Am I in starvation, or just stopped losing?

I've struggled with losing the last 20lbs or so I want to make it to my goal of 130lbs. I eat about 1500 cals a day, I track religiously on Sparkpeople, and I exercise, cardio only really, an average 40 mins a day 6 days per week, usually 1 hour on the weekends, but for the sake of arguement, its an average of 40 mins 6 days per week.  According to several BMR calculators, my BMR is about 1400 cals...does this mean I'm burning in day nearly what I eat, and is this why I"m not really losing any more weight? Is there some other explanation? I will be 18 mos out on the 28th  of this month, so I was thinking maybe the window is closing. Any insight would be helpful...and for the record, I know I need to add strenght training to my routine, I just haven't gotten focused enough to do it yet! I also get in over 100oz of water daily. Thanks for any insight Kelli

BAsically yes. You need to eat 100 calories less a day than you burn to loose one pound every couple of weeks. If you are eating more than you burn you will not loose.

YOu might want to consider adding strenght training to your work out.. muscles increase metabolism and that increases the amount you can eat cause muscle burns more calories than fat does. It is considered the single more important thing in weight loss and maintance. I like cardio too but I do do strenght training 3 days a week to increase my muscles and improve my metabolism..

Just my humble opinion. good luck

So are you saying I"m eating too much? The BMR doesnt' include calories burned from my cardio, so shouldn't I be losing weight?

Well you would think that would be be true.. I know that I was told to eat about 1200 calories a day and I work out 10 plus hours a week over 5 days.. strenght training included.. I didnt loose weight when I ate that much but maintained.. when I went back down to 1000 and 1100 the scale started moving.

My wls doc said that to maintain i need to eat about 1300 calories a day. He did say it may need adjusting because of exercise, but so far I havent done it. I always try and work out 1000 extra calories a day than I eat. for instance..

Monday.. elliptical 40 minutes.. step areobics 1 hours.. supersets 1 hour.. estimated calories burned... 1000. I will eat maybe 1000 to 1100 on that day.

Days I work out less.. i eat less cause those days you are not burning as many calories as before. Remember you are not doing strenght training so you have not got the muscle strenght to increase your metabolism from muscles.. you only loose for cardio and regular living... You really do need to add strenght traiing in your program.. you will start seeing a difference.. I promise.. the muscles will burn the calories even when you are not working out unlike cardio that only does it when u are working out.

Holy Cow!! Is it just me or does it seem like its almost impossible!?! I dont have the time to work out hours a day to burn off the little that I eat...so what is starvation mode then? According to different calculators, I need 2300 cals to maintain my weight, so I still am not understanding how I'm not losing when I'm not even close to 2300 cals a day. This is driving me crazy! Thanks for your input, I really do appreciate it!

Hi Kelli I'm far more with Earl on this one. Try increasing lean protein daily and adding more exercise. When you get the weight resistance stuff into your week, try walking or other cardio even 20 minutes more each day top get to one hour daily average. And, like you, my body and the calculators online are waaaaay out of balance.  They say the same for me, I should be able to eat 2000 calories a day - NOT!  You have to go by what works, or doesn't work, for your body. 1200 caloires a day should be the very lowest a person should go. Sounds like you are on a plateau. I would do what I could to vary between 1200-1500 most days. Also, try dividing your caloric intake by 4-5 mini-meals every day to tease your metabolism.  We all know that the closer to goal, the rougher the water! You look amazing, so please do enjoy that for yourself.

Hi Kelli,

 

 

I started to write a short reply, but it struck a nerve and since I’m at work and bored out of my mind, it got a little long. I think I’ll clean it up a little and have Jeremy post this in my article section.

 

 

Anyway…

 

 

The way my nutritionist likes to describe it, your metabolism is like a furnace. The furnace (metabolism) needs fuel (calories) to provide heat (energy) and work efficiently (burn more calories). If you don’t provide enough fuel (calories) your furnace (metabolism) will not burn as efficiently (burns less calories). In other words sometimes you have to eat more to lose more fat.

 

 

I know I’m not politically correct here, but women fall into the trap more often than not, of starving themselves on lettuce and celery, to the point their metabolism shuts down. Your body loves to adapt and if it thinks you’re starving yourself it will slow down the metabolism to conserve what it has left. Plus, as you lose you’re smaller and burning fewer calories while doing the same activity. You burn more calories walking a mile when you weigh 250 pounds than you do when you weigh only 150 pounds. It just takes less energy to move the mass now.

 

 

I’ve been told, many times, you need a minimum of 1200 calories just to get the basic nutrients you need to be healthy. So I don’t think you’re going overboard with 1500 calories a day. But your metabolism has probably slowed down.

 

 

So how do you jack up your metabolism to burn more fuel (calories)?

 

 

1. Increase your protein. Women especially, almost never eat enough protein. If your goal weight is 130 pounds I think you should be getting a minimum of 100 to 130 grams of protein a day. Protein only has 4 calories a gram, so that’s only 400 to 520 calories from protein sources. Especially if you start resistance training, I’d bump that up to the high end. It takes more energy to burn protein than carbohydrates and as a bonus, protein increases satiety, so you’re less hungry.

    

 

2. Eat more frequent meals. Your metabolism gets jacked up when you eat. Digestion burns calories believe it or not, especially if it’s a protein meal. It’s generally recommended to eat 5 or 6 small meals a day spaced out every 2 to 3 hours. I’m not saying eat 6 big meals a day. Take your total calories for the day and divide it by 6. Just to make the math easy, say you decide to take in 1800 calories a day, divided by 6 meals equal 300 calories per meal. You don’t have to be exactly 300 calories per meal. You might be a 400 calorie breakfast and a 200 calorie protein drink 2 or 3 hours later. Eating like this does a lot of things. It stabilizes your blood sugar so you don’t have energy swings, you’ll be less hungry from the frequent feedings and it increases your metabolism so you’re burning more total calories throughout the day.

    

 

3. Do your cardio…every day. I think you’re doing ok in this area but you didn’t say anything about what intensity you’re doing your cardio at. There’s a big difference in taking a stroll for 40 minutes and running for 40 minutes.

    

 

4. Start some kind of resistance training at least 2 or 3 days a week. First, you’ll burn calories while you’re doing it. Then you’re also burning more calories throughout the day as you build more muscle.

    

 

How much extra skin do you have? There are people that had plastic surgery after WLS that have had almost zero body fat under all the extra skin. That last 20 pounds might be all extra skin. Get some kind of body fat percentage testing done. None of them are 100% accurate, especially for someone that’s lost a lot of weight and has extra skin.  But it will give you a guideline.

 

 

How many calories should you be taking in? If you’re holding steady with 1500 calories, that’s a good place to start, just start some of the steps I listed above. I think you’ll find you’ll be able to increase your calories above 1500.

 

 

Will working out for hours and hours to burn more calories help? Sure. Most people don’t have the time or desire to do that though. I lost 100 pounds in 3 months in High School by basically working out 6 hours a day. It can be done, but most people can’t keep that up and have a life too.

 

 

Finally, I’m not a big fan of these arbitrary goal weights people pull out of the air. Maybe 130 pounds isn’t a reasonable goal for you. I don’t know. But don’t think for a second you’re a failure because you haven’t reached that arbitrary goal. Look how far you’ve come and how I’m sure it’s changed your life for the better.

 

 

Good luck to you.

 

 

Earl

Earl, Thanks so much for your insight and advice!! I dont want to sound like I'm ungrateful for what I have accomplished, and the gift I've been given b/c  I'm not, and the goal, as you said, is completely arbitrary...my doc never gave me one, its just what I wanted b/c I use to weigh that at one time.  As far as the intensity of my cardio, I make sure my heart rate is at least 75% at all times, and I do vary my intensity and the workouts throughout the week. I know I need to do strenght training, I keep saying I"m gonna start, and well, to be honest that is the one thing I do half-a**ed. I kinda hit and miss with it. I do not go to a gym, I bought a gym quality ellipitical and recumbent bike for my home, that way I actually use it, and I also bought resistance bands, but I just cant seem to get into using them. I may break down and join a gym just for the weight machines. AS far as skin, I thinks its ALOT, but my PS said maybe 6 to 10lbs when all is said and done. I have a lbl and thighplasty scheduled for May 15th,so I guess I know more at that time. I know I dont get the amount of protein in you suggested. I get at least 60g, but probably no where near 100 or more. I can't do shakes, as they really hurt my stomach, but I do supplemet with the IDS protein bullets, but not daily...maybe I should do them daily as an added boost, that would probably help. Honestly, I'm not trying to starve myself, I was told to keep my cals around 1500, and that usually satisfies me, some days I eat a little more, so a little less...somedays I feel like all I do is eat, and other days I have to remind myself to eat, funny huh....I was thinking maybe I needed to up the calories due to the cardio....according to various programs, I burn about 400 to 650 cals depending on what I've done and for how long...I never use the machines calorie count b/c I find it is not accurate, nor is their heart rate monitor, so I do it the old fashioned way. Anyway, thanks for all the info, and I will try some of your suggestions and see how I progress. Thanks for taking the time to respond!

Hiya Kelli,      We have really similar stats.  I also try not to eat more than 1,500 calories/day and weigh just a hair more than you.  But I'm averaging a 2 pound/week weight loss.  It sounds like your calories and water intake aren't too bad, but I wonder if changing your exercise a bit isn't the answer.      I lose weight the best when I eat some protein at 6:00 am (my calories are spread between 6 snacks each day to keep my metabolism running) and then immediately do my treadmill for 50-55 minutes (7 days a week).  I carry 3# handweights and do arm exercises the whole time.  I also keep my heart rate at 80-85% of max all the time except for the warm-up/cool down.  This really gets your metabolism jump started for the day.  When you do your cardio, what's your heart rate at?      Also, if my weight loss seems sluggish, I eat something naughty, or just get bloated, then I'll throw in the same cardio session before bedtime occasionally.  Your metabolic rate will run faster for hours after a good cardio session, so you can actually burn some good calories even after you go lie down to sleep.      For variety, I do try to go to the gym twice a week so I can use different equipment (my middle daughter goes to Sylvan twice a week for 2 hours, so I use that time).  I use their elliptical, their recumbent bike, and their upright bike for cardio.  In between I sandwich 6 different machines in the weight room (25-50 reps on each depending on which machine it is).  I think those 2 days help shock my body back into weight loss mode.      Anyway, good luck on finding some changes which will jumpstart your weight loss.