ok,
i am 39.8 yo, weigh 175.00
i have been averaging 1100-1300 per day....i walk 2 mi each day... i would have thought i wouldve shown a little loss...i am at two weeks now.
the nutritionist at kaiser permanente said 800-1000 was the 'dead zone', and i wouldnt lose anything at that....
does that leave me at 750 a day? i just wanna lose 15 lbs...
i am using fitday.com, and my pro/carb/fat is around 45.30.25 percentage...
i need something to cling to, here, girls...i am a little stupefied by my 'nice and slow' reasonable program going NOWHERE.
again, throw something at me, and i will grab it for the next week.
i cant see that little 175.5 staring back at me very much longer.
my tracker shows a tiny loss in the last five months..actually i am up at 177.5 as of today...
kim

Hmmmm ... I don't understand that dead zone business. 750 cals is way too little food.
I don't know what to tell you. I lose pretty nicely on about 1200 cals.
Can you tell us what you're eating?
Lots of folks here would love to help you.

I lost 4#'s the first 3 months and then about 15#'s the next 3 months. The only reason I stuck with it...I tried to come up with something profound but the only thing I can think of is that I was desperate and didn't want to buy a whole new wardrobe.

The closer you are to a healthy weight the harder it's going to be. I've got 5-10 more to go and I really don't expect to finish that off until at least December. It is really hard staying motivated when you feel like you are depriving yourself with no obvious results.

Keep your chin up and just when you think you're never going to lose another oz is when you'll start to see it drop. Good luck.

PS: Don't go below 1100 cal -most recommend 1200 as the absolute bottom limit. If you do manage to lose it that way you'll just gain it right back when you start to eat a healthy amt of food. Try increasing the length or intensity of your workouts instead.

Since you are walking two miles a day it is possible that you simply aren't eating enough food. Why don't you try raising it to 1400-1500 calories and see what happens?

kim, are you doing any other exercise besides walking? You could just need to kind of "rev it up" a bit. Not sure what your fitness level is, but if you try changing your routine somewhat like maybe some night biking 4 miles instead of walking 2 or swimming or throwing in some sort of strength training, it could only help!

Good luck to you--you can break through it! Also, it's only been 2 weeks and I know you're impatient to see the results, but it will happen!

The reason 800-1000 is the "dead zone" is because your body thinks it is starving (especially if you are active at all) and your metabolism slows down in order to conserve energy and keep you alive!

While it can be frustrating not to see results (I know! I was just ranting about it!) patience is one of the best weight loss tools available. Just keep making those healthy choices and changes will come! Two weeks is not very long at all so give it time is my advice!

Good luck getting out of the rut!

I am sure I am right in saying that if you ate under 800 calories your body would still be starvation mode. Forget this "dead zone" it isn't physically possible to live healthily under 800 calories.

If I have learnt anything in this journey it's that your body needs you to shake things up, often. Exercise is the best way to do it. I change my exercise every 8 weeks. I still plateau but in those times I just concentrate on theother changes happening in my body and wait for those scales to catch up.

I agree with meira that adding some strength training will really help. Also you could ask the maintaners forum for help too, as a lot of them struggled to get the last bits of weight off and may be able to give you some help.

Good luck breaking the cycle and don't get discouraged.

From what I understand, 1200 is the bare minimum of calories you need to eat per day. I could be wrong, but I think people who are comatose are supposed to be given that many caloried through a feeding tube to keep their body functions alive. My guess is that you may need a few more calories.

I dont know if your just starting or working toward the last few ponds to your goal..

If your just starting out two weeks is to early to start seeing it on the scale
I wouldnt even look until after a month at least.

And if your at the end of your weight loss journey like some one said the last ones are the hardest to lose.

Dont give in or give up our bodies are all diffrent and react diffrently to losing the weight.
I know its frustrating but your health is worth the extra time keep working at it and it will happen.

I, too, have always heard that 1200 is the magic number and to never go below that for more than a day or so at a time. I agree that you may have to slightly increase your calories (not too dramatically--try going up to 1300-1400 a day for a couple of weks and see how that works) and rev up the exercise. You don't have to start working out for 4 hours every day, but add something besides just walking. You can even just replace the walking with something new if you don't have time to add anything additional. You might try biking or borrowing some workout videos from your local library. Your body can settle into a pattern, so spice it up to keep your metabolism on its toes!

I know it sounds crazy to ADD calories to lose weight, but it truly works for some people. A very inspirational woman in another group on this forum waseating 1200 calories a day and lost tons of weight, but then she plateaued and stayed the same--not for just a couple of weeks, but for almost a YEAR--and when she added more calories (I think up to 1600-1800), she started losing the weight again. Sounds crazy, but our bodies have a way of showing us what they want, and NOT losing weight is one of those signs that it wants change! Good luck!!

I think that maybe you should try to cycle your calories a bit in the 1200-1500 range, and see how you do. (1200 one day, 1500 the next, ect.) and make sure that you are really getting the exercise in.
When you walk your 2 miles, make sure that you are going quick enough to get your heart rate going, and not "walking the dog" slow. Also, you may want to add in a different type of exercise in a couple times a week to shake things up a bit.

you guys are awesome.....
i learned: patience. two weeks is not long enough to fret over.
ramp up the exercise.
lift wts....
dont drop to 750 calories
and, last but not least, patience. again.
thank you all so much for your replies. i am grabbing on to the wisdom you supplied!!!
kim

Kim Welcome to 3FC the best place on the net for motivation!!

I just want to add that when you walk add some intensity to your walk... sprint for 1 minute or jog, then walk briskly, do this for 20 mins or whatever you can take... This should help to shake things up...

Your body maybe in starvation mode. you are eating to few calories. It is moving at a sluggish pace. Be very careful you may damage your metabolism. Think are you going to be able to eat like that the rest of your life? do you want permanent weight loss or just temporary. Be very careful and stay healthy

Kim, I hope you are still checking this thread. Please consider having a thyroid test done...not just a tsh test, but the whole shabang. I went a long time dieting and exercising like a maniac...doctors telling me I was eating too much...even had my doctor move me down to an 800 calorie a day diet. After all that hassle they FINALLY discovered that I had Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, and since they started treating it properly the weight has been literally falling off me. It is really worth it to find out. If it turns out that your thyroid is fine...then try dividing up your meals into 6 mini-meals a day. It will keep your metabolism going. Also...drink that water girl!

Best Wishes,
Amanda