Weight Loss Plateau within first two months?

Hey there - I am back after a long hiatus. Like you - had success on here before. Back to doing what I know works. I read through...and you know the good tips that others have given...so I won't intentionally repeat those. Here are my thoughts: I didn't look at your water...but at least 10 cups should be minimal. make sure you are taking your vitamins and getting your good omega 3's. Use a TDEE calculator like Fitness Frog - or whatever you prefer. Love that you aren't eating the miniscule amount of calories that would shut down your metabolism that is often recommended on here. Wishing you much success. Measuring by ounces/grams...can be a game changer. (oops...that was a repeat...)

hiyomi wrote: »

Hi everyone, I am female, starting weight was 281, current weight 273.6, age 23, lightly active and exercise about 3-5 days a week for the last month now. The first two-three weeks of dieting and exercise I lost about 7 lbs, which was great! And since the beginning of March, I have NOT been able to move past 274 lbs. It has stayed there and will not budge no matter what I do. I track my calories very well, I eat a little more on weekends but never go past 2,500 calories, during weekdays I eat about 1600 calories and exercise about 200 calories or so off. At first I was only dieting and lost the 7 lbs, but then it stopped so about two weeks ago I added exercise to hopefully lose more weight, but I still have not seen any change what so ever! I do track my calories honestly, I have been on this road many times of losing weight and tracking calories and exercising and have never had this problem of plateauing so early into my weight loss! I have lost about 30 lbs in two and a half months with the same method I'm currently doing of eating 1600 and exercising 200-300 a calories a day, but this time the scale won't budge! I have a bad habit of gaining/losing weight over the last three years or so, but I've never had a stall of weight loss like this that I can recall....Its been about a month already...Any tips, info, anything?! Thanks for any help.

Hey girl,

Just peeping your diary from the last two weeks I could see your problem was pretty clear.

Almost every single day you are eating out at restaurants/fast-food joints, and assuming that the "serving size calories" they post for what you order and eat (side of fries, waffle, etc) is what you are actually consuming.

Going backwards in time, imma call you out a little:
Today you had chick-fil-a waffle fries order - which could have been served to you with 100+ more calories. The nuggets could have more calories.
Day before - same thing with Burger King's fries, and your egg and cheese breakfast sandwich.
Tuesday - again with the fries and nuggets. You don't actually know the calories there.
Monday was all over the place - are you sure you counted correctly?
Saturday and Sunday - again with the fries and burger.
Friday - same thing...burger and fries at fuddruckers, with an arbitrary service of "cheese sauce"

The chick-fil-a seems like something that you eat almost daily, and is likely very, very, variable. You don't know how many calories you're getting from that. You also have lots of movie popcorn w/ no brand...you don't know what your actual calories are from that, it seems. You also have "egg and cheese" sandwiches entered that you don't actually know how many calories you're consuming in those.

I am afraid to say I don't think you're counting as accurately as you think you are, from the looks of your diary.

What do you think?

Mapalicious wrote: »

hiyomi wrote: »

Hi everyone, I am female, starting weight was 281, current weight 273.6, age 23, lightly active and exercise about 3-5 days a week for the last month now. The first two-three weeks of dieting and exercise I lost about 7 lbs, which was great! And since the beginning of March, I have NOT been able to move past 274 lbs. It has stayed there and will not budge no matter what I do. I track my calories very well, I eat a little more on weekends but never go past 2,500 calories, during weekdays I eat about 1600 calories and exercise about 200 calories or so off. At first I was only dieting and lost the 7 lbs, but then it stopped so about two weeks ago I added exercise to hopefully lose more weight, but I still have not seen any change what so ever! I do track my calories honestly, I have been on this road many times of losing weight and tracking calories and exercising and have never had this problem of plateauing so early into my weight loss! I have lost about 30 lbs in two and a half months with the same method I'm currently doing of eating 1600 and exercising 200-300 a calories a day, but this time the scale won't budge! I have a bad habit of gaining/losing weight over the last three years or so, but I've never had a stall of weight loss like this that I can recall....Its been about a month already...Any tips, info, anything?! Thanks for any help.

Hey girl,

Just peeping your diary from the last two weeks I could see your problem was pretty clear.

Almost every single day you are eating out at restaurants/fast-food joints, and assuming that the "serving size calories" they post for what you order and eat (side of fries, waffle, etc) is what you are actually consuming.

Going backwards in time, imma call you out a little:
Today you had chick-fil-a waffle fries order - which could have been served to you with 100+ more calories. The nuggets could have more calories.
Day before - same thing with Burger King's fries, and your egg and cheese breakfast sandwich.
Tuesday - again with the fries and nuggets. You don't actually know the calories there.
Monday was all over the place - are you sure you counted correctly?
Saturday and Sunday - again with the fries and burger.
Friday - same thing...burger and fries at fuddruckers, with an arbitrary service of "cheese sauce"

The chick-fil-a seems like something that you eat almost daily, and is likely very, very, variable. You don't know how many calories you're getting from that. You also have lots of movie popcorn w/ no brand...you don't know what your actual calories are from that, it seems. You also have "egg and cheese" sandwiches entered that you don't actually know how many calories you're consuming in those.

I am afraid to say I don't think you're counting as accurately as you think you are, from the looks of your diary.

What do you think?

This is pretty much it right here; eating out really changes your margin of error. One employee can fill up the container of fries 3/4ths of the way, while another could load 1 and a half servings in the same container. Packaged food items also vary greatly. Sometimes my snack bars are 10 grams more than the nutritional facts and it adds 50 extra calories. I know you're trying your best to be diligent, but eating out that much and looking up the nutritional info online isn't really being meticulous about it. For that calorie intake weight should be flying off you. I guarantee that if you get tighter with your logging, which may mean not eating out for a week or so, you will see weight loss.

Eating out less as well will mean you cook more at home so can incorporate lots more fresh fruit and vegetables in your diet which will be great

hiyomi wrote: »

Okay, I'm not saying my diary is 100% accurate, but I am saying, I have lost weight like this before MANY times. MANY MANY times. I have lost over 100 lbs on and off during my last three years with MFP. The most I lost in a single stretch was 35 lbs. I'm saying that I have eaten this way before, exercised this way before and have lost weight with no issue what so ever. I know I eat out a lot, I know each place can very on how much they serve you, but either way, I have still done it in the past and have successfully lost weight with basically the exact same way I'm doing now. So my question is what is different this time? I would understand if this was my first time, and I could say "yeah your right, maybe im underestimating and not losing", but like I said, I've done this before successfully so many times, and I'm still failing to see what is different this time than all the other times I have dieted, and exercised. (I gained the weight back after I stopped using MFP for awhile.) I know eating out frequently is an issue I have, I'm not denying it at all, but I've been able to lose weight while eating out just as much before...(Which isn't good, but still!) Why did it change so suddenly?

Because it is easy to make errors in either direction. The reality unless something is medically wrong, you aren't logging something correctly.

Also, it could be the higher intake of simple carbs (not good for satiety) and sodium (holy water retention!). Focus on higher protein and fiber meals for breakfast to start and see if that makes a difference. Eating out a lot can mess up accurate logging. Not only that, its just not good for your heart to be eating like that. My brother had 2 heart attacks just before and after his 40th birthday because he didn't care about what he ate. Yes, you can eat whatever you want and still lose weight if you are in a calorie deficit, but there are other consequences.

More meals at home and a food scale might be the ticket.