Haven't lost any weight in last 3 weeks

shalinimunjal
shalinimunjal Posts: 192 Member
edited November 9 in Health and Weight Loss
I exercise 5-6 days a week. MFP gave me a goal of 1200 cals and I eat at or under that. I'm trying to increase my protein and reduce fat. I could drink a little more water. The scale is not moving at all which is very frustrating.

I started exercising 4 days a week (30 Day shred) and lost 4 lb in the first 4-5 weeks. After finishing 30DS I started doing the Brazil Butt lift videos and that program is intense with 2 videos per day (=1hr each day). My goal is set to lose .7lb per week. I haven't seen any loss in the last 3 weeks. What is going on? It can't be water retention for this long??

My diary is open. I am 5'0 and have 20lb to lose. I am also nursing my toddler at nights..typically she takes 2-3 feedings. I have a feeling I should be eating more but then my fat and carb goals go in red :( Should I not care about going over the macros?? So confused. I need to hear it from the old timers here...

Replies

  • michelleinpa
    michelleinpa Posts: 68 Member
    I'm not an expert, but 1200 sounds super low to me with your degree of exercise. Particularly as a nursing mother. Sounds to me that you are eating substantially less then 1200 with those two issues factored in.
  • indrani1947
    indrani1947 Posts: 178 Member
    Had a quick look at your diary would suggest more soy foods and nuts for your protein and try to eat your exercise calories daily you should be netting 1200 calories.
  • bewitched2982
    bewitched2982 Posts: 93 Member
    I agree with the others. It definitely sounds like you aren't eating enough. You need fuel for all that work! Just make sure you are eating low carb/low fat to keep those categories in check. Give it a try and see what happens!
  • shalinimunjal
    shalinimunjal Posts: 192 Member
    I should be netting 1200 cals?? No matter where they come from or does it have to be from protein? Being vegetarian that's my biggest challenge. Here is the net calories report for last 30 days. I should mention I try to eat atleast half of my exercise calories. I weigh 138lb if that matters at all..

    NetCals.png
  • Runningirl7284
    Runningirl7284 Posts: 274 Member
    One of my friends on here also breastfeeds. You're supposed to actually be logging breastfeeding into your food diary and it will tell you how many more calories you need to be eating by how many ounces you're pumping. 1200 is the minimum calorie intake without exercise. You should probably be closer to 1400.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    1200 calories should be your net calories. Actually, you are better of netting around your BMR as eating under it will slow your metabolism. You need to start eating back your exercise calories and I know it sounds counter-intuitive but exercise isn't for weight loss, calories in and out is the cause for the weight loss. Unfortunately, you have too many calories going out and not enough coming in so your body is fighting to maintain it's energy source.

    Also, you should be eating an extra 300-500 calories a day for breast feeding.
  • kaydensmom12
    kaydensmom12 Posts: 338
    I hope you are talking to your doctor about your diet. I do not see how you can be eating enough for a breast feeding mother. I would assume your body is holding onto the calories since you are eating so little. You need to eat your exercise calories back, your metabolism has most likely slowed down from consuming so little. You need food for the energy for all of your body processes and it doesn't look like you are getting that. I would most certainly increase to at least be netting 1200, most likely more for the breast feeding. One of my friends on here logs breasfeeding and it gives her an extra 500 calories, because that toddler needs it. You may gain weight for the first couple of weeks of increasing because your body is not used to it, but please do not let that stop you. You do not need to get them all from protein, but make them nutritious in other vitamins and minerals.
  • improve2012
    improve2012 Posts: 15 Member
    When adding food, search nursing. It will add calories to your daily goal.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    I should be netting 1200 cals?? No matter where they come from or does it have to be from protein? Being vegetarian that's my biggest challenge. Here is the net calories report for last 30 days. I should mention I try to eat atleast half of my exercise calories. I weigh 138lb if that matters at all..

    NetCals.png

    Your net calories should be at or close to 1200 cals everyday to meet your target daily caloric deficit that MFP set to reach your weekly weight loss goal.

    If you are breastfeeding your need to add another 300-500 cals/day.
  • jimmie25
    jimmie25 Posts: 266
    Looking at those calories I'd say you dont eat enough, especially if you work out a lot. I exercise 5 times a week and eat 1600 AFTER eating half/all of my ex.cals back.. Of course the amount of kcals your body needs to keep your metabolism working normally is different for everyone, but you might want to try to eat at least 1400kcal/day + exercise cals. It has worked for me, my weight keeps dropping slowly but certainly. You dont want to lose weight too fast, it'll otherwise just come back.
  • DoubleE615312
    DoubleE615312 Posts: 173 Member
    Just looking to see how much weight you want to lose and you weigh 138 lbs, it will be harder to lose 2 lbs a week (safely). You could try to reset your goal to lose about a 1lb-.5 lbs a week and see if that helps. MFP is giving you 1200 per day because that is the "lowest" amount of calories you are suppose to eat. I would try bumping your calories up about 200-300 and see if that helps. I weigh about 40 more pounds that you do and I eat around 1300-1500 a day. I also exercise (cardio) 4x a week. I have been at a stand still for about 10 days now, so I understand your frustration.
  • mommynmotion
    mommynmotion Posts: 149 Member
    Hi! You said you are nursing a toddler? Not a baby...how old is she? After a year, you really don't need any extra calories for breastfeeding. I nursed 4 babies and pumped sevaeral times per day to donate to a human milk bank (strange, I know. They need the milk for babies who might otherwise die...if mom doesn't produce milk or something happens to mommy). As the baby starts to eat solid foods and nurses less, you need less calories to produce the milk. In the begining, you need about 500 calories, by 6 months (if the baby is eating some solids), you need about 300 calories exrta and by the time they are 1, you don't really need the extra calories anymore.

    I would agree that you aren't eating enough though. Just because of your weight and exercise level, if nothing else. I am not one to hand out advice, because I am battleing the last 10 and can't get it to budge. I did start eating more this week and lost half a pound so far. Yesterday, I burned about 800 through exercise...I ate 2200 calories and still had a deficit. Don't forget that mfp already has your deficit built in. If you are set up for weight loss, you should have a zero calorie balance at the end of the day (or close to it).

    Read the links in this post....


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again

    Good luck!
  • alexandria412
    alexandria412 Posts: 177 Member
    Hey girl,

    I'm kinda on the fence about eating exercise calories back, but I definitely agree with the other posters about eating to compensate for breastfeeding; this affects your health AND your baby's health :) Your metabolism may have slowed down - if your body knows that there won't be much food and there's a little one to food, then it's probably conserving as much as it can.

    Generally-accepted advice online advocates upping calorie intake if you're following the rules - eating X number of calories and exercising regularly. You've likely hit the dreaded plateau and simply need a little extra boost to assure your body that there isn't a famine.

    Best of luck :)
  • shalinimunjal
    shalinimunjal Posts: 192 Member
    Thank you for all the advice. I will up my net calories to 1300. I am nursing my 20 month old daughter 2-3 times a day. She get full meals and also drinks whole milk from a cup during the day so I don't think I'm producing nearly as much as when she was a baby. I will give myself net 1200 + 100 breastfeeding calories and see how it goes.

    My weightloss goal set by MFP is .7lb per week. I want to lose slowly and build some muscle in the process.
  • clwatlington
    clwatlington Posts: 54 Member
    I definitely agree with some of the others. Anything less than 1200 is too few calories. Try eating more meals, smaller portions. I've seen the biggest difference in my weight since I changed my eating style. I eat 4 times per day. I have breakfast around 7ish, 1st lunch around 11 and 2nd lunch around 2, then dinner around 6. Last week I began weighing my food, which I already see has made an incredible difference. Paying attention to serving sizes especially when it's measured in "grams" is much better than when it says 10 of something= whatever. A lesson I learned just this morning, my Thomas' everything bagel thin according to packaging is supposed to weight 46 grams, well i put it on my digital food scale and it's 49 grams. That may not seem like a lot at first but when that is continuous it will definitley add up during the day. I wish you the very best of luck. Try taking your calories up to 1500.
  • billgiersberg
    billgiersberg Posts: 163
    Hi! You said you are nursing a toddler? Not a baby...how old is she? After a year, you really don't need any extra calories for breastfeeding. I nursed 4 babies and pumped sevaeral times per day to donate to a human milk bank (strange, I know. They need the milk for babies who might otherwise die...if mom doesn't produce milk or something happens to mommy). As the baby starts to eat solid foods and nurses less, you need less calories to produce the milk. In the begining, you need about 500 calories, by 6 months (if the baby is eating some solids), you need about 300 calories exrta and by the time they are 1, you don't really need the extra calories anymore.

    I would agree that you aren't eating enough though. Just because of your weight and exercise level, if nothing else. I am not one to hand out advice, because I am battleing the last 10 and can't get it to budge. I did start eating more this week and lost half a pound so far. Yesterday, I burned about 800 through exercise...I ate 2200 calories and still had a deficit. Don't forget that mfp already has your deficit built in. If you are set up for weight loss, you should have a zero calorie balance at the end of the day (or close to it).

    Read the links in this post....


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again

    Good luck!

    Saving link. Thanks.
  • shalinimunjal
    shalinimunjal Posts: 192 Member
    I'm reading the link - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6832-eating-all-of-your-calories-bmr

    I calulated my TDEE, TDEE is the total number of calories that your body expends in 24 hours, including all activities. TDEE is also known as your "maintenance level". I based this on my current weight. Here is a rough way to calculate your TDEE. Take your BMR and multiply it according to your activity level

    Activity Multiplier
    Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
    Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
    Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
    Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
    Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)

    My BMR is 1370 (average taken from a few different sites). Since I'm exercising 5 days a week, BMR * 1.55 = 2123. This is my TDEE.

    Question - MFP gives 200 calories for compensating nursing a toddler. Do I add that to my TDEE - making it 2323?

    To lose weight at 1lb a week, I need to subtract 500 from this.
    Without nursing it will be 1623
    With nursing it will be 1823

    Are my calculations correct? It seems way too high for someone my size! 5' and 138 lb.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    I'm reading the link - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6832-eating-all-of-your-calories-bmr

    I calulated my TDEE, TDEE is the total number of calories that your body expends in 24 hours, including all activities. TDEE is also known as your "maintenance level". I based this on my current weight. Here is a rough way to calculate your TDEE. Take your BMR and multiply it according to your activity level

    Activity Multiplier
    Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
    Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
    Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
    Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
    Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)

    My BMR is 1370 (average taken from a few different sites). Since I'm exercising 5 days a week, BMR * 1.55 = 2123. This is my TDEE.

    Question - MFP gives 200 calories for compensating nursing a toddler. Do I add that to my TDEE - making it 2323?

    To lose weight at 1lb a week, I need to subtract 500 from this.
    Without nursing it will be 1623
    With nursing it will be 1823

    Are my calculations correct? It seems way too high for someone my size! 5' and 138 lb.

    Your calculations are correct. And that is your true caloric requirements. Now genetics and actually BMR can fluctuate as these are all estimates. So what you do is eat 1800 calories a day for a month. If weight doesn't come off (and you dont increase more than 5 lbs) then you INCREASE calories by another 200 calories. If you lose weight, you maintain, if you gain weight you decrease by 200 calories. Everytime I have plateaud, I increased my calories. I eat 3000 calories a day and I don't have problems losing.
  • HauteP1nk
    HauteP1nk Posts: 2,139 Member
    It isn't about how much you eat, but what you eat.

    Also, just like you have to change up your exercise routines to keep you physically challenged, you have to change your eating habits to keep your metabolism challenged.

    Either way, keep up your hard work. Do not get discouraged. Even if you can't physically see the results right in front of you at first, ever single effort is still changing your body from the inside. :)
  • shalinimunjal
    shalinimunjal Posts: 192 Member
    I will go ahead and change my daily goal to be 1800 and will zero out the exercise and BF calories since they're accounted for.

    Thank you all so much! You've been so helpful! I was netting 900-1000 for the last month as you can see above. This will be a challenge and I may see a gain initially, from what I understand it should go back down in 3 weeks or so.
  • michonw
    michonw Posts: 59
    The same thing happened to me! AS soon as I was put to 1200 calories...I haven't lost a pound. I have upped my calories to 1400 ish now and I will weigh in and see if my weight has changed probably by next week or so.
    It's so frustrating!!!
    Good luck!
    Michon
  • lumina0o0
    lumina0o0 Posts: 498 Member
    A tip from a mom who also breast fed, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE watch the color of your breast milk, it should look like milk not like water. I had friend who's gf was a vegetarian and breastfed their son, her milk looked like water and had no fat in it at all. There son is now almost 3 years old and he is really behind most kids his age. He barely talks and is constantly around kids his age.
  • shalinimunjal
    shalinimunjal Posts: 192 Member
    A tip from a mom who also breast fed, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE watch the color of your breast milk, it should look like milk not like water. I had friend who's gf was a vegetarian and breastfed their son, her milk looked like water and had no fat in it at all. There son is now almost 3 years old and he is really behind most kids his age. He barely talks and is constantly around kids his age.

    Way to go to generalize vegetarians. Foremilk looks more like water (that comes out first 2-3 min when pumping). It is richer in sugar. Hindmilk is the richer, fat dense milk. Babies need to get the right balance of both milks to get the benefit of sugar and fats. Your friends son not talking has nothing to do with her being vegetarian. Wow!
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