I am starting to be a little frustrated. My weight has not budged in about a month. I have slllllloooooowly been losing since February, but it seems to have come to a screeching halt. In February I started a boot camp type program (5 days a week for 70 minutes - alternating weights (uppers and lowers on separate days) and cardio and abs. For the most part the cardio is running various drills outside or cardio stations inside (switch equipment every 5 minutes with 1 min full out, one min recovery, 1 up etc.). The cardio is pretty intense and when we do weights it's heavy and usually to failure. One weight days I usually go to a one hour spin class in the evening. One the weekends I bike for ~ 30 miles on Saturday and run 4 + miles on Sunday. I just started swimming because I want to do a triathlon next year, so add that in a couple times a week. So I am pretty good on the exercise. Eating I typically average ~1150/day. Some days I am lower. I have one cheat meal a week and on those days my calories are ~1800-2000.
I am starting to get frustrated by my lack of weight lose. I really don't think that I can up the exercise any more. Thyroid has been checked out. I eat mainly whole foods. I am a vegetarian so my protein can be low on some days (~100 gm). Any ideas or thoughts?
Some people have a lot of luck with high exercise, low calorie diets and maybe you're one of them, you know your body...but if I tried to do that much activity on that few calories, my body would hold on to every pound it could too. My body will NOT lose weight unless I'm eating more when I workout hard.
I think you might be in starvation mode. I'm 5'5" and 135 is my ideal "fit & happy" weight. You are undoubtedly burning 500+ calories in your 70 minute workout and burning more in recovery. I would expect your body to require somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500-1800 calories at your weight and exercise intensity. You might try increasing your calories a little each week and see what happens. When your body sees it's not starving you should be able to lose the rest of the fat you're targeting. I'd imagine you're pretty fit at that weight already.
Hey... just be glad you're not like me. I start actually losing weight, mentally freak out inside, and practically binge eat until I'm back to my start weight. >.<
It's possible your body is done losing weight. That said if you really want to lose those last 6 lbs I'd say post your menus, you'd be surprised what changing your food selection can do. I changed from less processed to more whole foods and can now eat more and still lose.
Starvations mode - maybe. The only reason I say maybe is because you're incorporating those "cheat meals". I have two theories on those. For some people they help avoid plateaus, for others (like myself right now) they equal maintenance. I exercise a ton and eat 1600-1800, when I stick to this I lose, but when I splurge on the weekends I maintain.
It gets really tricky when you're trying to lose those last few lbs and sometimes just the smallest amount of extra cals can stall you up. I'm a little different in the sense that I've constantly had to increase my cals because of my activity level.
So your options are -
1) Change up your food choices
2) Lower your cals by omitting the "cheat day"
3) Increase your cals
4) Increase your exercise (but you said you can't really do that) but maybe it's time to change your routine.
and of course
5) accept this as your healthy weight and work on maintaining. Sometime people find that when they transition to maintenance they lose a little more weight, so you never know.
Congrats on losing weight already! Weight loss REALLY slows down when you get close to goal! You might want to check out the featherweights forum... there are lots of people in a similar situation.
I don't how you are able to do so much exercise while eating so little. Eating under 1,100 calories on a day of serious weight training & a spin class sounds brutal. Even your cheat day is probably maintenance calories and not really over.
I normally don't subscribe to the starvation theory, but in your case, that might be true. I'm a little concerned that you might be burning muscle with such a low caloric intake. Take a chance, eat more. Give yourself a couple of weeks and see what happens.
I'm on 1525 calories to lose with the same amount of activity, allowing for muscle preservation (180g protein,100g carb,45g fat) with one refeed thrown in which is only 1675 calories.
Here's the issue you have: You are undereating and your body loses not just fat, but muscle, when you do not eat enough to sustain your exercise. Especially with such little protein. You are absolutely burning your muscle away on this program.
Now, you've hit a plateau. Usually when a person has a plateau at this stage, they drop their calories lower. You can't - you are already too low.
What needs to be done is to start eating more calories consistently during the week and lowering the amount on the "cheat day".
You are 5'5 and 136lbs and work out a lot, you can't follow the same rules as an inactive person or someone who is obese.
You are so close to your goal, you're weight loss is probably going to slow down considerably. A lot of people have trouble losing that last 5 pounds or so. I think you should focus on everything you've accomplished and how fit you are now, and considering everything you've described, you sound pretty darn fit right now. That is AWESOME!!
I agree that I need to change something up. And all of this has been good info. I really think that my exercise is varied enough that I should not be used to it. For example this was last week:
Monday - weights uppers (chest, shoulder, biceps, triceps - I was doing a modified Body for Life program with 12/10/8/6/12 reps of an exercise going up in weight each set and then a different exercise same muscle group imediately after the 5th set until failure. My trainer had me change that up so now I am doing 4 sets of 15 with fairly heavy weight super setted with another exersice. This is to increase my endurance. The actual exercise vary each session), spin class in the evening (each class focues on different things, hills, aerobic endurance, anaerobic work, etc)
Tuesday - cardio and abs (always different each time, maybe primarily running one day, various cardio machines the next)
Wednesday - Weights lowers (same routine as uppers) and spin class in the evening
Thursday - cardio and abs and swimming in the evening
Friday - running (~4 miles, when I run sometimes is in and sometimes out. I'll do intervals sometimes and just steady running others. I will add in hills other days) and weights uppers
Saturday - biking (~30 miles sometimes hilly, sometimes not)
Sunday - running ~ 4 miles
I migt be able to change it up somewhat, but it seems pretty varied. I'm not going to add any more in. One issue is I do not burn that many calories. I had metabolic testing done a couple of years ago and my HR monitor was pretty accurate then. I think I am fitter now, so it is likely even lower. For example today I ran 4.4 miles in 43 minutes and that was 320 calories.
I also definately still have weight to lose, last time my body fat was measured it was 19%.
Food is probably where I can make the biggest changes. Protein is a real issue for me. Here is a typical days meals (I don't vary it much):
7 am Power Crunch Bar
10 am 1 cup blackberries and non-fat greek yogurt
12 pm 1/2 cup egg whites, 1/2 cup non-fat cottage cheese, veggies and salsa
2 pm blackberries and yogurt
5 pm tofu stir fry
8 pm veggie dogs w/ lavash bread and asparagus
That comes to 999 cal 20F/102C/112P
I measure most everything (not lettuce, mushrooms, etc) so it should be pretty accurate. I really don't like that the protein bars and veggie dogs are processed, but they are easy protein sources.
Far too little food. With only 1000 calories, you're just burning away all your muscle, not adding any more muscle, and that is going to greatly impact your body fat loss (you will still lose, very slowly, but you are going to damage your metabolism).
Up your calories, to around 1500-1700. Your fats are far too low. Double those at least.
If your\ exercise/ food log and calculation is accurate, you are going to do some damage to your body.
I'm only at 136lbs right now because I had a baby 9 weeks ago. I've been a weightlifter for 6 years and into body building for 2 years. I see girls with diet & exercise plans like you all the time - and they do damage from it. You can't go forward until you start feeding your body properly. If you continue to lose muscle, you will have an even harder time when you realize what is happening. I suggest fixing the problem now before it gets worse.
I have to agree that you are not eating enough. If you eat 1100 calories and burn 320 running -- that leaves your body only 780 calories to get through the day. Your BMR alone should be what, around 1300, right? So clearly you have a considerable calorie deficit. So why aren't you losing?
I don't often subscribe to "eat more to lose" or "starvation mode," but I think your case is a classic example of where those theories come from.
I know people often have slower weight loss as they approach goal, and I think that usually has to do with a) decreased caloric need due to lower weight and/or b) lower compliance with food plan due to feeling pretty darn good so close to goal. I don't think either of these explain what is happening with you.
Please consider increasing you calories for a couple of weeks to see what happens -- and please don't get alarmed if you get an initial bump up. Your body might be pretty psyched to see adequate calories coming in.
I'm only an inch taller than you are and I lost pretty consistently, right down to goal, on 1700-1800 calories/day, and now I'm maintaining on ~2100. I work out (usually running) 5x/week. 38 yrs young!
I also definately still have weight to lose, last time my body fat was measured it was 19%.
Wait wait wait!! Women need body fat!! More than men! In fact, as I understand it, women generally shouldn't usually go below 20% body fat (though I am not an expert). My point is that your body fat might be fine and you may want to consult some experts about an appropriate goal for your body. That goal might focus less on your weight and more on toning so that you're happier with your look.
But please don't go too low in body fat!! We're women, and we have it...
Getting frustrated
