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Old 08-14-2009, 06:34 PM   #1  
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ok, so i posted yesterday that im getting really frustrated by my weight loss stalls. heres a recent rundown

last week - 0 lost
week before - 2.4 lost
week before - 0 lost
week before - 1.4 lost

this cycle has been going on for about 2 months. im totaling about 4lbs/month. i am a FASTIDIOUS calorie counter and i havent been changing my routine, yet im all over the map. i never know what to expect. i posted my rant yesterday and several girls said that 1000 calories/day is too low and i need to bump up to 1200 because of "starvation mode". i looked further into this today and most of the websites i found said that its a myth. they said that to go into "starvation" or "famine" mode, you need to be eating about 1/2 your bmr, which for me would be like 700 cal/day, and that even then, you would still lose weight every week, just at a slower pace. i was feeling better yesterday like i might FINALLY have an answer, but now the internet has confused me and im not sure to up my calories or lower them again. any thoughts??
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Old 08-14-2009, 06:46 PM   #2  
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My thoughts are same as yesterday..

Myself and others here as well, fell under the assumption that eating less means more weight loss. Up your calories and wait it out 2 weeks and see how it goes.
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Old 08-14-2009, 06:49 PM   #3  
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Ditto that. I'm not going to tell you should eat X amount of calories per day, but 1000 calories, imo, is pretty low. I also think that you should try upping your calories and seeing what happens. Hang in there!
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Old 08-14-2009, 06:53 PM   #4  
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Eating less than 1200 calories a day will be robbing your body of needed nutrients.
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Old 08-14-2009, 07:01 PM   #5  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by juliastl27 View Post
ok, so i posted yesterday that im getting really frustrated by my weight loss stalls. heres a recent rundown

last week - 0 lost
week before - 2.4 lost
week before - 0 lost
week before - 1.4 lost
Dear, that's not a "stall" to me. 4# a month is a great steady loss. Some feel the slower you lose it, the better it stays off. Some people plateau for weeks or even months. Be patient with your body.
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Old 08-14-2009, 07:17 PM   #6  
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There is information out there in cyberspace to support whatever you want. If you want to find something that says drastically cutting your calories will help you lose weight, then you will. You can find sources that say it's safe. But you have to evaluate those sources for their reliability. And you have to take some things into consideration.

1) While you will lose weight (and probably more rapidly) on a lower than 1200 calorie diet, when you plateau what are you going to do? Eat 1000 calories a day and exercise harder than you already are? Keep your exercise but go down to 800 calories a day? Where are you going to find the energy to exercise? Let alone get through your day?

2) 1200 calories a day is the lowest you should go if you want to get the right amount of nutrients per day. The exceptions for these are medically supervised meal replacement programs in which extra nutrients are provided in the meal replacements.

3) Once you get the weight off and go to maintenance, it will most likely be harder for you to keep it off. The Mayo Clinic had an article on how people who are on super low calorie diets are far more likely to regain all of their weight within six months of maintenance.

4) You are exercising a regime of control over your body that cannot be maintained life long. You are teaching your body and mind to deal with deprivation rather than teaching them to adapt to all of your needs--weight loss, nutrient, emotional, et. al.


It seems to be counterintuitive, I know, but these ladies know what they're talking about. They're so smart! We've all lost, plateaued, gained...we've learned what works and what doesn't. The biggest thing that we all learn from becoming expert dieters is that less is not always more in the caloric intake world. Because we have all tried it.
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Old 08-14-2009, 07:24 PM   #7  
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1) While you will lose weight (and probably more rapidly) on a lower than 1200 calorie diet, when you plateau what are you going to do? Eat 1000 calories a day and exercise harder than you already are? Keep your exercise but go down to 800 calories a day? Where are you going to find the energy to exercise? Let alone get through your day?
yes, this is the problem, lol. this is the question i keep putting off every time i lower my calories and keep telling myself "ill deal with that later". i guess sometimes in the race to see the scale go down, we lose sight. alright, up to 1200 it is, im committed. ill let you girls know how it goes!
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Old 08-14-2009, 07:26 PM   #8  
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Dear, that's not a "stall" to me. 4# a month is a great steady loss. Some feel the slower you lose it, the better it stays off. Some people plateau for weeks or even months. Be patient with your body.
i know, im being a bit whiny. i guess that since i never struggled with weight until my mid twenties, the idea of dieting for so many months and STILL being fat is just making me completely impatient. i was really hoping to be at 175 by the end of summer (sept 1), and i see that im going to fall short of that goal. its making me a bit desperate.
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Old 08-14-2009, 07:31 PM   #9  
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Hey, don't look at what DIDN'T happen, look at what did!! You've lost 40 pounds! I'd hate for you to think of yourself as a failure because you didn't get to a certain weight by a certain date!!!

CONGRATS!!!!
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Old 08-14-2009, 07:39 PM   #10  
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Your numbers look just like mine. I lose nothing during TOM or ovulation weeks and then lose about 2 lbs the other two weeks. I started on 9/22/08 and am 9 lbs from goal, so that is about a pound a week. Nothing wrong with that.


Quote:
Originally Posted by juliastl27 View Post
i guess that since i never struggled with weight until my mid twenties, the idea of dieting for so many months and STILL being fat is just making me completely impatient.

I think this sentence is where your downfall is. It's not a diet. You will have to pretty much eat this way the rest of your life (ok, so you do get a few more calories when you're in maintenance) or you will gain again.


Bottom line is I think that you are doing great! You probably didn't gain a pound a week when you were gaining, so the weight is coming off faster than you put it on. Just hang in there.
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Old 08-14-2009, 08:04 PM   #11  
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Your numbers look just like mine. I lose nothing during TOM or ovulation weeks and then lose about 2 lbs the other two weeks. I started on 9/22/08 and am 9 lbs from goal, so that is about a pound a week. Nothing wrong with that.





I think this sentence is where your downfall is. It's not a diet. You will have to pretty much eat this way the rest of your life (ok, so you do get a few more calories when you're in maintenance) or you will gain again.


Bottom line is I think that you are doing great! You probably didn't gain a pound a week when you were gaining, so the weight is coming off faster than you put it on. Just hang in there.
yes, i shouldnt have said that. i realize this is a life long change, i just use the term "diet" when im trying to lose weight. did you average 4 lb/month even when your weight was higher?
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Old 08-14-2009, 08:07 PM   #12  
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Hey, don't look at what DIDN'T happen, look at what did!! You've lost 40 pounds! I'd hate for you to think of yourself as a failure because you didn't get to a certain weight by a certain date!!!

CONGRATS!!!!

thank you! i know, its rough. when we dont meet goals (even if its only by 4 or 5 pounds) its much easier to look at the failure of meeting the goal than the success of losing 40, or 20, or whatever we've already lost.
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Old 08-14-2009, 08:10 PM   #13  
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Heck, I average 5 lbs a month. And in the month of June, I lost exactly 1 lb! I am on WW and keep within my points. I exercise 90 minutes a session x 4 times a week. And I lose on average 5 lbs a month.

For me, the months add up, so if you think of it, by the New Year, I'll be down 60lbs or thereabouts for this year! I'm just a weight loss turtle, and I see this as just my personal "cross to bear" so to speak. I am quite happy with my plan and don't plan to tweak it any time soon!

Maybe just see how you do for the next few weeks. This just might be your wegiht loss pattern. Mine is on a 4 week cycle -- LOSS, ok loss, no loss, small gain, repeat! Sucks, but it is what it is...



Kira

Last edited by kiramira; 08-14-2009 at 08:10 PM.
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Old 08-14-2009, 08:38 PM   #14  
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I'm a weight loss turtle, too, but we have to just keep plugging away! I lose an average of 1.5 pounds a week. This doesn't mean I show a loss every week, though. For the past 4 weeks I did this:

+.3
-3.3
-1.4
+.6

My graph looks like an EKG chart....lots of jagged ups and downs, but the general trend is down and I have to be good with that. Yeah, the last 2 weeks I've lost less than 1 pound but it's the long term that we have to look at.

1.5 pounds isn't very much. It's not even enough to see on a big tall girl like me. But if you do that over and over for 34 weeks, well, now you're looking at a 41 pound loss. Now THAT I can see! A year is 52 weeks; if I keep up at this rate, I can expect a 78 pound loss. I'm shooting for 60-65, so I should be able to make it. But if I don't, what will I do? I'll keep plugging away, that's what I'll do. Because the alternative is that mommy has to go buy more fat pants, and mommy is tired of wearing fat pants.
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Old 08-14-2009, 09:02 PM   #15  
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yes, i shouldnt have said that. i realize this is a life long change, i just use the term "diet" when im trying to lose weight. did you average 4 lb/month even when your weight was higher?
I lost 7 lbs the first month but everyone loses a lot the first month since you lose water weight, eat more fiber so "things" move along faster and just generally eat less so you have less food in your digestive track at one time. I have lost about 4 lbs a month ever since, even at the higher weight and I haven't changed my calorie goal. I still aim for 1300 -1400 per day. I have also never plateaued.
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