I seemed to have hit a wall. Cutting too much perhaps?

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nickorette

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I've been stuck at the same weight (164) and BF% (14) for the last month, despite a 1000 calorie deficit. My maintenance is at 2550 right now. Is 1550 too low of a calorie intake?

Should maybe I bring it up to 1800 to loose weight?

(Additional details: 6' tall, 20 y/o, I'd like to cut off some of the winter bulk for the summer time. I would have kept on bulking before, but I couldn't fit in my pants anymore :D. my goal is around 9-10% BF)
 
nickorette said:
My maintenance is at 2550 right now. Is 1550 too low of a calorie intake?

Should maybe I bring it up to 1800 to loose weight?
Click to expand...

Welcome to my world.....:)

I don't really know what to tell ya. I too have my calories down and I exercise like a fiend.....it's as if my body has adapted and become more efficient to the point where I've also hit an equilibrium.

From my experience, eating a bit more will not cause your body to loose weight. I suppose the theory goes that when your body gets enough, it figures it doesn't need to store the fat and it lets it go. I don't buy that; more is never less when it comes to calories.

If you're like me, you probably have a little (healthy) snack here and a little snack here. Maybe your portions have gradually increased and there's always the possibility that you're sleep-eating (getting out of bed, walking to the kitchen and polishing-off a gallon of ice-cream...or just hitting the dog food). :D

My hunch is that our bodies find a place where they want to be and busting below that is really tough. Take a hard & long inventory of just how many calories you're eating...you may be surprised where a couple hundred are slipping past the count. Beyond that, mix-up your exercise and maybe fluctuate your caloric intake....if you subscribe to the notion behind this theory. On the whole, I'm still an advocate of calories-in vs. calories-out...and all the games, mixing and variables just account for a small fraction of change.

Find what works for you, but NEVER stop complaining!!!! :D
 
nickorette said:
I've been stuck at the same weight (164) and BF% (14) for the last month, despite a 1000 calorie deficit. My maintenance is at 2550 right now. Is 1550 too low of a calorie intake?

Should maybe I bring it up to 1800 to loose weight?

(Additional details: 6' tall, 20 y/o, I'd like to cut off some of the winter bulk for the summer time. I would have kept on bulking before, but I couldn't fit in my pants anymore :D. my goal is around 9-10% BF)
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Hehe I hope you don't mind me laughing at the fact that you couldn't fit in your pants anymore. You have not been at a 1000 calorie deficit and maintained the same weight - you may be sneaking in treats/high calorie sweets or not counting your calories properly.

A 1000 calorie deficit is considered starvation and a 500 calorie deficit is considered healthy. You need to exercise either weights/Cardio/HIIT together with a caloric deficit to lose weight.
 
I dunno. I've heard about your body going into starvation mode if it doesn't get enough calories, which I understand won't get you anywhere.

I've also read that a man should never go below 1800 calories.

I don't want to go below a 1000 calorie deficit, I really don't want to loose any of the muscle I've worked to hard to get. I dunno. Maybe I"ll go a week at 1200 cals and see what my BF% scale says.

When I was loosing weight last year I was down to 1200 calories/day, but than again I was only doing cardio, and had next to no muscle mass as it was.
 
I hope you are not confusing a calorie deficit of 500 to mean you should eat only 500 calories a day. If you need 2500 calories as your maintenance level, eating 2000 calories created a 500 caloric deficit. Eating 1500 or 1200 calories as you propose/have done is suicidal as anything above a 500 caloric deficit is unhealthy.
 
tribal said:
I hope you are not confusing a calorie deficit of 500 to mean you should eat only 500 calories a day. If you need 2500 calories as your maintenance level, eating 2000 calories created a 500 caloric deficit. Eating 1500 or 1200 calories as you propose/have done is suicidal as anything above a 500 caloric deficit is unhealthy.
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I can assure you I am pretty good with calorie counting, I am always +/- 150 calories per day on my set amount. And I know what deficits are. If maintenance is 2500, and I eat 1500, than that's a 1000 calorie deficit. I have been on a 1000 calorie deficit for two months. The first month I lost 3% body fat (according to electronic scale). Doing the same thing this month has lead to no change in weight or body fat %.

What do you suggest I do? How would you explain my situation?



(If it makes a difference I do have a bit of a hypoactive tyroid, I've been tested a few times, and I'm good enough to not need medication, but I'm on the high end of normal.)
 
nickorette said:
I can assure you I am pretty good with calorie counting, I am always +/- 150 calories per day on my set amount. And I know what deficits are. If maintenance is 2500, and I eat 1500, than that's a 1000 calorie deficit. I have been on a 1000 calorie deficit for two months. The first month I lost 3% body fat (according to electronic scale). Doing the same thing this month has lead to no change in weight or body fat %.

What do you suggest I do? How would you explain my situation?



(If it makes a difference I do have a bit of a hypoactive tyroid, I've been tested a few times, and I'm good enough to not need medication, but I'm on the high end of normal.)
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I would take a week off the diet and eat normally.

Once you get done doing that start to lower your calories and increase exercise.

It's a pretty standard plateau busting technique.
 
Hey whats up bsl?

Anyway to the OP, i agree with Realworksucks, you should try and eat over maintenance for a day or two by a little bit, and then go back to cutting calories. Your body is probably used to being in that deficit, so it needs some change.
 
Well it worked! I droped to 12.5% just by eating at maintenance this week. I guess I must have been not eating enough after all. I'll try and keep it between 1800 and 2000 and I'll see how my body does in the next few weeks.
 
OMG, I just read the best article about this. Read it ASAP it will save your "diet" and get you back on track with your weight loss goals.
 
well i guess you solved your problem but just make sure you dont ever decrease your cals that much again you were decreasing by a whopping 40%. Your body was definitely in starvation mode try 2000, 1800 is still even a little low. 2000 s at 20% whats your workout schedule look like
 
nickorette said:
Well it worked! I droped to 12.5% just by eating at maintenance this week. I guess I must have been not eating enough after all. I'll try and keep it between 1800 and 2000 and I'll see how my body does in the next few weeks.
Click to expand...

Son of a gun!!!

I'm going to do the same thing. I've been cutting calories, exercising huge hours and running huge caloric deficits....but to no weight-loss avail. I really can't see how eating more = more weight-loss, but I guess there really is such thing as "starvation" mode and essentially triggering a reduction in metabolic rate that inhibits weight-loss.
 
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