Weight loss stalled ~2 months?

gweep
gweep Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm actually baffled, I've maintained a deficit nearly every day for 230ish days. I haven't really lost anything substantial (like 3 lb) since before thanksgiving. I weigh and measure everything I put in my mouth unless it's a small snack with a barcode, then I just scan those and double check the package to make sure the numbers match.

Info about me: I started off pretty heavy - 382ish last May. My highest was 394, so my ticker should show roughly 100lbs lost. The problem is, I lost most of the weight in the first seven months and now it doesn't seem like whatever I do, the scale won't budge.

My measurements haven't changed, and I'm just getting more and more frustrated as each week goes by. I have lymphedema in my left leg - so exercise is pretty difficult currently, but it is slowly improving. Just keep in mind I can't exactly go HAM with exercise. I don't have PCOS or hypothyroidism.

I am on several medications. I'm anemic, so I take 65mg of iron/day. 2,000 iu vitamin d3/day. Two antidepressants/anxiety medications. 75mg effexor & 150mg welbutrin/day. 1,000mg metformin split into 500mg twice a day. Then 10mg cetrizine for allergies and a generic women's multivitamin. (The iron & vitamin d3 are doctor's orders, so I can't stop those.)

I've tried cycling my calories. Eating closer to maintenance one week, then having a bigger deficit the next. Maintenance/TDEE should be around 2,500 for me at my current weight. 292 5'7 29 years old, female So I have more than a 1,000 calorie deficit with my 1,300/day plan. If I'm ravenously hungry I'll go over by ~150-200 calories, but still it shouldn't be anything that would cease weight loss by any means.

I aim for 140oz of water a day.

I even bought a fitbit this thursday to just see if I'm not trying hard enough in my exercise routines. My heart rate is always in the fat burning range when I look back later. I'm just confused. :(

Replies

  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
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  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
    If you have lymphedema, are you not predisposed to water retention?
  • bcradio1
    bcradio1 Posts: 43 Member
    Eat less and move more is all you will need to lose weight. Your body works exactly the same as everyone else on the planet.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,227 Member
    How much edema/water retention/swelling do you have?
  • FlyingMolly
    FlyingMolly Posts: 490 Member
    edited January 2018
    What they said, and also congratulations on your loss so far! 100-ish pounds is really amazing; please don’t lose sight of that. :) Weight loss gets harder and harder the closer you get to your goal—small discrepancies in logging make a bigger difference, and the weight’s just going to come off slower anyway, but your calorie goal keeps going down, and also your exercise has been restricted, and by the way “since before Thanksgiving” includes a number of food-intensive holidays.

    So if it turns out you’ve lost some steam in the last couple of months, I mean...who can blame you? And if you’re fed up and ready to see movement again, it’s time to shake things up. Move more (a lot of low-intensity activity throughout the day can burn even more than an intense 1-hour workout), measure more carefully, consider introducing some new recipes or foods to keep things interesting. Pretend you’re starting fresh, except this time you have the advantage of already knowing you’re tough as nails.
  • jennrissa
    jennrissa Posts: 42 Member
    Don't stress too much about it. I finally got off of a plateau that lasted a bit over 4 months. I have a food scale and measured and took exercise classes. I ended up in bed for a couple weeks because I got my wisdom teeth taken out. I stuck to meal replacement shakes and ate like a bird. I was finally able to check last week and I got past my plateau. It will come off. Keep tracking your calories, weigh/measure food if you can, and don't give up <3. Good job on your progress!
  • gweep
    gweep Posts: 4 Member
    Well, it's been a few more weeks. I've been eating an extra 500 calories a day, but still hovering around 292 in the mornings. :(

    On the positive, I did lose a few inches since last month. I'm reluctant to hang onto hope that it's muscle cancelling out the fat loss, but I have been able to reach my steps goal of 8,000/day pretty easily now. :)

    I might see if I can make an appointment for a sleep study since my fitbit said I wake up around fifty times a night, which is probably sleep apnea.

    I'll wait a few more weeks to see if my general practitioner can give me a referral to an endocrinologist or something.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,227 Member
    Congrats on the obvious fat loss (if you're losing inches). Have you discussed with your doctor how much water you might be retaining with your edema?

    On the "there is some possible hope" side, I was told many times that I would snore extremely loudly, choke, and even stop breathing during the night. All of the above symptoms went away with weight loss from class 2 obese to normal weight (they were already gone by low overweight)

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