So here is the deal. I have been the same freaking weight bouncing around 165/166 since September 19 so for about 3 weeks. I meticulously track my calories using lose it and track every single thing that goes into my mouth since August 27th when I got really serious about dropping weight (started late July, had some personal things go on that had me take off August and I started the end of August at 175 so already a few pounds down).

I eat around 1200-1300 calories a day (my budget for losing 1.5 lbs a week is 1350 cals. Looking at my cal counts for the past week it's been:1235, 1292, 1367, 1202, 1250, 1264, 878 (yikes that was a really bad day at work and an anomaly I really don't go that low ever but I don't even think I had time to pee let alone eat...), 1333.

I've been eating good for you foods. Today's menu looks like this (and I know I'm only at 1045 so far but it's not my bed time yet so I'll prob have another little snack or so before I hit the hay later this morning):
High fiber oatmeal, 100 cal sandwich thin with 2tbsp peanut butter, Fage total 0% blueberry acai greek yogurt, high protein slimfast powder mixed with one cup skim milk, 1/2 cup sugar free chocolate pudding made with skim milk, a banana, hummus, and some carrots. I'm probably going to have a salad with some light italian dressing and a couple boca sausages to get some more protein in before bed putting me right around 1220 cals or so.

There is no reason my body should be this stubborn, I've chugged water, watched my sodium, it's nothing hormonal where my body shouldn't be giving up the lbs so I thought maybe it's that my body is just used to me eating this amount of food and was considering doing some calorie shifting.

Has anyone done calorie shifting before and has it worked for you? I think my baseline consumption is fairly well established and what I found recommended online was to upshift by 300 cals twice in the first week, downshift by 500 cals twice the second week (obviously not really an option for me to go that low since I already don't eat that much but would maybe try to stick around 1100 for the two days), upshift by 400 cals twice in the third week, and then in the fourth week downshift by 500 cals twice.

Does this seem like something that would help get things moving in the right direction again? Thoughts? Opinions? Or at least just thanks for letting me ramble (It's lonely being up all night with no one to talk to )

My first thought was it sounds like you may not be eating enough. If to lose 1.5 lbs each week, you need to eat 1350 each day, and you seem to always be eating under that, sometimes by a few hundred calories, you may not be eating enough so your body is holding onto everything it can. I know when I always eat a little on the low side, my body holds onto the weight. I pretty much steadily lose 1-2 lbs by doing a few days around 1400, a few days around 1600, and 1 day around 1800. So I would say calorie shifting has been working for me. I always allow myself at least one meal a week to "cheat". I would say what you're always eating, you are eating at the low range, so you may want to up it a few hundred a few days a week and see how that works for you.

Also, I've heard if you eat the same thing all the time, your body gets used to it and just settles. Maybe try to mix things up slightly. Weirdly, sometimes if I'm in a slump and allow myself to eat something I'm craving that's slightly bad for me for one meal, then go back to eating healthy again - I all of a sudden lose the weight. Our bodies can be strange things and everyones is different, so I would play around and see what ends up working for you.

calorie shifting helps me too - Jillian Michael s recommends it too. Stay on track 6 days on the 7th day splurge a bit but don't binge, increase your calorie intake for that day, then go back to your regimen the next day and the scale usually moves over its hump. It keeps your metabolism going.

Thanks you guys I think I will try it starting saturday. It's just hard to get over the mental hump to eat more but my loss has definitely stalled and the scale has not moved in over 3 weeks. Even though it goes against what my crazy brain is telling me I guess I will try to eat more to lose especially since it has worked well for others. I just want the scale to move again

are you vegetarian? your sample menu had no chicken/fish/meat proteins. just curious.. i don't have any real advice, just that unfortunately these things are trial and error sometimes. i say shake it up and see what happens.

Yup I have been ovo-lacto vegetarian for the past 15 years now (Man I'm starting to feel old). I know it would probably be easier to get more variety in protein if I ate meat and I would probably drop weight more easily but I just can't and that's the one thing I'm not willing to do to lose weight.
A lot of people I meet always think vegetarians are skinny and they always seem surprised to meet an overweight one. Veggies can be chubby too but I'm working on changing that

Even though those are 'healthy' foods, you seem to be eating a lot of carbs, and maybe a bit too much processed food. (The sugar-laden yogurt, slimfast shake, chocolate pudding, etc.) It's a generally healthy menu, but when you are only eating 1200-1300 calories you should really focus on nutrient dense foods, and perhaps prepare more meals?
A lot of the things you are eating I would classify more as snacks than meals.

I know that isn't what you were asking in your original post, but it might be helpful.

Dipping down to 1,000 calories helped me get things moving again after a 4 month plateau. I would even try doing 800-1000 calories for a day or two then a higher 1600-2000 calorie day or whatever maintenance is for you. It might work!

Update: well I did a couple higher calorie days (one at 1600 and one about 1700- that ones estimated because it was a hole in the wall restaurant with no nutrition info) and my scale finally moved. It went down to 164 instead of the 165.5/166.5 it had been bouncing around at for 3+ weeks. Hopefully it will continue to move in the right direction.


You're right I do like to eat snacks. I don't like to eat big meals I would rather eat something small every once in a while. If I spend all my calories on big meals then it doesn't work so well for me and all I can think about all the time is food but knowing I can eat a lot frequently helps me stick to my calorie range.

And I do admit I eat a fair amount of processed food like greek yogurt and protein powder because I also worry about getting in enough protein as a vegetarian and those are the sources I find that have the highest protein content for the amount of calories that I enjoy. I do also eat beans fairly frequently but just didn't happen to on that day (and I can really only eat like a half cup of those any more and I don't feel so hot) and I can not stand the taste of eggs (like I can eat them if they're an ingredient in something but cooked eggs alone gross me out and always has. I just don't enjoy the taste). If you know of more unprocessed high protein vegetarian foods I am all ears and would love to add to my list of foods to ensure I'm getting all the protein I need

actually I only lost 2 lbs. last month and I was wondering why....
anyhow, I ate a lot during PMS and TOM, when it was said and done 5 lbs. were gone. I guess that was water.
and then, I was back to calorie counting again and running many miles this week and I finally see the scale moving.