Hi everyone,

I'm sure you've all been in the same position as me. Whatever I do the scale just does not seem to move for me at certain times. This is fine when I know I'm eating maintenance calories but at the moment I'm not.

I have around 900 calorie deficit each day earned hard by exercising every day. Example I went for a 1/2 mile swim on Sunday, gym on Monday and did intense interval training session, yesterday did strength training and a step class, today I'm going to bodypump - I burn over 500 cals each day with physical activity. I am eating around 1850 cals each day. I should be losing 1.5lbs each week.

I have lost 7lbs in January so maybe I shouldn't grumble. But it's like I lose a few pounds and then whatever I am doing my body just won't let me lose anything else for ages. Does anyone else have this problem.

I have PCOS and have posted in that board too. Suspect it may be related to that and I may need medication to assist me in losing the rest of the weight I'm not sure. But it may not be - I might be doing something that I'm not aware of. Can anyone advise me?

EM

First of all are you absolutely certain you're eating 1850 calories? I know when I first started this I had to measure everything and was shocked to see what a 4oz piece of chicken looks like, a cup of cereal, 1/2 cup milk, etc., etc. If it were me, and only me, we all have to do what is best for ourselves, once I would determine that I was eating the 1850, I would drop my calories by 100 or so. I've been exercising like crazy, I walk between 3 and 4 miles a day, 6 days a week. And every day I do plenty of other stuff as well, like sit ups and leg lifts, arm work, dancing. And I'm staying under 1400 calories. With all that I have been losing about 2 lbs a week. Sometimes less. I find for me, just me, we're all different, that I can not lose at 1800+ calories. I don't go by what I'm "supposed" to be losing at. I go by what works for me. It's up to you, but you might wanna cut back on the calories a bit, see what happens. Trial and error. You'll figure it out. Good luck.

I tend to agree with dropping some calories. If that's the number you were using at a heavier weight, your body needs less calories now. It could be something as simple as dropping 100 or so calories and seeing where that leaves you. Good luck!

Hi EM,

Are you measuring periodically? Are you losing inches? Sometimes, my scales don't move much, but the inches are dropping. My scales seem to take a couple of weeks to catch up.
Having PCOS can present some hormone issues that can slow weight loss. Although I don't have PCOS, I am menopausal due to a complete hysterectomy. Women who are menopausal and have PCOS also have a high incidence of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is the pre-cursor to diabetes. Following the Southbeach diet has helped me. If you're not already eating whole grains, I recommend removing all starches from your diet that aren't whole grain...ie. white rice, white bread, pasta,potatoes etc. I would also limit fruits to 2-3 servings a day. Looks like you already have a very good handle on the exercise. Exercise is crucial to being able to lose the weight.

I really hope things turn around for you soon. Please keep us posted.

First (as everyone has said) make sure you are actually eating that amount of calories. Once you have that established, one thing I have learned that helps my losses is to mix it up some. Two days of the week I try to go high on the calories - I will go up to 1800 to 2000 calories, then the other 5 days I will eat at 1300- 1400. That seems to help keep my body from knowing what is up!

I know everyone is different, but I was losing weight and maintaining on 2300 calories a day when I was eating high protein (Atkins) and very low carb. Now, I'm eating about 50% carbs and they come from fruit and high fiber/wheat. I now am eating and able to maintain on 1700 calories a day. I'd agree with the others on making positively sure of your calorie amount. (I use Fitday). You have done fantastic with the weight loss and I know you'll get over this hurdle. Besides, 7 lbs. lost in January is perfectly normal and fantastic. WTG on the exercise. It may just be now that your size has shrank, you don't need quite as many calories. I would try to drop it by 100 a day for a couple weeks and see if it jump starts you to losing at a faster pace again.

Hi,

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I am so sure I'm eating that amount of cals each day. I weigh/ measure everything/ write everything down each day and have done for two years - I have a diet computer that works out cals/ fat when you put it on the scale and it's accurate. The 1850 is a drop from the 2000 I had been having and it's still not working.

My frustration is that if the cals that I am on at the moment weren't right for losing weight I wouldn't have lost the 7lbs last month - but then I do the same thing the following weeks and the scale stays the same!

I know it's just maths - my maths have added up to date - but not now!

I eat really well and because of the PCOS all carbs I eat are complex (brown rice, wholewheat pasta, etc...) and I eat a balance of proteins/ carbs/ good fats at each meal to keep my blood sugar stable. This is my frustration as I really am doing everything I possibly can.

I see what you are all saying about dropping to a much lower calorie allowance but I don't see that working for me long term. Can you eat a really well balanced diet and have a very physical lifestyle eating just 1400? I'm not sure I'd manage! I think as I exercise quite intensively most days it would be silly for me to go much below 1700-1800 - but I shall try dropping it a little and see what happens! I will also try the varying the cals approach - that sounds like a very good idea.

I think maybe I just have to accept that this might be my pattern of losing - successful for a few weeks and then plateau, successful, plateau.....as long as I get there in the end.

EM

Hi EM!

Plateau Girl, here! I was on a plateau for EIGHT MONTHS! I didn't lose anything! Of course I didn't GAIN, but I really was frustrated! Robin suggested I go to FitDay and plug in all my foods. I also put in all my exercise and activities. I like that I can see the nutrition of my day at a glance as well. That way I can adjust my plan if I am getting too many carbs or not enough calcium, etc.

I found that I WAS eating more than I had thought!

Also, I doubled my exercise and never let my body think that it could second guess me! I ate 1400 calories one day and 1800 calories another. I did different kinds of exercise each day. I really mixed it up.

I increased my fiber and my water. I watched if I was overdoing it in any area. I made sure that I was giving myself the amount of sleep that it needed.

After a week or so I FINALLY saw the scale MOOOOOVE! It was glorious! I have lost five pounds since then after not losing a thing for eight months!

Our bodies hold onto our fat. We must convince our body that it is NOT in danger of DYING if we eat less or exercise more. I think I also made a big mistake by following the suggestion of NOT eating ANYTHING after 7:30PM. I was eating dinner at 4 or 5 and then not having ANYTHING until I woke up at 5AM the next morning. Twelve hours without food must have caused my body to slow my metabolism DOWN when I was trying to get it to rev it UP! My body probably went into starvation mode even though I had given it the "correct" amount of calories throughout the day! I started back on my usual bowl of cereal in the evening a couple hours before I went to sleep, making sure that I was eating a higher-fiber cereal. That helped me get off my plateau as well.

Good luck! Work with your body! It will happen!

Cheryl

EM, That has been my experience for the last 6 months. I've never stopped losing for longer than 6 weeks, then I would lose again for few weeks, but then it would stop for a few more weeks. It's frustrating. And I have faithfully measured and weighed my food, and entered it into fitday also.

I long for the first year of weight loss where I lost weight practically every week, sometimes twice a week.....

Oh boy EnglishMuffin and jtammy, you both are really, really scaring me. So basically what you're saying is the first 100lbs, piece of cake, the remaining pounds - not so much.

Hi again,

Cheryl wow it sounds like you're working very very hard! I think you're right you do have to keep mixing up workouts and calorie allowances. I'm a creature of habit and do tend to stick to the same kind of routine. But I'm working on the exercise thing and am now trying lots of new and more challenging classes so we'll see what happens. I agree with what you're saying about keeping your body guessing so I will work on making my week more varied.

Tammy - what a relief to hear that! I've had long periods of maintenance too but I was really eating maintenance calories so it's easier to accept. I think your either your body or your mind goes whoaah there and puts a halt to the weightloss if you have lots to lose. But it's so so difficult when you really are couting every single calorie that passes your lips - I really am very disciplined and I know FOR SURE what cals I eat and I log it daily so it's weird. I too lost just over a 1lb a week like clock work for 2 years and I suppose I just expect it to keep coming off that way - obviously for some of us it comes off in spurts and we need to just be really happy that the weights coming down.

I find it really hard to restrict my calories too much as I tend to start overeating - I wonder if anyone has successfully lost the rest of their weight by keeping cals relatively high - 1800/1900 (creating a small deficit - for me of 500/600 and then burning the rest off daily with exercise?). I thought this was the winning combination but I'm starting to doubt that know I've read some of your posts.

Anyway, your posts have really helped thank you very much. I'll try to take the focus off the scale for a while.

EM

englishmuffin (mmmmm, getting hungry for one now! ), you've obviously been at this a while to lose so much so your bound to hit a plateau at some point. I also tend to lose a pound one week and then fluctuate up and down up and down for the next 2 weeks, but somehow according to fitday its averaged about 1 pound per week so no complaints here.

You're doing great so far and it sounds like you're doing everything exactly on point by developing good healthy habits. Perhaps you can try going to 1500 calories just on the days when you dont work out or 2 days out of the week. As for me, I'm starving if I have a calorie deficit in a day of around 800, so I wouldn't be able to lower it or I'd hurt someone (like poor DH).

It surely took you years to get to where you started your plan, and it might take a bit of time to get to your goal. Its OK if it takes a little longer, as long as you get there in the end. And I have great confidence that you WILL get there in the end.

P.S. Hope you 100 pound club members dont mind me posting here, but you ladies are so motivational so I do subscribe to your forum.

That was definitely my experience, although I lost less than 100 lbs. For me, the first 50 lbs were much easier - I lost 50 lbs in 7 months. It took me another NINE MONTHS to lose the last 15 or so lbs (I had a 16 week plateau at one point). My weight loss definitely slowed down as I got closer to my goal weight. It was a frustrating experience, but ultimately worth it. I just never gave up.

I can only share my personal experience, what worked for me might not work for everyone - I actually lost weight by eating more. After plateauing for 16 weeks, I figured my body was done with weight loss. I gradually increased my calories from weight loss (1400 - 1600) to maintenance (1800 - 2000), and I lost more weight. I can't really explain it, maybe my body just got tired of not getting "quite enough" calories and finally felt "safe" to release the remaining stored fat after I started feeding it more. It remains a happy mystery to me.

That is exactly what I found. I had given up posting in fitday. I had gained 8 pounds. I was on week 5 of a plateau (thankfully I didn't gain).

I decided to log a couple days' worth of food into fitday. I was assuming I'd come in 1400-1500 (I strive for 1200-1400) but it was closer to 2500! No wonder I wasn't losing!

I sat myself down with my Cooking Light cookbook and made a menu plan on Friday night. Shopped Saturday and started the menu plan on Saturday. It has been 1.5 weeks since I did this and I am down 2 pounds as of this morning!

It's all in the planning.

Robin, I'm not wanting to scare you, but yes my weight loss did slow down about a month before hitting the 100 lb mark. Not to say that it will happen to you, we are all so different, who knows?

Here is an attachment of my fitday weight loss chart. The slope really started to change near July, which is the time I'm talking about. Before that time, I was losing an average of 2.03 lbs per week. For the last four months, I've averaged 1.06 lbs per week, it has definitely not remained at the same level. I have lowered calories and upped exercise. I've only dabbled in weight training, something that I think I need to do more consistently, I just don't have a lot of confidence in doing it correctly without a trainer. (I live in a rural area with no gyms close enough to think that I would visit a gym regularly.)

loss.jpg

I think EM and I are more the rule than the exception. Most people's weight loss slows down over time, doesn't it?