i have recently in the last 5 months lost about 25 pounds and almost have finished my weight loss goals but for about 3 weeks the scale hasnt moved. i still have the same diet but when i lost the rest of the weight i didnt excerise enough. i currently excersie 3-5 times a week. (cardio and lifting mostling) but the scale will not change at all and i have no visible sign of weight loss. help
scale wont change
- Thread starter al3c3020
- Start date
Your calorie requirements have probably changed in the time you've been dieting (as thin people need to eat less to maintain/ lose weight than larger people). Have you been working on a calorie basis? At a minimum I'd recommend having awareness of your new calorie allowance and making changes accordingly (I'd do this using a BMR calculator, which you can readily find on search engines).
Amy gave some great advice about the caloric intake factors. Your weight loss is a matter of caloric intake versus caloric expenditure.
The expenditure in part is made up of resting metabolic rate and your exercise amount/intensity. Lean muscle mass burns more calories at rest than fat mass so it stands to reason that increasing your muscle mass will increase your caloric expenditure. The problem with this though is that in many cases individuals repeat the same exercises at the same intensity time and time again and as the body adapts it will plateau. This plateau means they will no longer be increasing their muscle mass and if all other factors remain the same (fat mass, exercise time/intensity, food intake, etc.) weight loss will also plateau. Another possibility is that with some individuals as they become more active and their energy (calorie) needs increase their food intake increases (intentionally or not it does not matter), if the food (calorie) intake is increasing enough (even at a subtle pace) this could also result in a plateau.
What can you do?
-If you aren't already using one start a food log, you can get a decent free one called fitday.
- After determining your calorie needs and reviewing your caloric intake you may need to reduce your intake or perhaps reduce your carbohydrate or fat intake. An general portion amount to aim for as a physically active individual is 12-20% total calories from protein, 50-65% from carbohydrates, and 20-25% from fat (all of which should be adjusted based on factors to numerous for me to list in this scope).
- Change your workout routine! If you keep doing the same workouts with the same weight and the same intensity you are going to stop seeing improvements. You need to keep challenging your body as it adapts to keep challenging your lean muscle mass to grow. Once you reach your ideal weight then you can keep going through the same motions in the gym but until then you must keep challenging your body.
- Do not neglect strength training too much. Many individuals think running on the treadmill is always the best way to lose weight. This great at shedding fat but not so great at building muscle mass; and remember that muscle mass is highly metabolically active. The larger the muscles the more calories you will be burning during recovery and rest. On the same note the larger muscles such as those in your legs are going to burn more than the smaller muscles so you may want to focus on the large muscle groups, just don’t neglect others too much as you will want to keep opposing muscle groups strong and working together to prevent postural problems.
Hang tight and just remember the reasons you were motivated to make a change in the first place, keep them in the front of your mind and use them to reinforce any necessary behavior changes, food logs can be a pain to upkeep when you first start but once you get a hang of it and get most of your custom food options entered it is a breeze and only takes a few minutes out of your day! =)
The expenditure in part is made up of resting metabolic rate and your exercise amount/intensity. Lean muscle mass burns more calories at rest than fat mass so it stands to reason that increasing your muscle mass will increase your caloric expenditure. The problem with this though is that in many cases individuals repeat the same exercises at the same intensity time and time again and as the body adapts it will plateau. This plateau means they will no longer be increasing their muscle mass and if all other factors remain the same (fat mass, exercise time/intensity, food intake, etc.) weight loss will also plateau. Another possibility is that with some individuals as they become more active and their energy (calorie) needs increase their food intake increases (intentionally or not it does not matter), if the food (calorie) intake is increasing enough (even at a subtle pace) this could also result in a plateau.
What can you do?
-If you aren't already using one start a food log, you can get a decent free one called fitday.
- After determining your calorie needs and reviewing your caloric intake you may need to reduce your intake or perhaps reduce your carbohydrate or fat intake. An general portion amount to aim for as a physically active individual is 12-20% total calories from protein, 50-65% from carbohydrates, and 20-25% from fat (all of which should be adjusted based on factors to numerous for me to list in this scope).
- Change your workout routine! If you keep doing the same workouts with the same weight and the same intensity you are going to stop seeing improvements. You need to keep challenging your body as it adapts to keep challenging your lean muscle mass to grow. Once you reach your ideal weight then you can keep going through the same motions in the gym but until then you must keep challenging your body.
- Do not neglect strength training too much. Many individuals think running on the treadmill is always the best way to lose weight. This great at shedding fat but not so great at building muscle mass; and remember that muscle mass is highly metabolically active. The larger the muscles the more calories you will be burning during recovery and rest. On the same note the larger muscles such as those in your legs are going to burn more than the smaller muscles so you may want to focus on the large muscle groups, just don’t neglect others too much as you will want to keep opposing muscle groups strong and working together to prevent postural problems.
Hang tight and just remember the reasons you were motivated to make a change in the first place, keep them in the front of your mind and use them to reinforce any necessary behavior changes, food logs can be a pain to upkeep when you first start but once you get a hang of it and get most of your custom food options entered it is a breeze and only takes a few minutes out of your day! =)
