After 3 lbs, I stopped losing weight.

sk3adik
sk3adik Posts: 27
edited October 2 in Health and Weight Loss
I am stuck. I added weight training, and cardio because they said I have to increase my capacity every 1-3 weeks and do different routine. I go to gym Monday-Friday. I know that weight is nothing but a number, BUT I haven't lost any inches off of my neck, chest, waist, hips, or legs. I need to lose 40 lbs to meet my healthy weight, I understand that the safest is to lose 2 lbs max per week. But I am not losing weight anymore. Any advise?

Replies

  • kmumansky
    kmumansky Posts: 119
    give it a few weeks. I find it can take me 3-4 weeks to even loose 1 lb if I haven't used weights in awhile and then start up with them. I hate when people tell me muscle weighs more than fat even though it's true...I think I also read once that when you start a new workout routine, especially involving weights you will retain some water in the beginning. I've also read not to weigh yourself for the first 4 weeks because you may actually gain a few lbs before you loose anything, which will just go back to the Muscle weighs more than fat, and then once you start building muscle it will burn the fat faster and then the weight will start to come off.

    hang in there!
  • plantgrrl
    plantgrrl Posts: 436 Member
    Same thing happened to me, weird question, are you eating enough? If we net less then our BMR, our bodies start trying to hang on to weight, thinking we're going through a famine and try to hang on to as much fat as possible to "out last" the rough patch having an opposite effect from what we wanted. And it's unhealthy. Go to tools and find out your BMR. If it's higher then the automatic 1200 that MFP assigns when you say "2lbs a week" then set manually set to that in the "Goals" area (sub tab of the "My Home" tab). Because I don't want to eat less then my BMR of 1357 I set my food goal to 1400 cals, so that I can still see my numbers as "under goal" at the end of the day. It's all about balance. Your BMR is not what you need to maintain, it's what you need to function. You metabolism says, "hey you're not eating very much! I better not digest very quickly!" and slows down. NOT what we're trying to achieve, the opposite actually!

    Anyhow, don't know if that's what you're doing. But I know I was confused about net cals, BMRs and all that when I started and I messed up a little. Lost 11 lbs and now I've stalled. Started figuring out the nutrition thing and it's starting to move again slowly.

    Great article on "Shape Up, America!" gives a wonderful explanation I think: http://www.shapeup.org/sud10/sud10s7.php
  • sk3adik
    sk3adik Posts: 27
    Same thing happened to me, weird question, are you eating enough? If we net less then our BMR, our bodies start trying to hang on to weight, thinking we're going through a famine and try to hang on to as much fat as possible to "out last" the rough patch having an opposite effect from what we wanted. And it's unhealthy. Go to tools and find out your BMR. If it's higher then the automatic 1200 that MFP assigns when you say "2lbs a week" then set manually set to that in the "Goals" area (sub tab of the "My Home" tab). Because I don't want to eat less then my BMR of 1357 I set my food goal to 1400 cals, so that I can still see my numbers as "under goal" at the end of the day. It's all about balance. Your BMR is not what you need to maintain, it's what you need to function. You metabolism says, "hey you're not eating very much! I better not digest very quickly!" and slows down. NOT what we're trying to achieve, the opposite actually!

    Anyhow, don't know if that's what you're doing. But I know I was confused about net cals, BMRs and all that when I started and I messed up a little. Lost 11 lbs and now I've stalled. Started figuring out the nutrition thing and it's starting to move again slowly.

    Great article on "Shape Up, America!" gives a wonderful explanation I think: http://www.shapeup.org/sud10/sud10s7.php


    Actually I eat and try to reach my calorie goal, but when I work out I burn what I eat for the day, so my net is sometimes negative or low. Since I go to the gym after office hours, when I go home I will go relax and sleep. I can't eat anymore, because I follow that "don't- eat- when- you're- not- hungry rule."
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
    Welp, I can tell you why you aren't losing weight...

    Ending up with negative calories in a day is NOT how you lose weight. You MUST fuel your body to lose weight. You must. If you know you won't want to eat after you workout, then you need to increase the calories you are consuming through the day. Add in nuts and nut butters to add some calories. Drink a protein shake with milk. Anything to increase the calories. You can not continue to eat low calories or net negative calories in a day and expect your body to lose weight. It simply isn't going to happen. Our bodies need a certain amount of calories JUST TO FUNCTION. You have to eat MORE than that amount of calories if you want your body to feel comfortable enough to lose weight.

    You should be netting whatever your daily calorie goal is.

    So, if MFP tells you to eat 1200 calories a day and you burn 500 calories at the gym - you need to eat another 500 so you'll net 1200.

    I should also add... listening to your body is important, but I think it takes time to be able to TRUST the signals our bodies give us. You say you aren't hungry -- I think it is because you've convinced your body it doesn't need anymore food - even though it does. Try having that protein shake with milk after you workout. It'll be good for you and your body will thank you.
  • KeiKeiStar
    KeiKeiStar Posts: 10 Member
    Your body may be in starvation mode and therefore holding on to the little bit that you are giving it. If you are less than 1200 kcal/day, increase to atleast 1200.

    If you have been at 1200 for more than 2 weeks increase to kcals needed to sustain your desired weight (not current weight). You should be able to figure this out by finding an energy calculator online and putting in your desired weight instead of current.

    For instance, to maintain a weight of 130lbs based on my height, I should eat 1500 kcal. I ate 1200 for two weeks and instead of staying at 1200, kicked up to 1500 after the first two weeks.

    Good Luck
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