Hey guys, I hope all is well with your journeys. Ok, I lost 80 pounds in a year by decreasing my calories to 1500 calorie diet eating healthy and exercising. I hit another plateau and finally lost 5 pounds in feb of this year but haven't lost a pound nor inch in the last 5 months! !! I tried everything's to shake things up including but not limited to: decreasing and increasing calories, rotating calories and carbs, increasing protein, increasing calories, increasing and changing exercise routine and increased weights and still nothing! !!! After becoming overwhelmed and depressed I decided to take a mental break. I ate at maintenance for one month (2192 calories ) so got back on track started at 1800 calories and my weight went up 15 pounds! !! 4 days ago I started power walking /jogging intervals 4 miles and my weight went up again by 2 pounds! !! What am I doing wrong? !?
Sample intake
Breakfast: brown sugar oatmeal or bran cereal or Cheerios with skim milk
Snack: 100 cal natural almond and apple
Lunch: baked chicken Turkey or fish with vegetables or salad with fat free drsg
Snack: tuna with one serving of wheat ritz crackers or fat free yogurt or fat free pudding
Dinner: baked chicken Turkey or fish with vegetables
Snack: white Turkey on honey wheat bread 40 cal per slice sometimes with Cheddar cheese with 90 cal quacker oats bar or fat free pudding
*drink 8 glasses of water and plenty of crystal light
* exercise 5-6 days and weight exercise every other day
*stats 32 female 5'11 went from 215 to 232 pounds
Hope this helps
Maybe you are gluten/carb or dairy sensitive, when you got back on track, did you add anything new to your diet that was missing while you were on your break? A couple pound increase when starting exercise again is normal, but 15 lbs seems a bit much, maybe something to ask your doctor!
Of course some questions to ask yourself--how are you counting your calories? Are you using a certain website or app? Are you weighing your meats to make sure you're getting exactly the right calorie counts for the portions you're eating? I know that before I got a food scale I was way underestimating the calories in my meats.
I agree with what Mimi wrote. If you're sure you're weighing and measuring accurately, I would urge you to see your doctor. Someone at your height and weight should not gain 15 lbs in one month eating 2100 calories.
Thanks mini and lin but no i didn't add any new food and I use calorie cound and my fitness pal to log my food. Maybe I should weigh my meats and the next step will be for me see a doctor because. I kno im doing enough to see weight loss.
Do you have enough fats in your diet? If I don't eat enough fats, my weight loss can stall. Also, calorie cycling can be helpful in kick-starting the metabolism. I would make an appointment with your doc. If nothing comes up, then try some of the other suggestions.
Do you have enough fats in your diet? If I don't eat enough fats, my weight loss can stall. Also, calorie cycling can be helpful in kick-starting the metabolism. I would make an appointment with your doc. If nothing comes up, then try some of the other suggestions.
Tell me more about this? I'm currently on about 19% calories from fat while they check me out for gallstones (ultrasound will be on Tuesday), and since I lowered my fat like this, my weight loss has stalled. It's only a couple of weeks so nothing major, but it would be nice to know what the reason was. Apart from "these things happen, it'll stop sooner or later", of course.
I wish I had a scientific answer but it's mostly been trial and error for me. I noticed that when I stuck to only low-fat proteing items and fruits and veggies, even eating the same number of calories, my weight loss stalled. I noticed the times when I had more fatty food but still within my calorie range, the weight just dropped and kept dropping. Of course, I try to eat healthier fats so I don't develop any other health issues. I am not sure why this is. I've read that fats help with absorption of foods and vitamins. Again, I have no scientific facts on this. Just an observation of my own weight loss patterns. Also noticed having one maintenance day a week dropped the weight too. Again, I learned this from trial and error.
@christine after eating at maintenance my weight had gone up by 6 pounds them 9 more after eating 1800 calories. Im thinking about going back down to 1500.
I think it is natural for your body to bounce up a few pounds once you start eating maintenance level calories. But 15lbs?? That is not right. I have a wheat sensitivity and if I eat whole wheat my weight can bounce up 2-3 lbs over night! Have you noticed if certain foods cause stomach bloating or other issues?
I would do the 1500 since you know it works already. Honestly, those counters give a general idea of what the "average" person needs. Not sure how accurate that is. I gain at anything above 1500. And technically I'm not supposed to. Some calculators would tell me I'm still losing at 1600. Not happening in my case.
Yes I get bloated After eating milk and cheese. And now this is a new onset I get bloated after white bread or heavy starchy products or carbohydrates!
i personally gained 12 pounds after one week of eatign at/above maintenance HINT: its water weight
Food for thought... if youve been dieting down for a year now, there is a very strong probablity that your body has metabolically adapted. In other words, after losing so much weight, you stalled, right? Perhaps your body became efficient at using the calories it had grown accostomed to recieving, and that number of cals became your new maintenance, so to speak. Your body will adapt in so many ways, some of which you cant even see or feel or notice. SOme people adapt metabolically faster than others as well.
In any case, my point is, that maybe when you ate 2100 a day for a MONTH thinking that was maintenance, according to some calculator (online or whatever im sure) it was really a SURPLUS, because your body doesnt require nearly so many calories after dieting down for so long. ALso, you just started an exercisse program? That adds water weight too, at first. I am quite sure youonly gained water weight (MAYBE a pound or 2 of fat, over the course of a month)...... it will come off, and in huge wooshes, and soon(ish). It took me about 2 weeks after eating at maintenance for my extra 12 pounds to come off.
ANd in order to continue to lose weight, you may just have to accept that you will have to go lower than you are used to.
Also, if you were eating a lot of carbs during the month... well, that can add a LOT OF water weight... like 3 grams of water for every ONE gram of carbs (glycogen)
ALSO ALSO do you remember if you lost a lot of weight in the first week or 2 of dieting? MOST people do.... and thats water weight. And when you come out of your deficit, you WILL REGAIN THAT WEIGHT. Its the extra weight of the food, water, glycogen, your body rebelling, all sorts of stuff
there is a very strong probablity that your body has metabolically adapted.
Sorry to keep piggyback riding, but THIS^ is a very good point! THIS is exactly WHY I've always advocated a weekly CHEAT MEAL and a VARIED DIET. I don't think we are designed to eat the same amount of calories and the SAME FOODS every waking day! I mean...especially as women...our bodies needs change everyday due to hormones, metabolic changes, activity levels, etc. I wish I knew where this 1200 cals magic bullet was invented? Prolly by some company like Slimfast.
Another point I think too many people miss. The body is like a furnace. Food is its fuel (not some demon spawn). If we want to lose fat, we must burn more than we eat. If you want to "burn" we must increase our metabolism. There is two ways of doing this. Eating regular small meals keeps this "furnace" revved up and burning (like a nice charcoal grill...a nice steady burn). Exercise also helps the furnace to stay revved up.
Here's the simple equation needed in order to obtain a healthy lean body = BURN the fat...FEED the muscle!
DISCLAIMER - I'm not sayin' this is the only method of losing weight...however I am sayin, that if you want muscle (or as most interpret it...a LEAN body), you must EAT enough and frequently and EXERCISE regularly and NOT EXCESSIVELY. Tom Venuto has a great book out which explains the science of this much better than I can.
/end disclaimer.
Last edited by joyfulloser; 07-13-2011 at 05:41 PM.
had success weight loss now nothing
do you remember if you lost a lot of weight in the first week or 2 of dieting? MOST people do.... and thats water weight. And when you come out of your deficit, you WILL REGAIN THAT WEIGHT. Its the extra weight of the food, water, glycogen, your body rebelling, all sorts of stuff
I mean...especially as women...our bodies needs change everyday due to hormones, metabolic changes, activity levels, etc. I wish I knew where this 1200 cals magic bullet was invented? Prolly by some company like Slimfast.
