Needing advice - stopped losing weight

[Kingfisher]

Hi all! New to the forum and needing some advice.

I’m 25, about 5’7 and about 170 lbs.

I used to weigh about 120 lbs but after a series of unfortunately events, my weight climbed up to 185 lbs over the course of about 5 years. I decided it was time to make a change and started my diet on March 18th. The original plan was not to go above 1200 calories, but I was finding it very easy, and most days I was only eating about 800-900 calories.

I lost 13 lbs in the first month and then a couple more pounds over the next week or so, but then I stopped. For the last couple weeks my weight has been yo-yoing around the 170 mark. One day I’ll be at 169 and then 170 and then 171 and then 170 and then 169 and so forth.

I did some research and it looked like I wasn’t eating enough so I upped my calories to 1200 on Monday but my weight is still yo-yoing.

As for exercise, I sit at a desk at work all day and due to an injury I’m limited to what exercises I can do. 4-5 times a week I do some exercises with the dumbbells I have at home but I only have time for about 10-15 minutes of this.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[Ilovepomegranates]

Hi all! New to the forum and needing some advice.

I’m 25, about 5’7 and about 170 lbs.

I used to weigh about 120 lbs but after a series of unfortunately events, my weight climbed up to 185 lbs over the course of about 5 years. I decided it was time to make a change and started my diet on March 18th. The original plan was not to go above 1200 calories, but I was finding it very easy, and most days I was only eating about 800-900 calories.

I lost 13 lbs in the first month and then a couple more pounds over the next week or so, but then I stopped. For the last couple weeks my weight has been yo-yoing around the 170 mark. One day I’ll be at 169 and then 170 and then 171 and then 170 and then 169 and so forth.

I did some research and it looked like I wasn’t eating enough so I upped my calories to 1200 on Monday but my weight is still yo-yoing.

As for exercise, I sit at a desk at work all day and due to an injury I’m limited to what exercises I can do. 4-5 times a week I do some exercises with the dumbbells I have at home but I only have time for about 10-15 minutes of this.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

So it seems like you may have actually ended up going into a starvation mode where your body started putting on all the calories you were consuming. I would highly recommend not going below 1400 calories a day as too few calories can do that to your body. Stick to a balanced diet with complex carbs (size of your fist), vegetables (half your plate), and protein (size of your palm). Follow these rules consistently and you will get back to where you wanted to be. I would also recommend just brisk walking 30 minutes a day for exercise as 1400 calories combined with 30 minutes of cardio is more than enough to lose weight in a sustainable way.

 

[Truffle Monster]

Hi there.

A case of the age old unsustainables here.

Very low calorie diets are dangerous for many reasons.

You may have “reset” your metabolism to essentially slow down to live off 800 calories so you need to lift it back up. Eat more and get moving as much as you can. Even if it’s a walk around the office every hour or so. Every little bit helps.

ALSO it is perfectly normal to stagnate in your weight loss. It happens all the time. Your body gets used to it. It’s a sign that you need to change things up. Change your diet, change your exercise routine or both. Nothing drastic, just enough to wake up your metabolism. The longer you stay at a specific weight the harder it is to move from it.

 

[PLB]

Hey KingFisher, welcome to the forum!

Can I ask how you know how many calories you consume? Do you track everything? Sometimes things can get missed, especially liquid calories. However, if your calorie intake listed above is accurate, it does sound like maybe you weren't eating enough for a while there. Also, your weight will fluctuate day to day at any given time, so I wouldn't consider it yo-yo-ing if it's only a few pounds. Sitting at a desk and having an injury can definitely put a stop to weight loss. The more you can get up and move around, the better! That obviously depends on your injury situation, but even if you can break up your exercise and get smaller bouts of exercise throughout the day, it can be very helpful.