Why has it stopped working?

[Matt2]

Right, here's the criteria:

I'm 15, 245 lbs, and I'm sick of the extra weight. I only gained it recently, in the last couple of years, and I have no idea why I didn't stop. I was a fairly heavy set guy even when thin, and played a lot of Rugby.

So, from about January 7th, I've been dieting and exercising. I've been eating roughly 1,000 calories a day and going on a 3 mile walk every day (takes me about an hour).

As of 6 days ago, I reached 110.5 Kilos. I started at 117.8, so this was a big achievement for me (for Americans, I'm roughly 245 lbs now). But, at the same time, I all-of-the-sudden stopped losing weight.

For 6 days I've either lost a bit of weight, gained a bit of weight, or stayed the same. I'm getting more and more nervous because the first week was brilliant, I dropped nearly 4 kilos (8 lbs) in a week, so I was ecstatic.


I haven't changed my eating habits, I haven't changed my amount of exercise, and I've been basically doing the same thing every day.


Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[MindiK]

I'm no expert, but the calories seem kinda low. I also went through the same thing a while back. I began working out in July 2007, and regularly lost a pound or two a week for a month or so. I was eating around 1,500 calories a day. Then I hit a wall and couldn't lose weight for three weeks. I went back to the diary where I was keeping track of my food intake and saw I'd dropped my calories down to 1,100 or 1,200, on average.

I upped the calories, kept the activity level the same as always and I've lost consistently ever since.

 

[Matt2]

I'm no expert, but the calories seem kinda low. I also went through the same thing a while back. I began working out in July 2007, and regularly lost a pound or two a week for a month or so. I was eating around 1,500 calories a day. Then I hit a wall and couldn't lose weight for three weeks. I went back to the diary where I was keeping track of my food intake and saw I'd dropped my calories down to 1,100 or 1,200, on average.

I upped the calories, kept the activity level the same as always and I've lost consistently ever since.

So you're saying it might be a good idea to increase my calorie intake?

I've been eating these 300 calorie per-serving microwaveable meals that taste bland, but at only 300 calories and at one serving, who can argue, heh.

Along with lunch and dinner (Don't really eat breakfast), I have a bowl of Special K cereal (100 calories per serving) just after my walk, because I always seem to crave something sugary after walks, and that's the closest thing I can eat.

After adding that up, I figured roughly 1,000 calories with all the fruits and veggies I've been eating as snacks. I haven't really changed my diet at all since I started, so maybe an extra bowl of cereal in the morning or something?

Thanks for the help!

 

[MindiK]

Not sure what type of microwave meals you've been having...but you might try Lean Cuisine. I like them a lot, and most of 'em are 300 calories or less, too. But they're high in protein, which is good.

 

[maleficent]

Think lifestyle change rather than short term diet... with real foods rather than the processed variety. You really want to think lifestyle change - rather than diet - and focus on building new habits - especially eating habits otherwise the weight you're working so hard to lose won't stay off.

Real foods doesn't really require any more actual cooking time than using a microwavable meal it just takes a little bit of pre-planning once a week - your body will thank you for it...

Use a program like to keep track of your nutrients...

Spend some time reading the stickied threads in nutrition and the exercise forums... they contain a lot of really helpful info..

 

[Matt2]

Not sure what type of microwave meals you've been having...but you might try Lean Cuisine. I like them a lot, and most of 'em are 300 calories or less, too. But they're high in protein, which is good.

Yep, Lean Cuisine meals (I've had an occasional "Eating Right" meal, but they didn't taste worthy of my $3). I like LC because they're really low calorie and taste pretty similar to the dish they're attempting. The only times I won't eat LC meals is at school when I have a Roast Beef sandwich on brown bread.

Think lifestyle change rather than short term diet... with real foods rather than the processed variety. You really want to think lifestyle change - rather than diet - and focus on building new habits - especially eating habits otherwise the weight you're working so hard to lose won't stay off.

Real foods doesn't really require any more actual cooking time than using a microwavable meal it just takes a little bit of pre-planning once a week - your body will thank you for it...

Use a program like to keep track of your nutrients...

Spend some time reading the stickied threads in nutrition and the exercise forums... they contain a lot of really helpful info..

You're giving me great advice, the thing is, I'm very healthy to begin with. I don't drink fizzy drinks, I usually snack on carrots or fruit, and I'm into exercising. I could quite happily go for a mile jog, if I didn't run out of breath after 1/8th of a mile (live in a house with 3 smokers, too).

The thing is, I don't have the time or skill to cook meals (especially healthily), even if they're simple. Plus, that'd mean more planning on my part and the sacrifice of good taste (I burn water in the microwave). However. taste isn't of essence to me, I could eat paper for weeks if I was losing weight, I have a strong enough will power.

Right now my goal is to get to the right weight- I'll have to worry about keeping it off when I get there (and I don't think it'll be hard, given my habits already).

I'll definitely try out that site, thanks! And sorry for not reading the stickies first, I made the topic on my way out to school earlier this morning.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Adam4tvs]

Plateaus happen to everyone you're normal. Don't listen to too much advice - 1200 calories a day is probably where you should be at, but 1000 won't kill ya. Don't go lower than that though.

This is completely normal. I plateaued for 10 straight days once and it drove me NUTS. Just keep on keepin' on - don't give up hope. It'll pick back up again for seemingly no reason. Stick with it.

 

[allyphoe]

I'm 15, 245 lbs

That puts maintenance calories (what you could eat without gaining or losing) at about 2,500 calories a day.

I've been eating roughly 1,000 calories a day

I don't know how the heck you're surviving it. I'm 100 pounds lighter than you and would be ravenous, grouchy, and lying on the couch all day. You could be eating twice as much food, adding a little more daily exercise, and losing a completely reasonable kilo a week.

a 3 mile walk every day (takes me about an hour).

I know you mentioned living with 3 smokers, which isn't helping your aerobic capacity, but if you're looking for a way to get more exercise in, work on your speed.

I dropped nearly 4 kilos (8 lbs) in a week

On a 1500-calorie-per-day deficit, you had a 10,500 calorie total deficit for that week. So you "earned" a 3-pound loss. Over the last 6 days, when the scale hasn't moved much, you've earned another 2.5 pounds. So you've got another 2.5 pounds of loss to earn (so another 6 days) before you'd expect the scale to start moving. And when it does, you'd be looking at about 2.5 to 3 pounds a week, on average. Assuming you can survive on 1,000 calories a day without letting your body become sneakily more efficient (sitting instead of standing, reclining instead of sitting, being still instead of fidgeting), which is not something I'd encourage you to continue.

A week is not a plateau. Two weeks is not a plateau. If you have a plan that keeps you in a caloric deficit, and you stick with it, the scale will follow.

 

[Matt2]

That puts maintenance calories (what you could eat without gaining or losing) at about 2,500 calories a day.



I don't know how the heck you're surviving it. I'm 100 pounds lighter than you and would be ravenous, grouchy, and lying on the couch all day. You could be eating twice as much food, adding a little more daily exercise, and losing a completely reasonable kilo a week.



I know you mentioned living with 3 smokers, which isn't helping your aerobic capacity, but if you're looking for a way to get more exercise in, work on your speed.



On a 1500-calorie-per-day deficit, you had a 10,500 calorie total deficit for that week. So you "earned" a 3-pound loss. Over the last 6 days, when the scale hasn't moved much, you've earned another 2.5 pounds. So you've got another 2.5 pounds of loss to earn (so another 6 days) before you'd expect the scale to start moving. And when it does, you'd be looking at about 2.5 to 3 pounds a week, on average. Assuming you can survive on 1,000 calories a day without letting your body become sneakily more efficient (sitting instead of standing, reclining instead of sitting, being still instead of fidgeting), which is not something I'd encourage you to continue.

A week is not a plateau. Two weeks is not a plateau. If you have a plan that keeps you in a caloric deficit, and you stick with it, the scale will follow.

Heh, yeah, I survive it by doing things other than eating/anything associated with eating. I play guitar, I box, I lift weights, I listen to music or play basketball (all exercises that I usually do which I forgot to mention).

I didn't mention this earlier, but I live in Arizona, and the route I take isn't exactly flatland . There's a lot of uphills and downhills, and a bunch of crazy drivers who think having a car automatically makes you immune to hit-and-run court cases. I'll definitely try and speed things up though.

What's funny about your post is this is my 6th day of the "plateau" and I'm a half-pound lighter as of this morning, so hopefully this is the restart of the long road of weight loss.

Thanks a lot for your post, very helpful!

Plateaus happen to everyone you're normal. Don't listen to too much advice - 1200 calories a day is probably where you should be at, but 1000 won't kill ya. Don't go lower than that though.

This is completely normal. I plateaued for 10 straight days once and it drove me NUTS. Just keep on keepin' on - don't give up hope. It'll pick back up again for seemingly no reason. Stick with it.

I've stuck with it :-D. Just a question though, what's the negatives of having a calorie intake of lower than 1,000; just the lack of energy? Long term affects?


Thanks for all the help!

 

[fitfab40]

Lots of good info. Here's my two cents worth.

Your not eating enough calories.
You need to change your exercise regimen every 4 weeks because our bodies adjust to it and the benefits will be marginal unless you switch things out.
Do you do any strength training? I would add that if you're not.
Try new types of exercise to keep it fresh and interesting!


You need to eat within 30 minutes of a workout. Good carbs will keep you off the sugar rollercoaster. Wheat crackers and string cheese are good.

I'm sure you've read the studies of not eating breakfast. You need to fuel your body after a 7-8 hr sleep with no nurishment.
Oatmeal with chopped apples and some walnuts is a yummy and FILLING way to start off. Or just have a banana or wheat toast with peanut butter before your workout and save the oatmeal for after.

Subscribe to a men's health and fitness magazine. There's always a ton of info to really help you.

You won't always see the results on the scale, especially if you're adding muscle! I didn't see results for quite a long time but I went down another size at the same weight when I started pumping iron! So far, I've gone from a size 10 to a 4!
Best wishes!

 

[Matt2]

Lots of good info. Here's my two cents worth.

Your not eating enough calories.
You need to change your exercise regimen every 4 weeks because our bodies adjust to it and the benefits will be marginal unless you switch things out.
Do you do any strength training? I would add that if you're not.
Try new types of exercise to keep it fresh and interesting!


You need to eat within 30 minutes of a workout. Good carbs will keep you off the sugar rollercoaster. Wheat crackers and string cheese are good.

I'm sure you've read the studies of not eating breakfast. You need to fuel your body after a 7-8 hr sleep with no nurishment.
Oatmeal with chopped apples and some walnuts is a yummy and FILLING way to start off. Or just have a banana or wheat toast with peanut butter before your workout and save the oatmeal for after.

Subscribe to a men's health and fitness magazine. There's always a ton of info to really help you.

You won't always see the results on the scale, especially if you're adding muscle! I didn't see results for quite a long time but I went down another size at the same weight when I started pumping iron! So far, I've gone from a size 10 to a 4!
Best wishes!

I do some strength training, yeah, boxing and weight lifting, as well as pectoral muscular exercises with one of those latex exercise bands.

I know that not eating breakfast is bad, but I just don't seem hungry in the morning. Additionally, it just seems like eating extra calories which are unneeded, I always manage fine without breakfast.

I can't subscribe to any magazines because I don't have any money/a job at the mo'; so I just go off what I see on websites I feel I can trust.

I'm actually fairly muscular and well built, my structure was large to begin with, even when I was thin. I know that muscle weighs more than fat, but how long does it take to gain muscle, and how much of it will I gain?

Thanks very much for the help, and congratz on losing all that weight :-D!

 

[allyphoe]

At this point, I wouldn't worry about breakfast. I only recently started eating breakfast; I've found the need for it to be a side effect of being thinner, rather than a driver of being thinner.

If your loss slows down, and you're looking for something to change, you might try reconfiguring your meals to include breakfast. But I'd stick with the changes that you've made so far until they stop getting you where you want. No need to change everything at once.

 

[gymchica]

1000 calories is WAY too low. Most people can lose weight using 8-10x their body weight which would put you at 1960-2450 calories per day. You also want to make sure you are getting plenty of protein to help you preserve the muscle mass you have, otherwise a lot of the changes on the scale will be from a loss of muscle.

Do you do do any weight training?? That'd definitely be a great addition to your walking. It'll help you keep the muscle you have, and you'll also burn extra calories just from lifting the weights.

Please read the nutrition stickies though! I don't want to sound harsh, but I think you're setting yourself up for failure by eating so little.

 

[Matt2]

1000 calories is WAY too low. Most people can lose weight using 8-10x their body weight which would put you at 1960-2450 calories per day. You also want to make sure you are getting plenty of protein to help you preserve the muscle mass you have, otherwise a lot of the changes on the scale will be from a loss of muscle.

Do you do do any weight training?? That'd definitely be a great addition to your walking. It'll help you keep the muscle you have, and you'll also burn extra calories just from lifting the weights.

Please read the nutrition stickies though! I don't want to sound harsh, but I think you're setting yourself up for failure by eating so little.

Ahh, so that's the side effects. Yes, I do weight lifting, boxing, and sit ups in addition to my walks.

Are you sure 2,000 calories isn't too much? :-S I do eat quite a bit of protein (a lot of the meals I buy are chicken e.t.c), but I'm not sure if it's enough.

I was always under the impression that your body will burn your fat before it moves on to muscle, why is it the other way around? Surely energy that you stored before in the form of fat would be really good for using.... when you need more energy . Why muscle first?

I mean, 2,000 calories is a lot to eat, are you sure this is going to fail? :-/ I'll go read the nutrition stickies, the last thing I want to do is harm to my body.

Thanks very much for the post, much appreciated!

 

[Adam4tvs]

Gotta love conflicting information huh? Everyones body is different. My regiment is simple:

Exercise bike for 30 minutes with pushups/situps (alternating days) every 5 minutes. I do this before I eat a meal, period. Not for the calories i burn but simply to boost my metabolism throughout the day.

Eat 1200 calories a day.

End of story. Lost 27 pounds so far. Works great for me. I keep up the workout because its so short and easy to do. I've been at it 58 days. Maintaining is as simple as keeping up the routine and adding a few more calories.

That's me. For my body size (I'm smaller than you) 1200 calories is fine. Im not hungry. I eat rice/veggies/chicken - that kind of stuff. People will tell you white rice is the devil, carbs are evil, you HAVE to eat breakfast, you HAVE to have this many calories - BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. Your body is your body. I think you could get the same results eating 1750 calories and only doing 30 minutes of cardio. Throw in the push-ups and sit-ups and you'll be fine.

But what do I know right?

 

[gymchica]

Ahh, so that's the side effects. Yes, I do weight lifting, boxing, and sit ups in addition to my walks.

Are you sure 2,000 calories isn't too much? :-S I do eat quite a bit of protein (a lot of the meals I buy are chicken e.t.c), but I'm not sure if it's enough.

I was always under the impression that your body will burn your fat before it moves on to muscle, why is it the other way around? Surely energy that you stored before in the form of fat would be really good for using.... when you need more energy . Why muscle first?

I mean, 2,000 calories is a lot to eat, are you sure this is going to fail? :-/ I'll go read the nutrition stickies, the last thing I want to do is harm to my body.

Thanks very much for the post, much appreciated!

For your size 2000 calories shouldn't be too much especially if you're exercising regularly. However, as you lose weight your body will require less calories so that is always something to remember and think about.

Okay I'm only semi-knowledgable on this, but I'm going to try to explain it the best way I can. There are definitely other people on here who can explain it much better, and I know it's been explained in previous posts so you can always search for it. Anyway, your body will burn fat and muscle at the same time. It doesn't JUST burn fat so when trying to lose weight it is SO important to consider how you're going to maintain your muscle.

Your body requires a lot of energy to maintain it's muscle, and if you're in a deficit, there isn't much energy to spare. If you are not actively using your muscles (ie: strength training) your body sees no reason to keep using it's scarce energy to maintain a muscle that isn't even really being used. Slowly but surely the muscle will get smaller and a person will lose a lot of strength.

There is tons of stuff regarding protein on these boards so I'd do a search if I were you because I don't think I'd be able to explain it well enough, but making sure you're eating enough is VERY important!

Good luck though with your goals! Weight loss can be pretty confusing and there is tons of wrong/contradicting information out there. Just do some research and ask as many questions as you need to because losing weight the RIGHT way is completely worth ALL the time spent figuring out what the right way is.

 

[Matt2]

For your size 2000 calories shouldn't be too much especially if you're exercising regularly. However, as you lose weight your body will require less calories so that is always something to remember and think about.

Okay I'm only semi-knowledgable on this, but I'm going to try to explain it the best way I can. There are definitely other people on here who can explain it much better, and I know it's been explained in previous posts so you can always search for it. Anyway, your body will burn fat and muscle at the same time. It doesn't JUST burn fat so when trying to lose weight it is SO important to consider how you're going to maintain your muscle.

Your body requires a lot of energy to maintain it's muscle, and if you're in a deficit, there isn't much energy to spare. If you are not actively using your muscles (ie: strength training) your body sees no reason to keep using it's scarce energy to maintain a muscle that isn't even really being used. Slowly but surely the muscle will get smaller and a person will lose a lot of strength.

There is tons of stuff regarding protein on these boards so I'd do a search if I were you because I don't think I'd be able to explain it well enough, but making sure you're eating enough is VERY important!

Good luck though with your goals! Weight loss can be pretty confusing and there is tons of wrong/contradicting information out there. Just do some research and ask as many questions as you need to because losing weight the RIGHT way is completely worth ALL the time spent figuring out what the right way is.

Thanks! That makes a LOT more sense now. I used to do weight lifting around 2 years ago, so I started it again 2 days ago, so my muscles should maintain themselves. I also used to play a lot of rugby, and still do, so my muscles are very precious to me, lol.

I ate some Pesto pasta today with some salad and low fat/calorie dressing, which is something I usually wouldn't eat (I would have eaten my Lean Cuisine meals) so hopefully those extra calories won't make me gain wait.

At any rate, I try not to think about day-to-day weigh ins, but weekly or monthly e.t.c.

Thanks for all the help!