Weight loss plateau

[Mrs.Webster]

Up until a few weeks ago all of my exercise was cardio.

It worked GREAT! In a months time (from 11/11 to 12/9) I lost 15lbs.

On a daily I try to consume no less than 800-100 calories a day.

I also drink over 75oz of water.

Recently i've added the gym into my workout.

Leg Presses, the eleptical, squats, EVERYTHING.

But, I have not lost a pound since.

WHATS WRONG?

[AF_Chief]

Good morning, I am going to make a small assumption that your actual goal is Fat loss. Here is what is happening, as you just started lifting weights (which is great!) your body is now building muscle, (which is also great). While 5 lbs of fat is the same weight as 5 lbs of muscle, muscle is much more dense than fat, meaning 5lbs of muscle takes up less space in the body than 5 lbs of bodyfat. I would say your weight is not budging because the muscle weight is offsetting the fat loss on the scale. This does not mean you are no longer losing fat, as a matter of fact, muscle growth will help with fat loss. My recommendation is to keep doing what you are doing, but instead of measuring progress on the scale, start measuring your waist, and watch the inches start to disappear. You are doing great! Keep up the good work! --Chief

[Dominique]

There are two major variables affecting weight loss: exercise and nutrition. You didn’t mention anything about the latter, although it usually has a far bigger impact than the former. It’s also hard to put your weight loss in perspective, since we don’t know when you started, for how long you have been doing cardio only (and what type of cardio, length of sessions etc.), and when you started to go to the gym. Did you really lose 15 pounds in ONE month? That would be a lot. That could be consistent with the initial weight loss observed when switching to a very low-carb diet (but hard to say, since you didn’t say a word about your nutrition). As to the stop of your weight loss being due to all the muscle you gained since going to the gym: it’s probably not the case, as gaining muscle is a very slow process, especially for women (and older guys like me). In other words, you need to provide a little bit more information about yourself, what you have been doing and eating (and for how long) before we can make guesses about "what’s wrong". 

[Mrs.Webster]

Thanks. Ive added more info to the origional post.

[Mrs.Webster]

More info added

[AF_Chief]

I agree with everything you said, with one exception...When a person first starts weight training, they can and do, gain muscle at a faster rate that a normal person. Now that rate of gain will likely be short lived, it is possible to gain 5-15 lbs of lean muscle quickly in the beginning if all other exercise/nutritional factors are in check. If you combine that gain, with an expected slow down of fat loss, this is completely reasonable for the two variables to cause a perceived plateau on the scale. Where is my evidence? I have done it myself with results verified by a military medical professional using the BodPod to measure progress. Yes, I know the BodPod is not 100%accurate, however it is an effective way to measure change even if the actual fat loss percentages are off by a bit.

[Dominique]

Sorry, I’m not very familiar with US date formats, but I assume the period we’re talking about is November 11th to December 9th, so this is all very recent.

It sounds like you have been on a crash diet: very low calories (800 calories IS very low for a young woman like yourself) and extremely high activity (the cardio you mentioned). This would explain why you lost a lot (15 pounds in a month is enormous), but hit a wall. 

My advice would be to use an online calculator such as this one in order to determine your BMR. Also check what the calculator gives for TDEE based on the various activity levels, and compared that to what your Fitbit says you burn. If you’re not familiar with BMR and TDEE, they’re defined on the link I gave you. You would not want to eat below your BMR, which may well be twice the 800 calories you said you are eating. You need to eat way more than 800 calories, yet be able to create the deficit you need to lose weight. That deficit may not be as large as the one you had for the past month, but the main thing is for it to be sustainable over a longer period of time. There are people here who have been able to lose up to 100 pounds in a year or so. You will get better advice from them as to what it takes to achieve such results. However, patience and consistency is what you need. 

[A_Lurker · Accepted solution]

@Mrs.Webster- you lost a lot of weight very quickly and your body is fighting back a bit.  You don't need to share your weight, but as @Dominique suggested, you should figure out what your BMR is.  The site I tend to use is: http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/

If I use my information, and my next intermediate goal, and I assume that I'm lightly active the site tells me I should be eating 2500 calories.  And you know something, I lose weight fairly consistently on that calorie level.  I've lost almost 95 pounds this year and I'm actually eating more now than when I first started.  I have a bad habit of undereating / over exercising when trying to lose weight.  It works well for a short period of time then I can't maintain it.  Eventually I would give up and end up heavier than when I started.  This year, with more information, I'm working on slow sustainable changes.  When I reach my goal weight I will have changed my eating and exercising habits to something I can live with forever.

Eating 800-1000 calories a day is way too little, even if you were doing nothing.  You've added cardio and now other exercises on top of that.  The nicest way to put it is that your body is fighting back.  You maybe haven't been doing this long enough to need a metabolic reset, but you might be headed that way.  The problem is that you can't simply start eating more without gaining weight.  I'd suggest taking a rest week, but only increase your calories a bit (like 250 calories a day).  See how you are at the end of the week and decide what to do next.

Some reading for you (although if you've only been dieting a couple of months at low calories you may not be at this point).  http://eatmore2weighless.com/the-metabolism-reset-guide/

[Mrs.Webster]

Thank you. I was thinking the same thing. But honestly it's like I'm afraid to eat more. Don't get me wrong, im never hungry. I eat when I am. But it's that I'd rather opt for a boiled egg or a 80 calorie package of tuna before I will a meal.

[A_Lurker]

There are small ways to add a few calories without much effort.  A handful of nuts are low bulk but higher calories.  Use full fat dressing on salads. You don't want to have to live on under 1000 calories forever, so slowly increase your calories - then you can go back to weight loss mode.

[SunsetRunner]

Thank you @Dominique and @A_Lurker for the links. They are very helpful. @Mrs.Webster take a look at the links. They should help you find some answers. I agree that patience and consistency are the keys. Good luck and don't get discouraged. 

[AndyDandyPandy]

Stop worrying about your weight. To me, weight loss plateau is a myth. It is for people who are too obsessed with weight. You can weigh the same while being thinner. If your weight doesn't go down or even if it goes up a few lb it doesnt mean you're doing something wrong unless you are doing something wrong then you should already know it and you will just be lying to yourself.

It seems like your mindset is more on seeing the scale move down than seeing your body/health change. Science say as long as you eat mindfully and do moderate exercise you will lose fat and become thinner and that takes a long time. Fat loss is easy but being consistent is not. 

Remember weight loss is just fluid. True fat loss and muscle gain is very slow. Gaining weight very quickly or losing very quickly is just fluid. Fat loss is unnoticeable unless you've been at it long enough.