Weight isn’t budging

Options
lfleming53
lfleming53 Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I’m a 64 year old female, fit, and trying to lose those last stubborn pounds. I’ve been eating low carb but staying around 1200 calories a day. I exercise almost every day. My weight hasn’t moved in weeks! I’m becoming very discouraged. I am 5’3” and weigh 127 and my goal weight is 120. Any suggestions??

Replies

  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Options
    When you get closer to goal, weight loss is very slow. 1/2 pound a week is good progress. It's not about carbs, it's about calories. 1/2 pound a week is a deficit of 250 calories....not a lot of wiggle room.

    How are you measuring calories in? Are you weighing solids on a food scale, and measuring liquids in a measuring cup? Double check your entries, there are a lot of wrong entries in the data base. Are you logging every bite, every taste....everything?

    Are you eating exercise calories back? Have you started strength training? If you are eating exercise calories back (like the site is designed)....how are you measuring calorie burn.

    Let me find the "help I'm not losing" flow chart...........
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Options
    The "help I'm not losing" flow chart

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10179969/weight-loss-flow-chart-2-0/p1
  • lfleming53
    lfleming53 Posts: 4 Member
    Options
    That’s an excellent chart. Thanks! I will start weighing my food. I am not a huge eater and my portions are usually on the small side but I will try anyway. Some days I struggle to eat 1200 calories and I get warnings from MFP. I thought sure that low carb would be the ticket as counting calories hasn’t gotten me far either.
  • lfleming53
    lfleming53 Posts: 4 Member
    Options
    Also, meant to say I do strength training but most days it’s HIIT and believe me I don’t need a heart monitor to know I’m working hard
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    Options
    lfleming53 wrote: »
    That’s an excellent chart. Thanks! I will start weighing my food. I am not a huge eater and my portions are usually on the small side but I will try anyway. Some days I struggle to eat 1200 calories and I get warnings from MFP. I thought sure that low carb would be the ticket as counting calories hasn’t gotten me far either.

    Low carb can help a lot of people lose weight, but only because it reduces their overall calorie intake to something lower than the amount they use. If you feel like you've hit the limit in terms of carb-reduction, you might need to find somewhere else to trim those calories down. But keep in mind that like @TeaBea said, you can probably only expect to lose a half a pound a week at best at your weight, and water weight can easily mask that so you'll want to be looking at weight trends over time. Good luck!
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited October 2017
    Options
    Since you're a little bit shorter, older, and don't have much to lose, expect weight to go down quite slowly. I entered your stats to calculate your calories and your sedentary maintenance would be roughly 1300 calories. That means even one pound a month is great progress, and even that might or might not show up right away because it's can be masked by water retention. How active are you? If you aren't very active and there is a way to add more activity that might help a little. Don't feel discouraged, it will show up eventually if you're logging your calories correctly (carbs are personal preference and have little to do with fat loss beyond that). All you need is a little bit of patience.
  • lfleming53
    lfleming53 Posts: 4 Member
    Options
    I really appreciate all of the helpful advice and support! I love this forum!
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
    Options
    This may be way out in left field and I'm not expert on the topic, but maybe you need to do some recomp. I've read up on it here in the board in preparation for when I get to my goal weight. It's very interesting because you can work over a prolonged period of time to change your body composition and thus the way you look without needing to lose weight. It came to mind because you're at a very healthy weight now, so maybe there's another way for you to get what you want. I guess that depends if you're adamant about getting to a certain number or if you're thinking it might solve a particular aesthetic concern you have. It's just an idea.
  • mrsllp51510
    mrsllp51510 Posts: 10 Member
    Options
    Did you renter your cw on the goals section recently? It might change your calorie intake limit.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    Options
    Also, using s weight trending app like Happy Scale (iPhone) or Libra (Android). Weighing daily at the same time under the same conditions will allow the program not only to track, but predict your weight with enough data points (a month-ish). The app may show progress that is masked by hormones, water weight and food waste when you look at the scale.

    Also, weighing all solid foods (including pre-packages ones like frozen meals, eggs, slices of cheese) and measuring all liquids is critical since you’re at a healthy weight and have so little to lose.. regardless of the WOE, you need to be in a calorie deficit to lose.

    Be sure you’re not overestimating your calories out, either. It can be easy to do, especially with intense feeling exercise.

    Good luck and keep at it—you’ll get there!

Categories