Plateauing while calorie cycling

elorahd
elorahd Posts: 7 Member
edited November 18 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been calorie cycling since January - 300cals up and 300cals down. It's been working well. Not losing fast but consistently. But now my body just feels blah and my weight loss has stalled. Is it possible for my body to get used to my calorie routine? Do I need to change up my calories, and if so, by how much?

Replies

  • tillerstouch
    tillerstouch Posts: 608 Member
    I dont understand what you mean by calorie cycling, to me it sounds like youre over complicating things.

    You lose weight from maintaining a calorie deficit. Your weight loss can plateau at times, if its been a short period of time, just wait it out.

    If its been a few weeks and you havent lost it means youre not in a calorie deficit, unless there are medical conditions that could be factoring in.

    Your body cant "get used to calories" your metabolism could slow, causing you to see less weight loss, but if youre in a deficit you will lose weight.

    Another possibility is as you lose weight your maintenance calories decreases, you may need to make sure youve adjusted for this.
  • elorahd
    elorahd Posts: 7 Member
    The background on this is that I took a medication that seems to have damaged my metabolism. I was on it for two years, eating 800-1200 calories a day and gaining two pounds a month. It took me a while to figure out what was causing it. Once I stopped taking it, the pounds kept coming on, although a little slower. I ended up having to take prescription diet pills to get my weight down so I didn't develop diabetes.
    I had breast reduction surgery in January and lost a little weight just due to the breast tissue. But I kept losing little by little. I had tried calorie cycling before and it was helpful. I thought about trying it again to possibly help jump start my metabolism since it had been a while since I got off that medication.
    I had my maintenance calories at 1200, so my cycling looked liked this:
    S: 1200
    M: 900
    T: 1500
    W: 1200
    T: 900
    F: 1500
    S: 1200

    Unfortunately, when something damages your metabolism, you can't trust the calorie calculators out there. You're kind of feeling around in the dark, doing a lot of trial and error to figure out where your maintenance level is. Some things I'm reading are talking about giving your metabolism a break and just going back to maintenance for a couple months. Of course, I'll have to figure out what that is now.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    edited May 2017
    Metabolism repairs very quickly. If you got off the medication in January (?) your body is back to functioning properly - so it comes down to eating a bit less or exercising a bit more, or both.

    If you are close to goal weight, it comes off slowly (like the last 20 pounds or so.)

    Calorie cycling is just a way for you to create a deficit. If you are close to goal, it is really important to log every bit of food accurately. You don't say how you are calculating and if you are logging and for how long.

    If in fact you are eating 1200 you will lose unless you are really short and tiny. Your food diary is private so we can't really help much. We have virtually no information about you.

  • elorahd
    elorahd Posts: 7 Member
    From my experience, everyone's metabolism is different and certainly heals differently. I'm 42, female, 147 lbs, 5'3"
    I'm very good at keeping track of my food. It's fairly easy for me. I'm not doing any special macronutrient diet, I just listen to my body and eat what I'm hungry for. I don't struggle with feeling starved or have cravings. I suffer from depression and don't have a lot of energy to cook so I eat mostly microwaveable things or make a batch of casseroles that I can just heat up. I've also learned that simple carbs are essential for promoting serotonin and dopamine in the brain so those are important in helping my depression.
    I suppose I'm almost within 20 lbs of my goal, which would likely be 125 lbs. Given my age and genetics and then the metabolism destruction, I wasn't really hopeful I would ever get past 150 lbs. I'm also likely to hit menopause in the next 4 years, so I'm a little worried about what that will do to my metabolism. I'm watching my mom struggle so much. She eats next to nothing and exercises like it's her job and still can't lose.
    I do some exercise but it's just enough to help me maintain. It's never been something that's seemed to help me take weight off, even when I was doing it for 2hrs a day, 6 days a week.
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