[Buggsy]

Hello!! I'm new to the board

My weight has been yoyo-ing for the last couple of weeks & I don't understand why.

I've lost a total of 45 pounds so far & it's really boosted my confidence, but I've got about another 15 or so to go, and it's really frustrating that I can't get rid of it, because I'm so close to my goal.

My diet is very simple.... just count calories & do light weight lifting and cardio. It's worked great up until this point.

Nothing has changed in my diet... I'm eating the same calories & doing my exercises, but I'm going back & forth between 3 or 4 pounds. I'll be doing great at the start of the week, but at the end of the week I magically seem to gain a pound overnight!! Then the day after that I gain another pound. But at the start of the next week, I lose a pound & a half, and the process repeats itself. It's really taking a toll on my motivation.

Should I reduce my calories?? Maybe with so many pounds lost, I no longer need as many calories as I was eating. I'm at a loss.... I don't understand what I'm doing wrong.

[Rosinante]

How many calories are you eating now?

Congratulations on the 45!

[Buggsy]

Rosi,
I'm eating 1,000 cals a day. Had tried 1,200 when I first started my diet, but was having no success. I have a slow metabolism.... never been able to eat much without gaining weight.

[ddc]

I do think we burn fewer calories the less we weigh, but you really have no room to go down any further.

Perhaps up your exercise some, and be really diligent/strict about counting those calories. Maybe go up to 1200 calories - ??? 1000 is really low (IMO).

I know when I got closer to goal, little bites here and there started sneaking their way into my mouth - lol !!

Good job and don't give up !!

[ncuneo]

For me I know the kinds of foods I was eating actually made a difference. When I switch to more wholes foods and less artificial processed stuff I was able to increase my cals and still lose. I know everyone hates when I say this, but your metabolism is probably slow because you've been eating so little for so long. You body starts hanging onto everything you eat to preserve itself. Now of course this isn't true for everyone, some people really do have a slower metabolism. But I always like to use myself as an example, I started low and stalled rather quickly so I did the opposite and increased my cals AND exercise and started losing again. I kept doing that occassionally and now I weigh less and am eating more (averaging 1750 cals per day). I'm not losing right now, because I'm taking a maintenance break and eating extra cals on the weekends, but when I stick to that level I lose. But again this is with a lot of exercise and this is what works for me.

My recommendation for you if you're open to it would be to post your menu and work out schedule for comments. At 1000 cals I'm not sure there is much advice to offer because cutting further would not be good. You could try zig zagging your calories, I really like this approach and have used it for months. But again at 1000 cals that means some of your days would probably have to come down to 600-800 to make an appropriate zig zag and I certainly would not recommend that. When I see someone not losing at 1000-1200 cals per day IMO it's either a) the kind of food they're eating or b) they should have never gone that low in the first place.

[Buggsy]

Thanks everyone. I'm gonna incorporate all your advice into my diet plan & hope for the best. Gonna add an additional 200 cals just in case I've gone into starvation mode as one of you suggested. I'll also try to stick to more natural foods & not artificial stuff.

I always start my day with some Fruit Loops. That might be the killer right there, lol. Too sugary & very aritificial, I'm sure. They're my downfall.

I like to mix it up between veggie burgers, tuna sandwiches, or a sliced ham or turkey sandwich for lunch. And dinner also rotates between those 3 sandwiches, or sometimes fish. (I always skip the condiments or measure them to make sure I know the cals).

I'm a big fan of yogurt too, so I'll eat that or maybe one of those sugar-free Jello Mousse cups throughout the day. Apples too, or a banana.