Okay, successful weight losers and weight-loss smarties!
I'm in a plateau, between 158-160 lbs. Have been here for a month.
Previous to that, from September to mid-November, I was stuck between 164-168. I did the 20-sthg BL Challenge and lost 5 lbs, which brings me to this most recent plateau.
I am following what I call the "science diet"--eat less, move more. First, about 3 weeks ago, I increased my exercise to about 60 minutes a day, averaging 400 calories burned. Then I started tracking calories, averaging 1450 calories a day.
My net calories are about 1000 each day, as 1450-400 = 1050. Sometimes I eat more, sometimes less, sometimes exercise more, sometimes less, but this is pretty average.
The Daily Plate says to sustain 160 lbs at 5'1, I need to eat 2100 calories a day. I have not eaten 2100 calories in a LOOOONG time. To lose 1 lb a week, I need to eat 1650 and to lose 2 lbs a week, eat 1150.
So at 1000-ish net calories, I'm in line to lose 2.5 calories a week, approximately. BUT I'M NOT! I'M STUCK!
When I lost the 5 lbs during TBL, I was at 1300 calories a day, doing 20-30 minutes of exercise a day, or about 250 calories burned--so approximately 1150 net calories and I was losing about 1 lb a week. I was 159.5 at the end of the challenge, got sick for two weeks and laid up in bed, no weight change, and have been POP for 3 weeks now, no weight change.
In the last couple days I've tried to vary my workouts in intensity, type, and time and also change up my calories. I ate 1150 two days ago and 1700 yesterday. It's probably too early to tell if that will do anything.
Oh yes and I'm not really losing inches either. I'll lose a quarter inch here and then a quarter inch there, while at the same time GAIN an quarter inch elsewhere.
OKAY, still reading?
Now that you know my situation, am I eating too little? Not enough? Exercising too much? Not enough?
This is by far the best I've stuck to a diet/exercise plan and it's driving me nuts that it's not working for me.
Try eating AT LEAST your basal metabolic rate, and let the caloric deficit for the loss of your last few pounds to come from exercise and daily activity.
If you are eating 1450 calories a day at the current weight of 158, then you are NOT starving yourself.
Your net calories do not equal 1000-1050, either. You are subrtracting your approximate workout calories from your daily food intake...but what you are forgetting is that you burn calories 24 hours a day-eating, sleeping, showering, breathing, walking to the mailbox, etc.
You lose weight by eating slightly less than the calories you burn each day. So, for example, you lose weight if you eat 1450 calories a day, but in every 24 hour period your body burns more than that through LIVING. This includes everything you do each day-not just the exercise.
Honestly, even WITH 40-60 minutes of exercise per day, I will stall out at your calorie intake once I hit around 160 pounds. I simply HAVE to either slightly lower the calories at that point-OR add in more exercise.
If this is the case with you, you might try a *slight* change. Instead of 40-60 minutes of exercise each day, strive for a full 60 each day. (This might add up to an extra 20-60 minutes over the course of the week.) Do a slight drop in calorie intake to around 1400 per day, instead of 1450. It would be 350 less calories per week. It might be JUST ENOUGH to get things going again.
When you increase your exercise or decrease your calories, it doesn't always have to be a huge change to get things moving again.
I eat about 1500 calories and use calorie cycling. I do not try to figure out net calories or whatever. I work out daily though. My weightloss has definitely slowed though. How are you on fiber, water and the artificial sweetners? At my slowest points, these are the three things I usually have failed somewhere.
Okay, from your title I thought you were only CONSUMING 1000 calories a day. It was a little misleading to me. But clearly, you are not. Exercise can never, ever TAKE AWAY the energy and the nutrients that 1450 calories provides. I keep my calories eaten separate from my calories burned. I eat what I eat, and I burn what I burn. Two completely separate things. One not having to do with the other. Any calories I burn through exercise or added physical activity I view as a bonus in the calorie deficit department, which is what we're looking for here. I never change my calories consumed to meet that. That would be totally counterproductive IMO.
I would forget what the Daily Plate and all of those calories BURNED calculators say. There is no way on earth to know for sure what someone is burning. They are just rough estimates. Again, calorie eatens separate from calories burned.
I'm with Aphil. It may time to cut back on your calories a tad or increase your exercise - or a combination of the both. You are smaller, you weigh less, your body REQUIRES less energy to keep you going, so therefore it's going to be that much more difficult to keep on producing that all important calorie deficit.
Okay about half of you say eat more and the other half say eat less.
I've actually been averaging 60+ minutes of working out a day. Last week I worked out five days for 60 minutes and two days for 80. It's only been this week that I've eased up slightly. M - 55; T - 65; W - 50. I also tried to vary the types & intensities.
Working out an hour a day everyday isn't practical for me. Right now, I'm working half days and living in a place where I have very few friends so I have the time. After my vacation I'll be back to working full days again.
Also, I calculated my BMR and it's about 1550, so only about 100 calories more than I've been eating.
Hmm, I guess I'm more confused now than when I posted this.
Try raising your calories and see what happens. Then, if you don't get the results you want, try lowering your calories and see what happens.
It's all about experimenting to find what works for YOU. No one posting here can tell you exactly what will happen, but you can figure it out by experimentation.
Okay about half of you say eat more and the other half say eat less.
I for one raise my calories, eat more, and I gain weight. Not lose. Eating less, DECREASING my calories is what's worked for *me*. Each and every time. Every and each, sadly. In order for me to lose, I need to create a calorie deficit. The less I weighed, the less I was able to consume and still lose weight.
But yes, it's all about experimentation. Trial and error. We are all differrent and need to find our own formula.
I for one raise my calories, eat more, and I gain weight. Not lose. Eating less, DECREASING my calories is what's worked for *me*. Each and every time. Every and each, sadly. In order for me to lose, I need to create a calorie deficit. The less I weighed, the less I was able to consume and still lose weight.
But yes, it's all about experimentation. Trial and error. We are all differrent and need to find our own formula.
I am the EXACT same way. When I start out at my heaviest after each baby, then I can easily lose weight (the first 10-15 pounds) on around 1800 calories a day with 20-30 minutes of exercise a day.
As time goes on, however, and I lose weight and get smaller and fitter-I must INCREASE my exercise a bit...and DECREASE my calories a bit to continue to lose weight.
I have a natural setpoint at around 170 pounds, where my body naturally starts fighting further weight loss. (Happens after every child at around this weight!) At this point...I end up having to eat around 1350-1400 calories a day, and exercise for about an hour a day, to continue to lose weight. This is just what happens for ME. If I "ate more" then I would gain more. Plain and simple.
With babies 1 and 2, when I neared goal weight-I was eating around 1200 a day, and exercising quite a bit-an hour some days, more on a few days per week. (I am a dance teacher-and NO, I am not overtraining. )
The last 10-15 pounds also come off very slow for me-I have to eat/exercise this way for those last pounds-and be happy with a pound a month loss at that point. It is just the way my body works.
But for me and what works for ME-is that I start my weight loss on the high end of the calorie counting spectrum-and when I hit plateaus, I have to eat less and move more to keep creating my calorie deficit. This is true for most people. The only time I would suggest eating MORE, is if the person were eating way too little for their height/weight-such as someone starting out eating 1200 calories a day, when they have a starting weight of over 200 pounds, etc.
Well I broke my plateau, finally hit 157.3 for the first time since... ??? Yesterday I did something crazy: I didn't work out! I actually felt jittery and anxious over it. I ate 1375 calories and went to bed just hoping that since I didn't OVEREAT that something positive would happen.. and it did.
Now I just hope I don't gain everything back on my 2 week vacation!
I personally think lowering your net calories at this point would be disastrous. I would recommend raising them, and if that doesn't show results (give it at least a week), maybe patience is your best bet.
I personally think lowering your net calories at this point would be disastrous. I would recommend raising them, and if that doesn't show results (give it at least a week), maybe patience is your best bet.
Disasterous? Really? But why?
Lowering ones calories as one REQUIRES less calories (due to the fact that one is lighter then they started out) has proven time and time again to be what is needed in order to keep on producing a weight loss. The OP doesn't have THAT much to lose and in order to keep on getting that deficit, it's going to require more calorie restriction.
Disasterous? Really? But why?
All right, I sound like a broken record. Time to zip lip.
1000 net calories a day & a plateau
You are subrtracting your approximate workout calories from your daily food intake...but what you are forgetting is that you burn calories 24 hours a day-eating, sleeping, showering, breathing, walking to the mailbox, etc. 
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