Eating less, but losing less weight?

bigpinkelephant

Hi all,
I am 22, female, 5' 9" or so.
I started a new lifestyle change on 1st September. I was eating crap, not getting any exercise and had put on 2 stone in about a year and a half. I was a huge emotional eater, I also ate because I was bored, and I was a sugar junkie. I was easily eating 3000 calories a day. I would have no breakfast in the morning, then a big muffin about 10am. Lunch would be either white bread and white cheese sandwiches (700 cals), lasagne and chips, or McDonald's. At home I might eat an entire chocolate cake (1300 cals), a Tesco pizza (800 cals) and countless crisps.

I decided I wanted to do something about this as the weight was creeping up and I couldn't fit in my jeans anymore, and I decided I wanted to go from 168 pounds down to 140.
It was very hard to eat the right things at first. I usually went over my 1500 calorie limit and was still starving! I was doing at least 45 mins cardio a day- walking during lunch break, dancing to the iPod every night.
In the first 10 days, I lost 8 pounds.

In the past week or so, I find that I am nowhere near as hungry. I am now often eating maybe less than 1000 calories a day as I am just not hungry. I think I have shrunk my stomach, or maybe it is not that I am not hungry just no longer having sugar cravings!
I eat well- big bowl of porridge in the morning, chicken and salad (lettuce, carrots, cucumber) at lunch, skinless chicken breast with 3 roast potatoes and peas at dinner, popcorn, an apple or sugar free jelly as a snack.
The junk food is no longer attractive and I no longer eat because I am depressed or bored. I ate a Mars Bar last night and I had to force myself to finish it.
However in the past week my weight has stayed at 160 pounds. Also I have lost maybe a quarter of an inch off my hips but nothing off my waist or legs.

I have attached graphs of my calorie intake since Sept 1st, and my weight loss.

What am I doing wrong???

I am really hoping I am not in starvation mode but surely I would be hungry if I was???

rubadub

bigpinkelephant wrote: »

I started a new lifestyle change on 1st September....

In the first 10 days, I lost 8 pounds....

However in the past week my weight has stayed at 160 pounds.

So in 16 days you lost 8lbs, 0.5lb per day! 4lb per week when it is recommended no more than 1-2lb per week, especially for somebody like you who is not so big in the first place.

Forget the first weighin, I am just over 12stone and can flucuate 1/4-1/2stone in 24hrs depending on hydration levels.

You are not eating enough and are going to screw up your metabolism

bigpinkelephant wrote: »

I am really hoping I am not in starvation mode but surely I would be hungry if I was???

Your body gets used to having no calories, you will not be hungry since it is your bodys way of coping with this "false famine" ordeal that you are putting yourself through. I went to 1800kcal a day and found myself having to remind myself to eat. You do get less hungry, that is a good thing, but you still have to eat!!!


You can figure out your needs here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=50956807&postcount=4

bigpinkelephant

rubadub wrote: »

Forget the first weighin, I am just over 12stone and can flucuate 1/4-1/2stone in 24hrs depending on hydration

That's strange, I only fluctuate maybe 1 or 2 pounds in a day.

jim o doom

There is a very straight forward reason for this; When you lower your calorific intake to a certain amount, and it does not fluctuate much or at all - your body will lower it's requirements to the level you are using.

The best way to diet, is to eat healthily, as you currently are; and eat a lower amount than what is normal for your body size 6 days a week, pick one day to treat yourself, and eat considerably more on that day; when you do this your body goes out of "famine" mode and will increase your metabolism - then when you diet for the next week, you are burning calories at a higher rate and losing more weight. You should take how many calories you should be eating during each day and multiply by 7; each day you eat count the calories together, on your "treat day" dont eat unhealthy foods. just eat more of the healthy foods you have started eating recently; however the amount of calories from your diet days combined with your treat day should be a couple of hundred (i.e. 200 or so) less than what your recommended intake would be. If you are training a lot you can increase your calorific intake significantly!

You should also try different exercises, as there are sets of exercises that can also help to increase your metabolic rate; I only know weight lifting exercises that do this, so they might not be much use to you!

Xiney

The first giant losses were water weight, specifically the water that is stored with your glycogen stores.

Your body stores excess carbohydrates in the form of glycogen. This glycogen store can weigh just over a pound. It will also store 3 pounds of water with every pound of glycogen, so once you start on a caloric deficit, you will immediately lose your energy stores, which is 4 pounds.

If you are not exercising, I would start. That's the only way to keep your metabolism fast, by building muscle. Cardio is good, but weight training will really start burning the calories: this is because the treadmill only gives you credit for the time you're on it. Muscles use more calories just by being there. Since the body will cannibalise muscle as well as fat to keep itself going when it's starving (which is what a calorie deficit diet is) you need to tell your body to leave the muscle and focus on the fat by using the muscle. Otherwise, the body says, oh hey, this abdominal muscle is just lying around here... I'll eat it. Tell it to eat your spare tire instead, you need those abs for all the sit ups you're gonna be doing

bigpinkelephant

OK...many thanks for your replies...think i understand them!

So when I am strength training, will my body only not "eat" the muscles I am training, or will it be all over?

Say if I work my abs- will my abs be OK but the rest of my muscles will be "eaten" by my body?

I measured myself again last night and I have lost an inch off my hips. Want to lose 2 dress sizes all together. I am a 14 now and want to get down to a 10.

rubadub

bigpinkelephant wrote: »

That's strange, I only fluctuate maybe 1 or 2 pounds in a day.

Same here, but I can go a lot more. As mentioned a lot of the initial loss is just water/fluids. I drink a lot so can get dehydrated with an empty stomach. I could then drink 3 litres in the morning which would instantly by 3kilos more, almost 7lb.

bigpinkelephant wrote: »

So when I am strength training, will my body only not "eat" the muscles I am training, or will it be all over?

Say if I work my abs- will my abs be OK but the rest of my muscles will be "eaten" by my body?

There is no real reason to be just working one body part. You can do compound movements like squats which incorporate a huge array of muscles. If you did just bicep curls they would anything for your legs. I would not bother with situps if you are stuck for time. Stick to big movements. Squats, pushups, check out www.simplefit.org if you are not in a gym. When you are stronger you could get a chinup bar at home. I can put a towel around the railings on my landing over the stairs. I doubt you could manage a pullup, but even just hanging from a towel would work your muscles. If you cannot manage many pushups do them on your knees, or up against a wall. When you can do more than 12 body squats in a row pick up some books or a big bottle of coke or a bag of something, or just get weights straight off. Also check out www.exrx.net

Xiney

You should be working out as many muscles as possible - losing muscle is a sure fire way of regaining the weight you've lost since losing muscle leads to a reduction in metabolism.

As the PP has mentioned, there are compound movements that incorporate many muscles at once, thus giving you more bang for your buck.

bigpinkelephant

I am slipping from my healthy lifestyle plan!!!

I can easily only eat 800 calories in a day and not be hungry.
In order to prevent going into "starvation mode" I have been making myself eat when not hungry just to get more calories in. The most calories I have eaten in the past few days is 1100 in one day.
Unfortunately making myself eat when I am not hungry has re-ignited my old way of eating out of habit or boredom. Also some of the things I have been eating are things like Jaffa cakes, so my sugar addiction is coming back. I am also hungrier during the day, which isn't good. The only food available to me during the day, aside from my packed lunch, is vending machine fodder

I am also exercising less- my first week of my plan, I burned about 2500 calories during exercise. This wek so far, I have only burned about 400.

I feel like a pig now. I was happy to have got rid of my boredom-eating habit but it is creeping back.

I keep telling myself I am going for a walk in the evening but I am so tired when I come home from work and before I know it it's dark.

bigpinkelephant

Anyone???

I have only lost half a pound since last Friday... I am exercising a lot less than I was the first week or so but am doing more now...but I am struggling to meet maybe 1100 calories a day- I just feel like a pig if I eat more than that at this stage.

g'em

bigpinkelephant wrote: »

I have only lost half a pound since last Friday...

1. You're obsessed with the scales. Quit it. Your scale-weight is not the be-all-and-end-all of looking good. Stop dictating your relationship with food according to what numbers you read when you step on them.

bigpinkelephant wrote:

I am exercising a lot less than I was the first week or so but am doing more now...

Good, exercise not only helps with weight loss, it also helps keep your mind and your body active, reducing the chance you'll resort to boredom eating. IT will give you a snse of satisfaction and well-being that will further help curb cravings.

bigpinkelephant wrote:

but I am struggling to meet maybe 1100 calories a day- I just feel like a pig if I eat more than that at this stage.

You are starving yourself, simple as. This is why you aren't losing weight.

At 5'9" in height and in or around 160lbs in weight you need at least 1700 calories a day to keep yourself functioning normally - and that's not even your maintenance needs, that's dieting.

You are undereating, which is causes your body to react by craving carbohydrate-rich, nutrient-void junk food - quick release energy with no redeeming features.

Stop. Thinking. About. Dieting.

Easier said than done, I know, but here's the thing: the more you stress over it, the less it's gong to happen.

You stress, your cortisol increases, your body holds onto fat.

You stress, you reduce your calories too severely, your body holds onto fat.

You stress, you feel lethargic and haven't the motivation to exercise, you eat junk, your body holds onto fat.

You forget about the word 'diet' and instead you make eating your required calories each day a priority. You eat foods that have lots of nutritional value in them (lean meats, nuts, seeds, buckets of vegetables) and you exercise, and hey presto, you will lose weight.

Cutting out crap and ignoring the scales for a couple of weeks are the absolute best tactics you can employ right now to help your quest.

It's not easy, but it's got to be done. Undereating wholefoods and overeating crap are only making your life a lot more difficult than it needs to be right now. There's looooooads of info in the stickies to help so feed your mind and then feed your body