Weight loss stall due to too little calories?

shawnnam

shawnnam

New member
I have been at my same weight for more than a week now. I had asked about carbs, because I had added them moderately back into my diet and it seemed like it stopped there.

Anyways, I go to the gym 5-6 days a week and go for 65+ minutes everytime, I do not stroll or take my time I make sure it is high intensity. I burn about 800-1000 calories every time I am in the gym. I use the elliptical and every other day do both the elliptical and run (5.6-5.8 mph) on the treadmill.

So, I drink 3liters of water per day and eat about 1,450 calories (sometimes 1,200) per day and I am kinda worried because I was just basing my deficit on my BMR, which is about 1,580... so I figured I was just hardly having a deficit, but then when activity is added in is gives me this....

Factor Category Definition BMR RMR
1.2 Sedentary Little or no exercise and desk 1,898 1,849
job

1.375 Lightly Active Light exercise or sports 1-3 2,175 2,119
days a week

1.55 Moderately Active Moderate exercise or sports 2,452 2,389
3-5 days a week

1.725 Very Active Hard exercise or sports 6-7 2,729 2,658
days a week

1.9 Extremely Active Hard daily exercise or sports 3,006 2,928
and physical job

Which says I would maintain at 2,452 calories a day is I was "moderately active." Should I be eating way more? Honestly I don't want to be starving my body and stalling my weight loss for not eating enough. Should I slowly go up to like 1,800-1,900 a day and see if I start dropping? Should I stay where I am? Any input is welcomed. I signed up at fit day and it told me--

Your Calorie Restriction Equation
Weight Loss per Day .14 / Calories per Pound 3500 = Calorie Restriction per Day 495

Calories You Burn= 3,159
Calories Restriction= 495
Calories You Can Eat=2,664

Also, I will be doing weight training/strength training in about a week for summer school on top of the cardio I already do.
 
Well...In my humble inexperienced opinion, I think you don't eat enough calories.

That is assuming your not cheating and you are accurately counting your calories.

So...what would I do if I were you?

1) I would weigh everything I eat. Count calories as exactly as possible. I would make sure my calorie count was right.

2) If I worked out as much as you do, I would make sure I eat 40/40/20 protein/carb/fat macro. (You are a machine when it comes to workin out..god bless you!) I would put emphasis on complex carbs in the morning, protein after workouts and again before bed.

3) If I did all that and after two weeks still no change, I would increase my cals by 500 with mostly more protein and fats and see what happens.

Again....this is what I would try. And I admit, I don't know much about this.I hope someone that knows what they're talking about can chime in and make me smarter too :)

Where's Kara when you need her! lol
 
Flumes said:
Well...In my humble inexperienced opinion, I think you don't eat enough calories.

That is assuming your not cheating and you are accurately counting your calories.

So...what would I do if I were you?

1) I would weigh everything I eat. Count calories as exactly as possible. I would make sure my calorie count was right.

2) If I worked out as much as you do, I would make sure I eat 40/40/20 protein/carb/fat macro. (You are a machine when it comes to workin out..god bless you!) I would put emphasis on complex carbs in the morning, protein after workouts and again before bed.

3) If I did all that and after two weeks still no change, I would increase my cals by 500 with mostly more protein and fats and see what happens.

Again....this is what I would try. And I admit, I don't know much about this.I hope someone that knows what they're talking about can chime in and make me smarter too :)

Where's Kara when you need her! lol
Click to expand...

I know my calories are very close to what they are. I have calorie books, look at published nutritional information for different places, weigh meat, look online for calories of things that don't have them, and when I am in doubt I take what the average is I can find and add more onto that number to ensure I am at a correct number so that I do not overeat. I mean if I was not eating enough I would understand, because the body will tend to hold onto fat as long as possible if you are not giving it enough. Then it adjusts how many calories it needs to the amount you are giving it.... I will probably try to increase a little and see if it helps. I mean I am in no rush to lose all my weight quickly, I have time to play around with my intake of calories and see what I lose from that and how well it works... I may also try zig-zagging my calories throughout the week to see if it helps.
 
I think you're probably not eating enough if you truly are burning that much through exercise. We need fuel! I was really struggling five weeks ago - exercising for well over an hour a day and eating 1500. The scale wasn't budging at all. It event went up by an 1lb! Even though I was cautious, I followed the advice of someone on another forum and upped my calories to 1900 and continued my exercise. I have lost over 8lb since the beginning of June.

That is proof enough to me that you CAN lose weight and eat more. Good luck!
 
Here are my thoughts:

First of all the whole "starvation" thing is a myth. You're not going to stop losing weight because you're eating too few calories. It doesn't happen. The laws of physics won't let it.

Second of all, and probably most important: A WEEK IS NOTHING. :) Relax. Don't be obsessive. Breathe. A week w/out weight loss is so unimportant that I can't even express it. Just keep doing what you're doing if it's been working and chill some. Lots of things can affect your weight that have nothing to do with fat loss. Just breathe.

Third - as your current weight you should be eating around 1500 calories per day to lose weight. That's fine. Don't over analyze or over think this. It's not that hard. Eat the 1500 calories, make sure you're getting a healthy balance of protein, healthy fats, and complex carbs. Eat lots of veggies. Don't sweat the details.
 
Oh and fourth ... please, please PLEASE don't use funky colors in your posts. That light blue and pink are SO incredibly hard to read. I actually copied your post into a new window so it would show up in black just so I could read it. I almost skipped it as not worth the extra effort. I understand that people want to show their personalities through colors, but when your posts are impossible to read w/out causing a headache, I usually skip them.
 
I agree with everything Kara said. I didn't have any trouble with the colors on my monitor, though. Kara, for future reference, you could try highlighting the text that isn't showing up. That will change the colors which might help with the contrast.
 
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Oh CRAP. Harold I'm sorry. I just went to respond to you and I hit the "edit" button instead of the "quote" button. I just put it back the way it was ... but that's why the "edited by" is showing up at the bottom. Sorry sorry sorry!

-------

Here's what I meant to respond:

I agree with everything Kara said. I didn't have any trouble with the colors on my monitor, though. Kara, for future reference, you could try highlighting the text that isn't showing up. That will change the colors which might help with the contrast.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's just when I'm going back and forth between copying and pasting and responding ... trying to make sure I catch everything, it's a PITA to go back and highlight.

Not a HUGE big deal - but I find that if you want help, you'll get more when you make it as easy as possible for people to help you.
 
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