Lots to lose and in a very early plateau....any advice?

Hab1978
Hab1978 Posts: 57 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, so I've been struggling with this for some time now and I finally decided to give in and ask for some advice. I started out on this journey about 92 days ago after a visit to the Dr, where I happened to catch a glimpse of my chart and on it she had written morbidly obese. Something in me clicked that day and I decided this has got to stop! I'm 5 foot 2 and 33 years old. I weighed in @ 255lbs. (that is heartbreaking for me to admit publicly) So anyway, I talked with my doctor and she did a metabollic test and told me that my Resting Metabollic Rate was 1826 calories and she advised me to consume 1550 calories a day, workout 6 days a week, do NOT eat my exercise calories and the weight would start to come off. So I signed up for MFP and started tracking my food, and following her guidelines. Vowed to make a life change and once and for all get rid of this extra baggage and become a healthier person. So the weight started coming off and I started to feel so much better. I've tried to incorporate better foods and drink plenty of water, but mainly I've noticed, that if I don't exercise, the weight goes nowhere....
So here's the problem, for 5 weeks I've plateau'd at 230 lbs. I've played around with my calories, dropping them down to 1350 at the lowest. I've for the most part, NOT consumed my exercise calories. Two weeks ago, I bumped my calories back up to 1480 because everyone told me that I was not eating enough and my body possibly thought it was in starvation mode, and I lost 2 lbs, but then later in the week I was back up to 230 again....
So basically I'm just not sure really where to set my calories at and if I should or shouldn't eat my exercise calories back. Is my body really in starvation mode? I mean seriously....I'm 230 lbs and a LONG way from 120 something that my Doctor said I should be at. What do I need to do? I have taken my measurements at the beginning of each month and I have continued to lose inches even when the scale doesn't move, and I know I shouldn't always go by the scale, but come on.....I want that scale to MOVE!!!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
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Replies

  • chachadiva150
    chachadiva150 Posts: 453 Member
    No, you are not in starvation mode. Banish that thought from your mind.

    Also, stop getting caught up in minor calorie differences. There is very little effect between 1300 and 1500. Most people miscalculate their calories anyway so most people are likely off by that amount daily.

    If you hit a plateau, the easiest way to break it is to just change something. Looking at your diary, I see that you are over a lot on sodium. Reduce your sodium. Cut out processed foods for a while. Do low carb for a couple of weeks.

    Change up you exercise routine. Add more weights and do different cardio.

    Just shake things up.
  • busymommyx3
    busymommyx3 Posts: 40 Member
    I just want to say I am going through the EXACT same thing as you right now. I was losing a ton of weight in the beginning (2.5-3.5 pounds per week) and ever since right before I hit my 3 month mark. The weight loss stopped dead in its tracks. I will lose a 1/2 a pound here and there and then gain it back a day later. It is so very frustrating. Yesterday I was looking into the eat more lose more posts on here and wondering if that is what I need to do because I do alot of cardio and rarely eat back my calories. So I am sorry I don't have any advice I just wanted to let you know you are not alone and I will be checking back here to see what kind of responses you get! Good luck with losing the rest of your weight you can do it!! :)
  • busymommyx3
    busymommyx3 Posts: 40 Member
    *Bumping* In hopes of some more responses :)
  • srodriguez9821
    srodriguez9821 Posts: 2 Member
    I'm in the same situation...MFP keeps telling me I'm not eating enough calories and starvation mode too. I wasn't counting my exercise calories either. I started three months ago and it's seems like in the last three weeks I havent lost or gained anything. Just kinda stalled out. I wish you luck and wanted to tell you you are not the only one. I hope somebody will post something to help you out. Keep with it and eventually I hope the scale starts to move in the right direction..:smile:
  • Hab1978
    Hab1978 Posts: 57 Member
    Thanks! Glad to know I'm not the only one that is stalling out.......glad to know I have a few ppl that understand and are in the same boat as me! :ohwell:
    Guess we will just keep on, keeping on! Eventually something has got to give!
  • Polly758
    Polly758 Posts: 623 Member
    I always thought that it's best to lose 5 lbs at a time rather than suddenly start eating at your goal weight level. Tell MFP your current weight, tell it you want to lose 1 lb a week, and see how many calories it gives you. I bet it'll be a lot more than you're currently eating. Then when you do your weigh-ins, it will gradually decrease your calories for you. You might want to check out a blogger Greta Christina, she did this very thing.

    http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2010/03/fatpositive-feminist-skeptical-diet-3-1.html

    And I love that she calls it her fat-positive feminist skeptical diet.
  • Sagetheplace
    Sagetheplace Posts: 74 Member
    Hi...I can totally relate to you! I started at 273 and 5'3. I am currently down to 199. I have platued for long periods 2 times once at 225 for about 1 month, and once at 206-203 for about 2.5 months. I broke my it both time by increacing my calories. I was very skeptical at first, but after watching the scale going down with the increase I have realized that it works for me. Currently I am eating around 2000 a day and NOT eating back exercise calories. I burn arounf 2000-4000 a week...if I happen to have a very large burn day I will allow myself some of those calories if I am hungry. I am currenly experimenting with keeping my NET calories never under 1500-1600 which is my BMR. It is working and I am losing again.

    Everybody is different and I think you just need to try different things and see what works for you. I will say that I believe the reasons I needed to increase my calories are working out now i have more muscles...muscles burn more calories. I dont want to lose my muscles I am building up so I have to make sure they get the feul they need. Also I have more energy during my workouts and throughout the day when I am eating more. Also I am losing again!!!! lol.

    Feel free to add me of message me if you have any other questions or for support! I am sure some people with come by with much more informative information for you!
  • wahmx3
    wahmx3 Posts: 633 Member
    I really feel that you need to increase your calories and eat back some of your exercise calories. I am not going to say you are in starvation mode because there is so much misinformation and various interpretations surrounding that. However, I am sure that if you eat more, 200-400 calories more per day, you will start to see weight loss once your body knows you are eating more and it doesn't have to hang onto every calorie. Good luck, I know it has worked for many people. Don't try to starve yourself. Have you ever had your BMR done? There are a few sites you can go to, I prefer the Harris- Benedict formula although don't ask me the difference in the various methods. I am 5'4", weight 146, am 45 years old and exercise 3-5 days a week and I aim to eat between 1385 and 1645 calories a day as that is my BMR and with that I don't eat back my exercise calories. I hope that helps!
  • Hab1978
    Hab1978 Posts: 57 Member
    I always thought that it's best to lose 5 lbs at a time rather than suddenly start eating at your goal weight level. Tell MFP your current weight, tell it you want to lose 1 lb a week, and see how many calories it gives you. I bet it'll be a lot more than you're currently eating. Then when you do your weigh-ins, it will gradually decrease your calories for you. You might want to check out a blogger Greta Christina, she did this very thing.

    http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2010/03/fatpositive-feminist-skeptical-diet-3-1.html

    And I love that she calls it her fat-positive feminist skeptical diet.

    Thanks for the advice! I loved reading Greta's blog!!!
  • Hab1978
    Hab1978 Posts: 57 Member
    Hi...I can totally relate to you! I started at 273 and 5'3. I am currently down to 199. I have platued for long periods 2 times once at 225 for about 1 month, and once at 206-203 for about 2.5 months. I broke my it both time by increacing my calories. I was very skeptical at first, but after watching the scale going down with the increase I have realized that it works for me. Currently I am eating around 2000 a day and NOT eating back exercise calories. I burn arounf 2000-4000 a week...if I happen to have a very large burn day I will allow myself some of those calories if I am hungry. I am currenly experimenting with keeping my NET calories never under 1500-1600 which is my BMR. It is working and I am losing again.

    Everybody is different and I think you just need to try different things and see what works for you. I will say that I believe the reasons I needed to increase my calories are working out now i have more muscles...muscles burn more calories. I dont want to lose my muscles I am building up so I have to make sure they get the feul they need. Also I have more energy during my workouts and throughout the day when I am eating more. Also I am losing again!!!! lol.

    Feel free to add me of message me if you have any other questions or for support! I am sure some people with come by with much more informative information for you!

    Ok...I'm not sure what BMR is??!?? Help!! LOL! :embarassed:
  • Hab1978
    Hab1978 Posts: 57 Member
    Ok, so I have calculated my BMR and it is 1507.7.....now what? :tongue:
  • Sagetheplace
    Sagetheplace Posts: 74 Member
    If your BMR is 1507 then always try to NET 1507 and dont get lower. So that means if you workout and burn 300 calories you should eat 1807...which would only be a NET of 1507. I used http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ . This site promotes eating how you would eat at your goal weight. I am currently eating 2000 which is a little bit above lightly active..and not eating back my exercise calories. I am finding it really works, however if I happen to burn 1000+ calories a few days a week my wieght will go up...this is why I am experimenting with trying to eat back some of those calories if I ever go under my net calories.

    Its all so confusing lol but I have learned so much, and you will too. And like I said there is no 1 size fits all, so I would suggest using that website and eating what they reccomend for your lifestyle ex sededary, lighly active ect ect. Put the scale away and try for 30 days and see what happens. It is normal to gain in the beggining your body stores the food and then realizes its goin gto keep getting it and your matabolism speeds up and then you start dropping.
  • alikatu
    alikatu Posts: 32 Member
    Bump.

    Hi.

    I agree with the Poster who was saying "change things up". They mentioned doing low carb for a week. I just started trying low-carb for the last couple of days...and I've learned ALOT!! Like how my favourite low-calorie foods are high in carbs, AND even my HIGH -calorie foods are high in carbs. When I kept to under 50g of carbs per day carbs...my calorie count ALSO so easily dropped. (See my last few days of Food Journal)

    And, my one supper was amazingly huge...1 cup of coleslaw (spiced, but no dressing) with 30g of flavourful shredded cheese, 1.5 cups canned green beans, and 150g of store-bought fresh chicken breast...my dinner plate was overflowing...and it was a stupidly low calorie count simply because I was avoiding carbs!

    I'm sorry...but if an overflowing dinner plate is starvation mode...I don't know what to say. I'm doing 2 days of <50g carbs, and then eating sensibly for the other 5 days of the week.

    If you can find the Forum posts written by MFP admins, they say that the "Starvation Mode" warning is only based on your performance for that day...not overall...and it's kinda just to cover their legal butts, lol.
  • Hab1978
    Hab1978 Posts: 57 Member
    Ok, so I have calculated my BMR and it is 1507.7.....now what? :tongue:

    Ok I think I STILL calculated this wrong....I didn't add in the percentage of activity when figuring this....if I do it puts me at 1809.2. So if that is actually my BMR then I should net the 1800 after exercise?
  • krisrpaz
    krisrpaz Posts: 263 Member
    Ok, so I have calculated my BMR and it is 1507.7.....now what? :tongue:

    Ok I think I STILL calculated this wrong....I didn't add in the percentage of activity when figuring this....if I do it puts me at 1809.2. So if that is actually my BMR then I should net the 1800 after exercise?

    Your BMR is 1507 your TDEE would be 1809 if you factored in your activity level. So never eat below 1507 and try not to eat above 1809.
  • Sagetheplace
    Sagetheplace Posts: 74 Member
    Exactly! But if you add in your exercise calories when getting your number so 1800, instead of your BMR of 1500 then you dont eat back your exercise calories...I hope this makes sense! lol Did you get those numbers from the website link I sent to you?
  • Sagetheplace
    Sagetheplace Posts: 74 Member
    Ok when I ran your hieght, current weight, and age into fit2fat I got this information......

    Harris-Benedict Formula

    There are a few different methods to calculating yourbasal metabolic rate (BMR). One of the most popular, developed in the early 1900's is called the Harris-Benedict formula. Based on this formula, your current BMR is 1794 calories

    Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1891
    Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2167
    Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2443
    Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2719
    Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2994

    It wouldnt let me put your goal end weight of 120 becuase that would have you eating below your BMR so I used 180. Once you reach that or get closer you could retype your information and your new "goal weight" to get a new number so that you are never eating under BMR.

    So if I was use I would pick my activity level eat that number...and never NET below 1794 which is says is your BMR.
  • Hab1978
    Hab1978 Posts: 57 Member
    WOW! So if I don't need to net below 1700, I am going to be eating ALOT more than I do now!!
  • Sagetheplace
    Sagetheplace Posts: 74 Member
    Exactly thats why I was so skeptical at first, but it is really working for me! I added more nuts to my diet, peanut butter, and olive oil to try to get my calories up with healthy foods...Im sure others would have some more ideas on that too. Although it does make having not so good things easier lol. I try though besides this is a lifestyle change not a diet, and I want to eat the things I enjoy...just work hard to be able to eat them with my workouts...and always keep it in moderation and within my calories!
  • maeroo
    maeroo Posts: 5
    give your body a shock......change your exercise routine...do more cardio and up your calories.i had the same problem ,my weight stuck for almost 3 weeks then i increased my calorie intake and my cardio and after 1 week the scale showed the result,the weight dropped to 5 lbs in a week!
  • jcarnes66
    jcarnes66 Posts: 40 Member
    I've been doing this for 100 days (today!). I weigh myself EVERY morning. I can tell you that I experience my best days on days that I have exercised and NOT eaten those calories back. I get 1490 calories a day and that's what I try to stick to. There have been days that I've exercised and eaten an extra 200-300 calories....and ended up seeing nothing on the scale - or even a small increase.

    My point is, when I exercise and stick to what MFP says I should eat in calories per day, that is when I see my best results. Not sure if this will work for you but it sure does for me! I've gone from 280(+) to 234 now.
  • Lance_K
    Lance_K Posts: 104 Member
    bump
  • whatwouldmulderdo
    whatwouldmulderdo Posts: 31 Member
    Hmmm...I wonder if I need to eat more. I am at 185 and have been there for a while now. I go to a nutritionist and she told me not to eat more than 1200 calories a day (even if I exercise a lot). Right now I am doing two Beachbody dvds; Insanity and Hip Hop Abs. Plus some upper body weight training with bands. Sorry I could not help. Good luck!
  • katcod1522
    katcod1522 Posts: 448 Member
    I have gone from 214.6 to 133.2. I am 5'2. I hit 2 stalls and I think now Im on my 3rd (trying to get to 127ish). I stayed at 1200 calories and ate back half the calories I burned (only run 3-4 days a week). When I would plateau..I would change up my diet some...cut out meat for 3 days at a time...or drop to 1100 cals a few days at a time (not long term). Last time I bumped my cals up to 1300 to get thru the stall.

    I say stall because they lasted 5-7 days...a plateau will last 6-8 weeks. So..now I am on stall 3...sitting for a week..hoping the scale moves some in the next few days. My BMR is now 1370...Im eating 1250...and will increase cals by 50 a week to help me transition to maintenance (in another 5-6 days).

    Feel free to add me as a friend...:)
  • kfhoffman12
    kfhoffman12 Posts: 67
    Try to mix up what you are doing in the gym. Once your body is familiar with things you are doing, it kind-of goes into a sedative state and the same things dont work again. Try adding 2 different types of cardio into your weekly routine.
  • medaglia_06
    medaglia_06 Posts: 282 Member
    I just want to say I am going through the EXACT same thing as you right now. I was losing a ton of weight in the beginning (2.5-3.5 pounds per week) and ever since right before I hit my 3 month mark. The weight loss stopped dead in its tracks. I will lose a 1/2 a pound here and there and then gain it back a day later. It is so very frustrating. Yesterday I was looking into the eat more lose more posts on here and wondering if that is what I need to do because I do alot of cardio and rarely eat back my calories. So I am sorry I don't have any advice I just wanted to let you know you are not alone and I will be checking back here to see what kind of responses you get! Good luck with losing the rest of your weight you can do it!! :)

    Wow! I feel like I wrote this... I am definitely in the same position.. I just keep telling myself slow and steady wins the race...
  • Hab1978
    Hab1978 Posts: 57 Member
    Thank you all so much for the advice and help!! It's starting to make a little bit of sense. I went back and looked at my diary from when I was losing every week and my nets were actually a lot higher. I also noticed when I plateau'd my nets were low (sometimes really low, like 600 calories) and then a few weeks ago when I lost again, my nets were back up. So I'm going to raise my calorie limit per day and continue my exercising at this pace and see what happens...
    Thanks again for all of the help!
  • fitnhealthykaren
    fitnhealthykaren Posts: 117
    I'm curious, because I'd like one done, how did your doctor do the metobolic test?
  • hongruss
    hongruss Posts: 389 Member
    Reading the above posts I would say eat your TDEE & use your exercise burn as a deficit. Don't eat them back & remember to keep changing your exercise routine, so your body doesn't adapt. Best of Luck .

    Russ.

    PS I must be the slowest typer :(, You've worked it out :)
  • k7n2w3
    k7n2w3 Posts: 241 Member
    Hmmm, that's a tough one. While I was in weight loss mode i plateue'd every 3 weeks FOR about 3 weeks, i didnt change a thing and it would just catch up. I knew what i was doing was right, i knew i was at a 500 calorie deficit a day each week and EVERY single time it would catch up and lose 3 pounds (since the plateau was about 3 weeks). If you know that you are recording every single thing to the calorie and are definitely at a deficit maybe give it a little more time or maybe get some bloodwork done to make sure it's not a health issue like thyroid or other various things that can halt a weight loss.

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