Is it me or is it my body?
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Don't over-complicate things. You can do HIIT or IF if you want to. You do need to make sure you're eating enough fat for health, but if you're eating a balanced diet you're probably fine. At the end of the day, you just need to be in a calorie deficit.
Are you eating back exercise calories? Maybe you're overestimating those. You could decrease the percentage you eat back.
Weighing once a week means you only have 6 data points to work with (you said you've fluctuated for 6 weeks). You may have missed lower days within that time period. As you get closer to goal weight, you should be losing in smaller increments. Having a 5 pound fluctuation range isn't a big deal. Keep in mind that weight fluctuates. You should have a goal range, rather than weight. So maybe your goal weight is 180 and your range is 180-185. Yes, you want to get to 180, but it will may slow going getting there through the last 5 pounds.
Set your goal to lose .5 lb/wk. Log accurately (not just weighing your food, but making sure your choose accurate entries). Or, you could set it for 1 lb/wk to leave a larger margin of error. But, if you're accurately logging, you should be at .5 lb. You don't want to be at too large a deficit. I'm hoping you didn't do a crazy-low diet. That's not good for retaining your muscle mass.
Keep going. Keep a reasonable deficit. Eat a balanced diet for health. That's it.
Thank you for all of this advice! We try not to eat back exercise calories, but sometimes end up doing it anyway. I guess we'll just need to dial up the willpower in order not to do that, or set a defined limit (like never eating back more than 50% of them). Willpower seems to be the tough one in that respect!
I think we'll probably scale back the weight-loss goal to 1 lb/week, as everyone seems to agree on this (and it seems a safer bet than 0.5 lb, as I can't be sure of how accurate the estimates in the MFP database are). The trick will be stepping up exercise at the same time (or convincing my partner). Definitely seems like a case of needing both at the same time!0 -
This might be of interest - it argues that it's common to go through periods in which weight loss stops, only to resume again if yo stick it out. greatist.com/live/best-way-to-lose-weight-for-goodI do believe in the set point theory. I lose, stall, lose, stall as my body sets lower.
This is the first "stall" for both of us, so perhaps we're just overreacting. It just seems wise to correct for any problems now, rather than allow them to continue. Letting our bodies reset, then setting new deficit goals and increasing exercise seems to be the answer...1 -
SkinnyGirlCarrie wrote: »i've heard good things about You Are Your Own Gym and Convict Conditioning, you could probably check them out of your library to see if they are plans you think would work for you for bodyweight training. if you follow a specific progressive program you might see better results.
also try YouTube, my personal fave is Fitness Blender, all free workout videos of different lengths and types (cardio, HIIT, bodyweight, strength training, etc), but there are tons of exercise channels out there!
Thanks for the advice! Bodyweight training is great because we can afford it, and our local library has a copy of "You Are Your Own Gym," so we will definitely take a look at it! We'll try Fitness Blender, too. Thank you so much!0 -
This might be of interest - it argues that it's common to go through periods in which weight loss stops, only to resume again if yo stick it out. greatist.com/live/best-way-to-lose-weight-for-goodI do believe in the set point theory. I lose, stall, lose, stall as my body sets lower.
This is the first "stall" for both of us, so perhaps we're just overreacting. It just seems wise to correct for any problems now, rather than allow them to continue. Letting our bodies reset, then setting new deficit goals and increasing exercise seems to be the answer...
It will work! Let us know when the plateau relents. It may only take a week or two to start losing once more. I think it technically isn't called a plateau until there have been 3+ weeks of a stall while following a weight loss plan, so with your personal 6 week span I'd say you are in a plateau.1 -
It will work! Let us know when the plateau relents. It may only take a week or two to start losing once more. I think it technically isn't called a plateau until there have been 3+ weeks of a stall while following a weight loss plan, so with your personal 6 week span I'd say you are in a plateau.
Thank you so much for the encouragement! We'll make some minor changes (increase our calorie intake so we're closer to maintenance levels, hopefully up our exercise levels) and fingers crossed we'll snap out of it soon. I'll definitely post with updates!0 -
First of all congratulations to you and your partner for making these life changes, sticking with it and loosing the weight! you are very close to your over all goal which is fabulous. Stalling in weight loss is very common and very commonly frustrating and demoralizing. I find that a change in exercise always helps me bust through a plateau (or in my case, in maintenance, halt a slow weight gain creep). I very much enjoy high intensity exercise, but even just going for some extra walks in the day while eating the same helps me. I also find trying new foods while still staying in my calorie budget, rather than the same meals i always eat helps re-invigorate my diet, and helps with keeping me satisfied.2
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First of all congratulations to you and your partner for making these life changes, sticking with it and loosing the weight! you are very close to your over all goal which is fabulous. Stalling in weight loss is very common and very commonly frustrating and demoralizing. I find that a change in exercise always helps me bust through a plateau (or in my case, in maintenance, halt a slow weight gain creep). I very much enjoy high intensity exercise, but even just going for some extra walks in the day while eating the same helps me. I also find trying new foods while still staying in my calorie budget, rather than the same meals i always eat helps re-invigorate my diet, and helps with keeping me satisfied.
Thanks so much for being so encouraging! You're right, it has been frustrating and demoralizing. Our main problem with exercise is finding the time (although admittedly, neither of us finds it fun, except for aikido classes), but we've had some great suggestions from this thread and we'll give them a try. I'll also do some intense scouting around for new recipes I can make. Any favourites?0 -
Some low cal filling favourites for me are zucchini noodles with shrimp, tuna or chicken and a tomato based sauce. I also discovered these black bean noodles which are amazing. One serving of just the noodles is quite big and filling and has 25 gm of protein, 12 gm of fibre and 180 calories... i thought that was pretty amazing. I also like to make a taco salad using ground chicken breast, shredded light tex-mex cheese blend, pico di gallo, peppers, onions and lots of lettuce.1
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One thing that may help with the frustration and disappointment of the periodic weigh-in ... Daily weigh-ins using a weight trending app like Happy Scale (iPhone) or Libra (Android). Trendweight is online.
I used to have a huge fears of the scale and using this program has helped me understand how exercise and food affects my body. I no longer dread getting on the scale.
There are great videos on fitness blender on YouTube.
Congrats on all the great work so far!1 -
Mr_Stabbems wrote: »standard plateau, low cal to the point were you can reasonably go lower without it being an issue is quite common.
In comes the hero of the day! exercise. Honestly, a few weeks of more cardio, some HIIT maybe and you'll push past it. Another option is trying intermittent fasting.
Also the hunger thing after eating more is normal.
Thanks for this; it made me feel better! Do you think the hunger-after-eating-more effect will fade away again if we are careful about our goals for the next few days? And do you think we should raise our level of exercise to push through it?
I don't know much about intermittent fasting - what does that entail? (I'll Google it, of course, but a personal perspective would be great.)
It didn't for me, unfortunately. I was very close to my goal and upped my exercise, went in vacations, and I've basically been hungry since... that was 2 years ago.
But with what you said above - you're not building any muscle by eating low calories. You're probably actually burning through it. Raise your goal to something more manageable/healthy.1 -
Just what are your "very low (but totally doable) calorie limits per day"?
And also note that as you get closer to your goal weight, your weight loss will slow.2 -
Have you reevaluated your TDEE and maintenance weight goal lately?
Maybe you should eat at maintenance level where you are for now and give your body a chance to level out and get accustomed to its new weight. You can always shift back down to the lower calories later, but at least you won't lose ground you've gained already if you go on maintenance for a bit.
We do keep an eye on re-evaluation, and we're both eating on what should be the right calorie limit for our current weights and continued weight-loss goals. I didn't think of giving our bodies a "maintenance break," though. Have you tried that sort of thing? Did it work?You might be missing important nutrients. I can jog a plateau by eating some avocado on a salad and have a fatty fish like salmon. You might be low on essential fatty acids? (Just some ideas to think about.)
This is a good point. We try to eat a diverse diet (lots of pulses, starchy and non-starchy vegetables, eggs, some lean meat, the occasional bit of fish, wholemeal bread), but perhaps we haven't been paying enough attention to fats. We love both salmon and avocado, but haven't had either lately. This is something I can change - thank you!
What were your macros (percent of carbs, fat, and protein) around the time of your unusual hunger? I wonder if your increased hunger was due to not enough fat and protein in relationship to carbs. When I don't get enough proportional protein I can eat and eat and eat and never feel satisfied.1 -
Some low cal filling favourites for me are zucchini noodles with shrimp, tuna or chicken and a tomato based sauce. I also discovered these black bean noodles which are amazing. One serving of just the noodles is quite big and filling and has 25 gm of protein, 12 gm of fibre and 180 calories... i thought that was pretty amazing. I also like to make a taco salad using ground chicken breast, shredded light tex-mex cheese blend, pico di gallo, peppers, onions and lots of lettuce.
Thank you! I love zucchini noodles (called "courgetti" here). Can't afford shrimp often, but will start making them with inexpensive chicken more regularly. I'll keep an eye out for black bean noodles, too! There's a thing called "zero" or "miracle" noodles here, which are shiratake noodles and have almost no calories, but they can be fairly expensive and don't have much nutritional value.
I like your taco salad idea, too! I make slow-cooker chicken "fajitas" that sound quite similar, but omit the cheese (I just eat the mixture plain, or topped with a little fat-free yoghurt and some chopped avocado). I should try it over lettuce!0 -
One thing that may help with the frustration and disappointment of the periodic weigh-in ... Daily weigh-ins using a weight trending app like Happy Scale (iPhone) or Libra (Android). Trendweight is online.
I used to have a huge fears of the scale and using this program has helped me understand how exercise and food affects my body. I no longer dread getting on the scale.
There are great videos on fitness blender on YouTube.
Congrats on all the great work so far!
Thank you so much for your kind words! I'll download Libra this afternoon and take a look at it. I was under the impression you weren't supposed to weigh yourself every day because of the variability due to water and temperature and what you ate the day before and stuff, but perhaps the app will teach me to understand in a slightly more nuanced way!0 -
It didn't for me, unfortunately. I was very close to my goal and upped my exercise, went in vacations, and I've basically been hungry since... that was 2 years ago.
But with what you said above - you're not building any muscle by eating low calories. You're probably actually burning through it. Raise your goal to something more manageable/healthy.
Oh, gosh. Hopefully "hungry forever" isn't the new normal for us, especially as my partner has a strong tendency to get depressed (or occasionally irritable) when he feels hungry or unsatisfied. I hope you find a solution to your hunger, too! I wish I could offer suggestions, but it's clear from this thread that I don't know enough yet to suggest anything useful.
(I know of a few low-calorie options that you can add to your regular meals without blowing your limits. The ones that most help to fill me up and quash hunger include winter squash, summer squash, haricot beans - navy beans in America, I think - and shiratake noodles or konnyaku, if you have access to and can afford them.)
You're right about muscle-building, though. We focus on getting enough protein (both of us have a higher-than-average need for it), but I think once we start the strength training another user recommended, which will be next week, the calorie limits may have to go up as well in order to compensate.0 -
Calliope610 wrote: »Just what are your "very low (but totally doable) calorie limits per day"?
And also note that as you get closer to your goal weight, your weight loss will slow.
That's certainly part of it, although we've recalculated our limits to reflect our new, lower weights. We're okay with slow weight loss; just worried when it seems to stop altogether!
My partner is on 1200 calories a day as calculated by MyFitnessPal; he used to be on 1310, but the app recalculated him lower after he lost weight.
I'm on 1000 calories a day, which I know is lower than the technical limit on MyFitnessPal, but in my case it's medically approved. (I have a tiny frame size and slow metabolism for other health reasons, so I verified that I am in fact okay to be this low.)0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »What were your macros (percent of carbs, fat, and protein) around the time of your unusual hunger? I wonder if your increased hunger was due to not enough fat and protein in relationship to carbs. When I don't get enough proportional protein I can eat and eat and eat and never feel satisfied.
This is entirely possible! We do focus hard on protein, but we aren't always successful. Sugar is a problem area for us both (and, to a lesser extent, carbs because you can't really have sugar without carbs). Thing is, we don't eat that many "sweet treats" - things like fruit and vegetables do us in!0 -
You've both done really well. There isn't much good advice out there about ending a diet.
Every time I've dieted in the past I've put the weight back on within a year or two. So this time, even though I've got a long way to go yet, I'm determined to work out how we deal with those last few pesky pounds and the (inevitable) binges that come when we end a diet.
First the bad news. I think my problem in the past was that I didn't continue counting calories. A diet is for life.
My suggestion (after having read a lot. About this) is to up your calorie intake by a little bit each and increase your activity levels, but don't count exercise as extra calories. Gently does it is the name of the game. Don't go hareing round a running track for an hour if that's not your usual level.
When you start losing weight again, up the calorie levels a bit more and the exercise until you are again losing weight. It'll take ages, but what you are doing is coming to a nice steady state. So as you increase calories think about how you want to eat for the rest of your lives.
Imagine a plane coming into land. You are just about to ouch down, but you are only at the beginning of the runway.1 -
Vegplotter wrote: »Every time I've dieted in the past I've put the weight back on within a year or two. So this time, even though I've got a long way to go yet, I'm determined to work out how we deal with those last few pesky pounds and the (inevitable) binges that come when we end a diet.
That's what we'd both like to avoid. When we do finally manage to hit our goals, we'll definitely continue tracking (although possibly switching to the easier, app-based "calories-only" method instead of following all the macro- and micronutrients). That's the easy part; continuing to raise the activity levels when exercise is so time-consuming will be the hard part.Vegplotter wrote: »Imagine a plane coming into land. You are just about to touch down, but you are only at the beginning of the runway.
I like this analogy. My only fear is that I'll overestimate our maintenance calorie levels and mess it all up at the last minute!1 -
There's a thing called "zero" or "miracle" noodles here, which are shiratake noodles and have almost no calories, but they can be fairly expensive and don't have much nutritional value.
Just to warn you, I once tried those and thought they were horrible -- slimy in texture and squeaky against the teeth. I managed to swallow, but then it just sat there in my stomach. Not worth the money, IMHO! Zoodles are much better.
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