My weight loss has stalled!!!

G

grimm1111

New member
First some stats:

I am a 29 year old man, weigh 180 lbs and have about 18.5% body fat.

I work out for about 30 minutes each day - mostly with weights.



OK now here's the problem -

I started out at just about 195 lbs in mid-February. I got to my present weight about 3 weeks ago, and I have completely stalled!

So here is my question. I've been counting calories - literally with a measuring cup and a notebook keeping track of what I eat, how much, and how many calories. I am on a diet of 1800 calories a day, and nothing starchy. So I am controlling my caloric intake very strictly.

I know I'm not gaining lean body mass, because I've been measuring my body fat percentage and it's been stable.

How am I not losing weight? How can I be stuck for such a long time?


Where is my body getting the energy from? It makes no sense that it isn't burning more fat given the amount of calories I'm consuming and the amount of lean body mass I have. At least if you believe the charts. Is there a way my metabolism could have slowed down by that much, without burning muscle?

What can I do? Should I cut calories back even further?
 
Trust in the laws of physics. They always prevail. I always just waited out my stalls. The longest one was about a month. For some unknown reason your body sometimes decides to hold onto some water weight, or whatever, for a while.
 
Harold - thanks that's good to know, and congrats on the success! I guess it's good to know that if I hang in there, eventually things sort themselves out as long as I keep doing the right things. But as you know, it's frustrating to do the right things and see no results for such a long time. It would help if it made some kind of logical sense.

Today my body fat meter is reading 19%, so it's gone UP. Yesterday I ate 1200 calories and exercised for 45 minutes.

This just isn't making any sense at all.
 
Last edited:
grimm1111 said:
First some stats:

I am a 29 year old man, weigh 180 lbs and have about 18.5% body fat.

I work out for about 30 minutes each day - mostly with weights.



OK now here's the problem -

I started out at just about 195 lbs in mid-February. I got to my present weight about 3 weeks ago, and I have completely stalled!

So here is my question. I've been counting calories - literally with a measuring cup and a notebook keeping track of what I eat, how much, and how many calories. I am on a diet of 1800 calories a day, and nothing starchy. So I am controlling my caloric intake very strictly.

I know I'm not gaining lean body mass, because I've been measuring my body fat percentage and it's been stable.

How am I not losing weight? How can I be stuck for such a long time?


Where is my body getting the energy from? It makes no sense that it isn't burning more fat given the amount of calories I'm consuming and the amount of lean body mass I have. At least if you believe the charts. Is there a way my metabolism could have slowed down by that much, without burning muscle?

What can I do? Should I cut calories back even further?
Click to expand...



Hi!

I think you should speed up your game

If you want to burn calories for a longer time, you should do high speed cardio, If you goes for walks, you will only burn calories while you are out walking, but if you do cardio, you will burn calories several of hours after you are done with your cardio and also speed up your metabolism

so I suggest that you will do both, goes for walks first thing in the morning before breakfast( you will burn a few more calories on an empty stomach)

and do cardio in the evening for about 20-30 minutes

I promise you that cardio will burn really good!

go for a walk 5-7 days a week at least 40 minutes,and cardio 4-5 times a week 20-30 minutes

I hope this helps

good luck!
 
I think I figured it out:

I was relying on an electrical device to measure my body fat. While they work fine, one of the warnings of using these devices is that the amount of water you're retaining can affect the reading.

What I didn't mention, because I didn't think it was important, is that I changed from a 1800 calorie high carb diet to a 1800 calorie LOW carb diet not long ago.

What I have been reading is that when you go on a low carb diet, your body goes in to a state called "ketosis" which has the side effect of draining water from the body. Less water in the body changes the way the device works.

So basically I'm saying that I think the device is overstating my body fat percentage because I am holding less water on a low carb diet than I would on a normal diet.
 
I think you probably figured out part of it.

Over the counter type body fat montors are NOT 100% accurate. They can vary by up to 10% or more, just depending on all kinds of factors - including what you have had to eat or drink.

Next, 18% body fat is within the range of an "athletic" build for a man. It's certainly nowhere near overweight. When you're at that level of bodyfat, losing fat is much more difficult. At this point you're less likely to get useful advice from this forum because of the focus here. I'd strongly suggest you look into Lyle McDonald's forums for information on the type of cutting loss you're looking for.
 
Hey grimm,

You sound very serious about this and you have been already rewarded with some results for your effort. Keep up the work. I am in the same situation.

Keep paying attention to what and how much you eat every day. Forget about the body fat stuff. Keep yours eye on the road - eat less than your body needs.

More calories burned will always help, but I have a history of over-exercising and it ends up being an overkill. Work in some cardio - maybe a walk a few times per week.

You're doing well. Just keep doing it.
 
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