Big weight loss project: How am I doing? Why have I plateaued?

[SnowCountry]

My weight has been creeping (or perhaps, zooming?) up the last couple years, for a variety of reasons. Well, my doctor would say it's going up because I'm eating to much and not exercising enough. Finally, as I started to outgrow my size 38 pants, I decided to do something about it. At the start of a month long business trip, I really started to watch what I eat to ensure I was on a 2000 calorie diet and also started working out 5-7 days at the hotel fitness center.

Upon returning home, I've continued working out. I do 45 minutes a day on the elliptical 5 days a week, burning 3000 calories. I'm continuing to try to my caloric intake, hoping to achieve 2000 to 2200 calories a day. My primary method is to eat more salads, switched from Ranch dressing to Vingrettes, limited amount of calorie laden food, and eating more vegetables.

My starting weight was 240 pounds. My final goal is 165 pounds, or a 75 pound weight loss target. I've lost about 13 to 15 pounds, and am sitting at around 226 right now. However, my weight loss seems to have plateaued and I haven't lost weight the last couple weeks. Since I have continued to work out, and don't think I have overconsumed on calories very often, I'm a little puzzled as to whether I need to worry about this or whether I'll resume losing weight pretty soon.

I would appreciate your constructive comments, suggestions, and feedback.

I've posted my weight chart below in case you're interested. The top line is my weight, the horizontal line is my first target (209 pounds or the overweight / obese boundary for my height).

 

[RuleMiHa]

Read the book "The Obesity Code" by Jason Fung. It will give you an interesting answer to your questions.

 

[mdf]

I think that is too soon to call it a plateau. As long as you oscillate around a good trend line, you are fine.
This is 5 years of my weight. Two of exponential decay, followed by 3 years of not doing so well.
It is remarkable (and discouraging, for the later section) how consistent the underlying trend line is.

But the moral for you is how meaningless short-term bounces of two or three pounds are.

 

[Jim McDonald]

Don't eat after 7pm.

 

[PTskier]

Weight loss is part mystery, part science, part folk lore. There are plenty of true stories of how weight rebounds for reasons science is still trying to explain.

Here's one approach...medical center weight loss clinics that combine the latest science from medical providers, dieticians, physical fitness pros, psychologists, and perhaps surgery. http://www.uwmedicine.org/services/weight-loss-management https://www.virginiamason.org/weight-loss

Diet, long term permanent diet, not a quick reducing diet, makes the most difference.

Every type of sweetener stimulates appetite. Reject all sweeteners including artificial sweeteners. Reject all refined carbohydrates...white flour products, etc. Eat protein and fruit at breakfast, maybe 1/3 to 1/2 protein and the rest fruit and/or vegetables. No grains after awakening--the body is ready for omega-3s, not omega-6s from grains.* The rest of the day eat 1/3rd protein and white potatoes and 2/3rds by volume (your good estimate on your plate is OK) deeply colored fresh fruits and vegetables. Don't starve yourself; the data is clear that this does not work.

A Duke University study showed that diet is always number one. Next is cardio exercise following strength training. Strength training is good, cardio exercise is good, and cardio following strength works best. Exercise is important for health, but doesn't necessarily result in weight loss.

Eat smart. Exercise smart.

*This worked very well for us: http://toquietinflammation.com/

 

[Eleeski]

If you buy light equipment, it never gets heavier. And it never judges you if you have that second beer.

Except that darn titanium hip weighs 5 pounds. Should have gotten lighter medical equipment. That's my explanation for the 5 pounds I can't lose.

Eric

 

[Fishbowl]

More advice from a parallel universe;

You exercise to build muscle and burn calories - the extra muscle increases your resting metabolic rate - an increased resting metabolic rate makes you hungry - exercise makes you hungry - hunger makes you store fat - storing fat makes you burn muscle - your metabolic rate goes back down - you loose then plateau - the weight you lose will be rapidly regained - you are miserably hungry, all the time

Base your diet around the amount and kinds of food you eat.

Exercise for fitness not caloric debt.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

I hear you with the plateau frustration. I am in year two and have lost a total of twenty pounds. I started at 152 and I am circling 132. I call it circling because it’s not really a plateau-!it’s a rebalancing spot. Hang in there, keep doing what’s right and you will move down again. But be ready, these spots occur. On a side note ... if it gets too frustrating, take a cheat meal. It will set you back 1-2 lbs but you will lose those quickly the week after. You will be back at the same stuck spot in 3 days.
I plan to have a cheeseburger and French fries this weekend!

 

[Blue Streak]

Get different parents - and grandparents - and great grandparents

 

[Blue Streak]

No grains after awakening

How do you eat when you are asleep?
Maybe that's why I am so fat

 

[Blue Streak]

Read the book "The Obesity Code" by Jason Fung. It will give you an interesting answer to your questions.

Very interesting book. I just bought it on your recommendation. Thanks

 

[RuleMiHa]

Very interesting book. I just bought it on your recommendation. Thanks

Absolutely exploded my brain. Turned everything I thought I knew upside down.

 

[SugarCube]

Don't eat after 7pm.

This. My trainer swears by 12-hour fasts, and it worked for me. I don't usually eat past 7 p.m., get up the next morning at 4:15, eat b-fast, and am at the gym at 5:00. The type of calories you eat matter too. Everyone's metabolism is different. Big fan of "cheat day" too. Then back to clean eating. Drink lots of water. LOTS of water. Watch the booze and soda...empty calories. Eat more frequently... 5-6 little meals versus 3 bigger meals. I dropped 13 pounds doing this and didn't feel crappy or starving while doing it. It's hard work but so worth it. Good luck!

 

[Varmintmist]

You are 3 months in, you plateaued because you are exercising muscles that havent been moving for a while and they are growing a bit. Just keep plugging, it will start shifting again once the new muscle needs food and starts using fat again. I was about 275-280, not a blob but over where I should be, I bought a treadmill in Jan. I dropped 13 pretty quick, then leveled out for a month or two. It started coming off again until I messed my knee up this summer. I managed to hold sub 250 and right now I am still getting back to regular workouts. I was shooting for 230 by mid Aug because with my frame I will look pretty darn good as a 53 year old, but now I hope to hit that by mid Jan.

 

[neonorchid]

I hear you with the plateau frustration. I am in year two and have lost a total of twenty pounds. I started at 152 and I am circling 132.

I plan to have a cheeseburger and French fries this weekend!

 

[wyowindrunner]

No grains after awakening--the body is ready for omega-3s, not omega-6s from grains.*

Is this exclusive to weight loss? The late Dr. George Sheehan in his book "Running to Win", cites South African Dr.Timothy Stokes in several examples of low blood sugar and depleted liver glycogen. Liver glycogen (sugar) is consumed always, running, sleeping, whatever. The liver awakens in glycogen debt and you need to pay if off! The simplest way to do this is with a carbohydrate-centered breakfast-whole grains. Grabbing the first three Running books off the shelf, George Sheehan's Running to Win, Bill Rodgers and Pricilla Welch's Masters Running and Racing, and Runners World, the Complete Book of Running, they all say the same basic thing.

Upon returning home, I've continued working out. I do 45 minutes a day on the elliptical 5 days a week, burning 3000 calories.

To me it sound like you body has adapted to the routine you have placed upon it and reached a point of homeostasis. In the Rodgers and Welch book, Physiologists K.E.Chad and H.A.Wenger from the University of Victoria in B.C., found that weight loss is related to distance and not speed. In a nutshell, using a stationary bike they found that O2 consumption doubled in an hour vs. a half hour. But the metabolic effects are are greatly different. The subjects who engaged in half hour sessions showed a higher than resting metabolic rate of roughly two hours. The subjects with the hour workouts showed an increase of 350 % for a period of seven and one half hours. The Dr.'s concluded that for weight loss goals, training three days a week an hour at a time was superior to six half hour efforts. Might be worth a try.
I

 

[Dwight]

To keep it simple, lift heavy objects, eat only real food. Cardio only does very little.

Go all in on this website, https://www.marksdailyapple.com/ Definitely can help.

Do as say, not as I do.

 

[Wilhelmson]

I was going to make some suggestions but maybe consulting an expert would provide the proper recommendations that are suitable for your particular situation. Perhaps slowly increase the intensity and duration of your workout.

 

[crgildart]

Get different parents - and grandparents - and great grandparents

And smoke cigarettes..

 

[Seldomski]

First phase of exercise is training the muscles you have already to fire efficiently. Basically recruiting the muscle fibers you already have to help in the workout task. During this time, you may burn some fat without building much new muscle.

Initially, your exercise is inefficient, so you burn more calories. Later, your body learns to become more efficient and will do the exercise as lazy as it can. So even though you are doing the same reps, the calorie per rep goes down. It goes down because you are more skilled at the motion (i.e. lazy) and because you have lost weight (moving less mass = less energy required).

So, you need to amp up or change your workouts in some way to challenge your better body. Watch your calories and beware of thinking you can eat more because you worked out. This is the trap that keeps you from losing even more weight. As you build more muscle and lose fat, the net effect may be that you gain lbs. Don't worry about lbs, worry about how your clothes fit (i.e. inches).