Am I eating to little? Have been plateauing & am nervous to regain weight !

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claramikaeil
claramikaeil Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi All!

Female
5'3
22 yrs old
Starting Weight 181
Current Weight:145 lbs
Goal Weight: 130-135lbs

For almost a year I've been eating 1200-1400 calories (mostly low carb diets) and doing different exercises. I've managed to drop from 181 to 145 from December 2016 to now, March 2017. I have been plateauing for about a month now. I want to lose about 10 more lbs.

I am currently eating 1200 calories and for the past 3 weeks have been running on the treadmill to burn between 500-600 cals ( I know this is accurate because my fitness tracker has a heart rate monitor). But the scale won't budge and I believe it's due to my under eating. Should I go up to 1800 calories and still continue to burn between 500-600 calories through running 4/5 days a week? Should I eat even more than that? Should I just do a gradual increase?If I increase my calories from 1200 to 1800 but continue to run, will I still gain weight? I worked really hard to get down to this weight and am really nervous to start eating more.

Thanks!

Replies

  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    edited March 2017
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    eating to little is never the reason for not losing weight...Tidy up your tracking. Although if your doing that much exercise i would eat more. Though i would only eat back half the fitbit calories, They can be majorly off. A month isnt long just stick through it. Its easy to hide weight loss with so little left with water weight
  • Nireedk
    Nireedk Posts: 36 Member
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    I've been researching this a bit too as I started a diet mid January and lost 10 lbs in 1 month, but the next 2 weeks found my self at loosing only 1 lb a week - slow going.

    Most of what I read argues CICO is the only way to lose weight and too few calories messing up your metabolism isn't true. However, my dr. said it will be much harder to lose weight once you are in the "normal" BMI range. So I hit a BMI of 24.4 which is at the very tip top of normal BMI range when my weight loss slowed. He said you can lose weight after that, its just going to be harder. He also mentioned an "equilibrium" and said that once I get close to my equilibrium, I can lose past that but it will be hard to maintain. He may have been talking about a term I just heard which is called "set point".

    Some readings said increase weight training to keep your muscles burning calories through out the day.

    I'm trying to get to the middle of my BMI range which would be like 20/21 and need to lose another 15 lbs to be there. I hope it does go 1 lb per week!
  • fretsnsoccer
    fretsnsoccer Posts: 13 Member
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    Hi Clara,

    So losing 10lbs in the Late state of weight loss you are in definitely requires you to tighten even more on your tracking. That generally will take 2-3 weeks of disciplined tracking to lose that weight however it's also a matter of how many calories you will take in to lose the weight.

    My personal approach to this would be to stop running. Yes, I know it's a terrifying thing to hear if you like to run cool that's fine then go with eating more calories and then running off to where at the end of the day you hit now about 1020-1100 calories.

    But you could also lift weights like normal do 0
    Running and eat that many calories (1020-1100) throughout the day and still continue to see weight loss.

    If you wanted a legitimate workout plan and diet plan I'd love to put one together for you to break that final plateau!
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Nireedk wrote: »
    I've been researching this a bit too as I started a diet mid January and lost 10 lbs in 1 month, but the next 2 weeks found my self at loosing only 1 lb a week - slow going.

    Most of what I read argues CICO is the only way to lose weight and too few calories messing up your metabolism isn't true. However, my dr. said it will be much harder to lose weight once you are in the "normal" BMI range. So I hit a BMI of 24.4 which is at the very tip top of normal BMI range when my weight loss slowed. He said you can lose weight after that, its just going to be harder. He also mentioned an "equilibrium" and said that once I get close to my equilibrium, I can lose past that but it will be hard to maintain. He may have been talking about a term I just heard which is called "set point".

    Some readings said increase weight training to keep your muscles burning calories through out the day.

    I'm trying to get to the middle of my BMI range which would be like 20/21 and need to lose another 15 lbs to be there. I hope it does go 1 lb per week!

    It is harder to lose at a healthy BMI, but that's because you can only burn so much fat per day and thus need a smaller deficit.

    OP, how are you measuring your calorie intake? As stated above, eating too little will not cause you to not lose weight.
  • BonnieDundee78
    BonnieDundee78 Posts: 158 Member
    edited March 2017
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    fretsnsoccer wrote: »

    So losing 10lbs in the Late state of weight loss you are in definitely requires you to tighten even more on your tracking. That generally will take 2-3 weeks of disciplined tracking to lose that weight however it's also a matter of how many calories you will take in to lose the weight.

    Er, no. She can't (and shouldn't) lose 10lbs in 2-3 weeks.That would be incredibly fast and unsafe - especially at this stage in her weightloss. When someone is so close to their healthy weight, It's going to be slow going for the final stages. It'll probably be more like 0.5-1lbs a week.

    OP - as far as your stall goes, I wouldn't do anything differently other than checking that your calorie goal accurately reflect your CURRENT weight, and tightening up your logging. A plateau could go on for another few weeks, but the scales will start moving again. Good luck. :)
  • bizgirl26
    bizgirl26 Posts: 1,808 Member
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    How do you lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks unless you are morbidly obese? Cut a limb off?
  • claramikaeil
    claramikaeil Posts: 6 Member
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    Nireedk wrote: »
    I've been researching this a bit too as I started a diet mid January and lost 10 lbs in 1 month, but the next 2 weeks found my self at loosing only 1 lb a week - slow going.

    Most of what I read argues CICO is the only way to lose weight and too few calories messing up your metabolism isn't true. However, my dr. said it will be much harder to lose weight once you are in the "normal" BMI range. So I hit a BMI of 24.4 which is at the very tip top of normal BMI range when my weight loss slowed. He said you can lose weight after that, its just going to be harder. He also mentioned an "equilibrium" and said that once I get close to my equilibrium, I can lose past that but it will be hard to maintain. He may have been talking about a term I just heard which is called "set point".

    Some readings said increase weight training to keep your muscles burning calories through out the day.

    I'm trying to get to the middle of my BMI range which would be like 20/21 and need to lose another 15 lbs to be there. I hope it does go 1 lb per week!

    Thanks for the insight! I'm a few lbs away from the "normal BMI range" but have also heard about equilibrium and set point.

    I was thinking about getting into weight training since I only do cardio, I'll have to do more research.

    Thanks! Good luck on the rest of your journey.
  • claramikaeil
    claramikaeil Posts: 6 Member
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    BonnieDundee78 wrote: »
    fretsnsoccer wrote: »

    So losing 10lbs in the Late state of weight loss you are in definitely requires you to tighten even more on your tracking. That generally will take 2-3 weeks of disciplined tracking to lose that weight however it's also a matter of how many calories you will take in to lose the weight.

    Er, no. She can't (and shouldn't) lose 10lbs in 2-3 weeks.That would be incredibly fast and unsafe - especially at this stage in her weightloss. When someone is so close to their healthy weight, It's going to be slow going for the final stages. It'll probably be more like 0.5-1lbs a week.

    OP - as far as your stall goes, I wouldn't do anything differently other than checking that your calorie goal accurately reflect your CURRENT weight, and tightening up your logging. A plateau could go on for another few weeks, but the scales will start moving again. Good luck. :)

    Hi Bonnie,
    I agree with you in the losing 10lbs in 2-3 weeks is unsafe and fast, especially at this point in my journey.
    Thank you for your advice! I have been using MFP for over a year so I've done really well with accurately logging but understand that plateaus sometime take forever to overcome.

    Thanks again:)
  • claramikaeil
    claramikaeil Posts: 6 Member
    Options
    fretsnsoccer wrote: »
    Hi Clara,

    So losing 10lbs in the Late state of weight loss you are in definitely requires you to tighten even more on your tracking. That generally will take 2-3 weeks of disciplined tracking to lose that weight however it's also a matter of how many calories you will take in to lose the weight.

    My personal approach to this would be to stop running. Yes, I know it's a terrifying thing to hear if you like to run cool that's fine then go with eating more calories and then running off to where at the end of the day you hit now about 1020-1100 calories.

    But you could also lift weights like normal do 0
    Running and eat that many calories (1020-1100) throughout the day and still continue to see weight loss.

    If you wanted a legitimate workout plan and diet plan I'd love to put one together for you to break that final plateau!

    I think losing 10lbs in 2-3 weeks will probably be impossible for me because I'm super close to my goal weight/a "normal" BMI. In terms of stop running, I actually enjoy burning the calories and the gym time it takes so I might just keep up with it. I'll make sure to end my day with about 1100-1300cals AFTER eating back the calories. I've read that I need to make sure I follow a gradual increase so that my body is able to properly adjust to this sudden increase.

    In terms of a workout plan, I might need one! I'm going to give this plateau about 2-3 more weeks (and increase my cals graudally to make sure I meet the 1100cals post workout), but if my progress is still stalled I will reach out about possibly setting up a diet plan and lifting plan.

    Thank you so much!
    -Clara
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    edited March 2017
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    OP, do you uses a food scale? If not, now is the time to start. It is much more accurate to weigh your portions than to measure them with cups or spoons. That bit of innacuracy isn't as big a deal when you have a lot of weight to lose and have more wiggle room, but once you're within 10-15 lbs, accuracy is key. Those little innacuracies can easily add up to a couple of hundred calories a day, it did for me. I was eating more than I thought until I got a food scale.

    Start using the food scale for any solid food, even packaged food, as often as possible.
    Double check the entries you are using in the database - many are entered by other users and aren't correct.
    Understand that at this point, you should be losing @ half-a-lb per week, and shifts in water weight can really easily hide those small losses. When I was losing 10 lbs, I sometimes would see no movement on the scale for a month, then one day it would drop 1 or 1.5 lbs.

    So basically double check and tighten up your logging and be patient as hard as that is. Good luck :drinker:
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,699 Member
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    claramikaeil wrote: »
    Hi All!

    Female
    5'3
    22 yrs old
    Starting Weight 181
    Current Weight:145 lbs
    Goal Weight: 130-135lbs

    For almost a year I've been eating 1200-1400 calories (mostly low carb diets) and doing different exercises. I've managed to drop from 181 to 145 from December 2016 to now, March 2017. I have been plateauing for about a month now. I want to lose about 10 more lbs.

    I am currently eating 1200 calories and for the past 3 weeks have been running on the treadmill to burn between 500-600 cals ( I know this is accurate because my fitness tracker has a heart rate monitor). But the scale won't budge and I believe it's due to my under eating. Should I go up to 1800 calories and still continue to burn between 500-600 calories through running 4/5 days a week? Should I eat even more than that? Should I just do a gradual increase?If I increase my calories from 1200 to 1800 but continue to run, will I still gain weight? I worked really hard to get down to this weight and am really nervous to start eating more.

    Thanks!
    Well you lost almost 40lbs in 3 months. That' about 13lbs a month. Bast on your stats, that's pretty aggressive and likely now your body is adapting by reducing metabolic rate. It's called adaptive thermogenisis.
    So a couple of things may help. You can trying increasing the intensity of your exercise. Now mind you, with low carbing, your glycogen levels likely won't be the same as if you were eating moderate carbs so you may gas out faster. Also since you're only doing cardio and no weight resistance training, you likely lost some muscle mass (which even lowers your metabolic rate faster). Being honest here, I'd recommend adding a decent resistance program, but in the beginning your weight WILL GO UP. Totally normal. The key here you should be concerned with is not how much you weigh, but how much more leaner you can get regardless even if your weight goes up. I've always had females resist this approach in the beginning, but here's a client who just used to run 7 days a week and then after training her 6 months later in a bikini competition.

    a0ecfc5c-b48d-4a49-a9b3-844a6ec2fbc6_zps0c9ce435.jpg
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    e9403b7c-5a9b-402d-8ebc-e53614afbe89_zps39245183.jpg

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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