Why did I stop losing weight?

micfreud · March 2012

Hi All,

Quite frustrated that in the last few weeks my weight loss has stopped even though I'm a good 15 kg from my goal.

Male, 34.

Before I started MFP I was eating only about 800cal max per day. Kept getting told by everyone around me (including my doctor) that I was fat because I ate too much. In Oct 2011 I finally decided that the only way I could lose weight was to watch my calories and I discovered that I was eating too few calories and slowing my metabolism. So I started eating what MFP recommended I should eat to lose 1kg/week. That's been great, and I've lost about 12 kg. But in the last few weeks my weight loss has stopped altogether.

Generally speaking, I eat back any calories that I get via exercise (approx 400-500cal/day) because I don't want to slow my metabolism again. MFP has my target calories at 1550/day to lose 1kg /week. Occasionally I eat a 100 more than the net, but my weight loss has stopped. I can't think of anything I've done differently except going for longer runs (10+km) once or twice a week.

Any Ideas?

86_Ohms · March 2012

It gets harder to lose weight over after losing quite a bit of calories already. Some recommend "zig-zagging" the calories, as in eating up to maintenance and going back to that 1550 your MFP gave you.

Also, switching up exercises worked fairly well for myself. I cycle between running, elliptical, bicycling, sprint intervals, etc.

tigersword · March 2012

Weight loss isn't linear. How long have you been stagnant? Have you also been taking measurements? Water retention can prevent the scale from moving, however, smaller measurements will reveal continuing fat loss.

Not everything you lose shows on the scale.

RCadence · March 2012

This is typical in weight loss. When you first start your body goes through MASSIVE changes in order to compensate to the difference in lifestyle and food consumption. This is when you first lose weight. However unless you continually up your game and change your exercise routines on a regular basis you probably won't lose any more weight. The human body is a great machine however it adapts quickly to changes which means you've got to keep it guessing, otherwise it will just classify your calories burned as "the norm"

Hope this helps!

:-)

meshashesha2012 · March 2012

what type of exercise are you doing? remember the body is efficient at becoming efficient so if you're doing the same routines you aren't going to be burning the same amounts of calories

if youre only doing cardio add weights, if youre only doing weights add cardio. also if your primarily running and have reached a plateau then adfing more distance isn't really going to help. focus more on changing how you run ie more tempos and fartleks and hills if you arent already doing them.

micfreud · March 2012

Thanks for the feedback. Now that I think a bit more about it, I didn't reduce my calories as I lost weight for the first 10 kg. It's only since I reduced my calorie intake that I've slowed my weight loss. I wonder since my original problem was that I was eating too little that by reducing my calorie intake perhaps I'm causing my body to go back to "starvation mode". At least I don't (and never have) eat much junk at all.

@meshashesha20 I've been thinking about adding weights but I did also have a goal of running 10km consistently. But I must say that lifting a piece of metal again and again doesn't really appeal to me, but I have been thinking about it.

@RCadence I have changed my running routes, but there is one route that I do more than others because it is exactly 5km. But I wonder if, as my fitness increased that I'm pushing myself harder with a higher heart rate, that I'm not in the fat burining zone??

Thanks for the thoughts...still thinking.

katie133 · March 2012

I dont think the "fat burning zone" really has much to do with losing weight.. you still burn more overall calories when your heart rate is up high.. I do a lot of interval training w/ a HRM and get my heart rate up to 185-188 sometimes... I am still losing weight..To tell you the truth i always do high intensity cardio and it works really well

Tourney3p0 · March 2012

The 10km runs might have something to do with it. I imagine those take awhile.

When you add your cardio to MFP, it adds the total calories burned back into your "available pool" of calories you can eat. It doesn't take into account the fact that you would be burning some calories anyway. Bottom line is you shouldn't eat back ALL your exercise calories.

First, calculate your BMR (Tools tab at the top). Divide that by 60*24 = 1440 to get the total calories your body burns per minute otherwise. Multiply that by the amount of time you ran. Eat all but that many calories back.

Example using very general but easy numbers: Your BMR is 1440. 1440/1440 = 1. You ran for 60 minutes. 60*1=60. Eat back all but 60 of your exercise calories.

Another possibility (just throwing out some ideas here) is that you're logging your "calories burned" with the wrong numbers. This happens a lot when people just use the default number MFP provides. For longer exercising, any error between the estimate and the actual will become more and more prominent. In this case, I would recommend getting a heart rate monitor with a calorie burning function to get some more accurate numbers.

RCadence · March 2012

Maybe, but not all weightloss is from increasing your heart rate. Have you tried HIT (High Intensity Training) before? If your running the same kind of routes then obviously your body will compensate for minor adjustments. Sometimes HIT can be for 20 second spurts or even 10 minute all out runs.

Have you tried running as fast as you can for 30 seconds, then lightly jogging for 3 minutes; repeating the process numerous times? Ultimately jogging is a brilliant way of losing weight, but you need drastic changes which will shock your body (not too much).

Think of it as this:
Your driving your normal route, when you realise you fancy a change (start of your diet). You take a turning off the road to find an obsticle course of tight turns, steep uphill slopes and bumpy paths. After a few drives you can cope with this quite easily and you start to relax and feel comfortable. This is where you are "metaphorically" speaking.

Sorry for the rambling; its my Psychology lingo rearing it head lol

katie133 · March 2012

I agree.. but I do HIIT, and clearly running as fast as you can for spurts is going to get your heart rate super high.
The combination of getting it really high/ lowering it again and continuing to do this is what makes it so effective.. your body keeps burning more than it normally would AFTER your work out.. This is what my trainer taught me, and this type of cardio has been extremely effective for me.

rileysowner · March 2012

With what you have told us it could be 1) A normal part of weight loss since it is generally not linear. It will go smoothly, then slow, then go fast At least that is my experience. 2) You are still losing fat but it is not showing for some reason. The most common culprit is water retention which could happen from more sodium than your body is used to, a large change in exercise either in program or intensity, or some other things as well. It could be other things as well. I don't even know how long your weight loss has stalled. Maybe you posted that and I missed it. If you have not measured yourself (chest, waist, hips) do so now. I have several friends here who did not lose anything for several weeks (one was 6 weeks I believe) but their measurements kept going down. That would mean they were still losing fat, and eventually the scale went down as well. The scale is only one measure of success, and not a very helpful one on its own.

The fat burning zone will have nothing to do with it. While it is true you burn a larger percentage of your calories from fat in the fat burning zone, because it is so low intensity you burn few calories total. At higher intensity you burn a smaller percentage of your calories from fat, but at that higher intensity your burn a lot more calories. With that you also burn more fat total than you would at the lower fat burning zone, not to mention what is really important is total calories burned, not just those from fat. Your body will pull from the fat reserves to make up for that energy (calories) you expended after.

HIIT is something I recommend as well. You can do it as part of your run training 2 or 3 times a week.

kayleeblue · March 2012

I've been at a plateau for 7 months..upped my cals, lowered mycals, I lift heavy and have changed my cardio/weight routine over and over...but the big thing is..I haven't given up. Good Luck to all.

spamvicious · March 2012

I'm in a similar position, I have been doing MFP for 6 weeks and have managed to lose 12ibs which is great but for the past 2 weeks I've been stuck on the same weight. I'm eating 1100-1200 calories a day and I try to eat the calories I have earned through exercise even though my mind tries to tell me not to.

It just frustrating because in the last 2 weeks I have done more regular exercise than before, initially it was just diet and more walking etc and then 2 weeks ago I joined a gym and go twice a week on top of wii fit I do on the other days and lots more walking and yet I'm still stuck on the same weight.

I heard that you have to binge one day to kick start your metabolism is this true?

thanks for all the help

Height 5.7"
Start Weight: 12.9 stone
Current Weight: 11.13 Stone
Ideal Weight: 10 Stone
BMI: 26
Ideal BMI: 22

rileysowner · March 2012

I'm in a similar position, I have been doing MFP for 6 weeks and have managed to lose 12ibs which is great but for the past 2 weeks I've been stuck on the same weight. I'm eating 1100-1200 calories a day and I try to eat the calories I have earned through exercise even though my mind tries to tell me not to.

It just frustrating because in the last 2 weeks I have done more regular exercise than before, initially it was just diet and more walking etc and then 2 weeks ago I joined a gym and go twice a week on top of wii fit I do on the other days and lots more walking and yet I'm still stuck on the same weight.

I heard that you have to binge one day to kick start your metabolism is this true?

thanks for all the help

Height 5.7"
Start Weight: 12.9 stone
Current Weight: 11.13 Stone
Ideal Weight: 10 Stone
BMI: 26
Ideal BMI: 22

First of all at 5'7" you should be eating a lot more than 1100-1200 calories. In the short term that will work, but in the long run you will be fighting your body all the way. I am guessing your weight loss goal is set at 2 pounds per week assuming your calories are set by this site at 1200. The problem is that amount of calories is likely below your BMR (the calories needed to simply keep your body alive) and other than people who are morbidly obese, eating below your BMR regularly is not recommended. I would suggest you find your BMR (there is a tool here at MFP and many others on the web) and set your calories there. That would be your goal calories, Notice I say goal because that is what you want to achieve. You don't want to be substantially above or below that.

Second, if you just made a major change in your exercise this http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/200544-why-do-you-sometimes-gain-weight-when-starting-a-new-exercis is likely what is happening. Give it a few weeks.

spamvicious · March 2012

Thanks rileysowner, I just checked my BMR and it said 1,520. I had no idea about this, I just simply assumed that eating less is better, I understood not to eat too low etc but now I realise that my body has been working on -300 a day or around that which is probably something to do with my weight stopping still. It helped me lose that weight initially, so now I'll aim or 1500 a day and exercise.

I'll check out the link too

Edit: I'm a bit disturbed that when I changed my calorie goal to 1500 a day it estimates a loss of 0.8Ibs a week? Is this not including exercise etc? I still want to lose some weight with all this effort lol and I know its not a race but I'd want at least 2ibs a week.

Tourney3p0 · March 2012

Edit: I'm a bit disturbed that when I changed my calorie goal to 1500 a day it estimates a loss of 0.8Ibs a week? Is this not including exercise etc? I still want to lose some weight with all this effort lol and I know its not a race but I'd want at least 2ibs a week.

Change your goal to 2 pounds a week. MFP will adjust the calories for you. If you're already pretty close to a healthy weight, you'll want to set it maybe 1 or 1.5 pounds a week. In any case, don't adjust your calories.

If your number is 1500 a day and you burn 500 in exercise, eat 2000 calories. If your number is 1500 and you don't exercise that day, eat 1500.

spamvicious · March 2012

Edit: I'm a bit disturbed that when I changed my calorie goal to 1500 a day it estimates a loss of 0.8Ibs a week? Is this not including exercise etc? I still want to lose some weight with all this effort lol and I know its not a race but I'd want at least 2ibs a week.

Change your goal to 2 pounds a week. MFP will adjust the calories for you. If you're already pretty close to a healthy weight, you'll want to set it maybe 1 or 1.5 pounds a week. In any case, don't adjust your calories.

If your number is 1500 a day and you burn 500 in exercise, eat 2000 calories. If your number is 1500 and you don't exercise that day, eat 1500.

To lose 2ibs a week its telling me to still eat 1200 calories a day, if I change the calorie goal to 1500 which is my BMR then it says I'll lose 0.8ibs a week. However I think I best just aim for 1500 and see what happens with exercising on top etc.

rileysowner · March 2012

Thanks rileysowner, I just checked my BMR and it said 1,520. I had no idea about this, I just simply assumed that eating less is better, I understood not to eat too low etc but now I realise that my body has been working on -300 a day or around that which is probably something to do with my weight stopping still. It helped me lose that weight initially, so now I'll aim or 1500 a day and exercise.

I'll check out the link too

Edit: I'm a bit disturbed that when I changed my calorie goal to 1500 a day it estimates a loss of 0.8Ibs a week? Is this not including exercise etc? I still want to lose some weight with all this effort lol and I know its not a race but I'd want at least 2ibs a week.

If I am reading your ticker correctly you have approximately 12 pounds to lose, if that is the case, 2 pounds per week is simply not going to happen. That is simply asking too much of your body.

Here is a chart that suggests what your weekly weight loss goal should be depending on how much you have to lose.
If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

1 lb a week is 500 calories less per day. So .5 would be 250 less, 2lbs would be 1000 less, etc.

Part of why your weigh loss stopped is because you are fighting your own body. You want the fat off, your body wants to keep it because you don't have much left. Losing slower at this point will keep weigh loss going.

Here is some discussion about the whole eating at BMR thing http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/522858-bmr-question

spamvicious · March 2012

I want to lose 24Ibs ideally, so I guess I'm just getting confused as to what's realistic etc. So 1ib a week is reasonable if I'm eating 1500 calories a day and working out etc.

P.S. Thanks for all the help everyone and sorry for hijacking your thread micfreud

rileysowner · March 2012

It is an always changing thing. If you still need to lose 24 pounds then 1 pound a week is ideal, and that is what your BMR will get you more or less. Try it for 2-3 weeks and see how it goes. I can say that 2 pounds a week would be very difficult with only 24 pounds to go.

Why did I stop losing weight?

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