Frustratingly Slow Weight Loss
janalo55
Posts: 50 Member
Hello. I have been on MFP for years, off and on. Currently, I am almost to 600 days of logging every day. Most of those days, I have logged my complete day. I would guess only 5 or 6 days total that I didn't. Anyway, I started this July of 2017. As of today, Feb of 2019, I have lost 104 pounds. The thing is, I lost 80 in 8 months to start out with. That tells you that in the following 11 months, I have lost 24. OK. I'll take it. But how to I get it going a little faster? I am currently eating 1335 calories a day. I tried cutting back to 1200 and I just couldn't seem to stick to it. This 1335 is working pretty well for me, but man the loss is slow. My doctor wants me to get 100 grams of protein a day and says I will see the loss pick up again if I do that. I find that very difficult. I am always way of the "daily recommended" but hardly ever actually all the way up to 100. Is she right? Is that all I need to do? I do water aerobics at least 3 one hour sessions a week and I'm scheduled for 5 with sometimes doing 2 hours. Life interferes, but I try to make sure it's at least 3 of those days and if I miss, at least one will be the 2 hours. I do little else since I have bad knees. I do haul hay out to my horses, but that's not that much work. When this horrible mud goes away, I want to start riding again and I know that's good exercise. Any ideas to help?
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Replies
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Oh. I am at 198.6 pounds with a goal of 160 or so. We'll see when I get there. The clothes that fit me at 200 before do not fit now so I'm not sure if I will need to go lower to reach my desired weight. It's been so long since I was there, I have no reference point.
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The more you have to lose the faster it goes. It's supposed to slow down in the process.
I'm sorry this is not the answer you wanted but your body loses at its own speed. After all it took you one year and a half to lose 104 pounds, I bet it didn't take you just one year and a half to put it on, right? Trust the process and keep going.8 -
104 lbs is amazing! Congratulations. My non-expert opinion is that you either need to eat fewer calories, or burn more... but you already knew that. Sorry I can't help - I think you are on the right track. My weight loss has also slowed to a snails pace. I wanted to lose 1lb/week and that certainly wasn't happening so now I aim for 0.5 lbs/week. It looks like you are now at just over 0.25/week and as much as losing slowly is frustrating, from what I hear, it is likely to be more sustainable in the long run.
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That is fantastic progress that you have made! Have you taken any diet breaks during all this time? Maybe take some time for a diet break, and then get back at it. The below thread has good information regarding that if you have not already seen it.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p17 -
I guess it does figure out to about a quarter pound a week. It's just that I lose, and then spend 3 or 4 weeks fluctuating up, before I finally get back to that low point and then down just a little and fluctuate up 3 to 4 pounds again for the next 3 or 4 weeks... I don't record those fluctuations because I haven't "cheated" so I don't believe they are real. I do, however, record the losses! LOL! I suppose the same reasoning would be that those are not real, but I take them. And thank you. I am much happier... able to do things I couldn't, etc., but impatient!4
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The more you have to lose the faster it goes. It's supposed to slow down in the process.
I'm sorry this is not the answer you wanted but your body loses at its own speed. After all it took you one year and a half to lose 104 pounds, I bet it didn't take you just one year and a half to put it on, right? Trust the process and keep going.
In September of 2007, I was at 172 pounds. By my wedding in December of 2009, I was about 250. I then got up all the way to 303 (that's an estimate because my scale errored out at 300 so I guessed by how soon I could weigh). I had a hysterectomy in 2007 and it took me until April of 2017 to find a doctor who could help me deal with my hormone issues. After getting that handled, we started the weight loss journey in July. The fastest I ever gained was 40 pounds in 4 months, which I did when I was 19 and went from 139 to 179. I figured if I could lose at the weight I gained, I'd be happy. LOL! And I did, to begin with. So I guess I should just be happy... and keep plugging away. Maybe I'll be at goal before I die. I'm going to be 64 in April so I hope that's awhile!
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I too want to vote for a diet break. I went through exactly what you are. I lost most of my weight the first year then stalled for about 3 months. I was on 1200 calories at that point and couldn't go any lower. I took a diet break at maintenance calories for a week. It was hard in the sense that I kept panicking about how much weight I would gain but really should have stayed at maintenance for 2 weeks. Anyway it worked. When I finished I was on 1300 calories just because I couldn't face 1200 anymore but I started losing again. It was slower but I finally got to my goal weight. Take a break and keep logging as you do. You will likely gain a pound or two but it will came back off. Good Luck and congrats on your amazing progress!7
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I would celebrate the success and keep up with the progress, even if it is slower than you would like. It seems like you are losing about half a pound a week (24 pounds in 48 weeks). While I can understand the desire to go faster, that is a reasonable weight of loss.4
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I guess it does figure out to about a quarter pound a week. It's just that I lose, and then spend 3 or 4 weeks fluctuating up, before I finally get back to that low point and then down just a little and fluctuate up 3 to 4 pounds again for the next 3 or 4 weeks... I don't record those fluctuations because I haven't "cheated" so I don't believe they are real. I do, however, record the losses! LOL! I suppose the same reasoning would be that those are not real, but I take them. And thank you. I am much happier... able to do things I couldn't, etc., but impatient!
OMG.... you are doing FANTASTIC! Give yourself some credit. That fluctuation thing you describe, exact same for me. Really, divining body weight with all the natural healthy fluctuations is the most frustrating, imprecise part of fat loss. It sounds like you have it figured out, so give yourself credit for that, too.
Have you ever considered a "diet break?" https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html/
ETA: doh! missed same question above.4 -
No one has asked this yet, are you weighing your food? I know you said logging, but that doesn't necessarily mean weighing it.6
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Hello. I have been on MFP for years, off and on. Currently, I am almost to 600 days of logging every day. Most of those days, I have logged my complete day. I would guess only 5 or 6 days total that I didn't. Anyway, I started this July of 2017. As of today, Feb of 2019, I have lost 104 pounds. The thing is, I lost 80 in 8 months to start out with. That tells you that in the following 11 months, I have lost 24. OK. I'll take it. But how to I get it going a little faster? I am currently eating 1335 calories a day. I tried cutting back to 1200 and I just couldn't seem to stick to it. This 1335 is working pretty well for me, but man the loss is slow. My doctor wants me to get 100 grams of protein a day and says I will see the loss pick up again if I do that. I find that very difficult. I am always way of the "daily recommended" but hardly ever actually all the way up to 100. Is she right? Is that all I need to do? I do water aerobics at least 3 one hour sessions a week and I'm scheduled for 5 with sometimes doing 2 hours. Life interferes, but I try to make sure it's at least 3 of those days and if I miss, at least one will be the 2 hours. I do little else since I have bad knees. I do haul hay out to my horses, but that's not that much work. When this horrible mud goes away, I want to start riding again and I know that's good exercise. Any ideas to help?
I totally understand what you're going through. I lost over 220 not trying as hard as I could of over the first couple years, and about 70 last year working much harder. 2 months in this year and I've lost only 8 lbs so far and I'm as strict as I've ever been. It's just the nature of getting closer to your goal. You can diet the same, but the "deficit" to maintain gets smaller, and it becomes harder to shed a lot of pounds. I'm not giving up, and you shouldn't either. There is still a minimum you need to meet (which I am) to stay healthy. That balance is what's making it hard.
I agree with many of the comments with weighing vs measuring. That does help, but you may just be hitting that hard spot. Maybe if something is coming up, you can shift to "maintenance mode" for a couple weeks, give your body a chance to reset, and then start again. I'm not saying it'll make you lose weight faster after, but maybe it'll give your mind a break, as well as give you a chance to see how accurate the caloric intake is for you. BTW, have you been eating 1335 all the time? if so, then your loss will slow down as your maintenance calorie level gets lower as you lose weight, which means your deficit is smaller, hence you lose weight slower.3 -
Oh yes! I too, am struggling with a very hard weight loss plateau that has the very same oscillation you describe. The recommendation for a two week diet break to reset our leptin levels seems to be indicated. But it sounds like we're both very motivated to stay with the program (that's how you have had such great success, right?). I have tried working in a refeed day (eat at maintenance calories) the last two weeks, and have been pushing protein, but those efforts haven't had any effect for me (yet). That doesn't mean they won't for you. Give it a try (supplementing protein is your friend!) Next step is to take the longer break, keeping up carbohydrates, fat low, and stacking protein while consuming a maintenance caloric level. Thankfully, MFP does all the math for us! Oh yes! Another thought I've had is to start using calipers to measure body fat rather than relying on the oh so fickle bathroom scale. Tricky to do by yourself, but maybe someone in the community can point us to a product a person can use on themselves.
Congratulations on your achievement! Don't give up! Trust the process!2 -
I guess it does figure out to about a quarter pound a week. It's just that I lose, and then spend 3 or 4 weeks fluctuating up, before I finally get back to that low point and then down just a little and fluctuate up 3 to 4 pounds again for the next 3 or 4 weeks... I don't record those fluctuations because I haven't "cheated" so I don't believe they are real. I do, however, record the losses! LOL! I suppose the same reasoning would be that those are not real, but I take them. And thank you. I am much happier... able to do things I couldn't, etc., but impatient!
These fluctuations are pretty normal actually, use a weight trending app to keep you focused and seeing that your overall trend is downwards. Even for me in Maintenence my trend is upwards 3 week's in the month and then swings down, it all averages out. Even when losing I only lost weight every 3 weeks or so - the joys of the monthly cycle eh!
Great job on massive loss already, just keep going
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firecat1987 wrote: »No one has asked this yet, are you weighing your food? I know you said logging, but that doesn't necessarily mean weighing it.
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LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »firecat1987 wrote: »No one has asked this yet, are you weighing your food? I know you said logging, but that doesn't necessarily mean weighing it.
+1
When I can, yes. I use my scale a lot. When we eat out, I estimate. When something is portioned in the package, I don't weigh. But otherwise, I weigh.2 -
LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »firecat1987 wrote: »No one has asked this yet, are you weighing your food? I know you said logging, but that doesn't necessarily mean weighing it.
+1
When I can, yes. I use my scale a lot. When we eat out, I estimate. When something is portioned in the package, I don't weigh. But otherwise, I weigh.
You'd be surprised how much those portioned packages can still be off. I don't know the percentages per-say, but there's always a margin for error obviously. Not that you have to, but it might be worthwhile to do an experiment and weigh those foods and see what they over/under is on them to give you an idea. You could be on the money, or it could be an eye opening experience where little calories here and there start adding up slowly.
Just throwing my two cents in.
Edited: Spelling, typo.5 -
LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »I guess it does figure out to about a quarter pound a week. It's just that I lose, and then spend 3 or 4 weeks fluctuating up, before I finally get back to that low point and then down just a little and fluctuate up 3 to 4 pounds again for the next 3 or 4 weeks... I don't record those fluctuations because I haven't "cheated" so I don't believe they are real. I do, however, record the losses! LOL! I suppose the same reasoning would be that those are not real, but I take them. And thank you. I am much happier... able to do things I couldn't, etc., but impatient!
These fluctuations are pretty normal actually, use a weight trending app to keep you focused and seeing that your overall trend is downwards. Even for me in Maintenence my trend is upwards 3 week's in the month and then swings down, it all averages out. Even when losing I only lost weight every 3 weeks or so - the joys of the monthly cycle eh!
Great job on massive loss already, just keep going
^^^ This. My weight can vary as much as 2.5 lbs up or down in a day and it has nothing to do with fat loss. It has to do with things like maybe I ate too much salt the night before, or maybe I ate more carbs than usual so my glycogen levels are higher (they store with a *lot* of water)... there are other reasons too. Since I have been tracking my weight every day with a 10-day trending weight line I do not obsess on those fluctuations as much.
And congrats on your success! You are doing great.
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For me protein was key, alongside weight training. I upped the protein and also started with heavy lifting and the weight is falling off. I have even had to up the kcals recently from 1500 to 2000kcal to slow it down a bit as I was losing at over 2lbs a week (I am a female 163lbs, 5'6", UK size 10 - I started this 10months ago at 260lbs, UK size 20)
I don't eat much meat so to get the protein I needed I now put some protein powder in my porridge in the morning and have hard boiled eggs and mayo for snacks.
Might be worth having a go at upping the proteins and listen to the doctor. Worked for me. Your body can not produce muscle with out protein and the more muscle you have the more kcals you burn.
Good luck with it all.1 -
BTW, have you been eating 1335 all the time? if so, then your loss will slow down as your maintenance calorie level gets lower as you lose weight, which means your deficit is smaller, hence you lose weight slower.[/quote]
No, I have eaten what MFP said to do to lose 2 pounds a week, until that amount went down to 1200 calories. I couldn't stick to that. It was just too restrictive, and I found if I went over, it seemed to be an encouragement to go ahead and go over more, so I went to 1335. I know that seems a strange number, but one day I ate that and decided it worked well so I changed my goal to it. As I recall, I started out at 1650 or something like that.
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^^^ This. My weight can vary as much as 2.5 lbs up or down in a day and it has nothing to do with fat loss. It has to do with things like maybe I ate too much salt the night before, or maybe I ate more carbs than usual so my glycogen levels are higher (they store with a *lot* of water)... there are other reasons too. Since I have been tracking my weight every day with a 10-day trending weight line I do not obsess on those fluctuations as much.
And congrats on your success! You are doing great.
Years ago, I did a low fat diet and I weighed every day. I swear there were days I had a 7 pound fluctuation! I started out on this only weighing once a week. Since I've reached this slow point, though, I have found it hard to stay off the scale, just looking for that one little bit of loss. LOL! So I've seen the fluctuations again, but not to that point. More like 3 or 4, without going off plan.
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I figured maintenance calories and it said 2600. Seriously? I would be terrified to eat that much. Is that what I need to do to take a diet break and reset? Should the increase be mostly protein or something?0
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Something else just occurred to me, in regards to the clothes I wore at 200 before not fitting me now... when I first started this journey, I lost 53 pounds. That took me to Christmas of my first year. My brother took pictures of us all at Christmas. I compared those pictures to my starting photo and was really upset... you could not tell I'd lost a single pound. Well, OK, maybe about 5 or 10! I started at a 26 and was still wearing the 26. I had some 24s that had gotten too tight and they were more comfortable, but definitely not enough to go down a size. 53 pounds and not a single size!!!!! Well, 13 pounds later, I was down 3 sizes. So maybe I will go down to where those clothes fit in a rush... sometime soon, I hope! I am now wearing a 16, mostly. These are pant sizes I'm talking about. Shirt and dress sizes seem to be so varied I can't even keep track. Still some 2X and some L. The 3X are gone though!!! The Size 16 dress I wore to my niece's wedding in 2006, when I know I weighed about 10 pounds more than I do now, does not fit yet. A size 18 that was my favorite for a long time is way too tight to wear. My measurements do not change substantially. I figure that's because I'm lousy at measuring myself and too embarrassed to let someone else do it. PS That Christmas turned out to be the last with my Mother, so the pictures are priceless even if I don't look so hot in them.3
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I figured maintenance calories and it said 2600. Seriously? I would be terrified to eat that much. Is that what I need to do to take a diet break and reset? Should the increase be mostly protein or something?
if you're active, which it sounds like you are then 2600 could well be your maintenance - diet breaks are a good idea, eat at maintenance for a few weeks, just for the break as such and then go back to calorie deficit. It can't hurt.1 -
I don't have any advice. I just want to echo that plateaus when you are putting lots of effort in really stink.2
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When I did my diet break I ate up to maintenance which for me was 1600. Some days I didn't quite make it but I was definately eating more than I had been at 1200. Do the best you can. Just realize you may gain a pound or two but it will come back off when you start restricting again. It takes a couple weeks to get it back off.1
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Thank you everyone for your congratulations. I'm excited and encouraged to have reached this point and still feel dedicated. And I am terrified of gaining it back. Every time I gain back, I add a few. I could easily go to 350 if I gain back. Not a choice I plan to make!
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RunnerGrl1982 wrote: »LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »firecat1987 wrote: »No one has asked this yet, are you weighing your food? I know you said logging, but that doesn't necessarily mean weighing it.
+1
When I can, yes. I use my scale a lot. When we eat out, I estimate. When something is portioned in the package, I don't weigh. But otherwise, I weigh.
You'd be surprised how much those portioned packages can still be off. I don't know the percentages per-say, but there's always a margin for error obviously. Not that you have to, but it might be worthwhile to do an experiment and weigh those foods and see what they over/under is on them to give you an idea. You could be on the money, or it could be an eye opening experience where little calories here and there start adding up slowly.
Just throwing my two cents in.
Edited: Spelling, typo.
So you mean my 4 oz Activia Yogurt might actually be more than 4 oz? Hmmm... I'm going to weigh one! Wow. They were ALL 4.05 to 4.1. Not that that's a big amount, but it is kind of surprising. And I'm betting things like frozen hamburger patties might be even more off. Thanks!5
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