Thread: Stalls and Gains. Need help

Now know that it is frustrating that the weight is stalling but at least you are not gaining only a little fluctuating. Let your body adjust and catch up for a couple more weeks. Perhaps with 1400 a day.

Then have a re juggle with everything. Go back to a week of 1200 and change all the foods that you are eating, so you have NEW variety. As your body will be getting use to the same foods and eating patterns.

Stay positive and dont stress about things. You have lost just short of 50 lbs! That is amazing! Meal replacements are expensive so perhaps just keep persisting.

As for the rice..... if you are having this on a regular basis your body is probably wanting a change.

Is it winter over there? What about some really low cal home made soups with a small bread roll for lunch/dinner?

Bren
X

Nerys, my suggestion would be to try low carbing it. There is a man on the low carb forum, who goes by Jim. Talk to him. He has lost I think 160 pds! by low carb. Look at atkins or something like it.
I have low carbed and I follow my own routine. I start my day with an Atkins low carb shake.
I eat 25 grams carbs per day. No sugar,breads, ,pastas, sauces, grains, starches, dairy products , except cheese is ok but watch the carbs in cheese. etc.

You can eat losts of meat, fish, no carb cheeses, a large salad twice a day with low or pref. no cal dressing, eggs, but watch the bacon, has carbs in it.
Following a no carb diet you could lose 3-7 pounds per week and not be hungry at all.

Low carb is an easy way to lose and continu to lose weight. Good luck, hope it helps.

3 pounds bad 5+ pounds a week good :-)

I tried low carb it worked but I quickly stalled "hard"

I could give toggling it a try. low carb 2 weeks regular 2 weeks always keeping it under 1400cals a day and see what happens.

"Starvation diets which consist of less than 800 calories per day and skipping meals do more harm than good. Starvation diets consisting of 500 calories or less can lead to gallbladder stones. When you eat too little your body switches into starvation mode and stores fat rather than using it, slowing your metabolism down. Starvation diets leave the dieters hungry and those on this type of diet tend to overeat as well as make unwise decisions.
The dangers of getting your body into starvation mode:

A person following a starvation diet can be left weak, dizzy, and undernourished. This dieting can also lead to more severe starvation diet problems like Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. When the body reaches starvation mode many complications occur such as:

1. Electrolyte imbalances which cause dehydration, muscle spasms, and in severe cases it may cause cardiac arrest.
2. Hypokalemia or potassium deficiency and chronic Hypokalemia.
3. Depression, anxiety, irritability and anger.

How the body gets into the starvation mode:

The low-carbohydrate and high-protein starvation diets trick the body into starvation mode. In an attempt to improve the poor success rates found with dieting has resulted in the development of a very unhealthy approach to dealing with the hunger drive and losing weight: low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets. The basic mechanism of this popular approach involves suppressing the hunger drive by tricking the body into making adjustments usually brought on only by disease or starvation. Ketosis is a process by which the body burns stored fat for fuel and it occurs when carbohydrates are cut completely out of a diet. It puts the body in a state of starvation and the body then turns to its own vital organs and robs it of fuel.

A well-balanced, low-fat, high in complex carbohydrates diet is the best diet approach whereby you eat a variety of foods in small portions. Instead of simple carbohydrates such as fructose and sucrose, eat complex carbohydrates such as vegetables, whole grains, beans and peas. Reduce fat and alcohol intake. A well balanced diet and exercise is the safest and ultimately most effective way to lose weight permanently rather than a starvation diet. "

This is taken from a UK government health website. You are risking your life by putting your already under strain body under even more pressure.
You are fluctuating because you've hit a plateau. Your body is rebelling. You do NOT gain weight in starvation mode?
You'd need to ask a MD why someone who has had gastric surgery can cope on such a low-cal diet. I don't know. All I know is I'd rather lose weight safely, than die trying. Sorry if that seems blunt, but you're determined to do this unsafely, so I feel I have to be?

Here's where you can calculate Lean Body Mass

Diet Calculator, Body Fat Calculator

Well Irish Mum here is how I see it. What does the UK medical board say about the health risks of being 420 pounds or in your lingo over 26 stone.

I want to go as healthy as I can but failure is imminent if the plan does not get results. Must feed the MIND as well as the body.

so if I am eating over 800cals I am safe from starvation mode penalties?

WOW lean body mass of 196 pounds. thats off by a little bit but close enough I guess. says I need 99 grams of protein a day!! so how does one eat that much protein without eating a ton of calories along with it?

looks like it wants me at 200 pounds. I don't think thats possible (no joke I really am one of those "big boned" folks always was "big" even with no fat on me to speak of) but its close enough since I want to get down below 225.

so its probably close enough for government work. Now to figure out how to eat 100g protien without going cal topsy.

plugged my sister in. WOW says she should be 141 !! (304 right now) at least she only needs to eat 51g protien :-)

Originally Posted by nerys-

I want to go as healthy as I can but failure is imminent if the plan does not get results.

Yet you insist on doing this as unhealthily as possible?? At the end of the day it's up to you how you do it. Again I ask whats the big hurry. You want immediate results to keep you motivated, yet are placing your already under strain body under even bigger pressure, which may possibly have fatal consequences. I can't say it any clearer. If losing weight quickly is more important to you than being alive, thats your perogative.

Originally Posted by nerys-

Must feed the MIND as well as the body.

By taking the advice you like and ignoring the advice that doesn't give you answer you want. Again- thats your choice. I thought you had it sussed when you raised your intake a little and saw that you could do that and still lose, yet now you're going against all the 'health' advice and doing your own thing again...and wondering why it's not working.

Look you can take it or leave it. You can help or not help. But getting antagonistic with me will have zero impact on my decision making process and only aggravate both of us.

Let me make this clear. Losing weight is more important to me than my immediate health. PERIOD. Now with that past us at this point. LONG TERM health is important to me. anything that can permanently damage me IS a concern. Being a good weight is useless if I am sick.

Any cries of "fatality" is nothing but red herring and sky is falling stuff to me. Its just that simple. WHY? because there are people all over the world eating a hell of a lot less than I am and they somehow manage to survive 40 50 60 years of life.

Telling me this might kill me 1 in a million is like saying I should never go outside because a lightning bolt might kill me. SOME risk are worth being concerned about some are not.

Thats the problem Irish mum.

I HAVE NOT LOST A SINGLE POUND IN OVER 3 WEEKS. I thought I was pretty clear on that. a week before thanksgiving I was 369.0 pounds.

I HAVE NEVER GONE BELOW THAT NUMBER by even 1/10th of a pound. This means I have not lost ONE SINGLE POUND.

I THOUGHT it was working (I was wrong) when I went up to 376 and then it started back down again. I said OK this might be working I can live with this. but once it hit 369 IT STOPPED and went back up again. I keep bobbing between 370 and 373 touching 369 every now and then.

This is NOT acceptable. Its just that simple. I will do everything in my power to do it the "right way"

2.7 pounds a month is NOT TOLERABLE I do not care what the consequences are (the site linked said I should eat 2096 calories a day to lose 2.7 pounds a month)

2.7 pounds a WEEK is not acceptable.

I do not IGNORE advice. but I can and will "set asside" advice that does not jive with my objective. I will hear them. I will consider them. I will also try to BYPASS THEM as safetly as is feasible if I deem it required.

I GREATLY appreciate any advice you can give. My speech and my questions make this DAMNED clear. But I also "MUST" without question acquire certain objectives.

I mean are you serious? I TOOK YOUR GUYS ADVICE exactly as given and have been eating 1200-1400 calories a day for over 3 weeks.

I expect results otherwise I deem the experiment a FAILURE.

SO either your advice is NOT WORKING for me "OR" I am doing something wrong.

I mean I was not expecting to increase my calories 50% and not "slow down" in my loss but STALL COMPLETELY ?

"still lose, yet now you're going against all the 'health' advice and doing your own thing again...and wondering why it's not working"

are we seeing the future now? who said I was doing my own thing again?

FIRST I am always doing "my own thing" I am a sentient being. I do as I please.

I asked for advice. I absorbed that advice into my decision making process and am trying it out. This process CONTINUES to this day.

if by new years I do not see loss I WILL try something else. that I can promise you.

If people not taking everything you say as the word of god and suplicating themselves before you as all knowing is a problem for you you REALLY should not be giving advice on the internet its only going to give you a lot of stress and heart burn. That be the nature of sentience and free will.

If it was simply a misunderstanding I apologize lets get past this and move on.

In the end I have an objective. I WILL lose 150 pounds by next summer BY WHATEVER MEANS IS WITHING MY POWER.

I asked for advice TOWARD THAT OBJECTIVE and will prefer the SAFEST path possible toward that goal.

but the GOAL REMAINS UNCHANGED and advice that takes me OUTSIDE the boundaries of that goal will have less merit in my decision tree than advice that LEADS to my goal.

you need to understand this. you should understand this.

Think of it like this. If you set a goal and someone gives you advice that only gets you half way to your goal are you just going to jump all over it and say OK lets do it? or are you going to try and MEET your goal?

the only way I would change my objectives here is if I discover conclusively that my objective is physically impossible. (please don't take offense but an internet persons "say so" is not proof that its impossible)

Anything I can do to incorporate SAFETY into my decision process I WILL DO. Now that I know I need 100grams of protein I will modify my diet any way required EXCEPT raising the calories to incorporate 100grams of protein.

NOW I simply ASKED about the 800 because the VERY TEXT YOU PROVIDED TO ME says lower than 800 calories is where starvation mode comes into play.

SO I INTELLIGENTLY ASKED for clarification. IE does staying over 800 calories keep me out of starvation mode? Do you not think that was a reasonable question to ask?

if staying over 800cals keeps me out of starvation mode WHAT is the logical reason for not lowering my calories to 800-900 calories?

I THOUGHT the reason for raising my calories to 1200-1400 was to avoid starvation mode? at least thats what seemed to be implied??

over 3 weeks of no loss is NOT sitting well with me. while i have NOT yet altered my diet from 1200-1400 I AM NOW SEEKING to find out WHY and what I can do about it.

sitting around and "waiting" is just not an answer I a ready to accept. AT WHAT POINT is the waiting over and action needed? 3 weeks? 8 weeks? 3 months?

ok looks like protien might not be as hard as I thought. it seems 6 oz of chicken fish tuna have 40-45 grams of protien. I eat at least 8 oz of those a day which means I eat 60-70grams JUST in my meats a day. probably 20 in misc protien. so I am almost their already. if I simply introduce a few yogurts here and their I will be over 100 grams protien a day.

One problem down :-)

Jeez. Obviously I struck a nerve. Is my lecture over?

I'm no expert. I have repeatedly said this. I had a LOT less to lose than you do, and am a lot shorter, and I did it by eating more than you currently do. Without stalling. Thats proof to me that theres a flaw to your regime. Of course this is only my experience, but there are a LOT more members who have gone through the same process. Your body NEEDS fuel, if you don't fuel it, it'll hold on to every scrap of nutrition it can and try to repair the damage that is occuring. You are a lot taller, and a lot heavier than the average man/woman so will obviously need more calories than the average man/woman, either to maintain your weight or to lose. We suggested 1200-1400 to get you away from the 800-odd and show you that you wouldn't gain eating more calories. Thats been proven- you haven't GAINED. But your body is still suspicious and not letting go because it's still not getting enough- it still thinks theres a famine going on. It's not rocket science.
You don't ignore advice, you bypass it?? Sorry, but to me thats the same thing.

In my humble opinion you're not eating enough and your body has rebelled. You can agree or disagree- it's entirely up to you.

You posted on a weightloss forum for advice, if you don't take it it's your decision- I've said that before. Theres only so much we can tell you to help you. You want to ignore it- thats fine. I'm not going to stress about it, it makes no difference to me how you lose weight- I don't know you, so any harm you're doing to yourself is not my problem.

Anyway, I'm not going to lose sleep over this. I wish you luck in your journey, I truly do. I know your desire to lose weight is propelled by a wish to get 'healthy', but while you continue to do it like this I'll not contribute anymore, as we obviously have different ideas of what losing weight 'healthily' is.
Good luck.

Hi Nerys

Well done on your weight loss so far. Why you have reached a plateau I don't know but I have been on and off diets for years and always reached that point or else I fell of the wagon and never got back on and that is why I still have a problem.

Just a couple of things I want to mention, have you looked closely at people on a gastric band, their skin and hair for example, I guess after time they start to look well again but they do suffer health wise even if it is not very obvious and they are also mointoired by doctors, at least they should be.

Talking of doctors, that is the other point I wanted to raise. Have you tried to discuss your diet with a doctor or dietitian. I know you health care is different to ours but you still have state hospitals and I am sure you could get to see somebody to talk this over with.

Also you have at your fingertips the biggest tool of all. The internet. I spoke to doctors and experts last year about my sons health issue just by getting onto the right sites and asking the questions.

I am still a newbie to this site and everyone has been a great support but I think you need to move on from being given advice from people that are only trying to help and get a professional opinion on where you go from now.

This is only my opinion as reading the posts I can see you have had some great replies from people that know a lot more about diets and carbs and cals etc than I do.

Must get on as I have work to do.

Good luck and all the best

Point is Irish mum you jumped to an incorrect conclusion. Point is you provided data that caused me to ask questions.

Then you jumped down my throat for nothing more than asking reasonable sensible questions.

I know the slippery slope that kind of internet arguing can lead to if not checked early and I wanted to avoid it at all costs.

I will not go down the internet arguing path. I will stop posting before it gets to that point. Who gains from that?

Doctors are not much of an option around here without insurance. Pretty much what I can get online is it. Problem with questions is you need to know what questions to ask. I have no idea what I need to ask.

Originally Posted by nerys-

Point is Irish mum you jumped to an incorrect conclusion. .

Where?

Originally Posted by nerys-

Then you jumped down my throat for nothing more than asking reasonable sensible questions..

Again- where?
If anything I've tried to word my responses to try and cause the least offence possible?!

Originally Posted by nerys-

Problem with questions is you need to know what questions to ask. I have no idea what I need to ask.

You are asking valid questions, and well-thought out ones that are obviously causing you great anxiety, but you don't like the answers you're getting.
I think that might be why there are very few others responding to your thread? They can't offer you any different advice, so why post when its something you've already dismissed.
Just a thought.

I have not GOTTEN answers yet.

Why am I stalling? how is it POSSIBLE to eat 1400 calories and NOT lose weight. IE how can 1400 calories possibly be enough for my body??

I don't care what mode my body is in. Either it has enough energy or it does not. that part is a simple math problem. CLEARLY 1400 calories is enough energy for my body to survive on. How do I know? its been doing it for over 3 months. NO energy issues. No aches No pains No hunger issues No cravings issues. I have plenty of energy. I still walk 1-3 hours daily without issue without getting tired (actually I have never reached a point where walking made me tired ever)

I asked for an explanation of this.

also YOUR OWN data said lower than 800cal was starvation mode SO I asked about that. Nothing more. I JUST asked.

this is when you jumped on me about ignoring what other people are advising. Going my own way against the advice of others etc.. Just go reread your posts.

Thats when I got testy.

so look at it from my angle. Why post when you have predetermined what is a right answer AND predetermined my answers before I even give them.

Just a thought :-) I am hoping this is just one big misunderstanding. I REALLY enjoy the info and feedback I get here. But its not worth stressing over thats for sure.

I also have GOALS. so I am going to ask questions with the intent of acquiring that goal. Every bit of information I get will be vetted against Will this get me my goal. This is only logical.

as far as people on gastric and the band. I went to all my dad's classes etc.. when he was getting his. 99% of the time the issue is always not enough protein. Skin suffers hair suffers etc.. etc..

based on the link provided IT APPEARS as if I am getting sufficient protien. Should I be doing MORE than 100grams? (site suggested 99g as the minimum)

Okay. I'm going to stop posting after this.

Again- my answer to your question "Why am I not losing weight?": You are not eating enough. Your body is existing, just. It is now (after 3mths of chronically undereating for your size) catching up- thats why you've stalled.

Again, I did not 'jump' on you for ignoring what people were advising- you admitted you were ignoring what people were advising if you didn't like it! No matter if you call it 'bypassing' advice- it's the same thing.
Bren suggested settling at 1400 for a few weeks to let your body settle- but you won't entertain that idea because it won't result in quick losses. Soozb suggested low-carbing, but that can end up quite high-cal, and I imagine you also dismissed that idea because of your previous experience of stalling quickly, again, because of your desire to do this as quickly as possible. But as both of these ladies haven't posted since I can only imagine they've realised (quicker than me!) that you can only give advice, not make someone take it if they're determined to ignore it.
Thats it. It's that simple. If you've done any reading at all on any other websites about starvation mode your question would've been answered the same. I'm not a lone crusader here. I've obviously touched a nerve, and you're determined to carry on regardless, so I'll cease trying to explain to you whats happening.
I can only hope that during your research online that you will discover the 'magic' solution to quick weight loss that you desire, and prove all the nutrition/health experts out there wrong.
Good luck.