Super Slow Weight Loss
 

I hope I can ask this here, since its about my husband's weight loss. (He refuses to make an account, lol)

He lost weight when moving away from his parents, and he came with me. In two months, he went from 275 to 250. Now he's been going from 245-255 for about a year and a half.

All he did was change eating habits, since there are no high-fat or snack foods in the house. Sugary treats are limited. He does walk 1-3 miles to class 5 days a week, but he hasn't added any exercise that he doesn't have to do to get minimal errands done.

The strange part of all this is, he keeps losing inches! He went from almost a size 46 in pants to now 40s. His gut has gone down and his family jokes he is starving to death. (He eats much more than me.)

If he were female, I'd blame the whole hormones thing. But for men, where does the inches vs pounds blame go? Have any of you experienced a weird loss like this? If so, when do the scale numbers change?

No clue.

If he wants to lose fat though he needs to understand that calories dictate fat loss or gain.

I would think that the most likely explanation for anyone male or female losing a significant number of inches but not weight, would be that the person has been losing fat while simultaneously gaining muscle.

You say he hasn't added any unnecessary exercise, but has he added necessary movement. Is the walking to classes something he wasn't doing when he started. Necessary or not, if it's "new" it's going to change a person's body composition.

Well, going by what you have told us, he lost 25 lbs quite fast in two months, then stalled out ... but still lost 6" off his stomach, which is a significant loss -- hey, take it! So, he was still losing fat -- that's a NSV (non-scale victory).

We don't know how much food/calories he is eating each day -- you didn't say; but we do know that he's a student who gets irregular exercise (walking 1-3 miles a day). So, not a highly active person. Yes, some people do have slower loss after fast loss (it often slows down).

Now, there are a few things that he can try to change things up a bit, and get things moving again ...

1) lower calories for a while (only if not already too low)
2) increase protein & veggie intake (1-2 servings a day)
3) cycle calorie days (up & down)
4) or high-low calorie intake EOD (every other day)
5) switcheroo: sub protein & veggies for a few starchy carbs
6) walk more (daily) & faster (speed walk)
7) start lifting weights

GOOD LUCK!