (your weight will go up but it will be healthy weight). if you dont want o build on your current frame then just maintain.. but lower i would not advise..

    While I don't get the specificity of the goal, 117 is a perfectly okay weight for a woman who is 5'5.

    3 lbs give or take depending on the day lol..
  • erinc5
    erinc5 Posts: 329 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    hectorh82 wrote: »
    hmm, seems your body has hit its platue.. if i spelled that right, now you need to build muscle on that 120 lb frame you have. i dont mean she hulk but 120 at your height i would be cautious to lose more weight. put on some lean muscle (your weight will go up but it will be healthy weight). if you dont want o build on your current frame then just maintain.. but lower i would not advise..

    While I don't get the specificity of the goal, 117 is a perfectly okay weight for a woman who is 5'5.

    Agreed. Maybe OP has been at 117 before and knows there is a difference in appearance between that and 120. I don't really see why the 3lbs matters for everyday life. Unless OP is aiming to lose those 3lbs for an upcoming beach vacation or special event, I don't get it. But, it is a perfectly healthy weight, so if that's what OP wants, then she'll have to drop the calories some more (or increase exercise) and tighten up on logging.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    hectorh82 wrote: »
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    hectorh82 wrote: »
    hmm, seems your body has hit its platue.. if i spelled that right, now you need to build muscle on that 120 lb frame you have. i dont mean she hulk but 120 at your height i would be cautious to lose more weight. put on some lean muscle (your weight will go up but it will be healthy weight). if you dont want o build on your current frame then just maintain.. but lower i would not advise..

    While I don't get the specificity of the goal, 117 is a perfectly okay weight for a woman who is 5'5.

    3 lbs give or take depending on the day lol..

    Exactly. 3 pounds is such a small amount I am confused as to why you would advise the OP to be "cautious" about losing more weight. 3 pounds lower and she would still be in a healthy BMI range. I don't understand why you are advising against it.
  • amykate19
    amykate19 Posts: 5 Member
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    I just have a target weight in mind and it's 3lb less than what I am, I've dropped a dress size but I can't actually see much difference in the mirror and I think if I lose more weight then I will see it. It's more in ny head I think. I think upping exercise is a better option cause I like eating, I an healthy the rest of the time but on my cheat night I like to enjoy a bar of chocolate and a glass if wine, that's my cheat or I have 2 pieces of toast or some crisps. I could eat less the other days though I guess
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    amykate19 wrote: »
    I just have a target weight in mind and it's 3lb less than what I am, I've dropped a dress size but I can't actually see much difference in the mirror and I think if I lose more weight then I will see it. It's more in ny head I think. I think upping exercise is a better option cause I like eating, I an healthy the rest of the time but on my cheat night I like to enjoy a bar of chocolate and a glass if wine, that's my cheat or I have 2 pieces of toast or some crisps. I could eat less the other days though I guess

    It's really unlikely that you will see a difference with three pounds. That isn't me telling you not to do it -- I think it's fine if you want to reach a certain goal. But I'm not sure it will give you what you want.

    Increasing your resistance training -- doing more strength -- may give you better results. I'm not sure what you are doing now, but I reached goal weight and still wasn't totally happy. I increased the resistance training and it made a huge difference.
  • bruhaha007
    bruhaha007 Posts: 333 Member
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    I just lost 4 lbs doing a 48 hour cleanse/fast. You might want to consider an intermittent fasting routine to see if you can break the cycle. Much of this is in the form of water weight but coupled with a clean diet it does move the needle over time.
  • geministyle67
    geministyle67 Posts: 22 Member
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    This is not directed at the OP, but I always cringe when I see weight/height ratio used as the only metric for what is healthy.

    I'm also 5'5" and at my most fit, weighed 150 pounds. Yep, you read that correctly. I always wondered how I could be a size 4 and be that "heavy". And how friends of mine who are the same height can weigh 125-135 and not look any smaller than me. Well, it turns out I have 119 pounds of lean body mass (everything but fat). Add 20% bodyfat to that and 143 pounds is about as low as I would ever want to be.

    The thing with BMI is that it kept telling me I was borderline "overweight" as a size 4. It messed with my head a little but I ignore it now and just go by how I look in the mirror.

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