2.5 pounds per month HELP :(

criscricket · April 2012

I've lost 13 pounds since January 11th and only 5 since mid-february.

I need some serious advise. I have been trying to stay under 1320 for about 4 weeks. I started running more? I eliminated wheat products about two weeks ago, Should I drop back down to 1200 calories or up to more? I am so confused, I just want to lose this weight a little bit quicker than I am.

Cris

nwg74 · April 2012

Don't be scared to up the calories say by 200-300 per day for a couple of weeks. If you find you not losing, then drop back down and there is a good chance it might start coming off again.

Also eat some or all of your exercise calories so you are not netting to low calories.

creature275 · April 2012

well it depends on a lot of things, first off the overall caloric intake for your day is important but thats only a start, there are many things that you can do to keep your motabolism high, try spacing that 1320 evenly over smaller meals throughout the day every 2-3 hours, keeping your carbohydrates complex and supplying your body with proteins throughout the day, obviouslt limit simple carbs and saturated fats, as for your cardio, try things like HIIT, mix it up or your body will adapt, slow steady paced cardio works better for fat burning than a fast sprint style does...unless its HIIT of course.

lin7604 · April 2012

i guess it really depends on how tall you are and how much you have to loose. for me i was at the 15 lbs mark to loose and i started out first 2.5 months only loosing 2.5 lbs a month max. i was on 1200 cals a day and always eating back my exercise calories. I started oct 22nd and to date i have lost 9 lbs. i have been loosing the same 2 lbs over and over the last 3 months. i upped my exercise, calories, etc and i still can't loose any other lbs... i will see what advise you get here and maybe take some of it for myself..

mariuch11 · April 2012

Every body is different so what works for one will not work for all. I believe it's all trial and error. You have to tweak your eating and exercise plan from time to time. I hit a plateau years ago so I went off my diet for a week out of pure aggravation but maintained my exercise plan and just thought before I ate and when I went back on my eating plan I started to lose again. Of course this may not work for everyone. As for calories I saw an interview Jillian Michaels did and she said the base calories for women is 1200 to lose weight and to NOT eat back your exercise calories. The point is to burn calories to lose weight, if we eat back what we burned then why bother

boodlelibra · April 2012

bump - same boat

lin7604 · April 2012

but who can live off 800-900 cals...certainly not me! i would be starving....then that goes against all that bmr talk, etc...

JakinsandPeykins · April 2012

Bump

psuLemon · April 2012

I am sorry, but this is completely wrong. We are NOT different. Well all have a BMR (metabolic rate), well all have a TDEE and all require a calorie reduction from that in order to lose weight.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/you-are-not-different.html

OP, your first month was mostly water weight. So now 2.5 lbs per month is not a bad thing. Also, keep in mind, the smaller you get, the closer to your goal, the harder it will be for weight come off. Do us a favor and use the link below to figure out your estimated BMR and post the results. Also, post what your lifestyle is and your exercise routine and we can figure out what you should be eating.

http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

mariuch11 · April 2012

Where did you get 800 - 900? I said 1200 as a base.

dad106 · April 2012

If you eat 1200 then burn off 300-400, it's like you only ate 800-900 calories, if you don't eat them back.

Besides MFP already figures in a deficit pre-exercise.. so anything you do, makes the deficit larger and if you make it too large, then you will stop losing weight.

To OP:
2.5 pounds a month is great... and even a little bit faster then you should be losing(recommended is 2 pounds a week).

Try mixing up your exercise and foods, and see what happens. Sometimes that will be enough to jump start it again.

mariuch11 · April 2012

I think I will agree to disagree with you as well.

I read the article you suggested http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/you-are-not-different.html

In the last section of that article titled "However, Not Everybody Has it as Easy as Everybody Else" it clearly states

"The research, however, is very clear: not everybody has it as easy as some folks do. Some peopleâ€™s bodies are, in fact, demonstrably more resistant to weight loss (or gain) than others. Not that they canâ€™t lose (or gain) weight but it comes off or on more slowly. More accurately, their bodies fight back harder.

Researchers call these folks Diet Resistant and the reasons behind this resistance is just starting to be determined. It probably has to do with how these individuals brains perceive changes in caloric intake which determines how their brains react to those changes. Some peopleâ€™s bodies simply increase metabolic rate more quickly (or drop it more quickly) in response to increased or decreased calories. You can see similar variations in terms of whatâ€™s lost during dieting; given the same diet and exercise program, some people will lose a lot more muscle than another.

So there is no doubt that there are individual differences and efficiencies between people, that probably explains why you can find one person who reports near-magical results with nearly every diet out there: they happened to hit the one that just â€˜fitâ€™ their individual metabolism and chemistry. It would be silly to ignore all of that "

Umm this to me says everybody is different.

I don't percieve to know what someone else should do to lose weight. I merely suggested what works for one may not work for another and that it is all trial and error till we find what does work. Which is pretty much the same thing this article said.

With that being said I will say that I know that as we get older, as we gain and lose weight, as we have children, as we go into menopause our bodies change as does our body chemistry. As a 29 year old male I do not expect you to understand that. However you also have to take into consideration that there are illnesses and medications that also come into play with how a persons body is going to respond, not to mention depression and stress. Therefore, every body is different and everybodys body will respond differently to exercise and diets than others.

I've tried just about every diet out there and low carb is the only thing that has worked for me. I lost 50 pounds in 6 months doing it about 8 years ago but I did not look like I lost that much weight even though I did go down in dress sizes, through trial and error I now know that the type of ecercise I did then was either not enough or not the right kind for my body. I had some personal issues then so I put lossing weight aside to deal with what life had thrown at me. I have since started low carb again and it again is working, as for exercise, well I'm still figuring that out. But this to me means that if low carb worked for me and other plans did not work for me but did work for others than that means our bodies are different.

I agree with the articles statement "calories in calories out" but there are many other factors out there to take into consideration and to not do that is wrong. I believe that each person is an individual and will need to learn through trial an derror what type of diet/eating plan and what kind of exercise plan will work for them. I have read about a lot of people on here who have hit a stall or pleatu that was overcome by making a tweak in thier plan to compensate for the change in thier bodies that may have occured from loosing weight or a new medication or a stressful situation. Each person has to figure it out on thier own. No one person should dictate what another should or should not do. Keep in mind that not everyone on these types of sites are under a doctors care or even consulted a doctor so giving a "one size fits all" advice may be dangerous because you do not know how a person will percive it and you do not know what that persons life is like.

mariuch11 · April 2012

If I am overweight and I take in 1200 calories a day in an attempt to lose weight and through exercise I burn burn off 300 a day then if I eat back those 300 calories how am I getting rid of my weight?

Let me ask you this. If your overweight and now you want to lose weight so you eat fewer calories then exercise to burn off all those excess calories you ate that made you over weight so why eat back calories that you burned? I'm sorry it just doesn't make sense to me for weight loss, it does however make sense if I want to maintain my weight. Isn't it "calories in calories out"? Here is the best explanation as it was explaned to me many years ago.

"Imagine your body is a car. When the car is just idling (think normal everyday activities and body functions) it consumes a certain amount of fuel (let's say 2,000 calories). When it is driving down the road (think running) additional fuel is consumed (let's say an additional 400 calories). If you were to weigh the car at the beginning and end of the day the difference measured would be fuel (calories). If the car consumed more fuel (calories) than was put back in for the day, it would weigh less. If the car consumed less fuel (calories) than was put in that day, it would weigh more. " Hence the fewer calories I put in my body and the more I burn will equal weight loss.

As for MFP's calculations they are basing thier numbers on your weight and goals. I can not tell you why they add back your burned calories but that is worth researching.

Like I said earlier what works for one person may not work for another. I do not eat back my calories and I do low carb because I know that works for me. I am losing an average of 2 pounds per week. Each person has to figure out through trial and error what works for them. In my original post I merely suggested a tweak to see if it would help.

lin7604 · April 2012

i was responding to JM's comment that you mentioned that the base was 1200 and to NOT eat back your exercise calories...

"As for calories I saw an interview Jillian Michaels did and she said the base calories for women is 1200 to lose weight and to NOT eat back your exercise calories. The point is to burn calories to lose weight, if we eat back what we burned then why bother "....

dad106 · April 2012

Let me try saying this again.. MFP already puts in a deficit for you.

If you have a 500 a day deficit, you will always have a 500 a day deficit if you eat those calories back or not. Thats why you can lose weight on MFP without exercise.. because you are doing it through diet alone.

If you don't eat them back and lets say you are set at 500 a day deficit and you burn 300, it's like having an 800 calorie a day deficit. Which is prob. fine at the beginning but as you lose more weight, that 800 calorie deficit is not going to work.. and you will stop losing as fast or stop losing at all. Thats when people freak out and wonder why they aren't losing.. and it's because they are not eating enough.

pstaceyca · April 2012

Bump

illecl · April 2012

Try mixing up your calories a little during the week A couple low-low calorie days, then a high calorie day or two. But ending up with your target calories for the week. If your body thinks it's starving, it'll hold on to weight. On the internet, it's called the Wendie Plan. Weight Watchers never blessed it, but it was a great way to get those stubborn last pounds off or break a plateau. Good Luck!

Sweet_Potato · April 2012

I overcame my plateau by exercising more, and by trying to stick to my 1240 calorie goal without eating all my exercise calories back (most days I eat around 1300-1500 calories total and burn around 200).

Jimaudit · April 2012

I agree with dad and thats why MFP advises you to eat back your exercise calories. The body requires fuel to burn fat and will stop if you stop eating enough "fuel".

The simple math of cals in- cals out = weight loss does not work in all cases. If you are very heavy, then you can do it for a few months and lose extra weight. Long term you will push your body into starvation mode and it will start storing fat rather than burn it.

As mentioned the closer to your goals the harder it is to lose weight....just my .02

LorinaLynn · April 2012

With 13 pounds to your goal weight, 2.5 pounds a month is the ideal weight loss. Make sure your calories are set to a half pound a week... that's the right range for the amount of weight you want to lose.

jlkennedy88 · April 2012

From someone who has gained weight (50 plus with each pregnancy) and lost it 3 times again - DON'T EAT BACK YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES! Even when I burn 900 calories (and yes, I do that sometimes because I'm training for a half marathon now), I might eat an extra 100 calories, but that is it. So, on average, I eat between 1250 and 1350. And, I have lost most of my weight and have lost 1.5 - 2 lbs a week when I am really focused on my exercise and diet.

Losing weight is hard. But, you have to be disciplined. The exercise calories calculated by MFP are just estimates - and from what I can tell, they are OVER estimates. If you eat your MFP calculated exercise calories back, you might even gain weight.

I'm not an expert - but my BMI is 22 - my RHR is 44 and I run more than 20 miles a week. I've also lost 30 lbs slowly and healthily over the course of 2 years.

NWdreaming · April 2012

Unfortunately everyones body in unique and different things work for different people. I personally have a lot to lose and started slowing quickly on 1200 calories a day (sometimes eating back calories from workout and sometimes not). Once I upped my calories I started losing more and quicker. I now eat 1500 -1700 depending on how much I workout and I want to try to get to 1800 everyday. I also don't want to live on 1200 cals when all is said and done, eating that much for the rest of my life does not sound appealing. Last week was my first week doing this and I lost over 2 pounds because of it where as before I was struggling to lose a pound.

Whatever you decide to try, give it at least a week or two so your body can adjust. Goodluck!

Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools

LorinaLynn · April 2012

On the other hand, my BMI is also around 22, not sure of my RHR and I run closer to 15 miles a week. I ate my exercise calories, found weight loss fairly easy, and lost 30 pounds slowly and healthily over the course of 6 months. I ate around 1800-2000 calories a day. But when I ate too little, I thought weight loss was hard.

MaraDiaz · April 2012

If you're fortunate enough to have health insurance, you could always go get your metabolism checked just to make sure that isn't the problem.

unsuspectingfish · April 2012

1,200 calories is considered the standard minimum to fuel basic bodily functions when you're in a state of absolute rest (basically if you're in a coma). 2,000 to 2,500 is considered the average range for maintaining your weight (unless you're smaller, then it's different). If you eat back your exercise calories at the 1,200 level, you're still, on average, in an 800 to 1,300 calorie deficit.

huntindawg1962 · April 2012

Because people that lose slower eating back their BMR never have a plateau or stall out? Right..... And people that lose slowly using this same concept never gain back weight either? Right....

There have been numerous people lose weight at severely reduced calorie diets and not eating back exercise calories including people that have bariatric surgery (that rarely eat more than 700 calories per day). Besides, the BMR number applies a generic number for calories required in its base formula (no, won't be the same for everyone) without regard to many individual factors so no, it is not a one-size fits all calculation. Heck, it asks for your body fat % to be "more accurate" and formulas for that are not even the same so unless you have had a DEXA scan you really don't have a good % number for that calculation either (including bone density numbers).

AlyRoseNYC · April 2012

I guess I'll be the only one to say that I wouldn't be happy with that progress either. In your OP, your implied that you had raised your calories from 1200 to 1320. Were you doing ok at 1200? As in not tires, hungry, irritable? If 1200 was good for you, I'd go back to that and see if it makes a difference. Good luck!

LorinaLynn · April 2012

It's not a matter of being "happy" with the progress or not. It's the fact that at this stage of her weight loss, that's the normal progress. When there's more to lose, it comes off faster than when there's not much left to lose.

Instead of thinking of it as "pounds per week," think of it as a percentage of weight lost.

AlyRoseNYC · April 2012

I see waht you're saying. I guess I should have left out the word "either" because it made it sound like I was assuming she was unhappy. I can only speak for myself. *I* wouldn't be happy losing 2.5 a month, regardless of how much (or little) I had to lose.

mariuch11 · April 2012

Thank you

This was my whole point which was misconstrued, sometimes by tweaking your plan you can overcome stalls, etc.

You tweaked it by adding more exercise and you overcame your plateau.

Congrats!

mariuch11 · April 2012

First of all losing weight whitout exercise will not get people the true results they want. You need to do both...diet and exercise.

Second MFP over exaggerates everything in my OP and from others OP that I have read in many of these forums. I am in the process of getting an HRM so that I can be accurate.

Third in order to continue to lose you have to TWEAK your plan by changing calories, exercise, etc. That was and is my main point. If You lose say 50 pounds then you need to tweak your plan by changing your calorie intake and will need to do this as you continue to lose weight. Once you get to your goal weight you maintain by continuing to exercise and maintian a healthy diet and caloric intake.

Fourth, people freak out when they stop losing becasue they want a quick fix and there isn't one. It takes hard work and dedication to lose weight and keep it off.

There is a reason why people gain back weight when they finish a diet and there is a reason why people struggle to lose the last 10 pounds. Every one is different and what works for one may not work for another. There are many people here on MFP who lost 150 pounds, 170 pounds, 100 pounds in just 1 year and each person did something different because they did what worked for them and they maintain that loss by continuing to do what works for them.

Your harping on a qoute by a very successful weight loss coach that I repeated but your doing it without taking into consideration all the other factors and everything else I wrote.

2.5 pounds per month HELP :(

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