Weight-Loss Plateuing for seemingly MONTHS! Need help on Diet and everything . .

Weight-Loss
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Badfish40

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Sorry for the sensational topic title and the NOVEL below but . . I'm at a loss. So much conflicting information out there. I've heard to eat less, eat more, do this, do that, etc.

A short history so you know where I am at: I've been at this since last January (2008), and have lost probably 80 pounds, possibly more, possibly less (the scale didn't go up that high!) Right now I'm at 345-350, and have been there since late Fall. I'm 6'3, 26 years old. I exercise 5 times a week, though certain weeks it may be 4 times, and occasionally I go out all out and do 21 days straight.

Almost 10 years ago, I lost 120 pounds (eating 1200 calories a day, even less . . I was young and thought less calories = better) and made it to about 250. As the years went on, I put it back on. I quit smoking 2 years ago (March 2007) and put even more on ..

So last January I started again, with Tae-Bo tapes and cutting out junk-food. To be honest, even then the weight seemed to come off slow . . but it did come off. Then, around March, I switched over to the Treadmill. (Generally I run/jog for about 20 minutes and then walk another 20 minutes, though there was a time I did 25-30 minutes jogging and another 20 walking). I did SlimFast for Lunch (w/ a piece of fruit), and had a decent sized dinner (no junk food). I also DRANK HEAVILY, 1 to 2 times a week, and splurged on food occasionally (like having Buffalo Wings on a Saturday).

But still, the weight came off . . slowly, but enough to feel satisfied.

But I started to feel frustrated. I wanted more. It was time to get serious . . So in the Fall I did some research, and got help on my diet. I was shocked to see that my general knowledge of weight loss was crap.

With some help, I started a low carb diet where I wouldn't really worry about calories or fat, just carbs and sugar. Plus, I could have a CHEAT MEAL once a week. It seemed like a dream come true at first (Buffalo Wings for dinner! Pizza or whatever I want once a week!) . . I also stopped drinking except very occasionally (once a month roughly . . I figured that alone would sky-rocket my weight loss . . no deal). I went on fish oil pills, and drank a lot more water . . I also drank Green Tea, though admittedly not as much as I should have.

I even lost about 5 pounds in the first couple of weeks (if I remember correctly) . . but then, it stopped. I stuck with it for another couple of months.

Then, in January of this year, I buckled down, stayed on the diet, and hit the treadmill 21 days straight. I would weigh myself at the end of the month, as the final test for the low-carb diet. NOTHING.

So in February I went back to the diet of last summer (Slim-Fast, regular meal) . . and instead of just the treadmill, I alternated with the treadmill, a Tae-Bo tape, and the gym (lifting and then 20 minutes on the Elliptical) . .

Well, the month was up. Not much difference. Maybe 5 pounds or so.

So, I don't know what to do. Nothing is working! I feel like my metabolism is SHOT. I calculated my BMR and it says I need about 3500 calories to lose weight . . That sounds like a CHEAT day to me! Is that really accurate? (4500 or so to maintain)

I probably eat 2000-2500 as of now . .

Am I completely burned out? How do I get my metabolism back to a proper place? I do not feel like I'll lose weight with 3500 calories a day.

Any advice is appreciated. I am really at a loss. I just want to lose more weight!
 
To me it doesn't sound like you're keeping strict tabs on calories. Which is fine if your weight is heading in the right direction. But when it's not, you have to get your hands dirty and get yourself a food scale, do some planning, and do some tracking with something like .
 
I also agree with Steve, I think that it would be wise to start keeping a tab on the amount of calories your ingesting. Also--it sounds like you try a lot of the fad diets like low carb, slimfast, etc..I would seriously invest in some good healthy cook books and learn to cook meals so you wont have to rely off of nutrition in a can, and Im sure youd feel a lot more satisfied with a healthy home cooked meal instead of a slimfast shake and an apple. Also, routine is key, making sure your getting enough sleep, eating ur meals around the same time, and excercising (maybe try doing different exercises to keep your body guessing) would als try and help shift a few more pounds.

Hope it helps--plateuing can be tough
 
Well if your BMR is right, then it's possible you're eating too low of that and your body is storing fat for energy which stalls weight loss.
 
That's what I was thinking, but it seems too good to be true (so it probably is).

I'm considering doing the Master Cleanse Diet for a couple of weeks. I think I need a reset, and a fresh start.
 
I think you're grasping at stawls.

Why not face the problem head on and make sure you're actually eating how many calories you believe you are?

That would identify which direction you need to go.

Simply winging it is going to lead to more frustrations, that I can promise.
 
How do you determine how many calories you're consuming exactly? I can do it with a "Nutrition Facts" on the package, but what about cooked meals, with meats, vegetables, rice, sauces, etc.?
 
Quite simply actually.

Go to Walmart of something of the like and purchase a food scale. You can get a digital one for 20 bucks or so, last I checked. I like the scales that weigh in grams or ounces.

Then use something like , or any other of the database websites that allow you to track your food.
 
Hi Badfish40, my advice to you is to do a detox cleanse. I have a good one that you can do that is easy. I put my patients on it and they lose 10-20 lbs in a couple weeks. Not saying that it does this for everyone, but it helps to reset your metabolism and clear out alot of toxins in your body. ( toxins are stored in fat cells) if you rid your body of toxins, then these fat cells start to melt off. 90% of my patients have kept the weight off using this method.
 
drlivingston said:
Hi Badfish40, my advice to you is to do a detox cleanse. I have a good one that you can do that is easy. I put my patients on it and they lose 10-20 lbs in a couple weeks. Not saying that it does this for everyone, but it helps to reset your metabolism and clear out alot of toxins in your body. ( toxins are stored in fat cells) if you rid your body of toxins, then these fat cells start to melt off. 90% of my patients have kept the weight off using this method.
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I think its great that people think that shoving a hose up their rectum or eating next to nothing for a couple of daya will somehow amazingly transform their life still. This is the year 2009 now, now 1909!.
 
Alright, I'm gonna count my calories this week . . I'm not changing anything about the diet, just counting. If it still looks like I should be losing, I'm gonna try the master cleanse diet.

I'll keep everyone posted. Thanks for the help.
 
Make sure you're honest with yourself. By that, I mean record every calorie that passes your lips. Include the upcoming weekend too. And don't adjust your intake simply b/c you're tracking.

Sounds obvious but if you had any idea how much trouble people have recording actual intake, you'd be amazed.

If you skew the numbers b/c you skip some things or you eat less than usual, you're only going to prolong the plateau and finding a solution.

Just a firm warning.

If it turns out you should be losing, I would not jump to some stupid cleanse. That's just nonsense.
 
On Jan. 5 I started my diet of consuming around 1200 calories a day, I kept losing weight up until about 3 weeks ago when it just stopped at 180lbs, 3 weeks go by and it's still the same which frustrates me a lot. I started researching and found out about this BMR stuff and according to the calculations I did I need about 2500 to maintain my weight, and about 2000 to lose.

I was cutting way below my BMR so I decided I'd up my calorie intake for the past week to around 2000 give or take. This morning I really did not want to weigh myself because I felt that I would gain weight instead of lose, but I stepped on that scale and saw 176lbs. I seemed to have broke my stall of 3 weeks which motivates me very much.
 
Well, I didn't get a food scale yet but I measured as best as I could . . the one thing I'm finding out after just one day is I eat a lot more fat than I thought.

I actually took a cheat day over the weekend (Mcdonald's) . . and my fat intake was almost equal to that yesterday. Maybe the fat was a better kind of fat??

My calories were about where I thought . . 3,000. But this is after I found out my BMR and added some food here and there throughout the day. Which I'm confused about . . should I be measuring what I'm eating with that little increase or what I was normally doing with dieting?
 
Measure whatever food or drink passes your lips. And stop changing stuff. That is, if you're actually interested in figuring things out. And I thought you said you ate 2000ish. Now you're saying 3000ish?
 
Well, I may have been wrong. We'll see. I'm gonna grab a food scale tonight.

I'm just shocked about the fat. I mean, its seriously the same amount of fat (give or take 5 grams) in the cheat day I had.
 
Fat isn't inherently evil.

I generally shoot for 20-30% of total calories from fat and try to keep that coming from predominantly the good stuff.
 
PS doing the mastercleans will slow down your metabolism even more. i doubt thats a desired result?
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I've heard it does the opposite . . thats the entire reason I was gonna do it. I thought it was some kind of "reset."

Steve, what kind of food do you get the "good fat" from? Is there a sticky on this? Every package says "0% trans fat" now, for instance . . Whats that supposed to mean?
 
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