How did you break your stall?

[Daves_Not_Here]

This question is directed to those of you who (1) lost a significant amount of weight, (2) became stalled at a weight above your target weight, and (3) persevered to break the stall and achieve your goal.

How did you do it?

Hearing what worked for you will be hugely helpful for the many here who are stalled and frustrated.  The most frequent question posted in this forum is a variant of, "After an initial weight loss, I've been stalled for weeks/months/years and nothing I try seems to work."

When answering, it would be great if you could share details such as your starting weight, your initial loss and how long it took, the length of your stall, how much you eventually lost, what worked/didn't work, advice for other stallee's, etc.

Thanks -- I know many here will appreciate your insights!

[Dominique]

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@Daves_Not_Herewrote:

"After an initial weight loss, I've been stalled for weeks/months/years and nothing I try seems to work."

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What’s working for you is being able to secure the weight loss you’ve achieved, as opposed to rebounding big time, which is all too common:

By maintaining your new weight for a while, you’re setting yourself up for success during your next weight loss phase. The same mechanism that worked for you last year (caloric deficit) will work next time around, when you’re in the right conditions (= metabolically recovered from the previous weight loss phase). 

[SunsetRunner]

I'll chime in on this...

Based on my past post (Hard Dose of Reality) I decided to accept the fact that my weight loss is going to go real slow now based on info my weight loss doctor gave me after *running my numbers* based on my food and exercise logs (Month of February, 2018).

I did lower my daily calorie intake from 2000-2200 to 1800-2000. It's not much of a reduction, but I'm hesitant to go lower than that because of my workouts (5 days a week, each workout is 1.5 hours long). I think I workout with a moderate to intense level.

I'm also hoping that my calorie burn of 350-550 (depending on the intensity of my workouts) will give me the deficit I'll need to get some weight loss and to arrive at my new *short term goal* of 275 pounds. My doctor told me that for the time being, 275 will be a more achievable goal to get to. Once there, I'm thinking of doing a 6-9 month maintenance routine (maybe longer) to get my metabolism to level out and bring it up to a level that will allow me to make further reduction to get to my new *long term* goal weight of 250 (my forum sig will be updated with all my numbers as I go thru this.

Based on the info from my doc, I have a metabolism of a 190 pound man, and since I am currently 284 pounds, I'm NOT burning calories based on that weight, so I have adjusted my fitbit app to reflect that I am now a 190 pound man to get more accurate numbers. My nutrition Track app, I'll keep my real weight in and use my *FitBit calories burned thru excursive ONLY* numbers to add to my Track app.

Also, after researching the *Metabolic Adaption* subject, I'm definitely in that stage after a 136 pound loss over the last 14 months. 14 months from what I have been told thru my doc, and others and based on the research I have done online is considered a *short amount of time* to lose that kind of weight. I agree, because I didn't get to 420 pounds in 14 months, so losing 136 in 14 months seems very fast. There's good and bad in all that. I need to be very careful that I DO NOT gain that weight back. I'm wrapping my head around that fact that maybe it's a good thing my weight loss slowed because now I have to keep my eye on the ball, and not ruin my success.

I'm now thinking that to get to my final 250 goal, it might take a total of three years. So be it. But, I'm not going to put any actual time limit on this. I can't, it's too frustrating.

Hopefully I have added to this subject.

[Daves_Not_Here]

@Dominique - as always, thanks for your encouraging words.  My biggest concern is how long it may take to become "metabolically recovered".  Reading the Biggest Loser study, I believe the suppressed metabolic state was sustained for over 5 years.  Any thoughts on how to shorten the metabolic recovery period?

@SunsetRunner - you definitely added to the subject.  What I take away from your ongoing experience is the need to maintain vigilance and actively manage weight.  While I'd prefer to be able to go on mindless autopilot, things could be worse.  At least I now have realistic expectations and can go about forging new habits.

[Dominique]

@Daves_Not_Here: my understanding is you’re not in the Biggest Loser league, as you "only" lost about 50 pounds. Therefore five years doesn’t really apply to you. One piece of advice I’ve seen is to have a maintenance phase of the same length before you shoot for the next weight loss phase. For you, that would be five months. You’ve already been maintaining for four months, so you could give it a go again starting in May. Your metabolism may not have fully recovered, but it would have recovered enough for further weight loss to occur. For your second weight loss phase, you may want to be less aggressive than the first time. The rule of max. 1% of body weight per week, max. 10% of body weight in total seems reasonable to me. Do you feel you’re struggling to maintain your current weight at 185-190? Is it becoming easier than last December?

[oh_suzanney]

I hired a personal trainer and started lifting heavier weights.

[Daves_Not_Here]

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Thanks @Dominique - I'm going to take your advice.  As to struggling, yes, I feel I'm right on the edge of regaining.  I feel like I'm having to be constantly mindful of what and how much I eat.  I don't have cravings, but it would be very easy to eat 500 to 1,000 calories more per day.  I'm not logging my eating, but I'm weighing, and that seems to provide the accountability I need to curb my intake.

On the other hand, there is less urgency to lose the final pounds -- the motivation is primarily aesthetic.  At this point, my clothes all fit, my gut's gone, my metabolic markers are hugely improved, I'm off statins, I no longer snore, and I enjoy skiing and cycling without weight-related fatigue.  However, I'd like to take another 15 to 25 off so I'm not on the edge of obesity.  I want to go from "not fat" to lean.  Also, I think lower weight will be healthier as I age into my 60's.

[jshaf]

I just fast and walk like a mad man.  cut out the artificial sweeteners for a couple days and it always does the trick for me.  everyone is different, just got to experiment.  but as I have lost weight I try just about everything once or twice.  have learned to listen to my body, it will usually tell me when to slow down,rest, etc.