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  1. #1
    Registered User Missmariaaa's Avatar
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    Unhappy Can't get rid of the last 20 pounds

    Been on a horrible plateau for 4-5 months and I'm literally on the edge of giving up.

    What do I do?
    I'm 20 years old 5'4" weigh in at 140 pounds and I calculated my body fat to 32% with the equations provided here on this site.



    Let me inform you honestly, I've been on a sedentary lifestyle for my entire life and decided to eat exactly 1200 since last September 2012. I've been tracking with myfitnesspal. So within this entire year I've lost 30 pounds and I only need 20 more to go. I started actually exercising in June 2013 but still eating 1200. Thus creating a super high deficit.

    Then decided to bump to 1300 and even 1400 on days I lift. I haven't seen the scale move since July.

    Still stuck at 140. Help please, I really need advice.

    I haven't lost inches either, my goal is to basically keep everything extremely lean and smaller, pretty much just lose inches all around and lose fat. Not trying to gain muscle, just want to lose the fat first.

    Thank you for your time, I appreciate it.
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  2. #2
    Serpentarius's Avatar
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    reverse diet, increase activity and eat more food for a few months then come back to trying to lose fat. Eat a lot more carbs.
    There is always someone less fortunate, with real hunger, with real adversity, who made something of themselves. What is your excuse?
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  3. #3
    Registered User Missmariaaa's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Serpentarius View Post
    reverse diet, increase activity and eat more food for a few months then come back to trying to lose fat. Eat a lot more carbs.
    How will this aid in my process? Will it reset my metabolism? Or do I just need more food for energy and the amount of work I do at the gym?

    By how much should I eat? I calculated everything and my maintanece is 1954 and my bmr is 1302 so a 20% reduction is 1560. Should I eat exercise calories back or none at all ?
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  4. #4
    Registered User Ralikar's Avatar
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    You're giving yourself a 1.5 activity level? So you went from sedentary life to "super high" with your rouine? You're not creating a super high deficit and are seriously overestimating your routine. You also have a higher bf so your BMR is probably lower. You have a sendentary life upped it +200cals and your "super" routine isn't remotely burning the calories you think and you're staying the same. You know how many calories you are burning? I'll tell you:

    Estimate from online calculators at your weight:

    45 min weights....

    140 cals... That's all... not including chat time....water breaks etc.

    30 min jog at 10mph pace...

    350...

    There you go... You might think you're busting your ass in the gym X days/week and burning 3000 cals but you are not. You're now eating +700-+1400 cals a week... and your routine doesn't cover it...

    So you're still sedentary. Drop back to 1200 and try to seriously increase activity.

    Women/lower weight people have a harder time losing weight... Why? It's simply harder to get a large caloric deficit with a lower weight as exercise doesn't burn that many cals for low weight people and it's harder to drop cals. Compare to some 250 pound guy eating 3500/day and burning 400 cals lifting -- it's pretty easy for him to create a -1000/day deficit.

    Try for a -500/day and you'll get that pound/week. Or more... It will take some time since it's difficult for you to hit -1000/day in eating/exercise at your weight.
    Last edited by Ralikar; 11-08-2013 at 05:08 PM.
    Calculating nutrition/calories
    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981
    Why your designed workout will probably suck/List of good beginner programs (part 5):
    http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=118004321
    Things worth your time to forum search and understand (for new people): CNS fatigue vs muscle fatigue, deloading, refeed, intensity vs volume, going to muscle failure, overreaching, overtraining, chronic fatigue, recovery.
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  5. #5
    Registered User TheGhost9900's Avatar
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    What were your macros like at 1200 calories? And were you using a digital scale to make sure you are counting accurately? No cheat days ruining your progress?
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  6. #6
    Registered User Missmariaaa's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Ralikar View Post
    You're giving yourself a 1.5 activity level? So you went from sedentary life to "super high" with your rouine? You're not creating a super high deficit and are seriously overestimating your routine. You also have a higher bf so your BMR is probably lower. You have a sendentary life upped it +200cals and your "super" routine isn't remotely burning the calories you think and you're staying the same. You know how many calories you are burning? I'll tell you:

    Estimate from online calculators at your weight:

    45 min weights....

    140 cals... That's all... not including chat time....water breaks etc.

    30 min jog at 10mph pace...

    350...

    There you go... You might think you're busting your ass in the gym X days/week and burning 3000 cals but you are not. You're now eating +700-+1400 cals a week... and your routine doesn't cover it...

    So you're still sedentary. Drop back to 1200 and try to seriously increase activity.

    Women/lower weight people have a harder time losing weight... Why? It's simply harder to get a large caloric deficit with a lower weight as exercise doesn't burn that many cals for low weight people and it's harder to drop cals. Compare to some 250 pound guy eating 3500/day and burning 400 cals lifting -- it's pretty easy for him to create a -1000/day deficit.

    Try for a -500/day and you'll get that pound/week. Or more... It will take some time since it's difficult for you to hit -1000/day in eating/exercise at your weight.


    So I drop back down to 1200? I've been told that is very dangerous? People have said that I should aim for 1 pound a week and not 2 pounds a week, on myfitnesspal it gives me 1380 calories to lose 1 pound a week.
    1200 for 2 pounds and only very overweight people should pick that option. No need to rush right?

    Anyway, so I'm overestimating? I never said I burn 3000 per week. I burn in the 300 range on cardio days. On lifting I really don't know because heart rate monitors do not give an accurate number, or do they?

    Okay, I'll try your advice. I just have to eat more, because the last time I lost 4 pounds in a month was in July and I was doing 2 hours of cardio and 1 lifting session every day and I seriously got so deprived of sleep, food, and filled with stress I thought I was going to pass out, and always getting headaches. Though if I eat more I have to put more time and effort in my workout.

    So what exactly is my bmr and my tdee ? I'm so confused
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  7. #7
    Banned ihavecandygetin's Avatar
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    First, you lost weight, upped calories?

    Second, serp is usually right.
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  8. #8
    Registered User Missmariaaa's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by TheGhost9900 View Post
    What were your macros like at 1200 calories? And were you using a digital scale to make sure you are counting accurately? No cheat days ruining your progress?
    I logged everything since the past year when eating 1200, sometimes there would be days where i would eat lower than 1200, like around 500-700. Anyway idk anything about macros but every thing was logged in and I always saw my carbs super high so I would say 50 carbs 20 protein 30 fat. I always saw them exactly like this, the carbs section would always be red because I would go over my limit.
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  9. #9
    Registered User Nhayes91's Avatar
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    I would say listen to the person who told you to reverse diet, I agree. You've been eating 1200 calories for a year, while doing cardio.. your metabolism is probably pretty shot. If you reverse diet back as high as you can get your calories before you start gaining weight (and I bet your maintenance is higher than 2000, you can probably hit ~2200) and keep it there for a couple weeks, your hormones will be in check and you will be able to resume dieting and lose fat again. Make sure your macros are in check and don't eat more on days you work out.. that's counter productive unless you're trying to keep your weight

    Edit: Just reading your last comment, you need to drastically reduce carbs and drastically increase protein. You should be eating 150g+ protein per day at your weight, and 500-700 calories on some days? Yeah, you probably need to reverse diet. Your metabolism doesn't like that very much
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  10. #10
    Registered User Missmariaaa's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by ihavecandygetin View Post
    First, you lost weight, upped calories?

    Second, serp is usually right.
    Yeah I thought I was going to pass out if I didn't eat more, I feel a lot better right now eating 1380. Though I eat back half my exercise calories. Maybe I shouldn't?

    Listen to serp? So I should try to gain weight for a while then go back to a deficit? I'm scared but I'm willing to try,
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  11. #11
    Banned ihavecandygetin's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Missmariaaa View Post
    Yeah I thought I was going to pass out if I didn't eat more, I feel a lot better right now eating 1380. Though I eat back half my exercise calories. Maybe I shouldn't?

    Listen to serp? So I should try to gain weight for a while then go back to a deficit? I'm scared but I'm willing to try,
    No, not gaining weight. You don't just jump into caloric changes. You slowly add/lower each week. Slowly up your calories until you start to gain. At this point you'll know where your true maint level is and can go from there. Just because a calculator says 1380 doesn't mean it is right. In the course of doing this you can refill glycogen stores and reduce the stress on your body from starting a new exercise routine. Then when you know what to eat to stay the same weight you can slowly ease into a cut and will see better results with consistency and a thorough understanding of your body.

    Disclaimer, I've never cut but I did spend a lot of time trying to understand my body so that I can become as strong as possible as fast as possible.
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  12. #12
    Registered User Missmariaaa's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Nhayes91 View Post
    I would say listen to the person who told you to reverse diet, I agree. You've been eating 1200 calories for a year, while doing cardio.. your metabolism is probably pretty shot. If you reverse diet back as high as you can get your calories before you start gaining weight (and I bet your maintenance is higher than 2000, you can probably hit ~2200) and keep it there for a couple weeks, your hormones will be in check and you will be able to resume dieting and lose fat again. Make sure your macros are in check and don't eat more on days you work out.. that's counter productive unless you're trying to keep your weight

    Edit: Just reading your last comment, you need to drastically reduce carbs and drastically increase protein. You should be eating 150g+ protein per day at your weight, and 500-700 calories on some days? Yeah, you probably need to reverse diet. Your metabolism doesn't like that very much
    Thank you so much you guys, I really needed this. You have no idea how glad I am, I hope this helps me back on the right track, I really want to get rid of these last couple of pounds. Though I don't even know how to get my maintenance anymore since a person above told me I shouldn't use 1.5 activity level. If I use that scooby workshop calculator and put 3-5 hrs per week of exercise my maintenance is 2157 but if I change my activity level to 1-3hrs per week it's 1914. Anyway I'll reverse my diet for a while and document the changes.
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  13. #13
    Registered User RocknRollMuscle's Avatar
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    Oh no. Are people espousing that whole "your metabolism is shot" nonsense stuff here again? I thought we had to put it to rest a while back.
    Weight Loss: Go carnivore or keto combined with 16/8 IF. It'll create easy calorie deficit. Meat is good and heals, stop being lied to.

    Youtube Dr. Shawn Baker to change your life today.
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    Originally Posted by RocknRollMuscle View Post
    Oh no. Are people espousing that whole "your metabolism is shot" nonsense stuff here again? I thought we had to put it to rest a while back.
    Far from it. I am suggesting doing it the right way. Eating at maint to establish what it actually is and not just taking shots in the dark. Then incrementally lowering calories and tracking them to see what changes happen so that you can see how it correlates.


    tl;dr- I told her to go step by step and learn how her body works so she will be in control forever.
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