3 months, 4lbs lost. So frustrating!

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  • globalc00
    globalc00 Posts: 103 Member
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    My recommendation is you track body fat instead of weight. My wife's weight has stayed consistent, but her body fat has been dropping steadily. She has dropped 2% body fat and is closing in on 20%. Currently, it is taking her about 1 week to drop .1% body fat, but her weight may go up and down. But knowing that the weight could be water or more lean mass makes the weight number much more insignificant.
  • nanastaci2020
    nanastaci2020 Posts: 1,072 Member
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    Keep in mind that if you are eating at maintenance now, increase cals will lead to weight gain. Truth: a smallish body can't eat high calories over time without gaining.

    I have had to accept tracking food needs to be a way of life. Not just while losing. When I reach goal ill need to stay around 1600 or will need to lose gained weight again in 6 months.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    edited July 2020
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    oops -- comment was meant for another thread
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    mrsmcmo wrote: »
    nanamerriman2020 wrote: »
    If your maintenance cals were under 1400, you'd be gaining weight based on your eating 1400 avg and possibly higher with 2 takeout estimation days weekly.
    I think they’re somewhere around 1400 or 1450 (but maybe closer to 1500 - I know about 6 years ago or so I was maintaining on 1600, I’m not sure how many less cals is be burning due to being 6 years older). On average, that’s about what I’m eating and I’ve been stuck at this weight for weeks, I think I’d be gaining if it were less.

    I honestly just feel my best somewhere around 108-110. I was at that weight for about 3ish years (besides a pregnancy). I know 2-4lbs doesn’t seem like a big deal but I notice a difference on my frame. I would consider just maintaining 112 though if I can’t break through for much longer though because I’m getting exhausted and I’m starting to feel very deprived.

    Do you do any strength training?

    You are aiming for the absolute bottom of the healthy weight range, and it seems that eating as little as you would need to to get there is stressing you out physically and mentally.
    It's quite possible that focusing on fitness and strengthening your muscle will make you look and feel better far more easily than forcing your body to hit a specific weight.

    This is just my personal experience, but I found that focusing on fueling and working my body to get stronger was literally life changing, compared to the constant drudgery of getting and staying "thin".

    It's also possible that whats happening is you are undereating and stressing most of the week, and then in your takeout/pizza days you are so frustrated and your body wants to be fed so you eat more than you realize, basically undoing any deficit you had during the week.

    My suggestion would be to set yourself up for 0.5 lbs per week, and put in an accurate activity level. Try to limit foods you can't log accurately or to try to find a way to log that food more accurately. And focus on resistance training and getting stronger. Plus understand that when you are losing slowly, water weight fluctuations can mess with the scale and make it look like you are only seeing a loss once a month or so, that's actually perfectly normal. It took me over a year to lose the last 10 lbs!

    Maybe someone can link to the Recomp thread and the Diet Break thread for you, otherwise you should be able to find them in the Most Helpful Posts threads pinned to the top of each sub-forum. I don't know how to post links on my phone :blush: Good luck!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,267 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    mrsmcmo wrote: »
    nanamerriman2020 wrote: »
    If your maintenance cals were under 1400, you'd be gaining weight based on your eating 1400 avg and possibly higher with 2 takeout estimation days weekly.
    I think they’re somewhere around 1400 or 1450 (but maybe closer to 1500 - I know about 6 years ago or so I was maintaining on 1600, I’m not sure how many less cals is be burning due to being 6 years older). On average, that’s about what I’m eating and I’ve been stuck at this weight for weeks, I think I’d be gaining if it were less.

    I honestly just feel my best somewhere around 108-110. I was at that weight for about 3ish years (besides a pregnancy). I know 2-4lbs doesn’t seem like a big deal but I notice a difference on my frame. I would consider just maintaining 112 though if I can’t break through for much longer though because I’m getting exhausted and I’m starting to feel very deprived.

    Do you do any strength training?

    You are aiming for the absolute bottom of the healthy weight range, and it seems that eating as little as you would need to to get there is stressing you out physically and mentally.
    It's quite possible that focusing on fitness and strengthening your muscle will make you look and feel better far more easily than forcing your body to hit a specific weight.

    This is just my personal experience, but I found that focusing on fueling and working my body to get stronger was literally life changing, compared to the constant drudgery of getting and staying "thin".

    It's also possible that whats happening is you are undereating and stressing most of the week, and then in your takeout/pizza days you are so frustrated and your body wants to be fed so you eat more than you realize, basically undoing any deficit you had during the week.

    My suggestion would be to set yourself up for 0.5 lbs per week, and put in an accurate activity level. Try to limit foods you can't log accurately or to try to find a way to log that food more accurately. And focus on resistance training and getting stronger. Plus understand that when you are losing slowly, water weight fluctuations can mess with the scale and make it look like you are only seeing a loss once a month or so, that's actually perfectly normal. It took me over a year to lose the last 10 lbs!

    Maybe someone can link to the Recomp thread and the Diet Break thread for you, otherwise you should be able to find them in the Most Helpful Posts threads pinned to the top of each sub-forum. I don't know how to post links on my phone :blush: Good luck!

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1
  • mrsmcmo
    mrsmcmo Posts: 109 Member
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    nanamerriman2020 wrote: »
    Keep in mind that if you are eating at maintenance now, increase cals will lead to weight gain. Truth: a smallish body can't eat high calories over time without gaining.

    I have had to accept tracking food needs to be a way of life. Not just while losing. When I reach goal ill need to stay around 1600 or will need to lose gained weight again in 6 months.

    Yeah I know what you mean! Back to the last time I lost weight, once I hit my goal I was fairly content with tracking everything to stay in maintenance. I guess the problem I've run into is that I stopped logging somewhere along the line and I have been yo-yo'ing for probably a good year or more now with logging, stopping, logging, stopping, trying to lose the 10ish lbs I gained. Not this time though, I am pretty determined to get to a comfortable weight and stay there.
  • mrsmcmo
    mrsmcmo Posts: 109 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    mrsmcmo wrote: »
    nanamerriman2020 wrote: »
    If your maintenance cals were under 1400, you'd be gaining weight based on your eating 1400 avg and possibly higher with 2 takeout estimation days weekly.
    I think they’re somewhere around 1400 or 1450 (but maybe closer to 1500 - I know about 6 years ago or so I was maintaining on 1600, I’m not sure how many less cals is be burning due to being 6 years older). On average, that’s about what I’m eating and I’ve been stuck at this weight for weeks, I think I’d be gaining if it were less.

    I honestly just feel my best somewhere around 108-110. I was at that weight for about 3ish years (besides a pregnancy). I know 2-4lbs doesn’t seem like a big deal but I notice a difference on my frame. I would consider just maintaining 112 though if I can’t break through for much longer though because I’m getting exhausted and I’m starting to feel very deprived.

    Do you do any strength training?

    You are aiming for the absolute bottom of the healthy weight range, and it seems that eating as little as you would need to to get there is stressing you out physically and mentally.
    It's quite possible that focusing on fitness and strengthening your muscle will make you look and feel better far more easily than forcing your body to hit a specific weight.

    This is just my personal experience, but I found that focusing on fueling and working my body to get stronger was literally life changing, compared to the constant drudgery of getting and staying "thin".

    It's also possible that whats happening is you are undereating and stressing most of the week, and then in your takeout/pizza days you are so frustrated and your body wants to be fed so you eat more than you realize, basically undoing any deficit you had during the week.

    My suggestion would be to set yourself up for 0.5 lbs per week, and put in an accurate activity level. Try to limit foods you can't log accurately or to try to find a way to log that food more accurately. And focus on resistance training and getting stronger. Plus understand that when you are losing slowly, water weight fluctuations can mess with the scale and make it look like you are only seeing a loss once a month or so, that's actually perfectly normal. It took me over a year to lose the last 10 lbs!

    Maybe someone can link to the Recomp thread and the Diet Break thread for you, otherwise you should be able to find them in the Most Helpful Posts threads pinned to the top of each sub-forum. I don't know how to post links on my phone :blush: Good luck!

    Thank you for your post! I am currently not doing any strength training, although it is something I have been thinking on and off about. Back about 6 years ago I lost 25lbs, with calorie tracking alone. I then had another baby, and joined a gym and I quite enjoyed the workouts there (Orange Theory) but in these Covid days it's not going to happen for me right now. But the funny thing is that I actually didn't notice too much of a difference in my physique. I was probably more toned but not to the point where I'd say it's worth the stress of worrying about it at this point in my life - although I completely understand what you're saying about gaining muscle and health rather than trying to get thinner. I will check out that thread for sure though, thank you!

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