I really need your help. Please.

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Acal01
Acal01 Posts: 66 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
OK. I used to weigh 250 pounds, and it took me a bit more than a year and a half to get to 185. I did dieting and watch every single thing I ate until May 2016. From May on, I just left dieting and decided to eat normally, managing not to gain the lost weight. Two weeks ago I decided to stick to a run-walk routine and watch my eating again, for I have not lost or gained a pound ever since. The problem is that I exercise 5 days a week, I watch my eating, my sugar intakes, I drink plenty of water (in fact, I quit sodas and juices two years ago, so water and tea is all I drink everyday)...and I haven't lost a single ounce. It's kinda impossible for me to believe that I've been stock in 185 lbs for the last 5 months. What am I doing wrong? I never skip breakfast (in fact BF is my biggest meal of the day), my lunches are moderate, and my dinners are small and light, and usually before 8pm. And I'm only 29 years old, so my metabolism is supposed to respond a bit quicker. What's there left to do? I still want to lose 25 pounds and it seems impossible for me to get there. Any advice you guys can give me, will be much appreciated. I'm really sad.
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Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,973 Member
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    There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
  • rsclause
    rsclause Posts: 3,103 Member
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    185 - 25 = 160 I don't know how tall you are but that is pretty low. I am almost 6' 2" and when I got to 173 people started asking if I was well.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
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    Words like 'moderate', 'small', 'light' mean nothing. You know this, or should if you've done this before. Are you weighing and watching your calories and eating in a deficit? Also, what is your height? I'm 6'2" tall and weighed in at 180.2 this morning. I'm well within the normal BMI range. I could lose more weight if I wanted but don't have to. I'd honestly rather gain muscle.

    Is it your physical image you're trying to improve or your BMI on a chart? If it's your physical image, then focus on the exercise and fitness and stop worrying about the scale numbers. They'll fall in line as you get more fit. I've been in recomp mode for five to six months now trying to build muscle and fitness slowly without bulking. I've managed to lose something like 7 lbs in that time without trying just by working out and pushing myself and eating at maintenance or slightly below.

    Sounds to me like you've done an outstanding job maintaining your weight without logging, bravo. Maybe you should just look into more fitness activities? Mix it up, push yourself harder, not necessarily longer.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/113609/relatively-light-people-trying-to-get-leaner/p1
  • CasperNaegle
    CasperNaegle Posts: 936 Member
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    Obviously don't know but from reading your post it doesn't really sound like you know how much you are eating. You have to keep yourself in a calorie deficit to lose weight. Much easier at a heavier weight than lower like you are. The only real way to know what you are taking in calorie wise is to weigh everything with a food scale and log it. Do that and keep your calories where you know you are in a deficit overall and you will lose.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    First things first. Are you logging and tracking your calories? If not, start there.
    A calorie deficit is all you need to lose weight. Cutting out sugar probably dropped lots of calories out of your diet, but as long as you're meeting your calorie goals, it's not necessary to cut out any types of food.
    So, just plug your stats into MFP and eat the number of calories it tells you to.
  • mommazach
    mommazach Posts: 384 Member
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    Check measurements too. When I started working out, I didn't see a scale loss for a couple of months, but my measurements certainly changed. If the run/walking thing is new, you may be seeing the same thing.
  • Alyssa_Is_LosingIt
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt Posts: 4,696 Member
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    If you've been the same weight for 5 months, you have been eating at maintenance. You will need to eat at a calorie deficit again to lose weight. Since you don't have as much weight to lose now, your body needs less calories to maintain, and you will not have as much room for error in your logging that you did when you were heavier.

    Since your post seems to imply that you have not been logging much, I second the suggestion to purchase a food scale and meticulously log your calories for a while to see if it makes any difference.
  • Acal01
    Acal01 Posts: 66 Member
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    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    How many calories are you eating? How tall are you? Do you use a food scale to weigh everything you eat, and log it all religiously?

    bfpr6iesb1bk.jpg

    I guess I will lower the calorie intake. I've been eating between 1,700 to 1,800 calories a day. What number should I lower it to? I'm 5'9.
  • Acal01
    Acal01 Posts: 66 Member
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    rsclause wrote: »
    185 - 25 = 160 I don't know how tall you are but that is pretty low. I am almost 6' 2" and when I got to 173 people started asking if I was well.

    I'm 5'9”. I'm still way up.
  • Acal01
    Acal01 Posts: 66 Member
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    CasperNaegle wrote: »
    Obviously don't know but from reading your post it doesn't really sound like you know how much you are eating. You have to keep yourself in a calorie deficit to lose weight. Much easier at a heavier weight than lower like you are. The only real way to know what you are taking in calorie wise is to weigh everything with a food scale and log it. Do that and keep your calories where you know you are in a deficit overall and you will lose.

    I will work harder on the calorie deficit. Thank you so much.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    I'm 5'9, 177 pounds, 41 year old female and I'm losing on 1930 calories a day. Buy and use a food scale, if you aren't measuring portions. You are eating more calories than you think.
  • Acal01
    Acal01 Posts: 66 Member
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    Spliner1969 wrote: »
    Words like 'moderate', 'small', 'light' mean nothing. You know this, or should if you've done this before. Are you weighing and watching your calories and eating in a deficit? Also, what is your height? I'm 6'2" tall and weighed in at 180.2 this morning. I'm well within the normal BMI range. I could lose more weight if I wanted but don't have to. I'd honestly rather gain muscle.

    Is it your physical image you're trying to improve or your BMI on a chart? If it's your physical image, then focus on the exercise and fitness and stop worrying about the scale numbers. They'll fall in line as you get more fit. I've been in recomp mode for five to six months now trying to build muscle and fitness slowly without bulking. I've managed to lose something like 7 lbs in that time without trying just by working out and pushing myself and eating at maintenance or slightly below.

    Sounds to me like you've done an outstanding job maintaining your weight without logging, bravo. Maybe you should just look into more fitness activities? Mix it up, push yourself harder, not necessarily longer.

    You've been very helpful. I'm 5'9", so 160 sounds like a good number to me. I will start working on my deficit, but I'm not sure how much I'd have to lower my numbers to.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    By "watch your eating" do you mean you are counting calories or do you just mean you are intentionally selecting certain foods and avoiding other foods?
  • jdwils14
    jdwils14 Posts: 154 Member
    edited October 2016
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    rsclause wrote: »
    185 - 25 = 160 I don't know how tall you are but that is pretty low. I am almost 6' 2" and when I got to 173 people started asking if I was well.

    160 is in the "ideal" range for most men. All bodies are different, but if you have hit that wall in the ideal weigh range, and have a good body fat %, your physique will not let you lose more weight without losing muscle. Whether you have actually reached that point, I don't know.

    Of course, it is worth noting that the formula that MFP uses for energy expenditure and calorie intake is not suitable for everyone. I believe one formula is more accurate than another for athletes and for overweight/average people. Maybe your body has changed how it expends or saves energy, and a new TDEE formula is in order. You could look into that and set your own goals based on your physique.
  • red99ryder
    red99ryder Posts: 399 Member
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    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    jdwils14 wrote: »
    rsclause wrote: »
    185 - 25 = 160 I don't know how tall you are but that is pretty low. I am almost 6' 2" and when I got to 173 people started asking if I was well.

    160 is in the "ideal" range for most men. All bodies are different, but if you have hit that wall in the ideal weigh range, and have a good body fat %, your physique will not let you lose more weight without losing muscle. Whether you have actually reached that point, I don't know.

    Of course, it is worth noting that the formula that MFP uses for energy expenditure and calorie intake is not suitable for everyone. I believe one formula is more accurate than another for athletes and for overweight/average people. Maybe your body has changed how it expends or saves energy, and a new TDEE formula is in order. You could look into that and set your own goals based on your physique.

    Yeah just to put a counterpoint to that I am very small framed (wrists are like 6'' diameter) and probably lower muscle than average. As a result of that I'd say I would be very lean but still healthy all the way down to something like 145 pounds at 6' tall. People baulk at that but I've been 154 before and although I was starting to get lean I wasn't "see my abs" lean.

    I actually have a picture of me at 160 pounds at 6' tall. Can tell I'm at a healthy weight, not even all that lean yet still have lovehandles and no sign of abs at all:

    qxdwdynhb8ni.jpg

    I'd say 155 is probably my ideal healthy weight, if I go below that I'm probably pushing for extra leanness but would still be healthy. How much muscle you have relative to bodyfat is much more important than your weight which can be pretty heavily skewed by things like frame size.

    Also have a picture of me at 188 pounds (close to OPs current weight) and as you can see 188 pounds for me was actually quite overweight, I was something like 28% bodyfat.

    nvifei7khei2.jpg

    So OP if your 185 looks more like my 160 then getting down to 160 might be a stretch for you. If your 185 looks more like my 188 then it'll be a totally reasonable goal.



    It's amazing what 28 pounds did .. good job and that's for posting that

    To OP ..you have did a great job .. and just by staying focused and caring a bought your body tells me you will get where you want to get


    Good luck
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    Is the exercise new, or a significant increase over what you were doing before? Changing or increasing your exercise patterns causes temporary water retention, so it's normal to see a slight bump or plateau on the scale when you start/change your exercise.

    It's also common that exercise makes people more hungry, so they unintentionally eat more to compensate when they add exercise.

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