Frustrated by my eating more lifestyle

Options
Tigermad
Tigermad Posts: 305 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello

I have been losing weight since the middle of April last year. I started at 231 lbs and 50% body fat. I am 5ft 4, a large frame and 40 years old.

For the first 7 months of my healthy eating plan I was eating between 1200 and 1400 daily but closer to 1200. I have a fairly sedentary job and exercised 3 times a week. My weight loss was going well but I felt I may have been losing too much muscle instead of fat.

So about 5 weeks ago I decided to start eating my bmr for a week or 2 after reading that eating below bmr is not a good idea due to muscle loss. I then read dans excellent road map thread and we worked out some figures for me.

I now eat 1770 cals per day and have been for the past 2 weeks. I also try to ensure I get the 40/30/30 macro split whenever possible. I also have reduced the cardio a little and lift heavy for around 30 minutes 3 times a week sometimes 4. On the lifting days I do approx 30 mins of cardio.

The problem is I have stayed exactly the same for the past 2 weeks and and my fat hasn't changed at all. This is getting a little frustrating since I am used to losing between 1 and 2 lbs with the lower calorie method. I still have at least 15lbs more to go. I don't mind losing between .5lb to 1lb per week but at the moment I feel like I am doing all this hard work for nothing. I feel tempted to lower my calories down by a few hundred a day again but will hold fire for another week and keep my fingers crossed.

Can anyone suggest anything I am doing wrong or am I just being impatient?

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Options
    2 weeks on higher calories and not losing ? 5 weeks of eating at least your BMR - that correct ?

    and before that you were losing at a lower calorie intake.........
  • Liquid741
    Liquid741 Posts: 292 Member
    Options
    everyone is different...i remember when i was around the 200lb. mark, and just couldnt lose anymore weight. no matter what i did, it seemed the scale just didnt move, then i was reading here and the kick was all about carbs. i reduced my carbs almost in half per my recommended chart...and the weight just fell off. i now only eat around 125max carbs per day and have no issues on keeping my weight where i want it...seems like i have total control over my weight now..

    im 7lbs away from my goal, but everyone tells me im a idiot to want to hit 178. no real reason for me, just a good number that popped in my head...im going to hit it very soon.

    but honestly carbs worked for me...i limited them, and continued my daily counting/exercising and the weight just fell off.
  • Tigermad
    Tigermad Posts: 305 Member
    Options
    2 weeks on higher calories and not losing ? 5 weeks of eating at least your BMR - that correct ?

    and before that you were losing at a lower calorie intake.........

    5 weeks in total of higher calories 3 of those being around 1440 and 2 at 1770
  • Tigermad
    Tigermad Posts: 305 Member
    Options
    Thanks Liquid. It may be the carbs but I lost 80lbs doing the same carbs.
  • Ladyeliah
    Ladyeliah Posts: 34 Member
    Options
    I raised my calories about a month ago after getting a fitbit and realizing that I was more active on an average day than myfitnesspal thought I was, leaving me netting 800 or 900 calories a day. In that month I saw maybe half a pound loss one week, though I was happy enough that I didn't gain anything. It was a little frustrating, sure, but I've been screwing with my body for so long that I figured it deserved a little time to figure out what it wanted to be doing. This week I stepped on the scale and I'm down 2 pounds on a deficit that's only supposed to lose me 1 pound per week. Mind boggling to say the least in a week where I didn't exercise all that much and ate four candy bars (still within my calorie goal though) thanks to two days of the worst webinars ever. Give your body time to adjust. It'll figure out what it's doing and you'll figure out what works for you and you can adjust from there. Best of luck!

Categories