Umm, I'm going to strongly disagree with everyone here. If you're not losing weight, increasing your food intake is certainly not going to help things along. Starvation mode doesn't happen when there's still fat on a person, so eating more calories is most likely NOT going to jump start your weight loss, IMO. Nu-uh, no way.
That being said, you haven't told us your weight and your height. Depending on the amount you are looking to lose/need to lose that can change the outlook.
You said you had a 5 day slip up. Is it possible there were any other days that you were off plan? Could it be that you're not measuring correctly? Underestimating your points/calories? Not accounting for a nibble here and a nibble there? I'm not saying that you are, but if it is the case that would certainly explain things.
If you want some further input, by all means, post your menu and we'll be more than happy to give you some ideas on how you can get things going.
rockinrobin, I LOVE your advice, and have a huge amount of respect for you, but I gotta disagree with you on this one
You commented on my own plateau thread about not upping calories at my new smaller size. I was stalled at 150, I'm not sure if you remember or not. I was eating 1200-1300, measuring/recording and not cheating. I had been losing steadily, started exercising, and stalled completely for a month. No change to my eating, just added exercise. I didn't have room to safely drop calories. I'd hardly fluctuate between 149.5 and 150.5.
I finally grew a pair, let myself eat 1800cal of healthy food for two or three days with no exercise, then resumed my work out routine while cycling between 1300-1600. I immediately dropped 3lbs. At the higher cal intake, I've had my best losses since I've started.
So I think it's safe advice to try upping calories for a week or so. By 100-200cal/day of healthy foods. If it doesn't work, oh well, lower calories right back down the next week. But I've seen countless people say that they jumpstarted their weight loss after a plateau by upping calories a bit.
And Frances, I'm a strong believer in "a calorie is a calorie" no matter what the source. But what jumped out to me immediately is you have very few fruits and vegetables in your menu. I do believe I'd feel like I was starving if I ate that everyday, hehe. Is this a typical day? I know a lot of people swear by certain carbrotein:fat ratios...maybe you could lower your carb portion and up protein?
Here is my two cents, and you can take it for what it's worth.
Lots of people here find that, for weight loss, straight up calories in vs. calories out (like Weight Watchers) works. And physics backs them up...it's absolutely fact that if you take in fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight as your body uses stored calories for fuel.
Now, almost as many people here find that they need some sort of dietary "change" beyond calorie counting, toward whole foods, away from refined carbs, toward more vegetables, etc, to lose. This can be because they are too hungry on a more refined diet to sustain their low calorie levels, or because, even when eating a low number of calories of more-processed foods, their bodies just don't lose.
I fall into the latter group. If I eat sugar or drink alcohol or eat refined/white carbs, no matter how carefully I count the calories into my allotment, I will not lose or will gain weight. I suspect that something about those foods causes my body to burn calories less efficiently, changing the "calories out" part of the weight loss equation. If I ate your sample meal plan, with almost no veggies and a good amount of refined carb, even if I carefully watched my calories, I would lose weight slowly if at all. That's just the way my body works.
Then there are the things you don't even think about affecting loss. For example, I have been on and off a pain medication for the past year due to a shoulder injury. Every time I have to take it (either I tweak the shoulder or I get cortisone injections and need the pain control), my weight goes up 5 lbs, and I do not lose anything, those 5 or any other, until I have been off of the medication for 3-5 days. So there are other "gotchas" out there that can have a real effect on what you see on the scale.
We are all different, so no one can guess what your particular body might need, but a LOT of people on the boards have had significant success with adding in lots of veggies, cutting out the refined stuff (the sugar in the smoothie, the pita chips, and maybe the cereal depending on the brand), and focusing their diet on whole, less-processed foods. So if you're having trouble and looking for a place to start experimenting to see what works for you, that's as good a place as any.
You might start your day with steel cut oats instead of the cereal, with a serving of fruit, or to get more protein and veggies, some eggs or egg whites scrambled with some veggies.
Instead of the pita chips with lunch, you could try having some baby carrots or broccoli florets with hummus or another lower-calorie dip. The fiber bar could be replaced with fruit or another less-processed food.
You could replace the fiber bar at dinner with a good serving of veggies...there are a lot of ways to prepare them and get some variety, and they'll give you the fiber from the fiber bar, but also a ton of nutrients that a processed bar just won't have.
So if you're not having results with what you're doing, it may just be you need to tweak not the calories, but the content, of the foods you're choosing.
There's not just anectdotal evidence for the "eat more, lose more" phenomenon. There's some decent experimental evidence as well (if I can remember or refind the sources, I'll add them).
If you eat drastically fewer calories than your norm, it can result in the body burning fewer calories by several mechanisms. It's not really about starvation here, more "conservation of resources." It's an easy enough experiment. It will either work, or it will not. you will either lose more, or you will not.
Most people don't make their experiments long enough. Two weeks, even three without a loss is not necessarily a "plateau." Two or three weeks of any change in diet, or exercise isn't going to "tell you" anything about what's working and what doesn't.
When you're going more than 3 weeks without a weight loss on what seems like a very low calorie diet there are some "prime suspects" to consider. Endocrine disorders, primarily (diabetes, insulin resistance and thyroid issues are the top three). I'd recommend a check-up if at all possible.
Carb-conscious diets are often recommended for many of the endocrine disorders (I'm not pushing the idea of the Atkins induction level of carbs. I don't think most people need to go "that" low).
Low-carb has such a controversial reputation, and I think because the whole field is judged by people who are following the all-egg-and-bacon-no-veggie diet (which no legitimate plan, and that included Atkins endorses).
I was perhaps the most skeptical person on the planet about lower-carb dieting. I'd never tried any of them for more than two weeks (and most plans I gave even less of a chance). It was more than a year after my doctor recommended low-carb that I began to seriously consider it (only after a second opinion from a doctor who with her husband had each lost about 100 lbs on a modified Atkins (I'm not sure how they modified the Atkins, but I got the impression that it was more vegetables, and less saturated fat).
I was so skeptical that I used my daily food journal to test and retest the results of lower-carb eating I didn't analyze my results statistically, but I repeated the experiment over and over again many times to prove to myself that I was right (because I didn't expect it to be). A calorie is not a calorie in the sense that you will lose the same amount of weight on 1800 calories of snickers bars as 1800 calories of lean proteins and fresh vegetables. Some people may be fairly close (I know when I was much younger, I seemed to lose about the same amount of weight no matter where I got those calories).
Now, I lose substantially more weight on low-carb eating than I do on high-carb eating. On high-carb eating I'm tremendously hungry so it's hard to stay within calorie range, but even when I do I lose better and am less hungry when I limit carbs.
Again I'm not pushing a low-carb diet. Just suggesting that like increasing your calories, you consider experimenting with the proportions of macronutrients to see of one helps you lose more. The Zone Diet is a relatively moderate plan (40% calories from carbohydrates, 30% from fat and 30% from protein). The Low-Carb Bible by Elizabeth Ward provides a nice overview and summary of many low- and moderate- carbohydrate diets.
Good advice. I know I don't eat enough veggies. I eat way too many carbs. I eat all whole grain, but I know I need more variety. I think I'll start with the cereal recommendation - instead of having cereal (carbs), I'll have fruit, or a hard-boiled egg, or a yogurt. I will try to add more veggies...ugh...I've never eaten them but I know I need to.
I wouldn't have thought that the food itself was the problem but I'm willing to change things up if it will make the scale move!!!
I'm not much of a veggie eater either. And NOT because I don't like them, I actually am a big fan. My problem is 1) I'm a busy full time student/full time worker, and for some reason preparing veggies seems really time consuming...I think that's my own mental block though and 2) I'm a poor college kid living by myself. It's hard to buy fresh produce and eat it before it goes bad, and that's just a waste of money.
I've found that frozen veggies really fit into my lifestyle though. I can get a bag of Great Value stir fry mix veggies from Walmart for about $2 and saute it with some chicken. It makes enough for two or three dinners, it's cheap, and takes all of about 20 min to put together then just reheat leftovers.
mkendrick, by all means, you are more than entitled to your opinion!! I know there are some here who have upped their calories with positive results. I still believe that for majority of the folks - especially when first starting out that that is not the answer.
And quite frankly, the truth is, there is no way to know for certain when one ups their calories and then has a weight loss, if it was indeed the uppage of calories that caused the loss or the hard work they were doing prior.
And didn't you say that you started counting calories more precisely and added in exercise that got that scale to move back downward for you???????? Wait - didn't you also mention that once you started exercising your weight now comes off in chunks - so that may have been why you were *stalled*?
But did I really suggest that you lower your calories from 1200??? You sure you're not mistaken???? Regardless, I'm glad you figured out what works for you.
To the OP, I believe Mandalinns advice is spot on. You're eating lots of carbs - not so much veggies. Veggies work for you. Try roasting them - they're DELICIOUS. Roasted asparagus, beets, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, green beans - they're a whole different ball game from boiled or steamed. Also, it's hard to tell how many calories you're consuming. Fiber bars vary in calories. So do cereals. You also may want to try spreading out your calories more through out the day. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack.
If you've mentioned this and I missed this, I apologize, but how long have you been doing this for with no results? And again, your current weight.
You've got to do some playing around and find the right mix for you.
I'm still new here and (as you see from my weight) have no authority on weight loss, but for what it's worth, when I first started I lost a ton in the first week and then next to nothing. I was eating 800ish calories and not exercising, which is probably comparable to what you're doing considering your exercise. Based on the advice of the ladies here, I bumped up my calories. I eat 1500-1700 (still no real exercise yet) and have lost fairly steadily. Could be all a coincidence with my fluctuations, but it certainly seems like upping the calories helped me.
Also, I think starvation mode does kick in on a bigger person. The first time I "successfully" lost weight, I literally starved myself eating less than 100 calories per day except one day a week, and I would GAIN weight when I ate 200 calories one day. My body was freaking out and I had to literally eat NOTHING to lose weight because my body held onto every calorie.
But, again, you should probably ignore me because though I seem to be losing weight, I'm still a big fattie.
I've been in the same boat as you for years. I've kept close track of what I've eaten, I've worked with a nutrionist and a Dr that specialized in weight loss for years. After two years of the ups and downs, I was diagnosed with a clinically, very slow metabolism. I also have PCOS, which doesn't help matters. I've been taking Metformin for the PCOS and following a whole foods diet. Try upping your veggie intake. If you can eat some raw veggies or raw nuts, it may help you. One of the whole foods nutritionists that I've consulted with told me that the most important thing is to balance your foods and stay away from chemicals like aspartame. If you want a piece of fruit, that fine but eat it with something that has protein (a handful of nuts (raw are best), an egg, etc.). It keeps your blood sugar balanced which makes you feel more full and reduces cravings.
Whatever you decide to do, keep up the exercising. It's good for you even if the scale isn't going in the direction you want it to. Also, keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat so if you've just started the working out, the scale might not be moving because you're building muscle. I've been told to keep my calories in the 1400-1600 range with the exception of veggies that are either raw of lightly steamed. I eat as many veggies as I want.
Stop beating yourself up!!!! Just stick with a plan that's healthy for you. You're losing weight according to your ticker so that's GOOD!
I know you don't want to hear it, and I'm no skinny person either, but it takes time and dedication. Even if you don't exercise, if you watch your calories, that's a start. I have several health issues and have been told repeatedly NOT to exercise unless it's light yoga or a short walk. Try just walking around your neighborhood for 15 minutes. It's a start. But don't get down on yourself, it will happen.
I know that I personally feel like it never happens fast enough but I'm hopefully that my current plan will work. Who knows if it will but I gotta believe! Hang in there!
I just read through this thread, and *wowie!*I see some great advice! When I look at my first post, I shouldn't have said "starvation" ...maybe a better term is "conservation", like one person said after me. Blessings to you all!!
Your meal plan posted is around 36 points. Is that your daily allotment? If not cut back on some things - or better yet, replace them with zero point veggies!
Breakfast
1/2 cup fiber one cereal with 1/2 cup plain low fat yogurt & 1/2 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
Snack
carrot sticks dipped in 1 tblsp low fat or fat free dressing
lunch
3 oz. turkey sausage and 1/4 cup shredded low fat cheese
3-4 oz. spinach with veg--mushrooms, green onions, broccoli, cauliflower,
cucumber...whatever fresh veggies you like and pile everything on top of the spinach, including the sausage and the cheese
top with 2 tablespoons low fat salad dressing
Snack
1/2 cup low fat yogurt w/ 4 oz. sliced strawberries
Dinner
4 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast roasted or crock potted with salsa
1/2 cup brown or wild or combo rice with spinach (I cook mine in a rice cooker, and add frozen spinach when I put in the water so it all gets cooked together)
steamed or roasted veggies...LOTS of them
Snack
1 piece of fruit or one sliced cucmber with 1 tblsp dressing
If you have extra cals, you could add more yogurt, or more fruit or a piece of low cal whole grain bread.
I'm really suprised, but I am nopt missing bread much at all. I do eat pita bread or flatouts sometimes if I'm not having a grain with my meal, or if I want to make a sammich. I am finding that the less processed the food is, the more full I feel on average...I kind of have a theory that it's becuase the food takes longer to digest so stays in the system longer than processed food (when it's processed enough, it is akin to being partially digested already).
You've had a lot of good advice, and I thought I might take the foods you listed and show you how to "redo" them. Somtimes it helps to illustrate what everyone is talking about. Instead of "more veg" you can see where to put them, and what to use them to replace.
I sure hope that helps! You'll be fine, even if you aren't losing as fast as you'd like...I am not sure any of us is happy with our rate of loss. If you get a good solid healthy food foundation going, and keep track, you'll bne able to tweak it to fit YOUR body and needs.
rotein:fat ratios...maybe you could lower your carb portion and up protein?
