Is my body just saying, that's it, no more?
OAS5
Posts: 376 Member
I went from 273.6 a few years back to 199.0 last June. My goal is 185. Since that time of hitting 199 last June I have been bouncing between 199 and 204 every single day of every single week which is normal fluctuations. When I hit plateaus going down from the high I just pushed through. I was headstrong and just said do what you do and it'll start going again and it always did but this time it won't budge. Now being a year its a pretty good sample size. I admit I am not the most precise calorie counter, I guesstimate here and there if its not something I can just scan. I'm not off by that much though I know that.
I'm afraid to do a "reverse diet" because as foolish as it sounds I do not want to see the scale go up and I'm afraid to reverse diet and not be able to go back. The old slippery slope and gain 75 pounds deal. NO WAY am I going near that.
Is body just telling me, that's it? No more losing, I'm not allowing it?
Also don't get me wrong I'm ecstatic at where I am. I am over the moon but I still want this last 10-15 off. I know what I looked like at 190 and I liked it, and want back to it, just can't seem to get there.
I'm afraid to do a "reverse diet" because as foolish as it sounds I do not want to see the scale go up and I'm afraid to reverse diet and not be able to go back. The old slippery slope and gain 75 pounds deal. NO WAY am I going near that.
Is body just telling me, that's it? No more losing, I'm not allowing it?
Also don't get me wrong I'm ecstatic at where I am. I am over the moon but I still want this last 10-15 off. I know what I looked like at 190 and I liked it, and want back to it, just can't seem to get there.
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Replies
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It sounds like you need to tighten up your logging. Those last fiddly pounds are a bit tougher to achieve if you’re guesstimating with calorie counting.11
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No, your body is not saying, "That's it."
However, with 15 pounds to lose, you really do need to tighten up your food logging. There is a very thin margin of error when you have that little to lose.
My last 15 took nine months. I made 13 out of 14 meals myself, using a digital food scale and measuring in grams.
I walked for an hour every day.
I was hungry.
I pressed on.
You are eating too much, is all. A small, 250 calorie per day deficit is where you should be right now to lose a half pound per week. As you can imagine, 250 per day is easy to mess up.16 -
Exactly. You have a large enough sample size now that you’ve proven you are eating at your maintenance calories at this point and not in a deficit.
Those last pounds are always the hardest and you need to really be on point with everything, especially your logging. You should have your settings to losing 0.5 lbs per week at this point. If you are off even just 200 calories a day that will erase your losses.
Use a food scale for everything you eat. Period. It’s the only way to get it right.9 -
Thanks, I get a ton of exercise at work. I have an extremely physical job. 10,000 steps is norm, 12,000 to 15,000 some days. I thought that would be enough to overcome a few calories here or there. I'm glad I stayed the same and didn't gain. Proves I can do that when time comes. Thanks again for the help.6
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Thanks, I get a ton of exercise at work. I have an extremely physical job. 10,000 steps is norm, 12,000 to 15,000 some days. I thought that would be enough to overcome a few calories here or there. I'm glad I stayed the same and didn't gain. Proves I can do that when time comes. Thanks again for the help.
If you are moving at work that much then MFP is already giving you "credit" for that movement when you set up your settings. You probably chose "very active" I'm assuming/hoping?
The way MFP works is that the input settings you choose will dictate how many calories you are recommended to eat. Those activity settings are describing your activity throughout the day, during your job, etc. NOT your exercise levels. Intentional exercise is calculated separately.
So your calorie goals should already be including your 10,000 steps a day, and if you are calculating your "calories in" incorrectly then then you can't out-walk the bad logging. Does that make sense?6 -
Exactly how would your body make this decision anyway? It can only get energy from food or from stored energy. If is used stored energy it would eventually show up as weight loss.
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Thanks, I get a ton of exercise at work. I have an extremely physical job. 10,000 steps is norm, 12,000 to 15,000 some days. I thought that would be enough to overcome a few calories here or there. I'm glad I stayed the same and didn't gain. Proves I can do that when time comes. Thanks again for the help.
If you are moving at work that much then MFP is already giving you "credit" for that movement when you set up your settings. You probably chose "very active" I'm assuming/hoping?
The way MFP works is that the input settings you choose will dictate how many calories you are recommended to eat. Those activity settings are describing your activity throughout the day, during your job, etc. NOT your exercise levels. Intentional exercise is calculated separately.
So your calorie goals should already be including your 10,000 steps a day, and if you are calculating your "calories in" incorrectly then then you can't out-walk the bad logging. Does that make sense?
I have MFP hooked up to Google health and the numbers come from that. I think I have it on active. Those steps are just a portion of what is burned too. There's a ton of movent the phone doesn't pick up on. It really only picks up the steps I think.
I have MFP set up as .5 pounds a week too.2 -
MFP is not the Bible, to paraphrase our “good little calorie burner” @AnnPT77.
I gather from what you’re saying, you kinda know what to do but are reluctant to do it. You’ve got to make that decision to either reach your goal or not, and that’s going to mean playing with that daily calorie count, if you are indeed logging as carefully as you say.
It’s haaaaaaard. But aren’t we lucky (no, aren’t we focused and hardworking?!) to be in sight of our goal? There’s a whole heap of peeps here who would give their eye teeth to be where you are right now, and probably an entire army of em who gave up and vanished from the site without a trace.
You’ve got this. Focus and do it.10 -
Thanks, I get a ton of exercise at work. I have an extremely physical job. 10,000 steps is norm, 12,000 to 15,000 some days. I thought that would be enough to overcome a few calories here or there. I'm glad I stayed the same and didn't gain. Proves I can do that when time comes. Thanks again for the help.
If you are moving at work that much then MFP is already giving you "credit" for that movement when you set up your settings. You probably chose "very active" I'm assuming/hoping?
The way MFP works is that the input settings you choose will dictate how many calories you are recommended to eat. Those activity settings are describing your activity throughout the day, during your job, etc. NOT your exercise levels. Intentional exercise is calculated separately.
So your calorie goals should already be including your 10,000 steps a day, and if you are calculating your "calories in" incorrectly then then you can't out-walk the bad logging. Does that make sense?
I have MFP hooked up to Google health and the numbers come from that. I think I have it on active. Those steps are just a portion of what is burned too. There's a ton of movent the phone doesn't pick up on. It really only picks up the steps I think.
I have MFP set up as .5 pounds a week too.
If you've set your calories to "active," then you're getting a larger amount up front. You've chosen a slight deficit per week with a goal of .5 pounds . . . which is a valid decision, but know that your margin for error is going to be much less than if you've chosen a more aggressive goal. Combine that with casual logging and it's not at all surprising that you're failing to reach a deficit. This isn't your body saying "no more," it's the result of decisions that you've made. The good news is that you can make different decisions if you want to resume your weight loss. On the positive side, you have some great information about what maintaining will look like for you!7 -
Yeah, in the end you guys are right. I know what to do, just have to do it. I was never good at measuring or weighing food. I have a food scale, just rarely use it. I eat grilled chicken strips every day, lean, high protein grilled chicken strips every day and I never weigh that because its so good for you. I just eye ball stuff like that, riced cauliflower is another one I eye ball because there is nothing to it. I guess I could try that for a while and see the difference.6
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Yes, please weight everything for a while. Just for a week should give you an idea of what you're really eating. And don't forget condiments, oils, candy bars and drinks with calories. Also make sure the calories on the package are the same as the one you log. There are a lot of rubbish database entries here. I've seen 100gr of chicken breast for 50 calories, but also for 400 for example.6
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I just wanted to say you are not alone. I’ve been at 190 for a year after losing 50 lbs during the previous year. Like you, I eyeball food bc the food scale is a pita for me. I am ALWAYS hungry and constantly think about food. Ugh. Good luck.2
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The other possibility is increasing your rate of loss so that MFP drops your calories by 250 per day. If you try to hit that target using the same habits as before it is possible you will being to lose again. It is not an elegant solution and if you have it in your head that you have a buffer you may find yourself inadvertently doing looser logging and still eating at maintenance. If not, the point is to eat below maintenance so however you do it doesn't have to be pretty just functional.4
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MadDogManor wrote: »I just wanted to say you are not alone. I’ve been at 190 for a year after losing 50 lbs during the previous year. Like you, I eyeball food bc the food scale is a pita for me. I am ALWAYS hungry and constantly think about food. Ugh. Good luck.
If you log loosely and you are hungry you would probably, without realizing it, log in such a way to give yourself more calories.
What have you experimented with to try and control your hunger better?2 -
MadDogManor wrote: »I just wanted to say you are not alone. I’ve been at 190 for a year after losing 50 lbs during the previous year. Like you, I eyeball food bc the food scale is a pita for me. I am ALWAYS hungry and constantly think about food. Ugh. Good luck.
I should have said I am male, that is a definite difference. I am sorry for you though. I don't think about food all the time. That would drive me nuts. I hope you can overcome that.4 -
It’s all mental. I’m a binger. I have an oral fixation. I use food for comfort and soothing. Many years of therapy are needed. I just wanted to let the OP know he’s not alone in his year-long struggle.6
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I actually weighed everything this morning for my breakfast and lunch for work today. Not too bad actually. Not at easy as just prepare and go but hey what are you ya gonna do. It's funny because what I estimate wasn't that far off, pretty close actually. See how things are going forward. Thanks for all the suggestions. I feel like I'm on the right track to lose this last 10-15 pounds.9
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As several people have said, the last pounds are hard. Expect it to be slow and to require accurate logging / calorie deficit. Good luck.3
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I think hard or not depends a lot on the mindset. The last few pounds will certainly be slow and there will be days where weight goes up due to water retention and lots of other reasons. But patience and a relaxed mindset certainly help.4
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Some great advice already, so won't repeat. But I just wanted to add.
You stated:
I admit I am not the most precise calorie counter, I guesstimate here and there if its not something I can just scan. [/quote]
Along with more precise weighing & logging, to track more accurately. Make sure that when you scan items, directly into mfp, the calories/nutrition info that gets logged, matches what is on the packet.
As these data base entries are still user listed and may have/often have been entered wrong.
I know someone who had been tracking that way. Mainly eating food that could be scanned, as a convenience & accuracy.
But hadn't realised data was wrong and was therefore eating more calories than realised. (Affecting her loss).
A scanned ready meal Tesco lasagne, may be 610 cals. By scanning barcode, Tesco lasagne 400g came up & was logged. But data, not checked. It was only logging as 400 calories.
210 calories underlogged for 1 meal, without realising. The smaller the deficit, the more it affects end results.
Also (if you want/need) greater accuracy, you still need to weigh items that can be scanned. As a 400g premade lasagne won't necessarily weigh that. With higher calorie foods per weight, the more inaccurate logging.
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If you're at the same weight for a year, you're eating at maintenance.
You can either decrease your daily calories by 250 a day to resume losing 0.5 lb a week or you can see if tightening up logging helps and gets you there as others suggest. Personally I think its easier to eat as you have been and eat 250 calories less a day, whether its a "true" amount or not. But that's me and finding being "perfect" for food intake takes too much effort so I just accept that my approximate calories are good enough as long as I get the results I want.5 -
If you're at the same weight for a year, you're eating at maintenance.
You can either decrease your daily calories by 250 a day to resume losing 0.5 lb a week or you can see if tightening up logging helps and gets you there as others suggest. Personally I think its easier to eat as you have been and eat 250 calories less a day, whether its a "true" amount or not. But that's me and finding being "perfect" for food intake takes too much effort so I just accept that my approximate calories are good enough as long as I get the results I want.
I'm doing both. I'm logging more accurately, way more accurately and eating less. Today at work I really burned a ton of calories. I was all over the place, 12,000 steps and the whole deal. I'm glad I have a physical job. Well, most of the time I'm glad I have a physical job. 🤣1 -
Well after a week or so of weighing everything I'm learning things and I'm getting better at it. Some things I underestimated and others underestimated. Very interesting to learn though. It's not as hard or annoying as I thought it would be either.8
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