Wife stuck at weight loss plateau for 4 months!!

Explain to me how someone can violate the first law of thermodynamics

Please cite sources

Tell me why I lost nothing when I ate 1000 calories religiously, but then lost 5lbs after eating 1800 a day? Do you really not know how to Google "metabolic damage"?

I am sure she'll come back and read the responses which is why I feel like it is worth wasting my breath to argue with the "eat less" idiots.

I hope so! Her diary is closed which is not very helpful. Arguing with drmerc isn't exactly helping so I'm going to await her return

She commented early on -- I am sure she'll come back and read the responses which is why I feel like it is worth wasting my breath to argue with the "eat less" idiots.

Quoted for name calling prosterity

First so sorry for the rude responses people have sent. I would aim for more clean eating and definitely eating more calories (healthy ones). Besides the calories though you need to look at the fat/carb/protein intake. You can try switching things up some as far as exercising. Throw in cardio and strength training. I switch up cardio all the time. I do my "normal" but throw in zumba, brazil butt lift and few other cardio routines I really like.

Zig Zagging works for me. I try to eat an average of 1500 cals per day, some days 1200, some 1800. I don't plan it, I go by how I'm feeling that day, but overall, it seems to be working. Been losing 6-7 lbs a month since I started again in March.

You two are adorable - what a great loving and supportive couple!! We need way more of that in this world. To the supportive husband, way to go for being there for your wife! To the lovely wife - congrats on your great progress so far! Sounds like 1200 calories is NOT enough though on a daily basis. It's probably time to re-evaluate your BMR and TDEE. You should not be eating below your BMR on a daily basis and my gut feeling is that you're not getting enough calories to fuel you for the day. Regardless if you eat 3 big meals and a few snacks or 6 small meals a day, the total of those calories needs to equal your BMR. Your TDEE will be higher than your BMR and you cut calories from there, not from your BMR. I personally zig zag my calories, so some days I go a bit over my goal and some days I go a bit under my goal and by the end of the week I end up with my weekly allowance of calories and I vary the types of food I eat, but I try to make sure I have enough protein on the days I do exercise. Also, I'm not entirely sure what kind of exercise you're doing, but I highly recommend strength training so you build muscle that will continue to burn fat even after you're done hitting the gym. This does not mean you'll end up bulky like a man, it's hard for women to get big unless they're specifically training to do so. I also vary my exercise and try to do a 2-3 days of sweating followed by 1 real day of no exercise to give my body time to recover. This way my body doesn't get stuck in a rut of a routine. There's a group on here called Eat More to Weigh Less, you guys may want to check that out. You'll find what works best for your body after you try a few different options. Good luck and congrats on your weight loss progress and your loving and supportive marriage!

Freyea answer is quite on the mark. She needs to first of all eat more but healthy foods, she's not getting enough calories for her weight. If she's put her information in this program it will tell her how many calories she should be eating to lose what she wants. It also tells if you're not eating enough for that day and if you're eatiing to much. Also she should record what exercises she is doing so that it can be accurate.
I started with My Fitness Pal two weeks ago and have lost 5 pounds. I'm 5'2" and now weigh 156, I started at 161. and I faithfully log in every day and put in my food. This is the first program I have ever used that is really working for me.

FREEMONEY & MDTOLEN( OR WIFE). First, awesome to the two of you that you're such a supporting couple. I think that is really admirable.

I am not an expert, but am being monitored by a dr's clinic that specialises in weight lose, nutrition, and diabetes.

Based on what I have read, if your total TDEE is 2600, you should eating about 1600 AT LEAST, I am assuming that that includes your exercise calories were apart of the 2600 TDEE. If not, then you should eat back some of the those exercise calories (not all is required though)

It is true that you are buidling muscle, however, at that type of deficit, and for the amount of time you have been doing this, I would guess that your body has become very efficient in using it's calories. I don't want to use 'Starvation mode' because that causes a whole set of controvesie here.

Here's how the doctors and specialists explained it to me. The 1200 calories is pretty much the minimum that any adult should eat just to survive, most actually need more than that. When the body doesn't get as much as it needs, it will go into the fat reserves and start to look for ways to start becoming more 'efficient' in how it uses its calories. The body will start to break down muscle as one means to 'save' calories, and muscle does burn more fat even when resting. It will also start to slow down other body functions to reserve calories. This doesn't mean that one cannot lose weight eating considerably less than what the body requires. As long as the body is consuming less calories than it's taking in, it will lose weight.

The problem lies that in order to do that, a person will have to consume less and less calories. When the person cannot consume any less, then they will stop losing weight, even though their calories are really low. Essentially, the body has adapted to work with the calories it has. The body is quite an amazing thing.

Some people may not believe it, so another way to look at it. Think about it in terms of money. If you have a lot of money (calories), and more than you need for your expenses, you (your body) don't need to watch your dollars (calories) quite as tightly. You will be able to spend what you want on what you need (your body's metabolic rate). Then your income is cut drastically where you don't have enough money just to pay the basic bills (your calories are under the BMR or 1200 calories), first you (your body) will start going in to it's savings (fat), and start using that to live and pay the bills. Your savings start to diminish (yeah, you are losing weight). The first few days or weeks are okay, you have lots of savings (fat), so you may not make a lot of changes to your spending. Then you (your body) starts to wonder if your income will every be able to cover the bills again and are worried that your reserves will not last these tough times, so you start cutting out some spending (your calorie burn starts to go down). Some thing happens (we want to lose weight), and your income (calories) gets cut further. You (your body) may still use the savings (fat), but it will do so as little as possible. You (your body) gets to the point where the spending is so low (low calories) just to maintain it's reserves. This is where you hit a plateau. You can't not spend any more because you are now not covering the bills. You are still going into reserves, but fighting all the way.

What the heck can one do? It's a really fine balance between eating to lose weight, and slowing down your metabolism. Is it is a fact that the less you weigh, you will burn less calories than someone who weighs more. The biggest thing is to start adding enough calories that your body doesn't force it to become 'efficient' by at least giving it enough to maintain itself. So eat more. How much more, I couldn't tell you specifically. I have my metabolism tested every few months or when I start to slow down, and my calories are adjusted. Another thing is instead of 6 days of eating really low, and one day really high, trying a little more gradual cycling. I would spread out a few days where you eat more calories, so the body never gets used to it. I see nothing wrong with higher days, I have many full weekends like this.

So my long short of it is, eat more, and cycle out your calories, so you are not under eating for more than a couple of days.

EDITED TO ADD: I don't have sources to quote from, other than my dr, endocrinologist, nutitionist, and a few other people at the clinic whom I have been seeing for every other week for the last year and a half. Also, I have my BMR & TDEE testing frequently to see my changes (which may or may not be reflective of others in the population)

She commented early on -- I am sure she'll come back and read the responses which is why I feel like it is worth wasting my breath to argue with the "eat less" idiots.

Quoted for name calling prosterity

Seriously people, stop feeding the troll! Just ignore him.

Sorry I have a one year old and it is not easy to find time to reply HAHA!!! I would like to add that I am a stay at home mom and that means a tight budget lol!! However I try to eat as lean meat as possible and fruit and veggies I do not log my power class that I take, twice a week. However I just started doing this, it is a weight class, for those not familiar. The "free" day that I gave myself was really working I was dropping about 2lbs a week. I want to have a lifestyle that I can maintain and it is not always possible to eat super healthy I love food and when I have tried to diet in the past and totally eliminated anything particular food from my diet it always seems to fail. I like a cookie haha, however I am learning that one every now and then is okay. I want my son to have a healthy lifestyle and not learn "bad" eating habits. To enjoy sweets but in moderation as a treat not a daily occurrence. Thanks for all your help and tips

This helped me: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Fabulous job so far! (And I think you two are an awesome couple!)

Her TDEE is 2600cal/day and according to her calorie intake she has an 8k calorie deficit each week.

I'm not a professional but it seems an 8k calorie weekly deficit seems awfully high. Losing 2 lbs a week would be a 7k weekly calorie deficit. With the amount she's exercising/working out the calories just don't appear to be enough.

So as others have suggested, eat more!

Good luck!

I loved being a stay at home mom (I cheated and worked from home) and it was my skinniest points ever. And both my kids - one now 24, one 13 are skinny, skinny, skinny and have better eating habits than I ever do.

We were dead broke at the time. Because of that we had to eat lots of beans, lentils, and unprocessed foods. You can fill up a grocery cart with yams, turnips, greens, legumes, and whole wheat pasta. Cheese seems expensive but goes far. A whole chicken cooked in a slow cooker is good for a bunch of meals - a fancy dinner, two days of soup, and chicken salad.

Enjoy your time at home and take that time with your kids to find a long term healthy way to eat and live. Those were the only years where I had enough time to bake all my own bread. My kids loved punching down the dough!

And also to all those with the great advice thank you. Finally broke that plateau and I'm full and feel better! So thank you!

Thanks for all the responses! Hopefully this will help her accomplish her goals and also assist me being that I've hit a weight loss plateau. But luckily I had a knee injury to blame it on.

Let us know what you decide to do, and how well it worked. I'm kinda in the same situation ready do Paleo diet to give me a boost, but I'd much rather not. lol