Weight loss plateau

happy to walk through your regimen with you, your daily activity, etc! shoot me a message privately!

What is your daily movement routine like?

@Emily I’ll message you!

@Delia 3-4 mornings a week of 45 min strength training with dumbbells and 1 mile run. On the other days, (3 mornings a week) running 2+ miles bc currently training for 5K along with core training. Goal of 10,000+ steps a day. Evening walks multiple times a week.

Are you getting enough protein? That’s plays a huge part of it too not only to build muscle but for weight loss also are you tracking your macros? Sometimes we over eat and eat more than we actually think

sounds good! i can give some pointers, few things to change and focus on!

@delia I’m weighing everything and tracking! Currently eating 1450. I don’t think I can go any lower. Was hoping to just stay that low for a few weeks. I’m getting at least 100g protein

I wouldn’t go lower. This may seem counter productive, but maybe cut back a bit on working out. I actually find sometimes I lose more weight when I take a day rest

I am by no means a health coach but have worked with them and studied a bit in the past. I’d actually recommend shifted your focus from your weight goals to other healthy living goals like getting enough sleep, mindful eating, etc. You can try intermittent fasting for a night to see if it jump starts things or have a day with tons of healthy fats which can also help jump start things

Sounds like you have a pretty good understanding of everything. Just curious where you came about your calorie intake vs what you’re doing physically?

@Julia I’ve typically been getting 7.5-8.5 hours of sleep every night! Does mindful eating = intuitive eating? I’ve never really been great at that 🥲 I’ll look into intermittent fasting and the healthy fats! Are you saying to intermittent fast but also keep my deficient?

deficit*

@Jodi so I use my Apple Watch and the Apple calorie counter. I also used an online calculator and it both suggested around 1450 for losing 2 pounds a week. Which is low cal, but I was hoping for just a few weeks of that. However, I have increased my steps & running distance since using that calculator

I suggest trying some research on calorie intake. You may be hitting a wall because you don’t have enough calories (believe it or not) if you have instagram (alessandrascutnik) is a good resource. She is a mom and I personally worked with her at our college fitness center but you’ll have to dig through her profile and reels etc for some info. I’m not a professional but also been in the fitness industry a while now. I also wanted to tell you to remember this is a journey of self love and learning so what may work for you now may not in a year and that’s okay. But I’d say you’re doing really great so far you just may have to fine tune for a while and the more you learn the better!!

Honestly could be that you're not eating enough calories but can't say for sure without a discussion!

Honestly since you’re so close to your goal you shouldn’t be aiming for 2 pounds a week. I’d say half a pound a week. Weight loss slows and keeping your body at a deficit for so long can slow down your metabolism. Healthy fats like avocado and such increase your calorie intake in a healthy way. No I actually suggest you increase your calories and start enjoying your food. Try to shift a bit from measuring and counting to eating until you aren’t hungry. Then if that doesn’t work, maybe go 13-14 hours overnight not eating.

Wow that’s good! Mindful eating is eating healthy foods but also making sure you eat what you want. Eat it slowly and enjoy it. Stop when you aren’t hungry. It’s more sustainable long term than counting calories and measuring food. Also, and not for nothing but when you work out a lot you often build muscle which weighs more than fat. Many times during my weight loss journey the number stalls or doesn’t seem to change. When I hit the wall I set a different goal-like crab dance or some exercise that’s hard for me to do and start focusing my energy on strengthening. I wait a week to get on the scale and usually see a change in that time.

How long have you been trying to lose weight and what exercise are you doing? Stay in a deficit. Stick with it and be patient. You can also increase your cardio and if you strength train then add one more workout each week but make sure you eat carbs before any exercise (even just a banana). You don't have to increase your overall calorie intake just because you're exercising but if you're in a low carb diet you need to eat your carbs at the right TIME. This is what a lot of people don't understand. Everyone saying to increase your calories clearly doesn't understand how to lose weight. Diet tip: high protein foods will keep you fuller for longer. Aim for lean protein like hard boiled eggs, chicken, fish, lean beef (drain fat) cottage cheese if you need to snack. Stay away from sneaky calories in packaged foods and try to eat whole foods. Eat plenty of veggies and limit snacks or have whole food snacks: fruit (in moderation), veggies like sweet peppers, cucumbers, etc make great snacks, protein shakes

I have tracked macros for years and was super successful with that and my training to achieve the body I wanted. I will say I was shredded and yet my BMI said I was borderline “overweight” so I learned not to care about what the scale says and just whether or not I was happy with how I looked BUT I totally get wanting it to go down. I would also like to point out that if you’re stressed and not sleeping it will be harder to lose weight. I hit a plateau like you did before I learned how to eat/train and the only thing that fixed it was increasing my cals and exercising with intention (weight lifting, only walking, no intense cardio). Also prioritizing protein made a huge difference in my digestion and overall lowering my cravings. I could talk for hours about all this haha so if you wanna message me we can talk more specifics for you.