Weight loss has completely stalled for 1+ month, looking for advice!
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I3umble
Posts: 30 Member
Hey,
I hope you are all well and are keeping safe!
I have been using MyFitnessPal for a long time, however it is only since the turn of the year I have been using it consistently after a diabetes diagnosis. By consistently I mean; I track every single thing I eat and drink no matter how large or small, I want my diary to be a complete and accurate reflection of my health and what I am eating. I have also, over the past 3-4 weeks purchased a FitBit and set it up in accordance with my weight, height, age, etc. It is linked to MapMyFitness and MyFitnessPal - I do not enter any exercise in to either, each device or app provides the update to MFP which adjusts my calories accordingly.
I lost around 30lbs between January and March/April, following the similar rules to what I am right now. However, since May - today my weight has barely budged. I am hovering around 32-35lbs lost and have been for 5+ weeks or so now. My weight will fluctuate up and down and up and down but never budges any further down than what it has, I have stuck with it for this long and I plan to - this is a lifestyle change for me. It is just frustrating as I would also like to look AND feel good about myself. I know I have been making the right changes, but I wonder if there is something I am missing.
I am walking. A LOT. Most days are 10,000 steps or more and I try to go on walks that have elevation to get the heart rate higher. According to FitBit I am burning anywhere from 300-900 calories per day with my exercise and I very rarely eat to my calorie limit, outside of the last few days where I have tried to eat more to see if I was eating too little.
To put this in to perspective I am a 5'8, 27 year old male who weighs 238lbs. In my eyes, with what I am eating and the exercise I am doing the weight should not be sticking to me like it is as I am trying to reach around 150lbs. I started at 273lbs, this would equate to a 123lbs loss in total, this is not a small amount of weight to lose.
For the most part - (90-95%) I eat well. I have had 3-4 days over the last month of McDonalds (only because they re-opened and I craved it! I didn't binge.) and I don't eat fast food outside of that, pretty much at all anymore. Even THAT didn't affect my weight.
I am just a little frustrated and I don't know if there is something I am missing here. My diary should be open if anyone wants to take a look at my food, what I am eating, drinking, exercise, etc.
Any help or advice is always greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
I hope you are all well and are keeping safe!
I have been using MyFitnessPal for a long time, however it is only since the turn of the year I have been using it consistently after a diabetes diagnosis. By consistently I mean; I track every single thing I eat and drink no matter how large or small, I want my diary to be a complete and accurate reflection of my health and what I am eating. I have also, over the past 3-4 weeks purchased a FitBit and set it up in accordance with my weight, height, age, etc. It is linked to MapMyFitness and MyFitnessPal - I do not enter any exercise in to either, each device or app provides the update to MFP which adjusts my calories accordingly.
I lost around 30lbs between January and March/April, following the similar rules to what I am right now. However, since May - today my weight has barely budged. I am hovering around 32-35lbs lost and have been for 5+ weeks or so now. My weight will fluctuate up and down and up and down but never budges any further down than what it has, I have stuck with it for this long and I plan to - this is a lifestyle change for me. It is just frustrating as I would also like to look AND feel good about myself. I know I have been making the right changes, but I wonder if there is something I am missing.
I am walking. A LOT. Most days are 10,000 steps or more and I try to go on walks that have elevation to get the heart rate higher. According to FitBit I am burning anywhere from 300-900 calories per day with my exercise and I very rarely eat to my calorie limit, outside of the last few days where I have tried to eat more to see if I was eating too little.
To put this in to perspective I am a 5'8, 27 year old male who weighs 238lbs. In my eyes, with what I am eating and the exercise I am doing the weight should not be sticking to me like it is as I am trying to reach around 150lbs. I started at 273lbs, this would equate to a 123lbs loss in total, this is not a small amount of weight to lose.
For the most part - (90-95%) I eat well. I have had 3-4 days over the last month of McDonalds (only because they re-opened and I craved it! I didn't binge.) and I don't eat fast food outside of that, pretty much at all anymore. Even THAT didn't affect my weight.
I am just a little frustrated and I don't know if there is something I am missing here. My diary should be open if anyone wants to take a look at my food, what I am eating, drinking, exercise, etc.
Any help or advice is always greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
6
Replies
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Have you seen this chart? https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10179969/weight-loss-flow-chart-2-0/p12
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Have you updated your goal since losing 30lbs? Your calorie needs change when you lose weight and you might have you calorie target too high if you are still basing it off of your 273 weight (I am a female with similar stats and went through the same thing)4
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Are you using a food scale?5
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I'm only saying this because I recently found my "scale problem" and "plateau" were somewhat related to it: check the bottom of your bathroom scale. Mine had a broken foot and therefore didn't really know what it was doing. It might be new scale battery or whole new scale time. My new one arrives Tuesday.3
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quemalosuerte wrote: »Have you updated your goal since losing 30lbs? Your calorie needs change when you lose weight and you might have you calorie target too high if you are still basing it off of your 273 weight (I am a female with similar stats and went through the same thing)
Hey, thanks for the reply.
Yeah, I updated my stats. At losing 2lbs per week MFP has me at 1,800 calories. At 1.5lbs per week I'm at 2,000.
I also set myself lower carb and sugar goals.
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HeidiCooksSupper wrote: »I'm only saying this because I recently found my "scale problem" and "plateau" were somewhat related to it: check the bottom of your bathroom scale. Mine had a broken foot and therefore didn't really know what it was doing. It might be new scale battery or whole new scale time. My new one arrives Tuesday.
Thanks, I'll check the scale. I actually just replaced the battery not long ago.
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L1zardQueen wrote: »Have you seen this chart? https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10179969/weight-loss-flow-chart-2-0/p1
Yeah I have, thanks I read over it again though.
I don't actually think I eat that bad - like I said I've had a few days of fast food where I am still under my calorie goal. I log everything right down to any spices used and I use a scale.
Weight melted off me for a few months and has just stopped now. I am not eating any worse and I actually think my habits have become better and I no longer crave things like sugar, etc. My thoughts towards food have completely changed.
A typical food day for me is no added sugar porridge Or muesli with unsweetened almond milk.
Lunch is either tuna, a salad, fish, vegan burgers or a sandwich.
Dinner is fish, chicken, vegan burgers, vegan sausages - pretty much always with a salad.
Snacks are typically either low fat Greek yoghurt, Small amount of fruit, tuna, rice cake, olives, crisps
I am almost always (98%+) under my calorie goals.
I also walk for 1-3 hours every day. Some days I use the kettlebell.
I'm genuinely at a loss. I am not kissing myself with what I put in to MFP - I track literally everything and that is what is frustrating me more. I have tried eating more and eating less. There's no change at all.
EDIT: Also today I have tried to eat more, tomorrow I will eat less. Seeing if this has any effect.
EDIT 2: For my height and weight, from any calculation that I have seen I am absolutely eating WAY below my resting calorie limit so I shouldn't need to reduce calories, should I? If that's the case and I keep reducing from 1,800 calories until I lose a further 80-90lbs I will be at such a low daily calorie limit it really wouldn't be possible.
There's clearly something I'm missing here.3 -
Can you make your food diary public? There are some common logging mistakes, perhaps we can spot something.0
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Redordeadhead wrote: »Can you make your food diary public? There are some common logging mistakes, perhaps we can spot something.
Their diary is public already
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You've got both Mapmyfitness and Fitbit linked to MFP, is it possible you're getting your exercise calories logged twice on here and its overinflating how many you can eat back?
I've only got one device linked to my account so I don't know how it works when you link two apps, how does MFP know which one to use?0 -
Redordeadhead wrote: »Can you make your food diary public? There are some common logging mistakes, perhaps we can spot something.
Their diary is public already
Indeed, now I see :-)
OP, you say you are using a food scale but your diary contains many entries with "1 slice", "2 burgers", "20 pieces ", "1 biscuit" etc. It may help if you tighten up your logging for a few weeks and see if that gets things moving again.4 -
Redordeadhead wrote: »Redordeadhead wrote: »Can you make your food diary public? There are some common logging mistakes, perhaps we can spot something.
Their diary is public already
Indeed, now I see :-)
OP, you say you are using a food scale but your diary contains many entries with "1 slice", "2 burgers", "20 pieces ", "1 biscuit" etc. It may help if you tighten up your logging for a few weeks and see if that gets things moving again.
Thanks - However with those I am taking the exact readings from their packaging. Most of these are vegan/veggie meals that come with specific readings on them, i.e, 1 burger, etc rather than 100g, 200g, etc.1 -
Nativestar56 wrote: »You've got both Mapmyfitness and Fitbit linked to MFP, is it possible you're getting your exercise calories logged twice on here and its overinflating how many you can eat back?
I've only got one device linked to my account so I don't know how it works when you link two apps, how does MFP know which one to use?
Hey! I select which one to use - so MFP is taking my steps from FitBit but does not include any calories burned from it. Any calories/exercise showing is coming directly from MapMyFitness.
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So, I didn't reply for a bit as I was experimenting.
I have been trying to "ZigZag" my calories as I believe I may actually be eating too little for my weight - I am under no illusion that I still have A LOT of weight to lose, so eating 1,500 calories at my weight seems so low compared to what my body may have been used to? The only thing that is throwing me off here is that I lost 30-33 lbs over 3 months eating anywhere from 1,300 - 1,800 calories per day and one day I have stopped losing and I am just fluctuating constantly between 237lbs - 240lbs.
So in my attempt to zigzag my calories I forced myself to eat more for 2-3 days in which I lost 0.4lb the first day, 0.6lb the second and 1lb the 3rd day totaling a 2lb loss across 3 days. This was the 19th, 20th and 21st of June. When I weighed in on Monday 22nd June I was at 236.8lbs - suddenly I am making progress and FINALLY burst through that 237.8lb barrier I was stuck at for so long. However, I ate 1,854 calories on Monday and gained 0.6lb and today have gained a further 0.6lb during my weigh in after eating 1,583 calories yesterday.
Generally, I am drinking the same amount of water every day and water is the only liquid I drink. I have no soda, etc.
I get that weight fluctuates but I am wondering why the 0.6lb across 2 separate days. I have the same weighing conditions every day. And yes, I should try weigh myself weekly instead of daily so I don't obsess and because weight fluctuates.
However, like I've said, I lost that 30-33lbs and was losing weight daily. I have now been stuck at this weight for 5-6 weeks and it is frustrating. It is not discouraging because this is the way I am going to live from now on and I have no issues with restricting calories or knowing what I should and shouldn't eat. I don't have any cravings, etc, at all and I generally find it easy to eat the way I am.
But for me, it is a confidence thing. When the weight was falling off I felt more confident than ever - my clothes became HUGE on me and that boosted my confidence and self-worth further, I felt great. I haven't gained any weight since then and I am happy at what I have lost so far. But I feel like I have made drastic changes to my diet and lifestyle compared to how I was eating and living before, so to be stuck like this is highly frustrating.
Thank you to everyone who has helped me so far. I've typed this long message out as clearly as possible because maybe there is something In here I am missing with regards to eating more, less, zigzagging, the plateau, etc.
Thanks again, I appreciate it.
EDIT: This is what I was using to calculate my calories per day for zig zagging; https://www.freedieting.com/calorie-calculator1 -
You ate more, you weighed more. Keep in mind that not all weight is permanent/fat/bodyweight. You consume a greater quantity of food, and for a little while afterwards: your body contains more food mass.
Our bodies are not so efficient that what you do NOW shows on the scale IMMEDIATELY because there are other factors at play. How much food/drink waste is in your body. Water retention varies from day to day for a number of factors.4 -
nanamerriman2020 wrote: »You ate more, you weighed more. Keep in mind that not all weight is permanent/fat/bodyweight. You consume a greater quantity of food, and for a little while afterwards: your body contains more food mass.
Our bodies are not so efficient that what you do NOW shows on the scale IMMEDIATELY because there are other factors at play. How much food/drink waste is in your body. Water retention varies from day to day for a number of factors.
Thank you. I needed that.
Do you think zig zagging calories is a good thing to do? I.e eat 1800 on Monday, 2100 Tuesday, 1750 Wednesday, 1900 Thursday, 1900 Friday, 2400 Saturday, 1800 Sunday type of thing? Numbers are just an example. Can a plateau happen by eating the same amount of calories every day for months, even if it is technically lower than what your body is burning each day?
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nanamerriman2020 wrote: »You ate more, you weighed more. Keep in mind that not all weight is permanent/fat/bodyweight. You consume a greater quantity of food, and for a little while afterwards: your body contains more food mass.
Our bodies are not so efficient that what you do NOW shows on the scale IMMEDIATELY because there are other factors at play. How much food/drink waste is in your body. Water retention varies from day to day for a number of factors.
Thank you. I needed that.
Do you think zig zagging calories is a good thing to do? I.e eat 1800 on Monday, 2100 Tuesday, 1750 Wednesday, 1900 Thursday, 1900 Friday, 2400 Saturday, 1800 Sunday type of thing? Numbers are just an example. Can a plateau happen by eating the same amount of calories every day for months, even if it is technically lower than what your body is burning each day?
I Zig Zag. I love it. It allows me more calories on a day where I want to go on a date, get a drink with friends, have a family bbq or want to devour a pint of halo top ice cream if i'm having a bad day.
Mine is similar to you, but one or twice a week I eat just above the bare minimum 1500-1600 calories, to REALLY save up calories if I know I have an event coming up. It probably doesn't matter, but on those days I try to avoid supplements like protein powder's so I'm actually digesting real food sources with my calories.
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Have you considered incorporating diet breaks into your routine? Read the OP in this if you are interested:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1
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