What am I doing wrong

Paul699
Paul699 Posts: 41 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Wasn't sure where to put this, so apologies up front if its in the wrong place, too long or wanders between points, but I'm desperate and lost.

I lost a lot of weight using MFP over the past few years, 49lbs in total, and was thrilled, resigned to never being skinny, but more than happy with where i got..

Moving into maintenance however was much harder than i expected, i think the motivation of losing was easier to get results with than trying to find the resolve to maintain.

Some weight crept back on, but not lots, but then I had to have a minor operation, and the time before that and especially the recoup, being home alone with a full kitchen at my disposal lead to a complete derail, and a 35lb gain.. to say i was devastated is an understatement.

Fast forward to Sept, and I got my mojo back determined not to get as big as i was, i tried Slimming world, 2 weeks of that and the books were in the bin, back to MFP and the familiarity of CICO. And it started working straight away, 7lbs in first 2 weeks, then a steady 2lb per week after that, started exercising regularly again (running)..... until 3 weeks ago, stuck, stuck and stuck again. Im 14 lbs away from goal and cant think of what to do differently. Oh I also done something differently this time round as well, I drank water, lots of it, and I put that down to being an added benefit as it was something i didnt do the first time. Although I do flavour it with a tiny bit of cordial.. barley enough to colour the water though, so hoping that isnt the issue.

I don't know whats wrong, I was thinking i was not eating enough, i was constantly under my cal goals, never ate exercise cals back as in my experience, i didn't lose when i did.. however I was often getting the warning that I wasn't eating enough but i thought, a deficit is a deficit, the bigger the better, but now im sticking and i cant go lower..

I've had a weekend of, so annoyed and disappointed about it all, and I haven't logged either, but started this morning thinking I need to try and stay on track, otherwise i will go of rail again, also decided to up my cals and try to be closer to what MFP tells. But am really worried i will gain. Someone mentioned that you may be in starvation mode and my body has adjusted to a severe deficit and is holding onto everything, I just dont know though.

Anyway, any insights and suggestions would be most welcome.

Replies

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Weight loss naturally slows down as you lose, ad weight fluctuations stay the same, so expect to see some "stalls". Do not let "stalls" get you off track. "Starvation mode" isn't a thing, it's the same phenomenon as "not eating enough to lose weight", which you've already debunked. If you log correctly, you're not going to gain if you eat what MFP suggests to lose.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
    Your diary is showing several days with no tracking... Weigh your food, track consistently, and the weight will come off.

    Also--with less than 15 lbs to lose, 2 lbs a week is far too aggressive of a weight loss goal.
  • Paul699
    Paul699 Posts: 41 Member
    Hi Mitch, thx for the response, and yes your right, im missing several days, unintentional for Thurs, I was remiss, Friday, sat and Sunday where deliberate as the toys were firmly thrown out the pram..

    However im not aiming for 2lbs a week, im aiming for 1, and before this weekend have been very conscious about logging and weighing, which has lead to my disappointment, as logging, weighing and training has had no effect for several weeks.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    3 weeks is totally normal, especially when you've been so aggressive with your deficit, the body is stressed, increasing cortisol and contributing to water weight. Easily can mask losses. This weekend was very likely precipitated by the undereating.

    Just return to logging accurately but be less aggressive and give it more time.
  • jocster
    jocster Posts: 5 Member
    Hi Paul, just as a matter of interest why didn't you like Slimming World?
    Well done on fab weight loss so far by the way!
  • Paul699
    Paul699 Posts: 41 Member
    jocster wrote: »
    Hi Paul, just as a matter of interest why didn't you like Slimming World?
    Well done on fab weight loss so far by the way!

    Thanks jocster, with SW i didnt like the amount of prep it needed, I was spending all my time thinking about what I could eat, and then as I say preparing it. It may have just been the club I was going to as well, but even though I thought i was doing the right thing, i was being told that I often was not, balance of speed foods was wrong for example. However SW is very big on taking photos of your meals and posting them onto the group page, where the leader would comment.. when i showed the pictures to my friends group page, all seemed ok.. dont get me wrong the support from the group was great, but as a bloke, i hated going to the meetings, which were all women, and the meeting very quickly became a gossip fest, and im not down with all the clapping either.. Im just a miserable bloke i suppose :)

    I feel that cal counting is just more flexible, you can have what you want as long as you count the cals.. nothing is a "SYN/ SIN"

    I still do some of the meals though as they are still low cal and low fat, and some of them are great.

    Also, it did work to an extent, i lost 6lbs over a those couple of weeks, but never enjoyed the massive drops some people seemed to get.

    It just wasnt for me at the end of the day.

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