Diet help

Ivy

I've been dieting and working out for a good while now and I've had some pretty good success but I seem to be at a plateau. I've lost probably about 30 pounds this year but in the last couple of months I haven't lost any more and I seem to yoyo between 245-250 lbs. Normally I eat between 1200-1400 calories/ day. For my diet I've cut out most grains and sugar. I don't eat processed food or preservatives. The only dairy I eat is in yogurt and cheese. I exercise 3-5 days/week. On a good week with 5 workouts I do cardio 2 days and 3 days of weights. I'm not sure I could get in any more exercise with the family schedule and I really can't afford a trainer right now. I would really appreciate any suggestions or advice on what I could do better to lose weight more effectively.

Katt

I personally do much better restricting carbohydrates (even fruit) than I ever have counting calories.     If I stick to protein and vegetables and eat to satiety when I'm hungry, I lose weight without counting anything.   YMMV

LL80

1200-1400 calories even for someone half your size and exercising seems really low. You may be restricting too much.

Ivy

Restricting carbs and processed food is how I've lost the weight I have. I track what I'm eating in My Fitness Pal. I eat a lot of protein and vegetables. 

Katt

Ivy said:

Restricting carbs and processed food is how I've lost the weight I have. I track what I'm eating in My Fitness Pal. I eat a lot of protein and vegetables. 

For me, eating any kind of sugar or especially starch (including fruit and healthy starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes) really slows down progress.   

Ivy

I do eat a good amount of fruit, mostly berries. I guess I could cut down on those. It's what I've been using when I have a sweet craving. As for calories, it's not really that I've been trying to limit that far but eating mostly protein and vegetables I just don't have a huge appetite and I'm not sure how much I need to be adding. All the things I've read suggest calorie amounts that sound way too high to be effective for weight loss. 

Rorschach

It's difficult to comment helpfully and in detail without seeing what you eat day-to-day. But, yes, it's possible that you may have caused your body to hang onto the fat by restricting caloric intake too hard/fast.

But, in general, clean protein at every meal. Try cycling carbs: eat them earlier in the day, none at dinner, and eat carbs after weight workouts. More carbs (but not much) on weightout days, less on non weight workout days.

I'd ditch the cheese for now as well.

If you can, do the cardio first thing in the morning in a fasted state, before breakfast.

You may need to increase cardio too, at least for the time being. Possibly also up the intensity (weight) of the weight workouts to the extent you can, and decrease the rest times between sets.

Have a look as well at poliquingroup.com. Poke around there and you should find some articles about training and diet for women (I have posted some some links in the past in the accountability thread, so you can look there too). Women metabolize body fat differently from men. More knowledge never hurts. 

Good luck.

soa2005

Don't up the intensity of your cardio or weight training right now. Your 245lbs and only eating 12-1400 calories a day, which means your hormones have to be super fucked up right now. If you up the workout intensity right now you're just gonna fuck up your hormones even worse because you won't be able to recover on that type of a deficit. 

I suggest eating  at maintenance calories for 2 weeks to kind of reset your metabolism, thyroid , and hormones. After two weeks of maintenance cut daily calories by 500 max or you're going to risk stalling quickly again. 

If you really want to lose weight quickly and you have the great self discipline and will power then you may want to look at Lyle McDonalds Rapid FatLoss Handbook. It's a crash diet, and it's kind of like starving yourself. However it's extremely effective, and if you follow his advice on cheat meals and refeeds then you can avoid the hormone damage / metabolism slowdown that you're most likely experiencing right now. 

Leticia

Ivy said:

I do eat a good amount of fruit, mostly berries. I guess I could cut down on those. It's what I've been using when I have a sweet craving. As for calories, it's not really that I've been trying to limit that far but eating mostly protein and vegetables I just don't have a huge appetite and I'm not sure how much I need to be adding. All the things I've read suggest calorie amounts that sound way too high to be effective for weight loss. 

Easiest way to add more calories without adding carbs is to eat more fats. Think avocado, olive oil, good quality butter, etc.

Ivy

I can add more butter and avacado no problem. Yum!!

HildaCorners

First, plateaus happen. Don't get upset about them. I think of the plateaus as "consolidation phases", where my body takes a rest from dieting.

When I diet, I'll lose weight for a while but not inches, then lose inches but the scale doesn't change. I don't understand it, but I won't worry about it either.

If you get results from limiting carbs, take a look at the Slow Carb diet. It's fairly simple, and easy to stick with.

• you get a cheat day every week. The cheat days are necessary, so your body doesn't get totally used to the diet. And it helps with any emotional eating ... it's much easier to not cheat 6 days a week if you know you can have that Ben & Jerry's on Cheat Day.
• you lose more weight if you eat more food/calories. Of course there are limits, but you can lose on 2000 calories a day. In fact, if you are sticking with the diet but not losing, the first thing to do is eat more.
• you are allowed carbs, but only low glycemic index ones, mostly beans. I found that if I don't eat the beans, I don't lose as well.
  

Serenity

Take a look at your thyroid levels, if you haven't already.

Disregard what they say is 'normal'. Most people do their best with a TSH of 2.5 or lower. I personally do well at about 1.9. That's where I maintain a good weight with very little effort.

Checking your T3 and T4 would give you a better picture of how your thyroid is doing, if you can get your doctor to order those labs. You want to be in the upper third of the reference range.

Blackwulf

Look into the book "The Obesity Code" by Dr. Jason Fung, MD.  I am losing 1.5-2 lbs a week on intermittent fasting (down to 281, lowest I have been in 2 years, down 14 lbs since April 15th).  One thing that has happened is that when you become overweight your insulin sensitivity gets shot and insulin helps control your metabolism.  Your body has a set point it wants to go back to in your weight due to your insulin sensitivity among other factors.  

You should consult a physician before doing any serious type of fasting, but this could be one piece of the equation.  There are differences between male and female physiology but Dr. Fung goes into this information in significant detail. 

Littlejoe

I'm doing a low carb diet and exercise and as @HildaCorners said, plateau's happen...just don't give up.  I have started taking a cheat day once a week.  But also, I'll do a semi-fast day once a week where I only eat breakfast and then fast until breakfast the next day.  This seems to help me move past plateau's.  But your body is very adaptable and if you do the same thing all the time, it will adapt to the new "norm".  So variety helps keep your body from adjusting.  I'm thinking of doing that 3 day diet cycle to change it up from the low carb diet I've been on since April.

HildaCorners

@Littlejoe , not only are bodies adaptable, but they respond to different diets. What works well for me may not work at all for someone else.

Low/Slow carb seems to work best for those with metabolic syndrome problems: diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol. Other diets will work better for people with different health issues.

TL:DR ... you may need to try several different diet strategies before you find the one that works best for you.

Littlejoe

@HildaCorners - not only are bodies adaptable, but they respond to different diets. What works well for me may not work at all for someone else.

Yes absolutely.  In fact, I heard an ad on the radio the other day there is a company that is using DNA to tailor a diet specifically for you.

Low/Slow carb seems to work best for those with metabolic syndrome problems: diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol. Other diets will work better for people with different health issues.

Well, I have slightly high blood pressure but Low Carb works for me because it's what I love.  So, staying away from them really helps.

Caveman

Look at carb cycling. The one that worked the best for me is the MANS or Anabolic Diet. You restrict your carbs to 30-50 grams 5 days a week eating high protein high fat and for 24-36 hours hours on the weekend you reverse and eat high carbs low fat mod protein foods. This allows you to let your hair down a little on the weekend and you can enjoy some of your fav foods especially in social settings. BUT you have to workout hard during the week and it appears you are already are doing that.

Paladin

Just from experience, I am counting macros and I am 160lbs ( was 185lbs), eating 2100 Cal a day and on refeed day i eat over 3000Cal...  1200-1400 is way too low for anyone at 245lbs. Your body is trying to save everything. Even if you lift or exercise moderately, you should be well over 2000C a day minimum.  Not sure of your height, age etc... but if oyu do a search for IIFYM calculator, there are plenty of options out there to help you with getting an idea of your daily needs. I weigh everything i put in my body, and track it on MFP ( i see you are already doing that).. But just a guess for a 5'5 35 female is around 2100 Cal a day ( 245 Carbs, 160Protein, and 60 Fats grams per day) would create weight loss as long as there isnt something medical involved. Do research on IIFYM ( If It Fits Your Macros). 

Ivy

I'm 5'11 , age 36. I need to lose much more than 25 lbs. To be at the top of a normal bmi range for my height I need to lose 60 more lbs. To be fair, this year I have lost 30 lbs.  Several years ago before changing my eating habits I was just over 300 lbs so in total I've lost over 60 lbs.
When I have increased my calories above around 1400 calories, even with healthy foods, I start putting on weight. If I increased to 2000/day I would gain enough weight to have to buy new fat clothes.
 I had my thyroid checked a couple years ago and my doctor said it was in normal range. I asked my Obgyn about estrogen dominance being a possibility because I have to take progesterone during pregnancy because mine is low but they said if that's off birth control should fix it. I've been on birth control for 4 months and it's pretty much still the same.
I've come to the conclusion I probably really just need to refocus, cut out cheat days and increase the intensity of my workouts. I have been  giving thought to tracking macros. We are moving in the next two weeks though so any new diet / exercise changes have to wait until after that. 

amblrgirl

You started birth control and then plateaued on your weight loss? Birth control commonly causes weight gain and can definitely make it harder to lose. May be worth talking to your doctor about other options - a different bc pill or a non-hormonal form of bc.

Ivy

I plateaued before but the doctor made it sound like if I had estrogen dominance bc would fix it and nothing has changed.