Weight will not budge.

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honu18
honu18 Posts: 294 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been living my new lifestyle for about 6 weeks. I've been eating healthier snacks, sticking to a 1,200 calorie diet, and working out for 30-60 minutes every day. There have been a few days I missed exercise, but probably only about 4 or 5 in the six weeks. I feel like I'm getting in great shape. I do some muscle training too. I lost about 3-4 pounds fast, within the first week and a half or two of this journey. Since then, though, I haven't lost anything. I'm not trying to lose too much more--probably about 6 more lbs. I really just want to be healthy and lose the thigh and tummy pudge, regardless of the number. But the scale isn't moving, and I've been taking measurements, and those haven't been changing either. I never have a deficit of more than 1,000 cal a day--I make sure of that, but some days it's close to that whereas others its more like 500 a day. But I'm not losing. I know everyone says eat to lose- but I'm afraid that after so long of restriction, I'm going to put on weight if I reduce the deficit (did I put myself into starvation mode?) I wanted to do this the right way, but I'm not sure I am. I also vary my exercise between running, swimming, ultimate frisbee, walking, and aerobics. Why am I not losing? Should I increase my calorie (and fat) intake? I definitely have not been close to my fat number--which is usually around 50 grams, and I end up eating anywhere between 25-30. Is that too little? Any advice would be great. I know I should probably stop omitting so many calories- but I'm sort of addicted to it and don't want to gain anything back, which I feel like I've been on the verge of doing lately.

Replies

  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    If it's "starvation mode" or not is up for debate, but when you only have 6lbs to go your body is NOT going to let you lose 2lbs a week which is what a 1000 calorie deficit is trying to make it do. I have 10lbs to go. I shoot for a 0.5lbs / week loss (250 calorie deficit). If you are worried about making a drastic change maybe go for 500 calorie deficit consistently for 2 weeks, then change it to 250.
  • craft338
    craft338 Posts: 870 Member
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    i would say try eating more. if you've been exercising regularly for 6 weeks, your body is needing more and more fuel. if you're eating healthy, you shouldn't worry too much about adding a couple hundred calories. that might just be a fruit with breakfast and an extra serving of veggies with dinner. it's not going to HURT you. try that for a while, and if that doesn't work, try zig zagging you calories or changing up you work outs, keep your body guessing!

    good luck! =)
  • cds193
    cds193 Posts: 12 Member
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    Try switching when you eat your calories. It really helped for me to eat about half my calories for breakfast. My breakfast would be a bowl of cereal, 2 eggs, 2 pieces of toast, slice of cheeze, and a glass of milk. I would then eat only veggies and a little carbs the rest of the day to make my total equal 1200 calories. When I worked out, usually before bed I would have a glass of fruit juice to recover only about half of the calories that I burned. After doing this for about a week I really seen some progress. Hope this helps.
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
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    This may apply to you:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/196502-for-the-people-who-work-out-like-crazy-and-are-not-losing?hl=for+people+who+work+out+like+crazy

    good luck.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    So close to your goal, you should be shooting for a 500 calorie deficit and netting 1200 calories. If you've been undereating for a long time, you may gain back a pound or two, but you should quickly lose it again once your metabolism starts up.

    I've had to do this, just recently, in fact. I finally gave in to the above philosophy 10 days ago or so. I did gain back 3 pounds slowly over the last week but lost two pounds last night. I know I'm doing the right thing by eating more. It's good for my health and it's good for my weight loss.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,239 Member
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    With that little to go your goal per week should be likely be no more than half a pound as even 1 pound per week is likely pushing it. Change your goals and see what your calories come out too.

    It would be easier to help if you opened up your diary so we can look at it.

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