Help! Hitting a weight loss plateau, what am I doing wrong?

Hello everyone! I have been registering my food/macros for about a month now and I have hit a weight loss plateau. This is how it usually goes for me, what am I doing wrong? I did go back and rechecked my macros for every week and I am eating more or less the same (on average).

I tried different macros calculators online and the majority suggest I should actually be eating more calories / more protein but I am scared that it would lead to weight gain? Besides, I am actually not that hungry, as in, I would have to almost force myself to eat the extra?

I also have smart scales at home and according to them my basal metabolism is actually lower than what any online calculator would suggest for a woman of my age, height and weight.

At the moment I am on 1500 kcal per day, I exercise around 3-4 times a week and I add my exercise to the calorie totals (maybe I should't?).

Mfp community, I need your wisdom! :-)

Replies

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,941 Member
    What you need to do is stick with it! Relax. Trust the process. And weigh your calorie intake properly on a scale instead of using cups and spoons. Also, ditch the scale, or ignore it. No scale can tell you how much energy your body needs at rest. You need a lab test for that. Don't fall for the woo.

    How much do you have to lose, and what deficit did you chose here? Could it be that you're just a bit too impatient, and confused by fluctuations?
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,826 Member
    You've only been at it for a month, so unless you haven't lost any weight since the very start, it's not even a real plateau (which is 4 weeks or more of no weight loss while consistently following your plan).
    So what you're doing wrong is probably not being patient enough?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    A plateau is 4-6 weeks without any movement...you've only been at it for a total of a month. So likely you are past the linear stage of losing weight which only lasts 3-4 weeks or so depending on how much one has to lose. After that, it's up and down and all around which just requires patience and sticking with the process.

    Also, your scale has no clue what your basal metabolic rate is...they don't know your body composition either. None of that is accurate and purely a gimmick. Consumer Reports won't even report on these scales anymore because they just aren't accurate. Scales are accurate for measuring the gravitational pull on your body...and that's it.
  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
    This is a normal part of weight loss. When I was losing from obese to very lean, I often had 4-8 weeks where the scale didn't budge. However, my weight loss rate when seen over a longer scale was actually predictably steady.

    For me, my body seems to retain water while I'm losing. So it will seem like nothing is happening for a looking time, and then I'll start losing steadily for several weeks, and then nothing for several more weeks, and so on and so forth.

    For me, it all evened out to a very predictable rate of loss as long as my eating was consistent. It just seemed chaotic and unpredictable when I looked at the short term results.

    For me, I never ever actually plateau'd unless I ate more for a period of time.
  • Onamissionforfit
    Onamissionforfit Posts: 90 Member
    sviestine wrote: »
    Hello everyone! I have been registering my food/macros for about a month now and I have hit a weight loss plateau. This is how it usually goes for me, what am I doing wrong? I did go back and rechecked my macros for every week and I am eating more or less the same (on average).

    I tried different macros calculators online and the majority suggest I should actually be eating more calories / more protein but I am scared that it would lead to weight gain? Besides, I am actually not that hungry, as in, I would have to almost force myself to eat the extra?

    I also have smart scales at home and according to them my basal metabolism is actually lower than what any online calculator would suggest for a woman of my age, height and weight.

    At the moment I am on 1500 kcal per day, I exercise around 3-4 times a week and I add my exercise to the calorie totals (maybe I should't?).
  • lillyy23
    lillyy23 Posts: 136 Member
    yeah i wouldnt be eating your exercise calories cause then your gonna eat too much.
    but yeah just be really patient, liek everyone else said, just wait a little longer, stay consistent.
  • natasor1
    natasor1 Posts: 271 Member
    I would not eat over my appetite. This is not healthy. never force yourself to overeat