Plateau after 4 month success- please help!

ekdpal
ekdpal Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Can someone please advise me? Im 5' 34. I started 230 lbs 4 months ago went down to 194 lbs in 4 months. And now I have not been loosing at all for the past 4 weeks. Im 41 yrs old I was overweight for most of my life and gained more after each of my 3 babies. Im still breastfeeding the last one (16months). My calculations show TDEE 1900 plus 200 for breastfeeding. I have targeted 1100 for the past months. I have a sedentary job. I log everything and have a scale since July. Im at 70+ days on MFP. I log my weight every day. I started swimming in July and August (daily 1 hour moderate pace) and then moved to daily walking in Sept. I usually eat back most of the exercise calories like 70÷ of those calories. Im at 88 kgs since 6th Sept with some hormonal fluctuations. I started to walk more last week like 3x a week 2 hours and the rest of the days 40 min. Moderate pace. I targeted 40 % protein but cannot get there most days. 20-30÷ fat and 30-40÷ carbs. I usually get very hungry after lunch like 2-5pm. I have ulcer in my stomach so there are many things I cannot eat. Banana and peaches are good so I only eat those fruits.I start the day with 2 eggs and some small sides. Mid morning a banana or white cheese. Lunch some soup and salad or chicken and veggies. Same for dinner. Mid pm some yogurt or cheese or fruits. Bread max 40 gr per day. 20-30 gr bitter chocolate on most days (mid pm). That is my only treat. No alcohol. No pasta or pizza. No fast food and no sodas. Drink about 2 l of water each day. Take additional calcium magnesium d3 and k2. What do i need to change to start loosing again?

Replies

  • kidrow21
    kidrow21 Posts: 67 Member
    Interesting.. I've been told that you have to be ambitious at times with your body mind and spirit and shock your body, try doing your workouts in a backwards order and add a min to each. Hope that helps.
  • spring913
    spring913 Posts: 158 Member
    I'm pretty sure everything I've read says to add at least 500cal for breastfeeding. But, your baby is 16 months, so I assume you're not exclusively breastfeeding anymore? 200cal MIGHT be fine if you only breastfeed once or twice a day, something to ask your Dr. 1000cal a day cut is quite a lot, I'd be concerned you're not fueling your body properly, you say you target 1100cal a day (too low imo), is that before or after eating back your exercise cals?
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    OP what are you netting each day in calories?

    200 is not enough for breastfeeding. It is 300 - 500 calories.

    Just know weight loss is not linear, some weeks you lose and some weeks you don't. When you cut calories too far (in your case you have) you are just compounding and making things a lot worse than they have to be. Aggressive and maybe even reckless weightless is not the way to go. I hope you reconsider and reassess your goals appropriately.

    I agree that you must talk to your doctor. Seek his/her advice on working on strategies for breastfeeding and then resuming your weight loss.
  • ekdpal
    ekdpal Posts: 3 Member
    Thanks i do see a doctor regularly I was borderline diabetes before i started. Yes breastfeeding is 3-4 times within 24 hrs it means usually 7am 12pm 8pm and midnight. My baby eats everything and has a good apppetite i guess it is more for bonding now than nutrition though i want to continue as long as i can. I know 1100 is low but I add 70÷ of exercise cals so most days is actually 1300-1400. Everything I eat is freshly cooked and from the local farmers. I do feel good except for the hunger between 2-5 pm. I thought maybe someone can help me to get over this plateau as my motivation is really going down.
  • Gena575
    Gena575 Posts: 224 Member
    I so understand your frustration. Doing all the right things (of course, check your logging/weighing habits) and it appears to have "quit working." I was so there the end of last month. I'd played with 5lbs for several weeks.

    I don't buy starvation mode, or that you can trick your body...but, that said, I found a huge benefit in taking a controlled diet break. A lot of the benefit was mental to be sure. But during the 10 day break I dropped 4lbs. And in the week following 2 more even though my deficit is smaller now than before. Yes, I'm sure at least half of that is water weight. Doesn't matter to me. Things are moving again and my drive is fully renewed.

    This is one of the links I read that helped me decide it was time...right at 4 weeks and just over 30lbs lost. A couple of nice members here posted it and a few others. http://rippedbody.com/diet-break/
  • sskly48
    sskly48 Posts: 28 Member
    ekdpal wrote: »
    Can someone please advise me? Im 5' 34. I started 230 lbs 4 months ago went down to 194 lbs in 4 months. And now I have not been loosing at all for the past 4 weeks. Im 41 yrs old I was overweight for most of my life and gained more after each of my 3 babies. Im still breastfeeding the last one (16months). My calculations show TDEE 1900 plus 200 for breastfeeding. I have targeted 1100 for the past months. I have a sedentary job. I log everything and have a scale since July. Im at 70+ days on MFP. I log my weight every day. I started swimming in July and August (daily 1 hour moderate pace) and then moved to daily walking in Sept. I usually eat back most of the exercise calories like 70÷ of those calories. Im at 88 kgs since 6th Sept with some hormonal fluctuations. I started to walk more last week like 3x a week 2 hours and the rest of the days 40 min. Moderate pace. I targeted 40 % protein but cannot get there most days. 20-30÷ fat and 30-40÷ carbs. I usually get very hungry after lunch like 2-5pm. I have ulcer in my stomach so there are many things I cannot eat. Banana and peaches are good so I only eat those fruits.I start the day with 2 eggs and some small sides. Mid morning a banana or white cheese. Lunch some soup and salad or chicken and veggies. Same for dinner. Mid pm some yogurt or cheese or fruits. Bread max 40 gr per day. 20-30 gr bitter chocolate on most days (mid pm). That is my only treat. No alcohol. No pasta or pizza. No fast food and no sodas. Drink about 2 l of water each day. Take additional calcium magnesium d3 and k2. What do i need to change to start loosing again?

    It's okay to live a little, you don't need to restrict yourself from so many foods.
    Chances are your metabolism has slowed down considerably, and your leptin and insulin levels have been downregulated. You have hit a plateau, and this is common scenario in people trying to lose weight for too long.

    The solution is to simply eat at maintenance calories for 1-2 weeks, basically kickstarting your metabolism and resetting hormone levels again. Afterwards, you will be able to continue to lean down easily.

    This method works really well for me!
  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
    I agree that you could be retaining water from exercise and calorie restricting. I recently had to stop working out due to a foot injury, and I lost 2 lbs in about 5 days. I'm sure it was water weight. It's just water, but it's nice to get it off me!
  • mlinci
    mlinci Posts: 402 Member
    What was your predicted weight loss over the first four months? Have you maybe lost MORE than My Fitness Pal predicted over those four months? What was your daily deficit?
    I'm asking because a way to look at your plateau is that you are still consolidating the loss of 35 lbs - and that's a massive loss in such a short time.
    For comparison, I'm 5 foot 5 and I lost 1 pound per week on average eating 1,500-1,600 calories a day, exactly as MFP predicted on average, but there were definitely weeks I didn't lose or I even gained.
    Hope that makes sense.

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