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skinnysammi
New Member
| Joined: | 29 December 2010 |
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| Posts: | 15 |
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Posted: 29 December 2010 06:01 pm |
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| Back in September, I started working out, and lowered my calorie intake. I lost 20 lbs(dropped from 150 to 130lbs) And I haven't changed anything, yet my weight has stayed the same for 2 1/2 months. What can I do to change this? I need to lose at least 10 lbs in a month!
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 29 December 2010 09:19 pm |
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questions - age, height, calorie intake, typical exercise schedule?
EDIT: I read in another topic that your intake is now 1000-1300; if this works out to less than your unadjusted RMR then this is the likely cause of your problem eating too fewer calories and your body's reaction to this!
Last edited on 29 December 2010 09:23 pm by Nir
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grangers710
New Member
| Joined: | 22 December 2010 |
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| Posts: | 288 |
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Posted: 29 December 2010 09:52 pm |
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| I'm a male and I eat between 1000-1200 calories on avg a day. I've been doing so since February of this year and have lost 60 pounds and continue to lose weight. I'm not sure why everyone on this forum is so caught up with eating too few calories. From my experience, there is no such thing as long as one is training and restriction is not too significant over too significant a period of time. If you're down to those last few pounds to shed, the weight comes off much slower at the end to begin with.
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 29 December 2010 10:26 pm |
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If you've lost 60lb and are still losing it is fair to assume you were high-overweight or obese to begin with. You had plenty of fat stores to rely on during this time so a low calorie intake would not have been an issue so long as some basic nutritional needs are met.
However, when a person is in the normal weight range, their metabolism reacts adversely to prolonged decrease in calories, particularly if this goes below unadjusted RMR
What It Takes to Lose It All
There is a certain amount of genetic variability which determines how quickly a large calorie deficit stops working for you. In fact some overweight/obese people find the too large a deficit stops working quite quickly
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grangers710
New Member
| Joined: | 22 December 2010 |
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| Posts: | 288 |
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Posted: 29 December 2010 11:41 pm |
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| yea man, sorry but I'm not buying it. I was 207-215 when I started and got down to 147 and am still losing weight. I've been in a massive caloric deficit for 10 months and am 6'0 in my late 20's. I'm sure there is some variability, but I've yet to see anyone have the adaptation you speak of. I've heard this website is all about starvation mode and I think you are falsely scaring people away from eating low cals
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mstorace
New Member
| Joined: | 14 December 2010 |
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| Posts: | 7 |
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Posted: 30 December 2010 01:34 am |
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It's one thing losing weight and another thing losing fat. If you eat too few calories you are losing lean body mass and muscle. This creates what is called "skinny fat". It's not all about the scale. It's how you look with your shirt off and how your clothes fit. Also the more muscle you lose the slower your metabolism is. This is why people gain weight back super fast when they go off these super low cal diets
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grangers710
New Member
| Joined: | 22 December 2010 |
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| Posts: | 288 |
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Posted: 30 December 2010 01:53 am |
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| Where are you getting this information? I've eaten between 1000-1200 calories for 10 months, I have more muscle than I did at 207 and I'm twice as strong. All my lifts have increased substantially. I think the bulk of the population has incorrect views of what eating in a deficit truly does to the body. I do ESE style fasts once or twice a week as well. So the concept of losing muscle mass from eating too few calories might be accurate, but only in extreme cases where calories are ridiculously low for extended periods of time.
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grangers710
New Member
| Joined: | 22 December 2010 |
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| Posts: | 288 |
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Posted: 30 December 2010 01:56 am |
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| not trying ot be rude mso, so I apologize if coming off this way. I remember believing all this stuff too before I really understood what the human body is capable of. Half of these myths are far from reality, but people are scared to death to eat less due to starvation mode, metabolism adaptation, the body eating muscle mass and all these other stories that have been created from extreme conditions. I'm just saying I know what I've done, I'm not skinny fat, I've lost zero muscle, I'm stronger than ever, and I'm ripped. Just trying to get people out of this scared mentality that I see on this forum a lot. I've been watching the forum for awhile, but never posted, just always noticed many threads and posts on this stuff
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 30 December 2010 02:08 pm |
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grangers710, is eating 1000-1200 your long-term plan for life? or do you have a different one for when you've reached your goal weight?
I ask this because after my weight loss I found myself maintaining at 2000, but then deliberately (over a period of months) pushed intake and discovered I could also (eventually) maintain at 2400-2500.
Would you desire to eat more calories because you can, or would you continue eating fewer calories (perhaps for the longevity advantage) indefinitely?
and as you've asked directly for an example, for the last 3 weeks I've been privately emailing a person who, having consistently eaten at 800 for a while now finds themselves gaining weight on 1300-1700 (wheras has they not damaged their metabolism the formulas show they'd be maintaining on 2000 and losing weight on that intake). They have had their RMR tested with the breathing aparatus and shown to be about 250 calories lower than it 'should' be. And if you're looking to see how this is applicable to you: they did start their journey at 175lb and overweight and kept up this regime even when normal weight. (and technically this wouldn't be a problem for them if they were happy to continue eating at low calories but they were also showing fatigue and perhaps other unpleasant symptoms).
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grangers710
New Member
| Joined: | 22 December 2010 |
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| Posts: | 288 |
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Posted: 30 December 2010 02:48 pm |
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@nir - no my plan is to eat at BMR once I lose enough fat. I've been in a "normal" range for sometime now, just not low enough bf for my goals. There definitely are instances where metabolisms are affected, changed, etc for whatever reason, but my main point is that when someone hits a plateau, assuming their metabolism has changed or been impacted should not be the first assumption. People underestimate their calories quite often and its really easy to do. I know I've done it. Once you're low in bf to begin with and have those last few calories to burn off, a few hundred calories can be a huge difference in results. So while someone might think they're eating 1000 cals, maybe they're eating 1300 cals, well thats an extra 2100 cals a week. It adds up and can have a huge impact. Plus water retention, bloat, and all other reasons for lack of weight change can impact things. I've been working on the last few pounds for awhile now and have noticed my weight can change variably throughout the day, but my body look slowly changes. So while at 147 pounds I look different one week vs a month later at the same exact weight. That's my point. I'm fully aware that there are circumstances where things do happen that negatively impact the body and there are extreme situations where this happens and people react differently, but I'd take it all with a grain of salt. Just my 2 cents though.
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grangers710
New Member
| Joined: | 22 December 2010 |
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| Posts: | 288 |
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Posted: 30 December 2010 02:51 pm |
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| there's a big difference in maintaining a weight and maintaining a look as well. I too have eaten higher calories for a period to see what I can eat and keep my weight the same and while I know what those calories are and my waist doesn't increase, my look can totally change. Eating higher calories and having the gylcogen stores refill, additional water weight/bloat, the body looks smoother vs defined and while my weight might flucuate a few pounds and my waist stay the same, the look can be pretty dramatically different. It really just depends on what one's goal is as to what "maintenance" truly is.
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 30 December 2010 07:23 pm |
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Even competitive body-builders only go on their most extreme diet and manipulate hydration levels maybe two weeks before their competition or photo shoot.
Personally, if I choose to lower my calorie intake it won't be for cosmetic reasons but to take a chance on improved health or extended life. That's what it would take to motivate me to miss out on calories. I'm still not sure if I'm ready to make that exchange. The "flux" concept of exercising more and eating more to maintain the same weight with more calories was the concept that appealed the last time I changed direction. A bit of greed.
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skinnysammi
New Member
| Joined: | 29 December 2010 |
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| Posts: | 15 |
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Posted: 2 January 2011 04:37 pm |
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Nir: I'm female, 17, typical exercise schedule is moderate to heavy exercise(weight lifting and cardio) every other day.
I do eat about 1000-1300 cals a day and i am not losing weight but i am going down in size; slowly. I want it to go faster! In my 4 months I've only lost 2 pant sizes! )=
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Nir
Senior Administrator
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Posted: 2 January 2011 05:50 pm |
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You forgot to include height so for the sake of calculations I'll guess 5'5".
If you were sedentary you'd be burning around 1,650 calories and we have to add more to reflect moderate-to-heavy exercise, perhaps burning 2000-2200? You might have a better guess of how many calories you're burning (for example your equipment might indicate you've burnt 550 calories so you can do 1650+550=2200)
so if you're eating 1000-1300, you have a theoretical deficit of 1000 calories which would be consistent with losing 2lb a week - but instead it has stayed the same for 2.5 months, so something wrong with your approach.
On the other hand, the 4 month view is encouraging.
Your unadjusted RMR calculates as 1,376 (again approximate and includes the height guess)
You are consistently eating fewer calories than your unadjusted RMR. Your failure to lose weight is not a mystery. The reason is that your body has gotten used to the restricted calories.
My suggestion is that you may want to repair your metabolism. Check your PMs http://www.caloriesperhour.com/forums/pm.php?folder_id=100
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skinnysammi
New Member
| Joined: | 29 December 2010 |
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| Posts: | 15 |
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Posted: 4 January 2011 01:56 pm |
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| I am 5'2''. I exercise every other day, lifting weights so its on a moderate/heavy workout. In 1 month I lost the 20 lbs and have kept it off. I want to lose another 20 lbs by the end of march, so 3 months. Last edited on 4 January 2011 01:56 pm by skinnysammi
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grangers710
New Member
| Joined: | 22 December 2010 |
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| Posts: | 288 |
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Posted: 4 January 2011 03:05 pm |
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| skinny - how sure are you of your calories? Do we know how much you weigh? there are a lot of things that can play a factor in this, and unlike our friends here at caloriesperhour, I dont think assuming your metabolism is damaged is the correct response, especially considering we don't have all the facts.
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skinnysammi
New Member
| Joined: | 29 December 2010 |
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| Posts: | 15 |
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Posted: 13 January 2011 02:25 pm |
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| well tell me exactly what it is you need and i will answer the questions as best i can.
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Past Member
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Posted: 6 March 2011 01:58 pm |
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I gained over 200 pounds in a 5 year period. When I stopped gaining I weighed 327. Over the following years I've managed to lose to 240, but only recently started to lose again. Last week I started writing down everything, (and I do mean everything), I eat. My weight today was 237. It is amazing how that "diet" soda and couple of fries manage to keep you right where you don't want to be!
Last edited on 6 March 2011 01:59 pm by
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Past Member
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Posted: 14 March 2011 11:48 am |
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I found that while I was losing weight I would sometimes hit plateaus. My step son is Dennis Newman, 1994 Mr. USA, (key in Dennis Newman, bodybuilder, in YouTube). He reminded me that while exercising, I was building muscle. Muscle weighs more, but can be shaped. So you may just be building muscle mass.
Last edited on 14 March 2011 11:51 am by
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imagine
Senior Member
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Posted: 3 May 2011 08:51 pm |
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Look into Intermittent Fasting if you're interested in consistent weight loss.
Some excellent places to start are LeanGains.com, theLeanSaloon.com, Fast-5.com, marksdailyapple.com, theiflife.com, gettingstronger.org, or just google "Intermittent Fasting".
I wish someone had clued me in long ago. IF makes it possible to burn fat for energy. Check it out with an open mind. There's a lot of freedom with IF, including eating ANYTHING!
Last edited on 4 May 2011 03:49 pm by imagine
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JulieP
New Member
| Joined: | 23 May 2009 |
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| Posts: | 21 |
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Posted: 20 June 2011 07:46 pm |
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Try a one day fast. Don't everyone go 'ga-ga' about me saying that! It won't hurt... you have to do it all the time for certain medical procedures. I'm not even saying one as bad as the one you have to do if you are scheduled for a colonoscopy! 
I mean just a one day fast. I usually have coffee, tea, soda, etc. I will have a can or 2 of clear beef broth and a few sugar free popsicles.
One a week or one a month isn't going to hurt anyone.
Good Luck!
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JaneMoore
New Member
| Joined: | 30 June 2011 |
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| Posts: | 2 |
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Posted: 30 June 2011 08:49 am |
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| You might need to kick start your metabolism. This has happened to me several times before - I have been dieting for most of my adult life. Two years ago I started taking metabolism booster supplements which have been helping a lot. I switch between vitamin injections (lipotropics) and vitamin supplements that I get online at Delight Medical. When I went on my honeymoon last year (and ate tons of bread and cheese in Italy!) it really helped me keep the weight off. I was amazed.
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Mary Stock
New Member
| Joined: | 24 August 2012 |
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| Posts: | 3 |
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Posted: 25 August 2012 03:08 am |
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About your having lost only 2 pants sizes in a long period of time: Be grateful! It will last a lot longer than quick weight loss. But another aspect is the fact that, for me, 25 years of dieting (some fasting and other means of keeping food intake low) caused me to come to a point where I didn't eat anything at all and couldn't lose anything, either. Your body is so used to stretching out those calories that you live on very few. (A good aspect of this is that you may live a very, very long while. The bad news: it may be as an overweight person. Don't know--you'll have to work it through and see what happens. But it's definitely possible.) My experience is that AFTER I lost the 70 lbs. I needed to lose, my ability to burn food in the usual amounts returned. But not while I was losing weight (and I wasn't dieting on this one). So, I had to increase exercising quite a lot.
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