Been Gone A While-Been Stalled Since 6/2015

[HaddocksEyes 205]

Hi All!

Glad to see a few familiar faces around here. I see there have been some changes so I am not sure where to get some advice.

So I lost 65 pounds. I stalled out in June of last year (2015). I stopped going to the gym because I started to commute with my husband to work. And honestly, I was sure I would still lose some weight. Yeah, not so much. So in January I decided to go back to the gym and work out in earnest. Consulted my favorite bodybuilding site and went to work. I love lifting weights!

But, not much has happened. I lost like maybe 2 or 3 pounds. Lost one inch on my waist and hips. That's always a good thing. I'm not going to stop going at all, just wondering what I can do to speed this up. I'll be at two years out in August and I have another 70 pounds to lose. I can't see my old nutritionist anymore because I had to change medical plans. But I did manage to message her and she recommended eating between 1,300 and 1,500 calories per day (I was eating 1,800 before and maintaining just fine on that).

I'm at a size 16 (which is great coming from a size 22) but I'm not where I need to be.

What would people recommend? I'm thinking low carb may do it? I eat under 100 grams of carbs per day, about 140 grams of Protein and then the fats make up the rest.

Thanks guys! Glad to see you all!

[Dr-Patient 831]

Can you get down to less than 60 gms carbs a day? Even to ~40 would help. 100gms of carbs is a lot when trying to lose.

Edited April 12, 2016 by Dr-Patient

[Christinamo7 4,042]

Protein first - make sure you get your liquids, carbs from veggies after Protein and see what you can do! move your body. Same things as at first.

You can do this! and it will probably be a bit slower at this point but that is ok. just lets get the scale moving and keep it going.

[Kindle 8,667]

1300-1500 calories seems like a lot to try and lose on. We are the same height and thats about what I maintain with. There are a lot of people (me included) that have to be in the 1000-1200 range to lose.

You didn't mention fluids, but I'm assuming you are at 64oz or above. I typically get 80+.

What I've found that helps when I gain a few pounds here and there or when I find my willpower to stay on plan waivering, is to go back to basics. I will spend at least a week eating just Protein and veggies. Clearing out those carbs really helps my head and my body reset. In desperate times (like before a vacation or holiday) when I KNOW I will be eating WAY off plan, I do a preemptive strike. I do the traditional "preop diet" of Protein shakes only for a few days and that usually drops me to the bottom of my range. That way, even if I gain 5 pounds being "bad", I'm still in my maintenance range.

These are all tricks I use to maintain and stop any little regains, but they may help kickstart your losing again. BTW, welcome back! Nice to hear from you after all this time.

[HaddocksEyes 205]

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. I really agree with the responses and think that my carbs are too high. I will try lowering them to about 60 grams per day and make up the difference in Protein grams.

1,300 to 1,500 calories per day does sound like a lot but I was maintaining on about 1,800 per day before I got really serious about bodybuilding. At the time I contacted her (which was about 4 weeks ago) she believed that the lack of weight loss on the scale is due to recomposition - increase in muscle mass and a decrease of fat at proportionate levels. Which is understandable. But I have not lost any more inches, so I was doubting that this was still happening.

The new thing I have been doing for the past week (now in week two) is 30 minutes of high intensity intervals during cardio. Then, during my weightlifting sets I take "active" rests. So this means that when I do a set of reps, instead of standing around or just sitting for the 45 -60 second rest period before I start the next set, I move. I take a medicine ball and do squats with it or I will take another weight, hold it in both hands and swing it above my head and then down again, over and over. I am hoping this will jump start my lazy metabolism.

I have said it before but will say it again - the gastric sleeve was one of the greatest gifts I have been given and I am so glad, every day, I had this surgery. I would not be where I am at today without it.

[HaddocksEyes 205]

1300-1500 calories seems like a lot to try and lose on. We are the same height and thats about what I maintain with. There are a lot of people (me included) that have to be in the 1000-1200 range to lose.

You didn't mention fluids, but I'm assuming you are at 64oz or above. I typically get 80+.

What I've found that helps when I gain a few pounds here and there or when I find my willpower to stay on plan waivering, is to go back to basics. I will spend at least a week eating just Protein and veggies. Clearing out those carbs really helps my head and my body reset. In desperate times (like before a vacation or holiday) when I KNOW I will be eating WAY off plan, I do a preemptive strike. I do the traditional "preop diet" of Protein shakes only for a few days and that usually drops me to the bottom of my range. That way, even if I gain 5 pounds being "bad", I'm still in my maintenance range.

These are all tricks I use to maintain and stop any little regains, but they may help kickstart your losing again. BTW, welcome back! Nice to hear from you after all this time.

Kindle, I forgot to address the Water issue. I slack on that. I usually get about 40-45 ounces per day. I should up that. Thanks!

[RickM 1,753]

My experience on this is that the carbs aren't going to matter if your calories are too high, which they probably still are. I averaged around 100g per day on the carbs when I was losing, and lost the 100+ lb that I needed to lose in about 7 months. But....my caloric deficit averaged about 1000 calories per day towards the end of that effort; it was likely higher earlier on (I averaged 1100 calories per day while losing, and am maintaining at 2000-2200). Your top line metabolic burn (what you are quoting as around 1800 calories) will go down as you lose simply because you have less weight to move around all day long; the exceptions to this are usually those who seriously ramp up their exercise burn as they lose - typically those who get into marathon training or the like as they get closer to goal. So, consider that when setting your caloric goals - at your goal weight, you will probably be stable in the 15-1600 range.

Your Protein is likely well in excess of what your body needs to maintain itself, so you really don't need to convert carbs to more protein; better to look into what nutrition your body needs once your Protein needs are met and shoot for that, though most of us do overkill on protein to some degree as it tends to provide longer lasting satiety which helps keep the calorie count down while losing. Protein needs best correlate to our lean body mass, and at your height and likely lean mass for a woman, your maintenance needs will likely be in the 60-70g range; mine is around 100-105 to support my 150-ish lb lean mass. If I were inclined to add to my muscle mass, (which I'm not - that's just "fat in escrow" for when I stop,) then I would need to add another 40 or so g per day of protein along with a well-developed program (and all the work that goes with it) to add around 10lb in six months or so (without funny drugs.)

For most of us, the best approach is to work to maintain what muscle mass we have while we lose the fat rather than trying to do both at the same time (at least for us seriously obese folks who need WLS,) Some promote the idea that you physically can't build muscle mass while in a caloric deficit consistent with significant weight loss. I say "never say never" but from what I have seen in this WLS world, it is extremely rare. The one case that I can think of in our WLS world is a post op of my doc's practice from several years ago who is retired NFL - he got himself down to about 4% body fat before letting up (and likely a decent muscle mass increase) but he already knew how to do that from years of doing so at the professional level, and working at it 2-3 hours per day, something most of us can't duplicate in our working lives.

I would say that if you can get yourself down to around 1000 calories per day, that would leave you with enough margin to get to your goal weight; much higher than that and you will likely fall short. Leave yourself some margin on carb restrictions so that you can make adjustments to fit the nutritional needs of your fitness regimen - I increased my complex carbs strategically (timing relative to workouts) part way through my loss phase in order to maintain my endurance (particularly when swimming, though it didn't seem to make much of a difference to my strength workouts that are similar to yours - alternating muscle groups between sets rather than just standing around doing nothing.)

Good luck on getting things back on track,

[HaddocksEyes 205]

My experience on this is that the carbs aren't going to matter if your calories are too high, which they probably still are. I averaged around 100g per day on the carbs when I was losing, and lost the 100+ lb that I needed to lose in about 7 months. But....my caloric deficit averaged about 1000 calories per day towards the end of that effort; it was likely higher earlier on (I averaged 1100 calories per day while losing, and am maintaining at 2000-2200). Your top line metabolic burn (what you are quoting as around 1800 calories) will go down as you lose simply because you have less weight to move around all day long; the exceptions to this are usually those who seriously ramp up their exercise burn as they lose - typically those who get into marathon training or the like as they get closer to goal. So, consider that when setting your caloric goals - at your goal weight, you will probably be stable in the 15-1600 range.

Your Protein is likely well in excess of what your body needs to maintain itself, so you really don't need to convert carbs to more protein; better to look into what nutrition your body needs once your Protein needs are met and shoot for that, though most of us do overkill on protein to some degree as it tends to provide longer lasting satiety which helps keep the calorie count down while losing. Protein needs best correlate to our lean body mass, and at your height and likely lean mass for a woman, your maintenance needs will likely be in the 60-70g range; mine is around 100-105 to support my 150-ish lb lean mass. If I were inclined to add to my muscle mass, (which I'm not - that's just "fat in escrow" for when I stop,) then I would need to add another 40 or so g per day of protein along with a well-developed program (and all the work that goes with it) to add around 10lb in six months or so (without funny drugs.)

For most of us, the best approach is to work to maintain what muscle mass we have while we lose the fat rather than trying to do both at the same time (at least for us seriously obese folks who need WLS,) Some promote the idea that you physically can't build muscle mass while in a caloric deficit consistent with significant weight loss. I say "never say never" but from what I have seen in this WLS world, it is extremely rare. The one case that I can think of in our WLS world is a post op of my doc's practice from several years ago who is retired NFL - he got himself down to about 4% body fat before letting up (and likely a decent muscle mass increase) but he already knew how to do that from years of doing so at the professional level, and working at it 2-3 hours per day, something most of us can't duplicate in our working lives.

I would say that if you can get yourself down to around 1000 calories per day, that would leave you with enough margin to get to your goal weight; much higher than that and you will likely fall short. Leave yourself some margin on carb restrictions so that you can make adjustments to fit the nutritional needs of your fitness regimen - I increased my complex carbs strategically (timing relative to workouts) part way through my loss phase in order to maintain my endurance (particularly when swimming, though it didn't seem to make much of a difference to my strength workouts that are similar to yours - alternating muscle groups between sets rather than just standing around doing nothing.)

Good luck on getting things back on track,

I think you are right. I didn't want to admit that because I was thinking "geez, if I lower it to 1,000, what will I be eating when I weigh 145 pounds?" But maybe it doesn't work like that. I am on the hunt for a new nutritionist because while I may be able to email my old one, I think I need a little more help than that. I know it is my diet. If I were to tell you that I don't eat ice cream or have cake once in a while, I would be lying and what's more, all of you would know it!! ha!

Thank you so much for your response! It is much appreciated.