Am I on the right track?

loumorgan85
loumorgan85 Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone,

I need some help!

I have been following MFP for some time but only seriously since 1st October, hopefully allowing me to lose at least two stone but ideally three before my holiday in March. During October I lost half a stone, which I know is good as I don't want to lose weight too quickly but the weight loss has slowed down a lot. Whilst I know this should be to be expected, I'm barely losing anything on a weekly basis.

My calorie goal is 1200 however I walk most mornings with my dog and whilst this is not constant fast walking (as my dog has a good sniff occasionally), I still include it as exercise as I do get quite warmed up. In addition, every other evening, I go on my rowing machine for 20 minutes, if not longer and I know I'm working hard as I'm sweating like a pig when I've finished (sorry that wasn't pleasant). With the exercise I am doing, I am burning approximately 4-500 calories and generally have about 300 left over each day. Although my stomach has shrunk, as I don't eat half as much as I used to, I don't think I could eat much more than I do already. Plus, I've cut out all the teas, diet cokes and mainly drink about two litres at least of water a day and maybe the very occasional orange juice. Normal cereal for breakfast, salad and pitta for lunch and salad and fish or chicken in the evening.

I would stress that I don't feel demotivated at all. I know that I still have quite a bit of time to go until my holiday and this is a gradual thing not just an overnight thing. I know I need to work at this if I want it that badly, which I do, but just wondered if most people have experienced a barrier after a certain amount of time or should I just up my exercise

Replies

  • Amberina23
    Amberina23 Posts: 6 Member
    Occasionally it happens that you hit a "plateau" where you don't lose anything for quite a while. When you break through, you will know it, as weight will seemingly melt off...

    One thing to keep in mind, however, is to not have too many calories left over at the end of a day. If you are eating too FEW calories, you can send your body into "starvation mode"; left over from the caveman days as a survival technique. Your body won't burn stored fat because it thinks you aren't eating... Try to get as close to your goal as you can, and you might see a difference.
  • pat2552
    pat2552 Posts: 10
    Sonds like you are on the right track. I had the same issue, after a good start the scale was not budging. I was not eating enough food! If you add about 200-300 calories a day, you may see it move again. The first week I added the extra calories I lost almost 3 pounds.
    Good luck, and keep on going!

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