Stuck at 161 for past month

B

becky23

New member
Hello all,

So here is my story. Back in November I weighed 180lbs. Since then I have lost 19lbs with diet and excercise. My routines consist of high impact circuit training, runnning, and lifting weights everyday. I burn around 300cals with the exercise. As far as my eating goes, I eat good protein; whey, chicken, fish, with every meal. Add both vegetables, fruit and a healthy fat (avocado, nuts, peanut butter) with every meal. I have realized I've only been eating around 900 cals a day and try my best to get up to 1200 most days, but I do get pretty full before I can finish my meals.

My problem is that I have been stuck at 161lbs the past 4 weeks. I'm not losing pounds or inches, I'm also not gaining.

What is going on? What should I change? Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!
 
this will sound completely stupid, but I've had it in the past. Even in a severe calorie deficit, if i wasn't really drinking enough eater, didn't matter, I wouldn't lose. Oh, the fat was burning, but I was retaining all my water like a camel. Once I brought the water intake up, then yeah, i'd bloat up a bit then have a bit of a higher carb day and whoosh, monster pee and a couple pounds lighter.

Also, you're not really eating enough. sure, you'll still lose weight, but you're also getting your metabolism to slow waaay down.
 
At 900 calories per day, you're probably not losing because your body is going into what a lot of people call "starvation mode". It's not a strictly accurate term, but it works to a degree.

Basically you're eating so little and exercising so much that your body has gone into shock and said "whoa ... we're going to starve here, hold on to every bit of fat you can".

If you don't eat more, you will continue ot have problems losing weight as you compromise your metabolism and screw with your nutrition. At 160 lbs, you should be eating around 1500 calories per day in order to lose weight at a healthy rate. The longer you eat less, the tougher it's going to be to lose weight.
 
Thanks

Thanks for the reply guys! I appreciate it. I should have mentioned that I do drink at least 80oz a day plus 8oz for every 15 minutes that I workout.

I know all about starvation mode and yes, that's what I thought was going on. I should also mention that 5 years ago I went from 180lbs to 95lbs (way too skinny) I wasn't eating much at all but I continued to eat around 700 calories a day because I kept on losing the weight.

Why did this work for me back then and not working for me now?

I have been trying to stay eating 1200 calories a day the past week, it is so hard because I get sooo uncomfortably full. How do I get up to 1500calories if I'm feeling like this?

Thanks for any advice!
 
nuts.. nuts have a lot of calories and can be good for you. Or hey, if you're way low on calories and feeling way too full, slice of bread with some butter (not margarine, icky!) never hurts.
 
what I eat on a regular day

Here is what I usually eat everyday...

Breakfast...
1 TBs natural peanut butter
1/2 banana
1 scoop whey protein
8oz skim milk

or peanut butter with 1/2 c oatmeal (if i want something warm)

Lunch...
salad with
3 oz grilled chicken breast
2 oz low fat cottage cheese
2 Tbs salsa
sprinkle black beans
yoplait light yogurt

snacks...
nuts and fruit
or
peanut butter and fruit

dinner...
4oz. grilled chicken breast or fish
medium apple or orange
1 cup steamed vegies

That's about it. What should I be adding or taking away?
 
bread

big d...
I always heard that when you eat bread it always breaks down into sugar which eventually turns into fat. Should I be eating bread? That makes me nervous.
 
becky23 said:
Here is what I usually eat everyday...

Breakfast...
1 TBs natural peanut butter
1/2 banana
1 scoop whey protein
8oz skim milk

or peanut butter with 1/2 c oatmeal (if i want something warm)

Lunch...
salad with
3 oz grilled chicken breast
2 oz low fat cottage cheese
2 Tbs salsa
sprinkle black beans
yoplait light yogurt

snacks...
nuts and fruit
or
peanut butter and fruit

dinner...
4oz. grilled chicken breast or fish
medium apple or orange
1 cup steamed vegies

That's about it. What should I be adding or taking away?
Click to expand...

Okay first of all, you need to add in a morning snack, prepackaged 100 calorie snack portions are available for practically everything, its great.

no offense, but whey is probably what is hurting you. The whey protein is meant to help you bulk up and gain muscle. I used to take whey (casein) for a month everyday after i worked out and i didnt lose a single pound, i think i actually gained a pound or two. I would lay off that until you get to your goal weight and then you can try it again when you want to tone up.

ur foods are decent, lay off the nuts and peanut butter tho they are sooo high in fat. Maybe you are eating too much fat during the day you should write down everything in a journal and try not to go over 50g of fat a day.
 
this sounds familiar...

Just looking at fat content does you no good if you don't look at the whole. There is almost no doctor who will tell you not to eat unsalted nuts as a snack. Yes it has fat but the quality of that fat is key. Hell, Walnuts are always recommended to men as one of the best foods you can eat. You would rather him eat a prepackaged, empty calorie 100 pack than a handful of nuts?

Take the whole product into consideration.
 
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becky23 said:
big d...
I always heard that when you eat bread it always breaks down into sugar which eventually turns into fat. Should I be eating bread? That makes me nervous.
Click to expand...

All carbohydrates breakdown into sugar. And no, they don't typically turn to fat.
 
abercrmb503 said:
Okay first of all, you need to add in a morning snack, prepackaged 100 calorie snack portions are available for practically everything, its great.
Click to expand...

What's so magical about a morning snack?

no offense, but whey is probably what is hurting you. The whey protein is meant to help you bulk up and gain muscle.
Click to expand...

That's 100% false.

Protein in itself does not cause one to bulk up. Hypertrophy is a very intensive process, energetically speaking. If the calories (energy) aren't there to support said hypertrophy... protein sure as hell isn't going to cause it.

To add, did you know protein requirements generally go UP during a diet?

Of course we don't *need* to use protein powders. However, if you're having trouble taking in adequate amounts via whole foods, it is a viable supplemental tool.

I used to take whey (casein)
Click to expand...

Whey and casein are not one in the same. Not sure if that's what you're alluding to.

for a month everyday after i worked out and i didnt lose a single pound, i think i actually gained a pound or two. I would lay off that until you get to your goal weight and then you can try it again when you want to tone up.
Click to expand...

If my advice counts for anything, I'd shy away from this advice because of what I mentioned above.

ur foods are decent, lay off the nuts and peanut butter tho they are sooo high in fat. Maybe you are eating too much fat during the day you should write down everything in a journal and try not to go over 50g of fat a day.
Click to expand...

How would high fat cause a stall when calories are set so ridiculously low?
 
Question for the OP:

Were you diagnosed with an ED back when you lost all that weight?
 
OKay, obviously I am not a doctor here (and im 99% positive you arent either) so this is all a matter of opinion. I have managed to lose 75 lbs in the past 5 months, fairy easily, by following my own advise. Ive put on a lot of lean muscle mass too. What i wrote is from MY EXPERIENCE. I did not make this up, i experienced it first hand. the reason i mentioned the fat content was because the person said they werent even eating enough calories so my first thought was maybe they are eating a lot of highly fatty foods.

and as for the casein shakes i would take after working out, they consisted of WHEY protein lol. And my EXPERIENCE was that it did not benefit me in the slightest, it was actually hurting my weight loss progress. Infact, within 5 days of stopping with the protein shakes i started losing weight again. again, key word is my EXPERIENCE.

thanks for your comments :]
 
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Big D said:
this will sound completely stupid, but I've had it in the past. Even in a severe calorie deficit, if i wasn't really drinking enough eater, didn't matter, I wouldn't lose. Oh, the fat was burning, but I was retaining all my water like a camel. Once I brought the water intake up, then yeah, i'd bloat up a bit then have a bit of a higher carb day and whoosh, monster pee and a couple pounds lighter.

Also, you're not really eating enough. sure, you'll still lose weight, but you're also getting your metabolism to slow waaay down.
Click to expand...

Isn't water retention crazy.

This happened to me constantly on the way down. I think it's happening right now actually because Ive been struggling to pass 190 for a few weeks now.

It is so weird to suddenly see 10 pounds just disappear in 2 days leaving you scratching your head. Well it is the first few times it happens anyway.

But even after you are used to it, it can still play tricks with your brain to be "stuck" at a certain weight for a longer period of time when you have been working hard at it and not seeing the needle move.
 
abercrmb503 said:
OKay, obviously neither you or I are professionals here so this is all a matter of opinion. I have managed to lose 75 lbs in the past 5 months, fairy easily, by following my own advise. Ive put on a lot of lean muscle mass too. What i wrote is from MY EXPERIENCE. I did not make this up, i experienced it first hand. the reason i mentioned the fat content was because the person said they werent even eating enough calories so my first thought was maybe they are eating a lot of highly fatty foods.

thanks for your comments :]
Click to expand...

You REALLY sound familiar....


Anyways, If they are eating highly fatty foods..doesn't that usually mean high calorie?
 
Well Steve beat me to the punch ... but I just wanna say this:

Recommending a 100 cal snack pack that's nothing but junk and processed crap over a healthy whey shake snack is asinine.

There's no magic to a morning snack, as Steve pointed out, but if you were to have one, something with protein in it (whey, yogurt, skim milk, cheese sticks, etc.) are a FAR better choice than the processed shit that goes into a 100 cal snack pack.

FWIW.
 
abercrmb503 said:
OKay, obviously I am not a doctor here (and im 99% positive you arent either) so this is all a matter of opinion. I have managed to lose 75 lbs in the past 5 months, fairy easily, by following my own advise. Ive put on a lot of lean muscle mass too. What i wrote is from MY EXPERIENCE. I did not make this up, i experienced it first hand. the reason i mentioned the fat content was because the person said they werent even eating enough calories so my first thought was maybe they are eating a lot of highly fatty foods.
Click to expand...

You presented inaccurate information. You or I being a doctor doesn't change the validity of your statements. Because it worked for you doesn't determine validity either.

Correlation is not causation.

If it worked for you, great. I'm happy for you.

However, I take great pride (as do a few others around here) in maintaining the integrity of information based on available research. When someone says something that's incorrect, especially when paired with the fact many people are reading said information, it's going to be corrected on this community.

This doesn't mean you're not entitled to your own opinion. And it doesn't invalidate your success.

What it means is now people have accurate information to digest AS WELL as your anecdote. They can do what they please with both.

Fair enough?

and as for the casein shakes i would take after working out, they consisted of WHEY protein lol.
Click to expand...

So they weren't casein shakes. They were blended shakes.

And my EXPERIENCE was that it did not benefit me in the slightest, it was actually hurting my weight loss progress. Infact, within 5 days of stopping with the protein shakes i started losing weight again. again, key word is my EXPERIENCE.
Click to expand...

What words you choose to emphasize means nothing with regards to your aforementioned claims and why I took issue. I don't really care about your experience. I care about the invalidity of this:

The whey protein is meant to help you bulk up and gain muscle.
Click to expand...

You are not passing off "EXPERIENCE" (as you like to emphasize) or anecdote. You are making a claim pertaining to the purpose/role/applicability of the macronutrient, protein. And that claim is incorrect, hence my rebuttal.

So please stop painting this as if I'm attacking your experience.

You are here --> x

My point is here -----------------------------------------> x
 
wow

Wow hey thanks for all the responses. A lot of mixed advice though lol! I have taken Casein protein before when I was body building years ago at night time to keep me full. But the whey I have in the morning is an isolate protein after my workout.

And I don't understand why I shouldn't be eating healthy fats?! Every personal trainer I work with says it's a must in a diet for losing weight. I eat very little fat only a few nuts here and there and of course the peanut butter in my smoothie. Is all the research wrong on the fat thing?

Steve...
No I was not diagnosed with an ED back then. Though it may have been, I wasn't aware of how many calories I was taking in, I just knew in order to lose weight I shouldn't eat very much. I have learned A LOT since then. When I got down to 95lbs I felt week and I could see my ribs in my back. That's when it hit me so I went to see a nutritionist.

I work at Lifetime Fitness and have the best of the best that work there, but none of them have experienced the gaining and losing weight, that's why I'm here. Asking questions and getting some feedback.

Abercrmb...
How did you lose that weight so fast??! My wedding is in October and I am working my butt off to lose the weight for it! HELP!

Thanks again you guys!!
 
kara

Thanks Kara!

I have to agree those 100 cal packs have nothing but crap in them!
 
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