Slow weightloss now
size102b
Posts: 1,370 Member
Hi I’ve lost 86lbs it’s taken me along time as last yoyo dieting which I haven’t done now for 18 months after 32 years of lots weight off and on.
I was once 244lbs today I’m 158lbs I’m 5ft 2 and aged 50.
I eat a strict 1100-1250 weighed measured tracked calories 99% clean and I do 4-8 exercise classes a week including weights and walk 50 miles a week.
My losses are slow like 1-3lbs a month now I’ve tried upping my food and switching it round and exercise but still I’ll lose for a while then gain or plateau.
I’ve done my body fat % it’s about 26%
I’ve lost about 6 dress sizes in a uk size 12 that’s a US size 8
Any tips how to get the last 25lbs off I know my yoyo dieting past whic was extreme and my age hinder things
Thanks
Picture is heaviest and now
I was once 244lbs today I’m 158lbs I’m 5ft 2 and aged 50.
I eat a strict 1100-1250 weighed measured tracked calories 99% clean and I do 4-8 exercise classes a week including weights and walk 50 miles a week.
My losses are slow like 1-3lbs a month now I’ve tried upping my food and switching it round and exercise but still I’ll lose for a while then gain or plateau.
I’ve done my body fat % it’s about 26%
I’ve lost about 6 dress sizes in a uk size 12 that’s a US size 8
Any tips how to get the last 25lbs off I know my yoyo dieting past whic was extreme and my age hinder things
Thanks
Picture is heaviest and now
5
Replies
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Congrats on the 86 pound loss - excellent achievement!
The last 25 pounds is likely to be much slower than the previous 86. We might be able to spot something if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings7 -
I think you need to reset your calorie goals.
Set it to, "Lose 1/2 pound per week." Be honest and realistic with your daily Activity Level.
When you exercise, eat more. All that exercise needs fuel, and you don't mention whether you're eating more.
It's slow going in the end, don't expect fast results and pay attention to fatigue, irritability, hair problems, weak nails, sleeping a lot, confusion, etc. Those things mean you're doing damage. 1100 is way too low, and if you aren't eating back exercise cals it's even worse.
It took me nine months to lose the last 15 set at, "lose 1/2 pound per week," and even at that it was difficult for me to stick with my calories as I was legit hungry.9 -
I think what is happening sounds just fine. As you get closer to goal weight loss should slow down.2
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In addition to the excellent responses you've already gotten, you might want to consider a regimented refeed/diet break, details in this thread:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1
Congrats on your success so far! For many of us, the final stretch becomes slower, and FEELS even slower than it is because we've worked so long and hard and just want to see that magic number on the scale. Remind yourself of how far you've come, and how getting to goal and maintaining it is just the way you are now, and hang in there :drinker:3 -
Thankyou everyone lovely replies
I don’t eat back execise calories ever
I am very strict and now if I eat over 1600 I gain weight maybe it’s water ?
I don’t log on mfp I use another calorie app but this forum has much more experienced members
I can lost a weeks view here though
This was an average of the week
2 -
Today the exercise is from my Apple Watch 3
I’m going to eat abit more just not sure what1 -
Today2 -
Losing 1-3 lbs a month isn't slow.9
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Ask yourself if losing 1-3lbs a month really such a bad thing to lose your last 25lbs.
Especially as you are trying to fix years of yo-yo dieting. Direction not speed matters as the months will pass anyway.10 -
Still losing at a 1-3 lb rate is not particularly slow if you're sliding into maintenance.
In fact if you can even tell you're losing without using a weight trend app you're losing probably faster than your shirt at this stage.
Ask me why I think so--and about my 11.2 lb and 2.7 lb weight trend change years. Before switching to sub 2 pound per year changes and calling maintainance in the sub 24 / high 23 BMI range.
Let's take a short break and think about something you mentioned a few times in is your original post.
What have you been doing time and time again these past years?
So you're now, once again, on full loss mode (intense exercise + low calories) pushing to get through the last 25 lbs and get to goal.
Is this different than what you've done every other time in the past? You did mention it's a bit harder; but I mean is this any different of an approach than what you've done every other time in the past?
With 80 in my pocket, 20 to go and the history you've presented I would be changing my narrative and concentrating solely on keeping my 80.
And hey, if in the process of keeping my 80 it so happened that I drifted further down and lost some of that extra 25 over the next couple of years... BONUS!!!
But your 99% clean win, again given the history you have detailed, would be keeping that 80 in my pocket!
So you've identified that if you eat more than 1,600 you gain weight. And yes I do think that it's probably mostly water weight given your activity level. But what I think and what you think when confronted with the gain are not going to be the same.
But by identifying that if you eat more than 1,600 you gain weight you've also identified that you don't do so when eating 1600!
So do so!!!!
Really, if you're remotely counting correctly and you're remotely within the realms of approaching the response of an average person, given your activity level, it doesn't make sense that you would gain fat at that level of calories!
If you don't lose. Well that's fine. You're maintaining which is something you desperately need some practice on.
If you do lose a bit more. Well that's fine too. You're drifting closer to your goal while making it a bit easier on yourself, hopefully, to continue to try to lose, and, regardless of your success with that, getting to practice how you should be continuing to eat and move going forward.
Is it a bit early to do this given your current weight?
Possibly for someone who has not had your previous yo-yo experience and who is not pushing towards the last bit with incredibly low calories and very high exercise.
But not given your circumstances.
And I'm having some trouble envisioning you currently eating a good hundred twenty grams of protein with your current 1200 calorie diet. Plus fitting in there all your veggies and fruits and good fats and grains. Which given the stress you're putting your body through you probably should be!12 -
Still losing at a 1-3 lb rate is not particularly slow if you're sliding into maintenance.
In fact if you can even tell you're losing without using a weight trend app you're losing probably faster than your shirt at this stage.
Ask me why I think so--and about my 11.2 lb and 2.7 lb weight trend change years. Before switching to sub 2 pound per year changes and calling maintainance in the sub 24 / high 23 BMI range.
Let's take a short break and think about something you mentioned a few times in is your original post.
What have you been doing time and time again these past years?
So you're now, once again, on full loss mode (intense exercise + low calories) pushing to get through the last 25 lbs and get to goal.
Is this different than what you've done every other time in the past? You did mention it's a bit harder; but I mean is this any different of an approach than what you've done every other time in the past?
With 80 in my pocket, 20 to go and the history you've presented I would be changing my narrative and concentrating solely on keeping my 80.
And hey, if in the process of keeping my 80 it so happened that I drifted further down and lost some of that extra 25 over the next couple of years... BONUS!!!
But your 99% clean win, again given the history you have detailed, would be keeping that 80 in my pocket!
So you've identified that if you eat more than 1,600 you gain weight. And yes I do think that it's probably mostly water weight given your activity level. But what I think and what you think when confronted with the gain are not going to be the same.
But by identifying that if you eat more than 1,600 you gain weight you've also identified that you don't do so when eating 1600!
So do so!!!!
Really, if you're remotely counting correctly and you're remotely within the realms of approaching the response of an average person, given your activity level, it doesn't make sense that you would gain fat at that level of calories!
If you don't lose. Well that's fine. You're maintaining which is something you desperately need some practice on.
If you do lose a bit more. Well that's fine too. You're drifting closer to your goal while making it a bit easier on yourself, hopefully, to continue to try to lose, and, regardless of your success with that, getting to practice how you should be continuing to eat and move going forward.
Is it a bit early to do this given your current weight?
Possibly for someone who has not had your previous yo-yo experience and who is not pushing towards the last bit with incredibly low calories and very high exercise.
But not given your circumstances.
And I'm having some trouble envisioning you currently eating a good hundred twenty grams of protein with your current 1200 calorie diet. Plus fitting in there all your veggies and fruits and good fats and grains. Which given the stress you're putting your body through you probably should be!
Thankyou that is such a great reply your right and I hadn’t thought of it like this.
I need to up my protein it’s 97.2 grams average a day I just looked at my loggings.
This really has made a difference I think my “need” to get to goal is as I never do in 32 years and yes 80 gone is so much better than gaining it back over and over and slowly the rest she’ll come off
Thanks again was a fabulous reply 🙏💙
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Ask yourself if losing 1-3lbs a month really such a bad thing to lose your last 25lbs.
Especially as you are trying to fix years of yo-yo dieting. Direction not speed matters as the months will pass anyway.
Very true I just get a lot people comment on my weight my whole life and I suppose I’ve got fixated on large losses and how slow mine are now
Thanks a lot appreciate your reply 💚3 -
scarlett_k wrote: »Losing 1-3 lbs a month isn't slow.
No but if I have a gain that will cancel out that month rap hormonal water gain takes ages to lose now must be my age
Thankyou
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scarlett_k wrote: »Losing 1-3 lbs a month isn't slow.
No but if I have a gain that will cancel out that month rap hormonal water gain takes ages to lose now must be my age
Thankyou
You could try using a weight trending app like Libra as it will show if you have a generally downward trend despite the normal fluctuations.4 -
scarlett_k wrote: »Losing 1-3 lbs a month isn't slow.
No but if I have a gain that will cancel out that month rap hormonal water gain takes ages to lose now must be my age
Thankyou
. . . maybe not.
Signed,
Age 64
P.S. Most of the statistical difference with age, looking across the population, is (1) reduced muscle mass as a fraction of body weight, and (2) lower everyday non-exercise activity. Both of those are things over which we, as individuals, have near-complete control. If I compare what the Sailrabbit TDEE calculator says for 64-year-old me vs. 24-year old me, the difference is less than 250 calories daily, about one serving of peanut butter on medium-calorie bread (one slice). If I tell the calculator that both old and young fake-me have 25% body fat (I made that % up), it gives the old person and the young person the same number of calories, using formulas that take that into account.4 -
scarlett_k wrote: »Losing 1-3 lbs a month isn't slow.
No but if I have a gain that will cancel out that month rap hormonal water gain takes ages to lose now must be my age
Thankyou . . . maybe not.
Signed,
Age 64
P.S. Most of the statistical difference with age, looking across the population, is (1) reduced muscle mass as a fraction of body weight, and (2) lower everyday non-exercise activity. Both of those are things over which we, as individuals, have near-complete control. If I compare what the Sailrabbit TDEE calculator says for 64-year-old me vs. 24-year old me, the difference is less than 250 calories daily, about one serving of peanut butter on medium-calorie bread (one slice). If I tell the calculator that both old and young fake-me have 25% body fat (I made that % up), it gives the old person and the young person the same number of calories, using formulas that take that into account.
You didn’t understand what I mean
MENOPAUSAL IM 50 have symptoms and it’s well scientifically proven menopause women have trouble losing weight as oestrogen drops and we store fat.
Aged 64 you’d be completely non menopausal also if your female
Nothing to do with age and older people do lose slowly0 -
scarlett_k wrote: »scarlett_k wrote: »Losing 1-3 lbs a month isn't slow.
No but if I have a gain that will cancel out that month rap hormonal water gain takes ages to lose now must be my age
Thankyou
You could try using a weight trending app like Libra as it will show if you have a generally downward trend despite the normal fluctuations.
Thankyou will go look now
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scarlett_k wrote: »Losing 1-3 lbs a month isn't slow.
No but if I have a gain that will cancel out that month rap hormonal water gain takes ages to lose now must be my age
Thankyou
But it's water weight, not fat.4 -
Have you taken any diet breaks eating at maintenance calories did a couple of weeks? If not, I strongly recommend it.
FWIW I’m age 52, 5’1”, 133 lbs. and recently post-menopause. I have 7 lbs to go to reach my goal. I have my calorie goal set at 0.5 lbs per week and find it helpful to take diet breaks. I’ve lost 40ish lbs in approximately 2 years (most in the first year). I’m finding that focusing on maintenance periodically is helping keep me focused and helping me avoid binge cycles that have been problematic in the past.2 -
Nony_Mouse wrote: »scarlett_k wrote: »Losing 1-3 lbs a month isn't slow.
No but if I have a gain that will cancel out that month rap hormonal water gain takes ages to lose now must be my age
Thankyou
But it's water weight, not fat.
Yes but it takes me ages to lose that water gain
1 -
emmamcgarity wrote: »Have you taken any diet breaks eating at maintenance calories did a couple of weeks? If not, I strongly recommend it.
FWIW I’m age 52, 5’1”, 133 lbs. and recently post-menopause. I have 7 lbs to go to reach my goal. I have my calorie goal set at 0.5 lbs per week and find it helpful to take diet breaks. I’ve lost 40ish lbs in approximately 2 years (most in the first year). I’m finding that focusing on maintenance periodically is helping keep me focused and helping me avoid binge cycles that have been problematic in the past.
No except my 50th I wasnt so strict for 3 weeks only had evening neal off plan and I gained 11 lbs in 3 weeks I wasnt even eating a lot - that’s when I swapped from WW to calorie counting after losing 50lbs in 14 months When I started cals I lost 18lbs in 9 weeks Christmas 2 days off plan = 9 lbs gain - I gain fast and lose fast week 1 as water
So those are the only breaks I’ve had.
You maybe right tbh
Did you gain when you went to maintence calories ? What were you eating to lose and eating to maintain ( calories )
Thankyou0 -
emmamcgarity wrote: »Have you taken any diet breaks eating at maintenance calories did a couple of weeks? If not, I strongly recommend it.
FWIW I’m age 52, 5’1”, 133 lbs. and recently post-menopause. I have 7 lbs to go to reach my goal. I have my calorie goal set at 0.5 lbs per week and find it helpful to take diet breaks. I’ve lost 40ish lbs in approximately 2 years (most in the first year). I’m finding that focusing on maintenance periodically is helping keep me focused and helping me avoid binge cycles that have been problematic in the past.
No except my 50th I wasnt so strict for 3 weeks only had evening neal off plan and I gained 11 lbs in 3 weeks I wasnt even eating a lot - that’s when I swapped from WW to calorie counting after losing 50lbs in 14 months When I started cals I lost 18lbs in 9 weeks Christmas 2 days off plan = 9 lbs gain - I gain fast and lose fast week 1 as water
So those are the only breaks I’ve had.
You maybe right tbh
Did you gain when you went to maintence calories ? What were you eating to lose and eating to maintain ( calories )
Thankyou
The scale fluctuates a lot and I generally stay within a 3-4 pound range. I try to ignore fluctuations as much as possible. Sometimes it’s from a restaurant meal and will go away in a day or two. Other times my weight goes lower than expected just because I pooped... none of this is really weight loss or weight gain. If I weigh myself several times per day, I’ll get several different numbers from these fluctuations. The weight trending apps help you figure out if you are on a downward of upward trend. But I’ve found it helps my sanity just to know that the fluctuations exist and that my weight will fall in a certain range. Right now that is somewhere around 132-136. This morning was 134.5. Tomorrow may be slightly higher or lower. But none of the daily fluctuations are actually fat gain. If I saw that number climb to 137 or 138 I’d know that I’m headed in the wrong direction and would re-evaluate. I want to be able to maintain my weight once at goal. Every maintenance break is good practice. I’ve resolved that I’ll be logging my calorie intake forever and am ok with that. But that means I log days over on calories and days under on calories.
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You asked about my calorie intake as well. I generally average 1500-1600 calories per day. MFP has my calorie goal set at 1220 to lose a half pound per week. But I have a sedentary job. So I make sure to eat back exercise calories so I can properly fuel my workouts. Some days I’ve been 200 calories under the target. Other days I’ve been 1500 calories over. I use the weekly calorie stats to help me see how my calories are in balance when accounting for exercise.3
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Thankyou both appreciate your help0
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