Why have I stopped losing weight?

manthajill · January 2012

Hi everyone,

I've been using MFP for a few months now, and up til recently, everything had been going very well. I've set my goal to lose 1.5 pounds per week (so a calorie deficit of 750 per day), and I go running three times a week, which burns about an extra 500 calories on those days that I don't eat back.

I weigh myself every day, and it fluctuates a bit, but generally goes down by a very small amount each day, which is motivating to see. My weight loss started slowing down a couple of weeks ago, and for the past seven days, I haven't lost any weight at all. Yesterday, I thought maybe I'd broken through whatever was wrong with a 1.1 pound weight loss, but today those 1.1 pounds exactly were right back on. I'm sticking strictly to the calorie count, and I update the goals whenever my weight changes, so I know it's still at a 750 calorie deficit.

Any ideas on how to get through this would be greatly appreciated. I have been comforting myself with the math, and knowing that if I burn more than I eat, I'll lose weight. Now that that seems to have gone out the window, I'm feeling very discouraged!

Thanks. :-)

jlr_12 · January 2012

Try doing exactly what you have been...but EAT the exercise calories. Having a 1250 deficit on some days is probably too much...depending on how many calories you're eating over all. You don't want to go below 1200 net...if you have been, then maybe that's your problem. Try eating them for a couple of weeks, and if that doesn't work at least you'll know, and can move on and try something else.

jmorrisof2 · January 2012

I agree with jlrushton12 when she said to try eating back your exercise calories. That's what I have been doing. I thought that the bigger the deficit better, but apparently that isn't right. So try that and let us know how that works for you. Don't give up!

kimikokirkland · January 2012

I think like muscle confusion when you workout, you have to confuse your body with calories a little too. I agree, that you should try to EAT those extra calories in a clean way. When your body "learns" that it is only going to get so many a calories in a day, it will store- sooo, mixing it up a little will help "confuse" your body into burning more by thinking it is going to get more. Somedays I eat way under my calorie limit. After doing this for several days, I will eat significantly more calories for the confusion. It has helped me. Good luck! :-)

d2rala · January 2012

Where are your calories coming from? (Carbs/Protein....)
I was under eating my calories, but my weight would not budge. I went to a nutritionist who suggested I up my proteins to about 100g a day. Turns out I was eating too many carbs. The weight fell off - until Christmas when the dreaded cookies, dinners and drinks reared their ugly (but tempting/fun) heads!
Getting back on track, but my body is rebelling a little bit. It wants to stay on the party track. :-)
Good luck

jirocpa · January 2012

I suppose you could be undereating too much, but if you've been using the same formula for months, and it's been working all that time, I don't think that's your problem. I'm no doctor, of course.

Could it be that you're measuring meals a little too generously? Have you tried getting back to strict basics and pulling out the food scale, etc? I used to find that after a while I would start to eyeball things, and before you know it you're overdoing it. A little here, a little there adds up quick.

manthajill · January 2012

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. :-) I'll try eating the exercise calories, but it feels very strange to try to lose weight by eating more! My regular calorie goal is currently 1490, so I guess that means I'm consuming 990 net on days when I've run. I have been gradually running longer distances than I was a few months back, so maybe it's starting to catch up with me.

I'm measuring meals the same as I always have been, and I've been extra strict this past week, which hasn't helped. So, I don't think it's the measurements that's causing the problem. But thanks for the suggestion. :-)

I just altered my food diary to show protein intake, which seems to be at or above the target more often than not. I'll try paying extra attention to it though.

Thanks again for the suggestions, and I'll keep you posted on how it goes. :-)

kimikokirkland · January 2012

Just a thought. But do you think you are someone that does not process carbs well? I know I don't. If I ate carb for carb with someone who does process them well, they would can 3 pounds and I would gain 10.
I know you are trying other things out. BUT, if you find things still aren't moving in the right direction- perhaps you may want to try eating a diabetic diet- which instead of calorie counting, it is total carb counting. you can go online and find several sites that can guide you. In a nutsell, you don't want anything to eat to have more than about 30-45 total carbs per meal. When I was pregnant, I had gestational diabetes so I controlled it with diet. I intially lost about 6lbs and then I didn't gain any weight after.
Anyway, just a thought................

AshleyNPeters · January 2012

I would try measuring yourself, maybe you're losing inches instead of weight. Also, try mixing up your workout. If you mix things up, you will trick your muscles instead of keeping things routine. Keep it up!

Pebble321 · January 2012

Weighing every day isn't going to give you an accurate picture of what is happening - you need to look at the overall picture by weeks (or months is even better!).
Make sure you are eating enough (750 cals is a pretty agressive deficit and you are making it 500 cals bigger by not eating your exercise cals - so an actual deficit of 1250 ,which is huge), keep exercising and you should see things change around again.

MaximalLife · January 2012

Hi everyone,

I've been using MFP for a few months now, and up til recently, everything had been going very well. I've set my goal to lose 1.5 pounds per week (so a calorie deficit of 750 per day), and I go running three times a week, which burns about an extra 500 calories on those days that I don't eat back.

I weigh myself every day, and it fluctuates a bit, but generally goes down by a very small amount each day, which is motivating to see. My weight loss started slowing down a couple of weeks ago, and for the past seven days, I haven't lost any weight at all. Yesterday, I thought maybe I'd broken through whatever was wrong with a 1.1 pound weight loss, but today those 1.1 pounds exactly were right back on. I'm sticking strictly to the calorie count, and I update the goals whenever my weight changes, so I know it's still at a 750 calorie deficit.

Any ideas on how to get through this would be greatly appreciated. I have been comforting myself with the math, and knowing that if I burn more than I eat, I'll lose weight. Now that that seems to have gone out the window, I'm feeling very discouraged!

Thanks. :-)

You have stifled your metabolism by not eating enough.
Eat more, and eat back your exercise calories.

Simply stated MFP has already figured out your total calories you need to eat per day to lose 1lb etc. a week.
That's WITHOUT exercise. You'll notice that when you actually add exercise in, the calorie limit goes up.
Why? Because it's telling you to eat your exercise calories.
Large deficits aren't really good to do because while you will lose weight, what kind of weight will it be?
In many cases you'll lose lean muscle tissue which LOWERS your metabolic rate even more.
Then you have to eat even less to compensate for less of a calorie burn to continue to lose the same amount of weight each week.

Be efficient.
Exercise hard and eat back the calories. The hard exercise will RAISE your metabolic rate and burn more fat at rest.

manthajill · January 2012

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I did start eating back the exercise calories, which feels wrong. On Friday, I ran 10K, which meant that I needed to eat an extra 900 calories. I've been feeling very hungry ever since then (maybe my body got used to the extra food?), but I've also started losing weight again! It's great to see the scale finally going in the right direction, but it's happening suspiciously fast. Yesterday and today, I lost 1.5 pounds each day, and a total of 4.1 pounds over the past three days. It's hard to believe I could lose fat that quickly, even after a long lull, so I'm curious as to what's going on.

myopus · January 2012

That is great! Please keep us posted!

kimikokirkland · January 2012

that's great! sounds like you have found your answer! :-)

manthajill · February 2012

It's still going well. Thanks again to everyone who offered suggestions. I seem to be losing weight as quickly as ever again, in spite of eating much more on the days I exercise. Hopefully it continues. :-)

Why have I stopped losing weight?

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