Hitting plateu for about 5 month now

[SherieB]

Hi all!

I'm relatively new to the Fitbit, got my Alta just in June 2016.

I have always been slim, around 55 kilos but over the last 3 years managed to gain a lot of weight (I was 75 kg in June). I had some health problems, including a broken ankle that didn't heal for more than 9 months! So, I decided that I want to go back to my normal weight and started straight after the ankle surgery.

I love walking, hate running, I do cardio, elevated incline treadmill walking, elliptical, and some weights. I lost 5 kilos in 3 months and then everything stopped. My aria scale shows I'm gaining a bit of lean mass but my fat % is funny. It dropped from the initial 41% to 38% and now it dances around 38-39%. The same with my weight, it doesn't go below 70.

I'm at loss of what I'm doing wrong (or not doing right). My dietitian says that my diet is very good. I'm normally eating around 1200 Ca. I love sweets but I'm trying really hard to avoid them, I don't eat sugar, I don't eat junk food, fries, rice, white bread, or pasta. I don't even eat much! I sleep really well, 8 hours or more every day. I'm trying to increase the intensity of the exercises but I'm afraid that won't help either. I was wondering if anyone else was/is in similar situation and has a solution to it?

Thanks in advance!

[Dominique]

How tall are you? If you were slim at 55, you’re probably quite tall (for a woman), eg. 170 cm. If so, your calculated BMR would be around 1400 calories (even if you were only 160 cm, your BMR would still be higher than 1300). Your intake (1200) is therefore consistently below your BMR, which is not good. How much does your Fitbit say you burn in average per day? What is your average step count?

[SherieB]

I'm not very tall, just 164 cm. I do my usual 10k steps and I burn about 1800 Ca every day. When on holidays, I do between 15k and 20k steps but no workout.

[Esya]

Congratz on your weight loss so far!

There are two things that come to my mind, but the first is that you might be eating too little. I am 59 kilos and eat about 1700 calories a day, at which point I still seem to be losing weight but it allows for "bad days" when I am socialising in order to maintain. How large is your calorie deficit (calories out - calories in)? If it is too large your body might be holding on to the weight as a survival instinct. I know it sounds counter intuitive, but for you it might be worth it to try and increase the calories you eat by 250 if your deficit allows for it.

The other things is indeed increasing the intensity of your exercise as you already mentioned.

[Esya]

@SherieB

If you burn 1800 I would suggest to eat a little more than you currently are.

[SherieB]

Esya, I eat 1200 only when socialising 😊 I just had a look at my stats and it shows 800-1000 on weekdays. I can go overboard on some weekends though, especially if cakes are involved 😋

[Dominique]

800-1000 is far too low IMO for a reasonably active 43-yo woman who’s 164/70. Using this online calculator, your calculated (*) BMR would be 1349 and your TDEE at lightly/moderately active levels (2/3 out 5) would be 1855-2091.

(*) I say "calculated", because you may have brought it lower than that by eating too little. You’re sending signals to your body food is scarce and homeostasis is kicking in to save fuel and keep your weight at its current level.

[Esya]

I can't help but think "start eating" (not meaning any offense with that). While it sounds like a luxury to many being allowed/having to eat more, I know how hard it can be. As much as having to eat less it will take time to get used to it. As you are most likely used to eating small amounts, it might be best to eat more often instead of going for big meals at once in your case.

[SherieB]

Hmmm.... That's an interesting thought. I was always eating within this range of calories, so this aspect didn't change. It never occurred to me that I should eat more, I was thinking that I'm eating too much, maybe. I'll try to squeeze another portion of food into my schedule and will report how it's going.

Thanks for your help!

[Dominique]

Yes, it may sound paradoxical that eating too little prevents you from losing weight. Hopefully people who have been in this situation will be able to provide advice on how to escape this trap (no personal experience with the situation). It probably involves gradually increasing your intake, so as to let your body "know" food is available.