At a standstill

Apelila311
Apelila311 Posts: 2 Member
edited December 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Hello MFPC. Question: I have been eating super clean and getting between 19,000-22,000 steps daily. BUT my scale has not budged in the past two weeks. Last week I finally took measurements, and will check again exactly three weeks that said date. My clothes fit better, but looking in the mirror I don't notice a difference appearance wise.

So little backstory, since January of last year I've been able to drop down from 196lbs to current weight of 134lbs. My goal is 125lbs.

I've gotten my nutrition down to whole foods with the occasional minimum processed. I stay below 45 grams of carbs daily (carb counting is where I've gotten the most success for weight loss). I walk every morning for about 3 miles consistently. I get in lunges, squats and stretches while the kids rest during that same morning walk. I usually alternate my workout days between cardio day and weights in addition to the walking. I'm not seeing much difference on the scale, it looks like I've been maintianing instead of losing.

Not sure why I am at a standstill? Am I missing something? Myfitness Pal has me down to eating 1200 calories per day. I don't feel starving at the end of the day, I eat plenty. So any input would be much appreciated. 🤷

The entire time of losing weight, I've been toning as I've gone. My husband thinks maybe the fat has been lost and it's muscle and just skin. Which I did read skin can take a year to I guess "shrink."

Replies

  • Apelila311
    Apelila311 Posts: 2 Member
    Well, "plenty," as in in I'm not starving come day close. But then again I'm usually exhausted from the day 😅. I don't use the food scale, but like I said it's whole foods and I count carbs, my accuracy is pretty close. I expend more calories than I take in. My initial thought, was maybe I'm not getting enough calories per day with the amount I'm active? Yes, I definitely double check and compare before logging.

    Thank you for your response Janejellyroll :-)
  • bullheadsgirl
    bullheadsgirl Posts: 1 Member
    It might be worth trying to actually calorie cycle yourself up for a while if you're at that solid of a plateau. I found that if I stay in a deficit too consistently, my body gets too used to it and just stays put. If I calorie cycle higher for a few days or a week or so then go back to the deficit amount (say 1200 calories), it'll trigger another metabolic boost and help me start to drop again.
  • midgetgrl72280
    midgetgrl72280 Posts: 27 Member
    What do you mean by counting carbs. Are you speaking simple carbs or complex carbs?
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 38,037 Community Helper
    You're already at a fairly low weight, you're loose-logging, and your weight has been steady for 2 weeks.

    How often are you weighing? Daily? Are you using a weight trending app?

    The lighter we get (closer to goal), the slower the loss is likely to be - the slower it should be, for best health-risk management IMO. That means that water weight and digestive contents variations can obscure the slow, continuing fat loss on the bodyweight scale. It also means that calorie error tolerances are smaller than when we had plenty left to lose.

    You seem very focused on carbs, eating "clean", whole foods, exercises. Those are all great things for satiation, nutrition, fitness, and health. But calorie intake is the big deal for weight management, and if that's not accurate, well . . . . you don't really have the data you need for clear evaluation of circumstances.

    Also, you mention being exhausted by the end of the day. If your calorie deficit has been big, for a long time, then fatigue and adaptive thermogenesis (not "starvation mode") could be reducing your calorie expenditure somewhat. (An accurate 1200, even 1200 plus exercise calories eaten back, would be a crazy-big deficit for me at 5'5" and around your current weight, FWIW, and I don't have your step count, not even close. But we're all different.)
    Apelila311 wrote: »
    (snip)

    The entire time of losing weight, I've been toning as I've gone. My husband thinks maybe the fat has been lost and it's muscle and just skin. Which I did read skin can take a year to I guess "shrink."

    The bolded is really not very likely, if you're still experiencing reasonably good health. People can starve, but unless you're quite tall, at 134 pounds, it's very unlikely that "the fat has been lost and it's muscle and just skin". It is possible that at 134, you're already at a reasonable healthy weight, and that it's time to go to maintenance calories. Out of curiousity, how tall are you, and why do you think 125 is the right number for you?

    (I'm not trying to be a jerk by asking this, truly; I'd like to understand, and help if possible).

    At 5'5", and roughly your weight, my body fat percentage is in the mid-20s percents somewhere, I believe; I'm not anywhere near solid muscle :lol: , but I'm also not entirely devoid of muscle, either. In recent memory, I was down as low as 116, which is thinner than I have any reason or intention to be with my skeletal configuration, but I still had body fat. People need body fat. ;)

    To be explicit: I'm not saying you should not have 125 as your goal . . . or that you should. I'm not saying you should weigh more, or less, than that. I'm asking you to clarify how you're thinking about your weight, in the hope that I can offer more useful or knowledgeable advice, that's all. :flowerforyou:

    FWIW, my loose skin kept shrinking at least well into year 2 of maintenance. Actual loose skin tends to be thin wrinkles, like wrinkles in medium-weight fabric, not thicker 1/2"+ folds or rolls, which tend to still have some subcutaneous fat. As an aid to thinking about your goals and current body fat levels, you might enjoy looking at the thread below, where many women put photos and some include body fat percentages, and information about their exercise routines and such:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10689837/does-this-uterus-make-my-stomach-look-fat/p1

    Don't let the odd thread title put you off. ;)

    Best wishes!
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