I'm Stuck, Please HELP!

JayElleOh
JayElleOh Posts: 61
in Health and Weight Loss
My weight loss has slowed a lot and I am hoping that I can get some suggestions..

As reference – My starting weight in the beginning of December (When I joined MFP) was 180lbs. I am 5’ 5” and as of yesterday I weigh 159lbs. In the beginning I was losing 1.5-2lbs/week and over the past few weeks I have been hovering up and down within the same3lbs range. I have been following the same technique since the beginning but my body has seemed to have stopped responding. My goal weight is 135lbs so I need all the help I can to keep pushing forward.

I do;
Drink 8+ glasses of water/day,
Exercise 45-90minutes/day (Mon-Fri), Burning a MINIMUM of 500 calories/workout (Usually closer to 1000 calories),
Eat my full 1200 calories - 7 days a week,
And
Don’t eat exercise calories.

If anyone has been in this situation or knows anything that will help, please respond.

Thanks :)

Replies

  • nicehormones
    nicehormones Posts: 503 Member
    Try eating your exercise calories and increasing your daily calorie goal. Your body has caught on to the fact that you are trying to get rid of its energy stores and it does not like it one bit. It will do anything to hold onto your fat at this point. This includes burning all of your muscle up for energy before burning fat.
  • JayElleOh
    JayElleOh Posts: 61
    I can try to eat a few hundred more calories but I don't think I'd be physically able to eat as many as I burn at the gym, Also, If I am eating what I work off, what is the point of going to the gym just to eat it back?
  • mydeloo78
    mydeloo78 Posts: 328 Member
    MFP already calculates a deficit into your day, so by not eating your calories you're probably not eating enough. You're eating 1200 but you're burning 500 and by not eating them back that means you're only giving your body 700 calories a day to mantain all its functions. Lots of people have gotten off a plateau by eating more.. jsut add in some nuts or full fat dairy. Give it a try, you migh tbe suprised. Your dairy isn't open, that's always helpful when posting things such as this.
  • mallory3411
    mallory3411 Posts: 839 Member
    My weight loss has slowed a lot and I am hoping that I can get some suggestions..

    As reference – My starting weight in the beginning of December (When I joined MFP) was 180lbs. I am 5’ 5” and as of yesterday I weigh 159lbs. In the beginning I was losing 1.5-2lbs/week and over the past few weeks I have been hovering up and down within the same3lbs range. I have been following the same technique since the beginning but my body has seemed to have stopped responding. My goal weight is 135lbs so I need all the help I can to keep pushing forward.

    I do;
    Drink 8+ glasses of water/day,
    Exercise 45-90minutes/day (Mon-Fri), Burning a MINIMUM of 500 calories/workout (Usually closer to 1000 calories),
    Eat my full 1200 calories - 7 days a week,
    And
    Don’t eat exercise calories.

    If anyone has been in this situation or knows anything that will help, please respond.

    Thanks :)

    You say you are not eating your exercise calories, eating 1,200 calories everyday and burn between 500 adn 1000 calories a day, five days a week.

    You eat 1,200 calories throughout the day than burn 500 with your workout... your body is only left with 700 to survive and function on.

    You eat 1,200 and burn 1,000 during a workout... you are only leaving your body with 200 calories to run on.

    You are not eating enough. 1,200 is far too low if you are burning between 500 - 1000 calories per workout five days a week.
  • mallory3411
    mallory3411 Posts: 839 Member
    You eat your exercise calories back because MFP has already set you up with a calorie deficit without exercise.

    You are relatively small. You won't lose at the same pace that you did before. You will lose MUCH slower.
  • greasygriddle_wechnage
    greasygriddle_wechnage Posts: 246 Member
    Try eating your exercise calories and increasing your daily calorie goal. Your body has caught on to the fact that you are trying to get rid of its energy stores and it does not like it one bit. It will do anything to hold onto your fat at this point. This includes burning all of your muscle up for energy before burning fat.
    this^^^^^^
  • TaraStingray
    TaraStingray Posts: 5
    Man this is helpful. I have been doing this for 30 days and have lost 2 pounds. I'll try eating my exercise calories. Thanks y'all!!
  • MelKut
    MelKut Posts: 167 Member
    I can try to eat a few hundred more calories but I don't think I'd be physically able to eat as many as I burn at the gym, Also, If I am eating what I work off, what is the point of going to the gym just to eat it back?

    Exercise helps improve your overall fitness. If you would rather exercise less instead of eat more, I say do that. The point is to establish lifelong habits, and I, personally, wouldn't plan on spending 1.5 hours every day at the gym.
  • r_keller
    r_keller Posts: 21
    I can try to eat a few hundred more calories but I don't think I'd be physically able to eat as many as I burn at the gym, Also, If I am eating what I work off, what is the point of going to the gym just to eat it back?

    There's always a big debate about whether or not to eat your exercise calories, so I'll just say this: working out isn't only good for burning calories - it's great for your body in so many ways! It's not a wasted workout of you eat those calories back because you're also improving the condition of your body. Plus, a pound of muscle looks way different than a pound of fat. I've seen a few different posts with comparison pictures that people have posted where they weigh the same but lowered their body fat percentage and it makes a HUGE difference!

    Anyway - I'd say try eating more, see if it works, if it doesn't you can always go back to the way you're doing things now. Good luck :smile:
  • LauraMcCullough
    LauraMcCullough Posts: 16 Member
    this exact same thing happened to me a MFP friend advised me to eat all my exercise calories and I started losing the weight again. try it and also monitor your sodium intake which I didn't realize I was going WAY over on!
  • jimmie25
    jimmie25 Posts: 266
    http://www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/
  • JayElleOh
    JayElleOh Posts: 61
    I knew that MFP set the cals low to begin with to help weight loss needing little to no exercise. However, I assumed that the more I worked out, the faster I'd lose. I'm glad I posted because each and everyone of you changed my way of looking at it. I didn't realize that I was "starving" my body of calories.

    Everyone is generally saying the same idea so I guess I will give it a go :) Thank-you all for the advice.
  • JayElleOh
    JayElleOh Posts: 61
    How does sodium effect weight?
  • carrie_eggo
    carrie_eggo Posts: 1,396 Member
    You eat your exercise calories back because MFP has already set you up with a calorie deficit without exercise.

    You are relatively small. You won't lose at the same pace that you did before. You will lose MUCH slower.

    ^^This

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/468624-those-struggling-to-lose-the-last-10lbs
  • carrie_eggo
    carrie_eggo Posts: 1,396 Member
    How does sodium effect weight?

    It can make you retain water.
  • jna1957
    jna1957 Posts: 53
    you mentioned you have been doing the same routine - perhaps change the routine up.
  • SmallerBecky
    SmallerBecky Posts: 177
    Edited because someone else said it first! :)
  • AdrienneinTO
    AdrienneinTO Posts: 111 Member
    As others have said, eat back at least most of your exercise calories. If you think that you can't find enough calories, have some nuts or avocados (relatively high calorie but healthy). Eat a larger portion of meat (protein is good for you). You don't have to eat all the calories on the same day. You can zig-zag your calories, and have a really nice food day every now and then.

    I am 5'5", started MFP at 164 lb. I am now 132-133. I steadily lost just slightly less than 1 lb a week, no plateaus. I typically ate 1600-1700 calories per day (healthy unprocessed food, not junk) and often ate 1900-2000. I exercised enough to burn off 400-600 calories per day, 4-5 times a week. I rarely ate less than 1400 calories in a day. Trust me, you CAN lose weight by eating more.

    It's not a waste of time to exercise and then eat back your calories. Exercise will boost your metabolism so that you burn more calories day to day. Also, there are many benefits to exercise. I feel much healthier, I feel very fit, I am more toned, and I love my new muscles.
  • IvoryParchment
    IvoryParchment Posts: 651 Member
    Make sure you're getting all the nutrition you need. It's tempting to lean on a low-calorie routine when your intake is that low, but you could be consistently failing to meet some nutritional requirement. You can't settle for the few things listed on nutrition labels. You need to know about things like vitamin K, thiamine, selenium, etc. The USDA website has exhaustive information.

    You have lost 20 lbs in under 3 months. Everyone wants to lose as fast as possible, but 1 lb a week is perfectly reasonable. Your body may need to plateau before losing further. It doesn't mean you're doing something wrong.

    Use measurements other than body weight. 1000 kcal of exercise a day is going to build muscle (presuming you've given your body all the nutrients it needs). So while you lose fat weight, you're gaining muscle weight. You have to adjust your weight loss goals to take that into account. A well-muscled 65 inch person is going to weigh more than a flabby one.

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