This is kind of similar to the broken scale post - how to break a stall?

I've been eating about 1000 calories/day since 11/6/07 and I've lost 113 (374->261), but for the last several weeks I don't seem to be moving. I've increased my activity level - joined a gym and am mainly just doing 20 minutes of elliptical + some light abs/shoulder/back workout. Nothing to cause a lot of muscle mass building or water retention. I log every bite I eat and no day has been above 1100 calories for months.

My sodium level is below what I've been eating for most of the diet. I was losing about 4 lbs/week on average and just hit a wall. Suggestions?

Thanks -

tom

Eating 1000 calories did indeed most likely canabolize your Lean Body Mass, reducing your metabolism. You should eat to your BMR and the weight loss will happen again, but you'll have to wait out your metabolism fixing itself.  PM me if you want more info.

Try not to get too discouraged.  You can continue this journey. Two thoughts from someone who has broken a plateau that lasted several months... and lots of short term plateaus over the years.

1) Look at what that 1000 cal is made up of.  I finally kicked some more weight by eliminating carbs like rice/pasta/bread with my dinner and having more meat and veg instead.

2) Intensity.  I upped the intensity of the workout.  I would do interval type workouts- fast bits then slow it down... fast bit again then slow it down.  This seems to kick your metabolism into gear from everything I read.

 

Remember, as you loose weight you actually need to workout MORE to lose weight since your body now weighs less.  Some muscles are good- as they raise your metabolism.  Might be worth having a fitness reassessment- as weight as a number is less important than overall fitness.

Let us know how you go.

Em

First, in terms of eating my BMR, if I'd stayed at that calorie intake level, my weight loss would have been so slow that I would have been strongly pressured into a bypass. The doctors were recommending against lapband in favor of bypass to increase the rate of loss. I've totally fixed 2 of 3 weight related health issues, but there is one left.

I think a bypass is a fine tool to those that need it, but I'm hoping that I can do this with simple consumption & exercise management plus assistance from Acomplia. I was planning to increase my calorie intake after losing 11 more pounds, to try to slowly lose another 30 over the next year.

On the carbs - the only major carbs I eat now are 40-80 calories of whole wheat pita bread and 320 calories of optifast - one shake for breakfast, one shake for after dinner snack. I've tried to eat oatmeal or other high fiber carbs and I just get too hungry later in the day when I do that. Plain chicken breast, plain fish, steamed veggies, nonfat cottage cheese and salads are my entire diet.

The workout is likely key. I was fortunate that I was able to lose over 100 pounds without significant exercise. That free ride appears to be over.

Thanks for the thoughts.

yup, yup, tom!  All sources i read say that the heavier a person is, the safer and in fact is recommended to lose weight faster than not. The extra weight is doing grave damage. The only argment I see in losing quickly is many time, people have not really learned how to change habits. I do not think this is the case with you. Time will indeed tell, right?  Exercise will make some difference, but as you have already proven, it is only one component to loss. Yes, resistance training will improve muscle health, but in most people (and for sure women), bodies do not respond like some trainers would have you imagine. Look at steroid use in star athletes; they saw first hand that without a little help from their friends, their bodies were not going to change dramatically.  I rest my case. Certainly, some bodies, yes, respond magically. Even those "dummies" at Mayo Clinic agree with you.  Copied from their web pages and I enlarged some key points: Metabolism and weight loss: How you burn calories

Find out how metabolism burns calories, how it affects your weight and ways you can burn more calories for greater weight loss.

You likely know your metabolism is linked to your weight. But do you know how?

Common belief holds that a slim person's metabolism is high and an overweight person's metabolism is low. But this isn't usually the case. Weight isn't necessarily directly linked to metabolism.

Instead, weight is dependent on the balance of total calories consumed versus total calories burned. Take in more calories than your body needs, and you gain weight. Take in less and you lose weight. Metabolism, then, is the engine that burns these calories.

Metabolism: Converting food into energy

Stated simply, metabolism is the process by which your body converts food into energy. During this complex biochemical process, calories — from carbohydrates, fats and proteins — are combined with oxygen to release the energy your body needs to function.

The number of calories your body burns each day is called your total energy expenditure. The following three factors make up your total energy expenditure:

• Basic needs. Even when your body is at rest, it requires energy for the basics, such as fuel for organs, breathing, circulating blood, adjusting hormone levels, plus growing and repairing cells. Calories expended to cover these basic functions are your basal metabolic rate (BMR). Typically, a person's BMR is the largest portion of energy use, representing two-thirds to three-quarters of the calories used each day. Energy needs for these basic functions stay fairly consistent and aren't easily changed.
• Food processing. Digesting, absorbing, transporting and storing the food you consume also takes calories. This accounts for about 10 percent of the calories used each day. For the most part, your body's energy requirement to process food stays relatively steady and isn't easily changed.
• Physical activity. Physical activity — such as playing tennis, walking to the store, chasing after the dog and any other movement — accounts for the remainder of calories used. You control the number of calories burned depending on the frequency, duration and intensity of your activities.

Metabolism and your weight

It may seem logical to think that significant weight gain or being overweight is related to a low metabolism or possibly even a condition such as underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism). In reality, it's very uncommon for excess weight to be related to a low metabolism. And most people who are overweight don't have an underlying condition, such as hypothyroidism. However, a medical evaluation can determine whether a medical condition could be influencing your weight.

Weight gain is more likely due to an energy imbalance — consuming more calories than your body burns. To lose weight, then, you need to create an energy deficit by eating fewer calories, increasing the number of calories you burn through physical activity, or preferably both.

Influences on your calorie needs

If you and everyone else were physically and functionally identical, it would be easy to determine the standard energy needs. But many factors influence calorie requirements, including body size and composition, age, and sex.

• Body size and composition. To function properly, a bigger body mass requires more energy (more calories) than does a smaller body mass. Also, muscle burns more calories than fat does. So the more muscle you have in relation to fat, the higher your basal metabolic rate.
• Age. As you get older, the amount of muscle tends to decrease and fat accounts for more of your weight. Metabolism also slows naturally with age. Together these changes reduce your calorie needs.
• Sex. Men usually have less body fat and more muscle than do women of the same age and weight. This is why men generally have a higher basal metabolic rate and burn more calories than women do.

First of all, congrats! wow...113#!!!! i should be asking YOU for advice! But, to copy what has been said, do try upping your calories just a tad, 200-500 additional cals a day for several days. And like Em says, make sure it is not a lot of grain carbs - best to be lean protein. If you are scared about eating more, go back down a day or two, then back up. Your body should respond. Our bodies seek homeostasis and get used to certain things:  the same caloric level, the same exercise. several weeks is discouraging, i know how you feel to do it all right and no go. The key is shake it up a bit by upping cals, increasing intensity of workouts, even changing what your workout is:  hiking or biking outside in place of one gym day. Try changing the time of day of the workout, too.  After having been a gym rat, i am convinced (and studies support) that the books overstate the gym burn compared to being outside, hitting the ground or pedaling an actual bike.  I'm so NOT convinced of that horsecrap story of muscle weighs more either. I dunno about you, but being told I am a few hundred pounds of muscle compared to being a few hundred pounds of fat is little consolation. Hang in there.  And seriously, you should be here telling us what's up and how to do this.  Great story!

With you on that Neecee... actually walking outdoors... actually riding a bike. 

Tom have you tried mixing up your workout program?

Gym one day... maybe a sport another? out for a walk another? etc.

Em

"Remember, as you loose weight you actually need to workout MORE to lose weight since your body now weighs less. " This isn't 100% true.  If you managed to increase muscle as you los weight, you can keep your BMR high.  In fact even higher than that of an obese person.  The only way your BMR decreases is if your lean body mass (LBM) decreases.  It will only decrease if you take in too few calories and do not put effort toward muscle building. Tom, I don't know what illnesses made the need for fast weight loss so urgent, so I can't comment on that.   Regardless, consider what your BMR "should" be right now, eat a low carb diet (not Optifast and no grain like wheat) to those calories for a few weeks and likely within 1-6 weeks you will start losing again.