I am confused about the weight loss plateau?

  •   #1  
    julie14401's Avatarjulie14401 , 03-18-2012 03:31 PM
    To make my question more clear, I'll give you an example that applies to me. I am 5'1 and I weigh 103 pounds. According to bmr calculators online, I need to consume 1300 calories per day to maintain my weight if I literally stayed in bed all day and had 0 physical activity. After adding in my daily physical activity, I figured out that I need to be eating around 1700 calories per day to maintain my current weight. I would like to weigh 98 pounds so I figured if I eat 1300 calories per day I will lose a little more than 1/2 pound per week.
    What I don't understand is the weight loss plateau that pretty much everyone hits. If I hit my plateau after losing 3 pounds, what should I do? Does this mean I need to create a larger calorie deficit? Lets say I reduce my calorie intake by 100 to lose those last 3 pounds and then hit another plateau when I get to 98 pounds. Does this mean I would have to consume 1200 calories per day for the rest of my life in order to maintain 97 pounds? What I don't understand is according to the calculators online, losing 6 pounds would only decrease my daily caloric needs by about 30 calories. To maintain 97 pounds, I should be consuming around 1670 calories. Once I stop my diet, how can I ever get myself to eat the amount I SHOULD be able to eat to maintain my new weight and not gain. This whole process of weight loss is a lot more complicated than I though.
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  •   #2  
    bargoo's Avatarbargoo , 03-18-2012 04:07 PM
    Question, why do you want to weight 98 pounds ? At 98 pounds you will be underweight .
    Comment about your post. I think your are making this whole weight loss issue to be too complicated and confusing. I am confused just reading it.
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  •   #3  
    julie14401's Avatarjulie14401 , 03-18-2012 05:31 PM
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by snaggly
    Echoing what bargoo said. There is no reason for you to lose anymore weight as 103lbs at 5'1" is already a low weight.

    This is just my view from the research I've done so far on calories and weight loss:

    You are right, you will have to eat less than what the online calculator says to simply MAINTAIN your weight if you walk the path of reducing your calories too far. If I were you, I would focus on "toning", increasing exercise and creating a small deficit to lose the weight. This would be a slow process and you may not see the results for a few months but IMO, it would help counter the possibility of you having to keep to 1200cals for the rest of your life.
    According to bmr calculators, I would not be underweight if I weighed 98 pounds.
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  •   #4  
    cherryblossomz's Avatarcherryblossomz , 03-19-2012 05:16 PM
    Okay, 5 pounds should be a good goal to reach. And at that weight, 1/2 pound a week is pretty reasonable. I don't diet consistently--I tend to maintain for a few weeks, and then go back on my calorie-deficit diet. So, if you find yourself reaching a plateau, I would actually increase my calories and then decrease them and then repeat. This is good for the metabolism to get a variety of calorie intake. Same thing goes for exercise. Change up your routine every few weeks. If you're not already, definitely increase the strength exercises you are doing. The more muscles you have, the more calories you will burn.

    I think at 5ft1in, 98 pounds is thin, but reasonable (in my opinion). And you're right, the BMI says you're fine.
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