Weight loss plateau at 500 cal deficit - safe to cut another 500?

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Ananas232
Ananas232 Posts: 3 Member
edited July 2017 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey there!

So I've been counting calories religiously for over 6 months already and managed to lose 15-20 lbs so far (yay!). The thing is, for the last 2 months my weight has been incredibly stable, even though I keep my calorie deficit to 500/day. That brings my base amount of calories for a day to 1350 (5'7" woman, weight started at 156 lbs now at 139 lbs and definitely more muscle). I commonly eat between 1850-2350/day though because I run A LOT (training for a half marathon) and eating back my burnt calories always allowed me to still lose the weight (so far...).

I'm still debating with myself if I want to lose more or if I'm happy where I am. My main concern if I decide to cut back another 500 to lose some more weight is that my base calories for a day would drop to 850. I've always read that one shall not eat fewer than 1200 cal a day to maintain good metabolism and do things the healthy way. Does the fact that I'm always eating more cal because of my workouts cancel that golden rule? What do you think would be the safest way to lose a few more pounds? I'm not planning on losing more than 10 extra lbs.

Note : I already took a diet "break" for a full two-weeks back in May. Gained 2-3 lbs and lost them fairly easily afterwards, but now back to being stuck to that 139 on the scale.
I also eat very clean. Some processed foods here and there but 80% calorie intake comes from home cooked meals, tons of fruits, tons of vegetables and plain greek yogurt.

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  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    edited July 2017
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    First, do you use a food scale?

    Second, 5'7 and 139 pounds sound perfectly healthy. Why do you want to lose more? If it's because you don't like your current body composition, you may want to incorporate some heavy (to you) weightlifting.

    Third, do you eat back ALL your exercise calories? Those may be over-estimated.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    i am quite frankly amazed that you can train on that deficit - i cant hold more than 100 cal deficit when my mileage starts to get higher, i get too rungry!

    i would also be wary of reducing cals much more as your performance will likely suffer.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited July 2017
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    As to whether or not you can safely cut back calories: you are maintaining, so yes. For the moment, ignore net and base and such. If you are eating 1850-2350 calories on average per day, this is the bottom line. 1200 is the minimum recommended for women, though many cannot feel satiated/satisfied going that low.

    If you have not lost weight in 2 months, then dropping calories is the way to change that. What you're eating now, seems to be maintenance. You may be eating more than you're logging (even when we try to be perfect, we're human so make mistakes...) or are not burning as much as you think from your training.

    But consider that your training may suffer if you cut back. When is your half marathon? You may want to keep going as you are for now, and adjust after.

    If you want to keep training and lose more in the interim, then first make sure your logging is accurate. Food scale for everything. Less eating out/eating food made by others (since you can't control what goes into it). Make sure you're using accurate database entries. Enter your own recipes. Avoid random bites/tastes of food. Log condiments, cooking oils, beverages. If you're solid on your logging, then eat less of your exercise calories as its hard to know EXACTLY how much we burn by exercise anyhow.

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,725 Member
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    Your body's adapted to the calorie intake. Have you tried just upping your intensity a little? Like doing intervals for example?

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  • Ananas232
    Ananas232 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thanks a lot for all your answers, that was fast!!

    I do log very accurately my food. Everything is weighed, recipes are homemade and logged (weight based too), eating out / eating food prepared by somebody else about once a month.

    As of burnt calories, I have a GPS watch that calculates them. I only consider official "workout" calories, i.e. not walking around or cleaning the house calories. Only runs or walks (about 90-100 cal/mile) and strength workout (150 cal for 30 min).

    I'd like to lose a little more weight to help my performances as a runner, among other things (like silly stupid pride as my initial goal weight was 130 lbs, and I still have to accept that maybe my body just wants to set somewhere else; it's tough to change goal when you just spent the last 6 months focusing on that one goal!).

    I am indeed afraid to cut on said performance if I set to a larger deficit. My half marathon is early August, but it's just a step towards the real goal which is to run marathons (maybe even ultras!). Thus the training will continue and might stay fairly intense for quite a while.

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