Weight plateau

I’m stuck at a weight plateau. I started 6 months ago when I weighed 267. Now I’m at 234, but I’m stuck. I’m 5’10” and 70 years old. I have arthritis in knees, shoulder and back. Heavy exercise is out. As winter approaches, outdoor exercise like walking is limited to good days. Arthritis pain limits distance walked.

I’m limiting myself to 1500 calories a day with a goal of losing 2 pounds per week.

Any ideas on how to break through and start losing again?

Replies

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    How long has it been since you lost any weight at all?
  • sgtx81
    sgtx81 Posts: 466 Member
    You might try eating at maintenance for a week or two. I started consuming pretty close to 1500 calories in August and was losing a good bit of weight. This month I started exercising 45 minutes or more a day, and my weight completely stalled.

    I was still eating at a major deficit. Still weighing and measuring and counting calories, but the weight just stopped. It didn't budge from the 1st of this month to the 21st. So on the 21st, I decided to do a 1 or 2-week diet break and try to eat close to maintenance calories, which is a little over 4,000.

    Honestly, I'm already burned out on it and I'm not quite managing to hit 3,000, but I'm going to push on for at least the rest of the week and probably the full two weeks.

    If you haven't found anything that works for you by then, I'll try to remember to come back and let you know if this does the trick. I've read that after about 3 months it's a good idea to take a short break and then restart.
  • Shellz31
    Shellz31 Posts: 214 Member
    For working out in winter, you can go on YouTube and look up "walk away the pounds". It's a walking- like exercise, so not heavy at all, and easy to do with little space indoors
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    You don't break through, because there is no plateau. Either you are eating in mantenance, and then you have to eat less, or you're retaining water or constipated, and then you just have to be patient. How long have you had the same weight? Or is it just not going down as fast as you expected?

    Up until now, you can have gotten away with sloppy logging, or just "watching what you eat"... As you lose weight, less fat can be metabolized per time unit, so it's important that you log your food intake correctly. This is important to be able to eat less and still eat nutritionally balanced, too. Choose correct, verified by you, entries. Weigh everything and log the exact amount (in grams) that you put in your mouth. Do this always, every day, and hit your calorie goal every day. If you do this, and you have set your goal to weightloss, and put in your real stats, there is no way you won't lose weight. But you need to do it for weeks, consistently, before you can see the results for sure.
  • Story time! Ok I have no idea if this will apply to you at all but let me tell you the story of my weight loss stall that lasted for 6 weeks due to my own error/ignorance. Due to my eating habits I have always taken a multivitamin. When I Decided to lose the weight I was losing steadily and decided to add another vitamin to the mix. Then my weight stayed the the same for 6 weeks. I couldn't figure it out. Then one day I typed my vitamins into my meals and low and behold this new vitamin was nearly 400 calories! Combine that with a margin of error for measuring food and my deficit was gone! I ditched that particular vitamin and swapped it for a vitamin that has less than 5 calories. 2 weeks later I am down 7 pounds. Moral of the story check the calories of anything that goes into your mouth, even things you think wouldn't have calories.
  • purplebobkat
    purplebobkat Posts: 68 Member
    What vit was it that had so many cals?
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    Story time! Ok I have no idea if this will apply to you at all but let me tell you the story of my weight loss stall that lasted for 6 weeks due to my own error/ignorance. Due to my eating habits I have always taken a multivitamin. When I Decided to lose the weight I was losing steadily and decided to add another vitamin to the mix. Then my weight stayed the the same for 6 weeks. I couldn't figure it out. Then one day I typed my vitamins into my meals and low and behold this new vitamin was nearly 400 calories! Combine that with a margin of error for measuring food and my deficit was gone! I ditched that particular vitamin and swapped it for a vitamin that has less than 5 calories. 2 weeks later I am down 7 pounds. Moral of the story check the calories of anything that goes into your mouth, even things you think wouldn't have calories.

    @Frogsareawesomenotslimy, what vitamin is 400 calories? Are you sure it wasn't a dud entry?
  • It was one meant for skin. I have a lot to lose so am not optimistic about bounce back. I would consider it a legit entry considering I have lost weight eating the exact same amount of calories since I stopped taking it. I could always reintroduce it and see what happens lol
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    It was one meant for skin. I have a lot to lose so am not optimistic about bounce back. I would consider it a legit entry considering I have lost weight eating the exact same amount of calories since I stopped taking it. I could always reintroduce it and see what happens lol

    What was it?
  • Hair skin and nails with collagen
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    I can't see how you would even fit 400 calories into a pill...
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    Hair skin and nails with collagen

    Did you enter 1 container instead of one tablet?
  • No. You take 3 gelcaps per serving
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    No. You take 3 gelcaps per serving

    I think you may have found a dud entry...

  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    Think about it, a teaspoon of oil is less than 50 cals...
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    No. You take 3 gelcaps per serving

    I think you may have found a dud entry...

    Yeah, even if they were big capsules full of 100% oil they wouldn't be that many calories.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    No. You take 3 gelcaps per serving

    I am thinking more a long the lines of 40 calories per serving. You definitely used a bad entry. I can't even fathom allowing 400 calorie error like this, that's a lot of calories to be missing my body needed through food.