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  #1   ^
Old Tue, Jun-25-02, 15:01
Dryad Dryad is offline
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Posts: 11
 
Plan: general
Stats: 279/242/160
BF:
Progress: 31%
Location: Scotland/ USA
Question Stall-o-rama

Hey all -

I'm not sure I necessarily qualify under officially stalling, but, well, tell me what you think:

I'm on a general lc plan, fat/protein/carb levels currently running about 65/25-30/5-10% a day. Gram-wise it's oh, 100+/90-130/40-55 or thereabouts. I aim for 2000 cal but rarely reach it. Last week I averaged around 1400. Um, my body seems to want less fat these days, and eating accordingly has taken my calories right down.

Anyway, it seems that everytime I lost a pound or two, I then go up again for several weeks, then lose, then up, etc, etc, etc. There is no steady loss. For the year and half that I've been lc'ing I've lost almost 40lbs. Excercise seems to make no difference whatsoever...hell, it didn't before, either, for that matter.

So does anyone have any suggestions?
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  #2   ^
Old Tue, Jun-25-02, 18:42
Natrushka Natrushka is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 11,512
 
Plan: IF +LC
Stats: 287/165/165 Female 66"
BF:
Progress: 100%
Default Re: Stall-o-rama

Quote:
Originally posted by Dryad
Anyway, it seems that everytime I lost a pound or two, I then go up again for several weeks, then lose, then up, etc, etc, etc. There is no steady loss. For the year and half that I've been lc'ing I've lost almost 40lbs. Excercise seems to make no difference whatsoever...hell, it didn't before, either, for that matter.

So does anyone have any suggestions?


Dryad, this is normal fat loss on LC. We tend to lose 'chunks' of weight. It's never down, down, down, but the general trend is down (your 40 lbs speaks to that ).

The only suggestion would be to have a few more calories - you might notice that the fat that comes off happens in larger 'chunks'. 1400 calories is much too little. 1400 calories is what is recommended petite women not go under for fear of permanently slowing their metabolism.

BTW, those 'chunks' that come off are what we call 'whoooshes'. You actually lose the fat continuously, but fat cells hate to shrink and will compensate by holding onto water. When the water is released you experience that whooosh the next day.

HTH
Nat
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  #3   ^
Old Tue, Jun-25-02, 19:23
Karen's Avatar
Karen Karen is offline
Forum Founder
Posts: 12,775
 
Plan: Ketogenic
Stats: -/-/- Female 5 feet 4 inches
BF:
Progress: 100%
Location: Vancouver
Default

What do you normally eat as carbohydrates and what kind of excercise do you do? Weight training will build lean body mass while reducing body fat.

Karen
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  #4   ^
Old Tue, Jun-25-02, 20:42
TeriDoodle TeriDoodle is offline
Starting Over!
Posts: 3,435
 
Plan: Protein Power LifePlan
Stats: 182/178/150 Female 67 inches
BF:Jiggley mess
Progress: 13%
Location: Texas!!
Cool

I'm with Nat.... I would definitely like to see what happens if you get your calories up! Hey, try a mock danish for a few nighly treats!!! Can't go wrong with a mock danish!!
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  #5   ^
Old Wed, Jun-26-02, 03:15
Dryad Dryad is offline
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Posts: 11
 
Plan: general
Stats: 279/242/160
BF:
Progress: 31%
Location: Scotland/ USA
Default

Quote:
Originally posted by Karen
What do you normally eat as carbohydrates and what kind of excercise do you do? Weight training will build lean body mass while reducing body fat.


Most of my carbs come from veggies, and considering it's summer, mostly raw veggies. When I moved to the UK I started eating all those foods that I only ate occasionally in the States, y'know, potatoes, daily bread, desserts, etc. But, since lc'ing, I've dropped all of that (apart from the odd bobblle during the holidays), and discovered that of the grains, oats and barley are the ones I can eat in small doses. Wheat is *not* my friend.

I rarely eat fruit as it's a depressant for me.

As for excercise, I stopped doing aerobics last year because I wasn't losing any weight. To be specific, I lost 2 whole lbs in the first four months of lc'ing (I was in K and used Fitday), and 15lbs in 6 weeks once I *stopped* the aerobics. Weird, eh? Especially considering that I'd been doing aerobics for several years. Go figure. Anyway, I've recently started doing some very minor weight training - l live in a 2 room apartment with my husband, there's no room for anything more than a couple of dumbbells - but that does't seem to be doing much either. Oh, and we don't have a car, so I used buses and walk everywhere.

Dryad
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  #6   ^
Old Wed, Jun-26-02, 03:26
Dryad Dryad is offline
New Member
Posts: 11
 
Plan: general
Stats: 279/242/160
BF:
Progress: 31%
Location: Scotland/ USA
Default

Quote:
Originally posted by TeriDoodle
I'm with Nat.... I would definitely like to see what happens if you get your calories up! Hey, try a mock danish for a few nighly treats!!! Can't go wrong with a mock danish!!


Okay, I have a real problem eating enough. When I get full, I get full, and since my body doesn't really like more than 65% of my daily calories to come from fat...well, you see the problem. I found out that I lose more (in that turtle-like fashion) if I don't eat after 6 pm, so I really only eat 3 meals a day with no snacks. The no snack thing cropped up because I found that if I did snack, I wasn't hungry for longer periods of time between meals, which meant my meals got stretched out until late at night, then I couldn't sleep and I wasn't hungry in the morning, etc, etc, etc.

Like a lot of people, my eating habits were really messed up when I was younger, mainly due to long-term depression when I was a teen, in that I wouldn't eat when I was hungry, but would when I wasn't. Took me years to reverse this, and it's my only set-in-stone rule for eating.

Soooo, those are the reasons for my low calorie count. When I first started I had to resort to sipping olive oil to get over 2000 (of course back then my goal was 2300+ a day), and I'm thinking I'm going to have to return to that to get them up again. Can't say it appeals to me.

What's a mock danish?

Dryad, who dropping dairy for a little while
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  #7   ^
Old Wed, Jun-26-02, 04:43
TeriDoodle TeriDoodle is offline
Starting Over!
Posts: 3,435
 
Plan: Protein Power LifePlan
Stats: 182/178/150 Female 67 inches
BF:Jiggley mess
Progress: 13%
Location: Texas!!
Default Mock danish

Well, if you're going to drop dairy for a while, you won't be having mock danish.... But here's the link to the favorite treat of this board!!: Mock Danish

Give it your best effort to get the cals up.... just for a week ....or two (better).... have an extra protein shake w/ flax oil somewhere during the day or before bed.... You can do it!!
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  #8   ^
Old Wed, Jun-26-02, 05:10
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plum plum is offline
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Posts: 4,809
 
Plan: Primal Blueprint
Stats: 230/136/136 Female 5'5"
BF:
Progress: 100%
Default

Dear Dryad
I was stuck forever, and Im cautiously hopeful now.... what really helped was journaling...... have you set one up ?? It concentrates the mind and a good place to have a grumble and encouragement.
I got my results so far this way......
10X body weight in cals
60/30-35/5 ish.... raising protein a bit, dropping fat a bit
more exercise... walking, etc =nothing, but Teri encouraged me into getting some small weights. Im lazy so I lift them watching TV. Different sort of exercise - muscle building.
It has taken a long while to get this far, and I have a way to go, maybe more adjustments on the way.... but now I dont feel desperate. enjoying it. Good luck..
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  #9   ^
Old Wed, Jun-26-02, 06:22
Natrushka Natrushka is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 11,512
 
Plan: IF +LC
Stats: 287/165/165 Female 66"
BF:
Progress: 100%
Default

Quote:
Originally posted by Dryad
To be specific, I lost 2 whole lbs in the first four months of lc'ing (I was in K and used Fitday), and 15lbs in 6 weeks once I *stopped* the aerobics. Weird, eh? Especially considering that I'd been doing aerobics for several years. Go figure.


Dryad, this is pretty common actually. If the calorie deficit between what comes in and what goes out is too great it creates stress, and a stressed body holds onto fat and water. I experienced the same thing. I have to stop lifting weights and doing cardio to lose scale weight.

I realize that right now eating more is a problem for you. Our bodies do adapt though. If you start eating more, more frequent smaller meals your body will adapt to this - it will get hungry again. As long as you make wise choices this is a good thing.

BTW, moderate intensity exercise, such as walking, wont have the same negative fat loss consequences for you. A good walk after a meal will further increase metabolism (and might even make you hungrier later )

Nat
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  #10   ^
Old Wed, Jun-26-02, 16:25
Dryad Dryad is offline
New Member
Posts: 11
 
Plan: general
Stats: 279/242/160
BF:
Progress: 31%
Location: Scotland/ USA
Default Re: Mock danish

Quote:
Originally posted by TeriDoodle

Give it your best effort to get the cals up.... just for a week ....or two (better).... have an extra protein shake w/ flax oil somewhere during the day or before bed.... You can do it!!


Well, I've been thinking of going all Paleo (my books arrive tomorrow) and thought today would be a good tryout. Imagine my surprise when I discovered I'd eaten a little over 2000 cal!

Of course, I ate a heck of a lot of meat..132g, which, while not at the very extreme, is about 40g more than normal. I doubled up on the olive oil (2tbs) and butter (2tbs) too. I can see this is a diet that needs a lot of preperation...and I'm just going to ignore how much it's going to cost.

Dryad, wondering why the heck the water in her glass leaves a white-ish residue...
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  #11   ^
Old Wed, Jun-26-02, 16:32
Dryad Dryad is offline
New Member
Posts: 11
 
Plan: general
Stats: 279/242/160
BF:
Progress: 31%
Location: Scotland/ USA
Default

Quote:
Originally posted by Natrushka


Dryad, this is pretty common actually. If the calorie deficit between what comes in and what goes out is too great it creates stress, and a stressed body holds onto fat and water. I experienced the same thing. I have to stop lifting weights and doing cardio to lose scale weight.


Wow! That's really good to know. Everyone else has been telling my I just didn't work out enough. Hey, at least it's better than saying it's all in my head. So would that also explain how I'm losing so slowly, despite burning more cals than I eat? (according to fitday)

Quote:

I realize that right now eating more is a problem for you. Our bodies do adapt though. If you start eating more, more frequent smaller meals your body will adapt to this - it will get hungry again. As long as you make wise choices this is a good thing.


I was very hungrier sooner than I thought I would be, considering what I ate.

Quote:

BTW, moderate intensity exercise, such as walking, wont have the same negative fat loss consequences for you. A good walk after a meal will further increase metabolism (and might even make you hungrier later )

Nat


Well, I live in a city, and I hate walking in cities. There's a beach boulevard about 5 min from our apartment, but I don't like walking there, either. I mean, I honestly am used to people staring at me, but for whatever reason, the people at the beach drive me to distraction. Then again, if I had someone to walk with, maybe things would be different. Anyway, give me a mountain to climb or a trail to follow and I'm a happy camper.

Dryad
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  #12   ^
Old Wed, Jun-26-02, 17:52
Natrushka Natrushka is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 11,512
 
Plan: IF +LC
Stats: 287/165/165 Female 66"
BF:
Progress: 100%
Default

Quote:
Originally posted by Dryad
So would that also explain how I'm losing so slowly, despite burning more cals than I eat? (according to fitday)


Yeppers. The whole idea that if eating 1800 calories will allow you to lose 1 lb a week, eating 1300 calories will allow you to lose 2 lbs a week just doesn't measure up. I burn, on average 2400 calories a day w/o even exercising. When I was doing a very intense program I was up to 3300 calories expended. I was eating 1900 and thought that was more than enough - after all it was well over 10x my body weight. I wasn't losing anything. When I dropped the exercise for a week and increased calories to 2200-2300 all that fat I had been 'losing' for those 4 weeks fell off in 10 days (8 lbs of it).

All calories, like all carbs, are not created equal. If this were the case we'd be able to simply eat 500 calories less our maintenance level every day in the form of Snickers and Coke Classic and lose a pound a week. It just ain't gonna happen.

Nat
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