6 pounds off goal and not losing! :-(

  • Afternoon!

    I stayed the same weight this week (10,13) after trying something different for two weeks - I stuck to my usual 1000 cals but varied the amount each day, while staying within 7000 for the whole week. I lost three pounds the first week I tried this, and then stayed the same this week. The last 6 pounds seem impossible to lose! ;-)

    I've been counting calories since last April and have managed to get down from 19 stone to 10,13 but my goal weight is 10,7 and I really dont want to give up now but cant see what else I can do! I dont want to reduce my food any more, as some days I have really struggled to stick to my calories and I do lots of exercise, so what else can I try??? ;-)

    Shall I just give up and be happy for the 8 stone I have lost or shall I try again to lose the last annoying 6 pounds??? ;-)

    Cheers,

    Tasha XX
  • Hi Tasha, congrats on your weight loss! that is great!. I read your post and thought that maybe the reason your weight is stable is that maybe you are not eating enough. Maybe your body is asking for a little bit more fuel. Do you exercise? if you do then your body probably needs some more calories. This is just a suggestion. I hope this helps!! take care and congrats again on the weight loss!!
  • Congrats on the weight you have lost so far. I think you need to eat more. 1200 calories is the minimum amount you should be eating, and since you are exercising, you probably need more than that. Stick with it!
  • Thanks guys, I think that might be the answer too! I wouldnt say no to trying a few more calories a day - been struggling with just the 1000 recently so would be nice to have a little bit more to play with - i'll stick to the 1000 this week and see what happens and then i'll probably stick to 1200 the week after - see how things goes I think ;-)

    Thanks again for your replies!

    Tasha X
  • Yes-they are right. You are putting your body into conservation mode-it thinks you are in a famine and is conserving calories to keep you alive.

    Up the calories to 1200...and in a couple weeks even up to 1300-1400. 1200-1500 is the range you want to be in.

    I find that if you use those calories to eat "clean" with frutis, veggies, lean protein, and whole grains rather than treat foods or processed stuff-the calories are used more efficiently by the body.

    What sort of exercise are you doing, and how much?
  • I made it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As at last night, I am 10stone 7! ;-) I am over the moon! ;-) Really really pleased - thats 119 pounds gone in just under a year and a half - gone from a size 22 to a size 10, and I couldnt be happier - although I do feel a bit "lost" now - like what do I do now kind of thing. ;-) I hope I dont go mad and put it all back on now - I dont think I will - fingers crossed. ;-) anyway, just wanted to share with you guys - it can be done!!

    Luv Tash

    XX
  • Mrs
    Quote: although I do feel a bit "lost" now - like what do I do now kind of thing. ;-)
    Do like I did. With all that excess energy, I went back to night classes.
  • Sounds like a good idea!! ;-) I think i'll need a new focus now - the diet was such a big part of my life - so might have to do some more studying or change jobs or something ;-)
  • Tasha-
    Congratulations on making it to your goal weight!

    I want to say to you, that your diet STILL needs to be a huge part of your life. This should not change-so maybe you won't have that feeling of being "lost" now that you have made your goal. The struggle to lose all of those pounds was a hard one-but I think that you will soon see that keeping it off will be the hardest challenge yet.

    What makes maintenance so hard-is that you will still be working hard and counting calories and everything that you did before-except you will have to start thinking about different goals when it comes to staying motivated-since you won't be looking for scale losses any longer. You will have the freedom to eat a little more than you did for weight loss-but you still have to watch it diligently and not go back to the eating habits that caused you to be overweight in the first place.

    What you first want to do is get up to a maintenance level of calories each day. If you have been eating 1200-1400 a day...then take it up a little each week gradually so your metabolism gets used to the change. Once a week up your calories by 100 a day...so you will be eating 1500 this week...1600 the next...and so on. Maintenance level can be around 1800-2000 on average, depending on your activity level. I think it is still very important to journal your calories and food intake just as you do when you are losing weight. It is when you don't keep track that things start to slip a little...and you start gaining weight back. I would recommend weighing in one time a week only-on the same day-just to keep your weight in check. If you are a pound or two up-then go back to a little lower calorie level for 2-3 days until it is gone and then back to maintenance calories. It is best to take care of a small gain immediately, rather than letting it spiral out of control and taking care of it when it becomes 5, 10, or 15 pounds gained.

    Since you are at your goal weight-it is now the time to make goals that have nothing to do with the scale-but still are goals for improving your health and fitness. You may not want to lose any more pounds...but you can still improve the look and shape of your body by adding muscle mass through strength training, improving your cardiovascular health through aerobic activity like walking, dancing, jogging, etc. Take a dance class or exercise class locally and give yourself a little reward when you have finished a certain amount of classes-just like you would reward yourself when you reach a weight loss milestone. Enter in local charity walkathons and othe activities like that. If you exercise for 30 minutes 5 days a week...up it to 40 minutes...and reward yourself when you stick to it. You can also do small tweaks in your diet to improve your health as well...things like limiting red meat to once a week...limiting soda to one a day or one a week...setting a goal of eating 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day in your calorie alottment...goals of this nature to strive for that have nothing to do with the scale-but still health and fitness related. It helps to keep things interesting.

    Congratulations again, and good luck to you.

    Aphil
  • Thanks for your advice, sounds like a good plan to me. That was exactly what I was going to do. I will still write down the foods I will eat in a day like before, and i'll gradually add extra calories in each week, so that I get up to about 1500 a day. The only extra foods i'll have apart from the ones I have planned for, will be fruit/veg and salad which i'm going to have as much of as I want without counting. I've made new goals, of toning up (i'm pretty much OK - but would love to tone my stomache up!), and to keep to my weight. I was intending on weighinig in every week as usual like you suggest, so I know how i am doing and i'll make sure that I dont let the weight go back on. I think i'll do OK - I hope so anyway. ;-) I wont go back to my old eating habits, I know I wont, because I like the "new" food plan so much anyway - if I am hungry, I can see myself eating fruit which should stop me being hungry without putting the weight back on. I have changed my whole way of thinking about food, and I dont intend to go back! ;-) Thats the plan anyway. ;-) Thanks again! X