Is there a point when it all stops?
Replies
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Slowly find your mark.1
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WhereIsPJSoles wrote: »You should try a diet break
I agree with this advice. Try eating at maintenance for a week, then get back to your low calories. Honestly, you're so very close to your goal weight, things are probably going very slowly. I'm 5'1", and 127# would actually be my goal weight. Do you work out? If you don't, try some light cardio, lifting weights. Your weight will probably not go down, but you may find that you're happier with how your body looks.
I want to start weight lifting but I have my little one 24/7 so I’m gonna wait til he gets a little older to do so. 7 pounds isn’t a huge difference it’s just basically more about me wanting to get to 1200 -
Death.1
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Death.rickiimarieee wrote: »Is there a point where your body stops losing weight? Where it’s at the lowest it’ll get without you starving yourself completely? And if there is a point how do you know you’ve reached that point?0
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rickiimarieee wrote: »Death.rickiimarieee wrote: »Is there a point where your body stops losing weight? Where it’s at the lowest it’ll get without you starving yourself completely? And if there is a point how do you know you’ve reached that point?
People are (attempting) to communicate that there is no point where the body will stop losing if there is a deficit. This is how it is possible for people to be truly harmed by lack of food.
There are points where your metabolism will make some adjustments to a prolonged calorie deficit, but you never completely stop needing energy. It has to come from somewhere. Your body can't run for "free."3 -
rickiimarieee wrote: »WhereIsPJSoles wrote: »You should try a diet break
For how long? Won’t I gain my weight back?
Yes do the diet break. You have reached an end point where you need to reverse your calorie deficit. You will not gain FAT back, you will gain some temporary water weight, but again this not fat.
This should answer many questions on what and how to take a diet break.
take time to watch the video in this link as well.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1
eta: sorry for re-posting the link.. this thread moved quite fast as I was reading and trying to respond.3 -
rickiimarieee wrote: »WhereIsPJSoles wrote: »You should try a diet break
I agree with this advice. Try eating at maintenance for a week, then get back to your low calories. Honestly, you're so very close to your goal weight, things are probably going very slowly. I'm 5'1", and 127# would actually be my goal weight. Do you work out? If you don't, try some light cardio, lifting weights. Your weight will probably not go down, but you may find that you're happier with how your body looks.
I want to start weight lifting but I have my little one 24/7 so I’m gonna wait til he gets a little older to do so. 7 pounds isn’t a huge difference it’s just basically more about me wanting to get to 120
So you are already at a healthy weight and looking to lose vanity lbs, nothing wrong with that. But progress will be really slow and easily hide behind water weight fluctuations. For my last 10 lbs, I sometimes wouldn't see the scale move for 2 or 3 months, then all of a sudden I'd be down 2 lbs. You say you are using a food scale, which is awesome. If there is anything you eat regularly that you aren't weighing, try to do that a few times to make sure your portions are on point. Also double check that the entries you are using in the database are accurate (lots of them are wrong), and try not to use generic or recipe-style entries you didn't create yourself. When you have a lot of weight to lose, you have more wiggle room with your logging but once you get down to the nitty gritty it's all hands on deck
With your stats and having a little one to chase, 1200 cals is lower than you should need to go, barring a medical condition.
I would agree with changing your setting to "maintenance" for a couple of weeks and then getting back at it. If you can add in some home workouts in the near future, you might actually find that getting more "fit" will make you happier than losing more weight, but regardless patience will be a key. Hang in there and good luck!4 -
There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
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If you look at what your maintenance will be at your goal weight you will be able to see how big a deficit 1200 cals is giving you.
I am 5'1 and lost on 1200 plus 200 exercise calories. I went from 130-100-105 maintenance. It took a year, and the last few lbs were so slow weekly weight loss was imperceptible. But it did happen.
At about the 115 mark, when my loss started to slow I checked what my maintenance would be at sedentary. It was 1200 on MFP, (so the same as what my deficit was) it was also in that ball park with other calculators. I also have a BMR of about 950-1000 depending on the calculator used. (I'm old, small, and light, so the numbers are correct)
So to answer your question, yes there is a point where one can stop losing while not starving oneself - a 1200 cal deficit for this sedentary, older, 5'1 woman was a deficit until 105 lbs, then it became maintenance.
Take a break and eat at maintenance for a week or 2, then either continue eating at 1200 or switch to your goal weight maintenance a little early.
Cheers, h.2 -
rickiimarieee wrote: »WhereIsPJSoles wrote: »You should try a diet break
I agree with this advice. Try eating at maintenance for a week, then get back to your low calories. Honestly, you're so very close to your goal weight, things are probably going very slowly. I'm 5'1", and 127# would actually be my goal weight. Do you work out? If you don't, try some light cardio, lifting weights. Your weight will probably not go down, but you may find that you're happier with how your body looks.
I want to start weight lifting but I have my little one 24/7 so I’m gonna wait til he gets a little older to do so. 7 pounds isn’t a huge difference it’s just basically more about me wanting to get to 120
So you are already at a healthy weight and looking to lose vanity lbs, nothing wrong with that. But progress will be really slow and easily hide behind water weight fluctuations. For my last 10 lbs, I sometimes wouldn't see the scale move for 2 or 3 months, then all of a sudden I'd be down 2 lbs. You say you are using a food scale, which is awesome. If there is anything you eat regularly that you aren't weighing, try to do that a few times to make sure your portions are on point. Also double check that the entries you are using in the database are accurate (lots of them are wrong), and try not to use generic or recipe-style entries you didn't create yourself. When you have a lot of weight to lose, you have more wiggle room with your logging but once you get down to the nitty gritty it's all hands on deck With your stats and having a little one to chase, 1200 cals is lower than you should need to go, barring a medical condition.
I would agree with changing your setting to "maintenance" for a couple of weeks and then getting back at it. If you can add in some home workouts in the near future, you might actually find that getting more "fit" will make you happier than losing more weight, but regardless patience will be a key. Hang in there and good luck!middlehaitch wrote: »If you look at what your maintenance will be at your goal weight you will be able to see how big a deficit 1200 cals is giving you.
I am 5'1 and lost on 1200 plus 200 exercise calories. I went from 130-100-105 maintenance. It took a year, and the last few lbs were so slow weekly weight loss was imperceptible. But it did happen.
At about the 115 mark, when my loss started to slow I checked what my maintenance would be at sedentary. It was 1200 on MFP, (so the same as what my deficit was) it was also in that ball park with other calculators. I also have a BMR of about 950-1000 depending on the calculator used. (I'm old, small, and light, so the numbers are correct)
So to answer your question, yes there is a point where one can stop losing while not starving oneself - a 1200 cal deficit for this sedentary, older, 5'1 woman was a deficit until 105 lbs, then it became maintenance.
Take a break and eat at maintenance for a week or 2, then either continue eating at 1200 or switch to your goal weight maintenance a little early.
Cheers, h.
Thank you both for the helpful tips and advice!! I think my body got use to the idea of only taking in 1,200 calories since I’ve been doing it for so long, I think a diet break would be beneficial!3 -
I also recommend when you finish your diet break to set your goals to 0.5 lb/week loss. I’m 5’3 117lbs so very similar to your stats and you should get about 100 more calories. You don’t have enough weight to lose for an aggressive goal and keeping your calories up does your body way better in the long run.3
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When your BMI is within a healthy range.5
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WhereIsPJSoles wrote: »I also recommend when you finish your diet break to set your goals to 0.5 lb/week loss. I’m 5’3 117lbs so very similar to your stats and you should get about 100 more calories. You don’t have enough weight to lose for an aggressive goal and keeping your calories up does your body way better in the long run.
I don’t get any more calories my maintenance is 14000 -
That’s super strange that you’re getting that at half a pound a week, I get 1280 and I’m at sedentary. Are you sure everything is entered correctly?0
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The OP didn’t mean when do you stop losing weight, but when do you stop losing weight healthily because she’s eating the lowest amount of calories and not losing. Anorexics and people dying of starvation aren’t considered healthy. I would think for someone who is 5’3, you’d still be losing on 1200 until you were about 90 lbs, but would be considered underweight at 104 by BMI scales.2
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I've skimmed through the replies, if you aren't losing weight there's something off with your logging. While you are at a healthy weight if there was a calorie deficit you would lose.
I'm a little shorter and maintain on 1950-2000 calories so if I wanted to lost 0.5lb a week I'd eat 1700 calories. I'm lightly active. If I was sedentary I would eat 1450 and still lose. So again I would say something is off and if you're sure about your food logging then maybe its time to have some medical advice.
(Someone please post that not losing weight chart thank you) 1 -
rickiimarieee wrote: »Is there a point where your body stops losing weight? Where it’s at the lowest it’ll get without you starving yourself completely? And if there is a point how do you know you’ve reached that point?
Yes, of course. There would come a point where you would either stop losing weight or have to drop your calories to a level that would not provide adequate nutrition in order to keep losing.
I'm not sure why are asking this question but it's very troubling.1 -
Have you been measuring yourself? You may be losing fat and inches still but the weight stays the same due to building muscle. I don't know your fitness routine, but this happens a lot. Also, not all calories are created equal. Dive back into your food journal and evaluate what you are eating. Can you change up your macros? Etc.10 -
Just to eliminate any other variables, you may want to double check your electronic food scale. Put something of a known weight on it and make sure the reading makes sense.
I just had to replace my scale. I caught the error quickly because I was weighing a meal that I eat often and three different components in a row came up about half what I would have guessed. So to check it I threw a pound of butter on there (still in the cardboard and paper, but that would add very little weight), and the scale read 8.3 ounces. So my scale just randomly decided to start reading half the true weight. It was a walmart cheapy, so I guess it's to be expected that it wouldn't last forever.2 -
HealthyBodySickMind wrote: »Just to eliminate any other variables, you may want to double check your electronic food scale. Put something of a known weight on it and make sure the reading makes sense.
...So my scale just randomly decided to start reading half the true weight. It was a walmart cheapy, so I guess it's to be expected that it wouldn't last forever.
Usually, replacing the batteries fixes this. Wonky weights for known items is the first clue for dying batteries.
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WhereIsPJSoles wrote: »That’s super strange that you’re getting that at half a pound a week, I get 1280 and I’m at sedentary. Are you sure everything is entered correctly?
Yes I’m sedentary and it doesn’t go up0 -
HealthyBodySickMind wrote: »Just to eliminate any other variables, you may want to double check your electronic food scale. Put something of a known weight on it and make sure the reading makes sense.
...So my scale just randomly decided to start reading half the true weight. It was a walmart cheapy, so I guess it's to be expected that it wouldn't last forever.
Usually, replacing the batteries fixes this. Wonky weights for known items is the first clue for dying batteries.
Good tips guys!! I’ll have to keep this in mind!!0 -
Good tip mine is a digital one from Walmart as well!!HealthyBodySickMind wrote: »Just to eliminate any other variables, you may want to double check your electronic food scale. Put something of a known weight on it and make sure the reading makes sense.
I just had to replace my scale. I caught the error quickly because I was weighing a meal that I eat often and three different components in a row came up about half what I would have guessed. So to check it I threw a pound of butter on there (still in the cardboard and paper, but that would add very little weight), and the scale read 8.3 ounces. So my scale just randomly decided to start reading half the true weight. It was a walmart cheapy, so I guess it's to be expected that it wouldn't last forever.
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herownkindofwonderfull wrote: »
Have you been measuring yourself? You may be losing fat and inches still but the weight stays the same due to building muscle. I don't know your fitness routine, but this happens a lot. Also, not all calories are created equal. Dive back into your food journal and evaluate what you are eating. Can you change up your macros? Etc.
I didn’t really think macros mattered. But I’m pretty sedentary other than taking care of a baby and cooking and cleaning. I don’t work out0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »rickiimarieee wrote: »Is there a point where your body stops losing weight? Where it’s at the lowest it’ll get without you starving yourself completely? And if there is a point how do you know you’ve reached that point?
Yes, of course. There would come a point where you would either stop losing weight or have to drop your calories to a level that would not provide adequate nutrition in order to keep losing.
I'm not sure why are asking this question but it's very troubling.
I’m asking because I have 7 pounds until my goal weight and I was wondering if this is the weight my body is stuck at with 1,200 calories. (Been stuck at 127 for months). Like I’m asking if I’m stuck at this weight forever if I keep eating 1,200 calories. Does this make sense?0 -
WhereIsPJSoles wrote: »The OP didn’t mean when do you stop losing weight, but when do you stop losing weight healthily because she’s eating the lowest amount of calories and not losing. Anorexics and people dying of starvation aren’t considered healthy. I would think for someone who is 5’3, you’d still be losing on 1200 until you were about 90 lbs, but would be considered underweight at 104 by BMI scales.
This is exactly what I mean. I thought I made it clear by saying in the post by not starving yourself completely. But yeah I think at 104 is 18% which is considered underweight. I mean I’m at 127 so I have 23 pounds of adjustable weight. I just really wanna hit that goal of 120 Yano.0 -
HealthyBodySickMind wrote: »Just to eliminate any other variables, you may want to double check your electronic food scale. Put something of a known weight on it and make sure the reading makes sense.
...So my scale just randomly decided to start reading half the true weight. It was a walmart cheapy, so I guess it's to be expected that it wouldn't last forever.
Usually, replacing the batteries fixes this. Wonky weights for known items is the first clue for dying batteries.
Replacing the battery was the first thing I did. I ended up just buying a new scale.0
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