Weight Loss Stopped, but how?

[jfaust]

So I am 23 days into a pretty grueling diet, and while I was really happy with it until recently, because I stopped seeing results on the scale.I hope I am just being paranoid, and not damaging myself.


I am 26 years old male, 6 foot tall and started at at least 385 pounds(I didn't buy a scale till a week in). So far, the lowest I have dropped on to on my scale is 365 pounds, after 15 days. It is now day 23 and I am at 369 pounds.


I understand there is "water weight" and such, so the jumping back to 369 is not a big deal, the problem is I've stayed there for a week.


For meals I use a meal replacement powder mixed with soy/almond milk, which runs about 200 calories for the shake. It is supposidly filled with protein and "healthy" nutrients, so I hope I am not simply starving myself. So I drink 2 of those a day in place of a meal, and for my 3rd meal I usually juice fruits/veggies or eat fruits/veggies, generally which will run about 200-400 calories. Then I add about 1-3 snacks a day consisting of a fruit/vegetable/lean protien(tuna) all which I try to keep at about 100 calories.


In total I am probably averaging about 1,000 calories a day, with a BMI calorie need for 4100-4600 a day.


Ontop of that, I have gone to the gym every day for over 2 weeks, in which I run on cardio equipment 40-80 minutes, usually around a 500-1200 calorie burn.


It seems impossible, that I could have stopped losing weight right now, considering I have been running about a 4,000 calorie a day deficit.


I realize to most what I am doing is probably not considered healthy, but I personally have never felt better in my life. I have 3 times the energy I used to, I sleep better(I have been an insomniac for over 15 years), and I can kill myself at the gym and leave feeling like I could go an hour longer(My stamina increases daily, and my heart rate has been improving drastically). Physically I know it is working, I have lost at least 3-4 inches off my waist, and my clothes are quite a bit looser.


I just fear that the weight loss has stopped due to me taking a very aggressive approach, and eventually I am gonna crash and end up in the hospital. My goal was to do a 90 day extreme diet, then take it more slowly from there, but I don't want to continue if I am just harming myself in the long run, especially if the results stop.


Any advice or tips welcomed, thanks.


-Jordan

 

[Trusylver]

AAlthough extreme low cal diets are NOT healthy they can work if done in the right way, from your post It is hard to tell if your eating enough protein to maintain lean muscle mass. The loss of muscle mass is generally going to be your biggest problem on extreme diets in the short term and makes it much easier to regain the weight in the form of fat at the end of the diet.

cardio on extreme diets like this can accellerate the muscle loss, you need to be doing some moderate weight lifting in your gym sessions.

it may be worth reading some of but also starting a journal in the diary section to track exactly what your doing.

 

[jfaust]

The mix I use has protein in it, as well as the soy milk I use. So I would probably put it at averaging about 55 grams of protein a day.(I am not sure how much I need)


I also do some free weights about every 3 days to try and keep muscle. I was also told that it is helpful because you continue to burn calories after lifting weights, for a longer period, when compared to just cardio.

 

[Trusylver]

A55 grams of protein is too low for someone of your size.

 

[jfaust]

Originally Posted by Trusylver

55 grams of protein is too low for someone of your size.

I purchased a book from the link you gave me, I liked much of what he had to say. I am going to adjust my diet accordingly, bump myself to 1200 calories a day, and quadruple my protein intake and toss in some fish oils. As for all the other needed vitamins and minerals I should have all of those taken care of from the stuff I am already doing.


I also found it interesting that the level of exercise I was doing was basically just speeding up the metabolic slowing process and jump starting "starvation" mode. Which might explain why the more I went to the gym the less results I was getting. So I am going to limit my workouts to a few times a week and focus mostly on lifting weights, since it apparently is more beneficial for the fat burning process.


Thanks for the Info,


-Jordan