scale weight hasn't moved in over a month - need some help!

[2af53lbg]

My girlfriend has been eating at a caloric deficit for over 2 months now. She initially lost 5 lbs the first month, but her scale weight hasn't moved now for over a month.

She is 5'6" 151 lbs now, 30% bf, and has been those figures every morning she steps on the scale for a month. She is eating around 1300 calories a day (I track her in myfitness pal), does crossfit a couple times a week and other forms of cardio when she has time (like insanity or running).

She has asked me about carbs and macros, but I've been trying to keep it simple for her -- If you eat in a deficit, carbs won't get stored and you WILL lose weight blahblah


I am running out of things to tell her to keep her motivated. Any tips that I can give her? She needs to see some progress or will lose motivation.

[Botika]

My girlfriend has been eating at a caloric deficit for over 2 months now. She initially lost 5 lbs the first month, but her scale weight hasn't moved now for over a month.

She is 5'6" 151 lbs now, 30% bf, and has been those figures every morning she steps on the scale for a month. She is eating around 1300 calories a day (I track her in myfitness pal), does crossfit a couple times a week and other forms of cardio when she has time (like insanity or running).

She has asked me about carbs and macros, but I've been trying to keep it simple for her -- If you eat in a deficit, carbs won't get stored and you WILL lose weight blahblah


I am running out of things to tell her to keep her motivated. Any tips that I can give her? She needs to see some progress or will lose motivation.

How about you tell her the truth? What is this "carbs won't get stored" rubbish? Educate her properly about her calories and macro needs >>> http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=121703981.

1300 calories is really low. Her BMR is probably around 1250 which is the calories needed if she just stayed in bed all day doing nothing. I would increase it to 1500-1600 so she has the energy to train hard. Maintenance for a female on a solid training schedule is generally around 2000 calories per day.

You should also get her on to a decent lifting program. A 3 X per week full body program would benefit her. Check out the workout program's section of the site. She won't get "too muscly", especially in a deficit. Instead she will retain muscle and lose body fat, which will give her a lean body.

[Znik]

Most likely she is not tracking her intake correctly, it is extremely common to under-estimate calorie intake and over-estimate activity.
source if yer interested: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056...le+Conclusions.

As Botika said, educate her properly on calories and macros and get her tracking everything she eats and drinks, even if its just licking the knife after putting spread on something.
If she truly was eating 1300kcals a day and doing crossfit + cardio most of the days of the week she should be losing weight.

[davidolson22]

The scale hasn't moved in a month and you are telling her to bump up her calories?

The scale has probably stalled because she is sneaking food while you aren't looking (or you are miscounting her calories). If she's not losing for a month I'd say she's eating maintenance.

Of course, that assumes it hasn't moved. If it has gone down by a pound even, then she is losing weight. Are you sure it hasn't gone down by a pound?

[Tommy W.]

She's eating more than she thinks. YOU'RE doing the calcs? I'm sure she isn't telling you everything she's eating ("Oh I did have that Starbucks double mocha latte large size. You mean I have to include THAT?" )

[jgree32]

I can relate to this for my wife as well. My wife had a sleeve gastrecomy surgery which put her on massive calorie restriction compared to what she once ate.
Initially after surgery she probably only ate 300 calories a day maybe. Over time her intake rose to ~1000 calories a day. Through the diet and exercise routine she lost 80+lbs over the course of ~10mos and was happily stable at 135.

Couple years after surgery she got pregnant and of course gained weight. After the pregnancy she was 160lbs ~30% fat. She thought she would be able to just resume her normal exercise routine that she was on that originally got her to 135 and would lose the weight. Our baby is now 7mos old and the scale basically hasn't budged at all. I started tracking her food intake and was shocked how low it was on some days for her to not be losing weight. She ranged from lows of 900cals to max of ~1300 and I count/weigh it all down to ketchup and coffee creamer. As it stands now I'm basically convinced no matter how much she exercises her body is not willing to lose any weight because of the prolonged calorie restriction for well over 2yrs.
Since we're basically out of options we're trying a new approach now. Trying to have her eat much more consistently and aim for 1500 cals a day which is a lot for her. We also tried to just have 1 day where she hit 2000+ cals to just give her body a break from the deficit. 2000cals basically required some liquid calorie intake and pretty much force feeding for her.

It seems the first reaction is always "oh you're eating too much" and people rule it out as even a possibility. So if you are counting accurately I can believe it because I've witnessed it myself. It's a very difficult position to be in. You know they don't eat a lot and they are putting out the effort in exercise but yield no results. I'm hoping to get the scale moving again for her. For myself just coming off a 7mos bulk on 3100cals dropping weight is so easy now and still eating 2500cals a day. I wish it could be near that easy for her.
Good luck

[macsm01]

You aren't with her all day long. Vast majority under report calories. She needs a journal with weighed portions and probably is sneaking snacks in without your knowledge. A 5'6, 150 lb woman will lose weight eating 1300 cals. Even those with mild diagnosed metabolism problems.

[divertigozzy]

How come everyone is so quick to say she is eating more than she is saying?? I track everything that I put in to my mouth. I am 5'5" and been doing a LCHF diet for almost 6 weeks. I stick to my macros and calories (1200-1300) everyday. I also exercise 4-5 times a week. My weight has been stuck at 153 for a month. I have maybe lost 6-8 pounds of water weight the first 2 weeks but that is it. I feel GREAT and that is the only thing that is keeping me on this diet...but, I want to lose weight... as that is initially why I started this "diet". No matter what I am at a calorie deficit so I SHOULD be losing weight.

[Tommy W.]

How come everyone is so quick to say she is eating more than she is saying?? I track everything that I put in to my mouth. I am 5'5" and been doing a LCHF diet for almost 6 weeks. I stick to my macros and calories (1200-1300) everyday. I also exercise 4-5 times a week. My weight has been stuck at 153 for a month. I have maybe lost 6-8 pounds of water weight the first 2 weeks but that is it. I feel GREAT and that is the only thing that is keeping me on this diet...but, I want to lose weight... as that is initially why I started this "diet". No matter what I am at a calorie deficit so I SHOULD be losing weight.

Do weigh food?

[TopCitySTI]

Do weigh food?

beat me too it ^^