hey all! I had a question.

I have been on CC since the beginning of Jan. and have lost 15 pounds, most of that in the first month. I have been stalled for almost two months now. Every week i workout 4-5 times a week. I keep my calories around 1600. I waitress at a very busy restaurant. I count calories daily for the last  4 months.....I don't know why i'm not losing weight. I went to the doctor to get my thyroid tested, and everything turned out normal. I'm starting to think that it is impossible for me to lose weight. I need to lose roughly 30 more pounds.

The only thing I can think of is, that I drink once a week. Could this completely stall my weight loss?

Grrr why is it sooo easy for some people to lose weight and for others its like pulling teeth?!! I'm 22, you'd think it would be easier.

My stats are: 5'9" CW 180 GW 150

Any advice is appreciated!!

 

I wanted to bump this because I am interested in an answer.  Seems I have been having the same problem. 

I'd guess that it could be related to the drinking depending on how much you drink. If you did a weekly average of your calorie deficit (including the alcohol consumed), would a deficit exist? If you're not counting your alcohol calories it could throw your entire week off.

Also, I'd wonder if you are getting enough calories - I'm not as active as you because my job is relatively sedentary and I work out 3 times a week. I take in 1500 calories a day and have been losing 1-2 pounds a week since Jan. Try bumping it up to 1800 for a week or two.

hmm i will have to try that. I have never done a week average of calories. I just never know exactly how much i burn bc of my job, during workouts and what not. I will definitely try that.

When i drink i usually have roughly 10 shots..which would be roughly 1,000 calories. I try to create a 1,000calorie deficit daily to equal two pounds a week.. but that obviously isn't working!!

what sort of workout do you do? I read somewhere that if you keep doing the same kind of workout (cardio) after a while you might hit a plateau, cause your body has gotten used to the kind of exercise that you been doing and it's no longer burning as many calories doing it! If you've been just jogging or something, it might do you good to do some strength training, or go swimming on some days instead. By making these changes, you will actually be making your muscles do additional work. (;

i'm not sure how the alcohol might affect your weight loss, but 10 shots at a go sounds like plenty... also, alcohol is extremely dehydrating, so it might help if you up your water intake especially on days that you are drinking! Hope this helps! (:

and i think alle0299 is probably right. With the kind of lifestyle that you're leading, it's possible that you're not taking in enough calories. I'm not sure how true it is, but some other CCers have told me that it's not advisable to go below your BMR because it would slow down your metabolism. I think your BMR is slightly above 1600 (around 1650), so it might be better if you aim for 1700cals a day instead! (:

I LOVE beer and drink once a week.  Usually saturday evenings...around 5 or 6 bottles (coors or bud light) which equals about 600 calories.  I just make sure I work out that day for sure, so I can afford the extra calories.

~H~

I don't know if you like beer at all, but Miller came out with MGD 64 a while ago. It's only 64 calories. If you're an avid beer connoisseur, it's not necessarily the tastiest beer. In fact, it doesn't have a whole lot of taste at all, but it's better than drinking 1000 calories in a night.

I have lost tons of weight whil still drinking at least once a week. The key for me is that I try my very best to include my drinking in my total daily calories. My wife and I drink Vodka soda's only. They only have 65 calories in them, and for the most part they taste like water if mixed correctly. The one problem I did have was when I would binge drink ( have 5 or more drinks) I would pass out or throw up because I did not have a enough food in me. One of the other things I do is try and eat 100 less calories on the couple days leading up to my drinking so then I have a total calorie amount that is at my goal. Beck light is also 65 calories if you like the beer.

Now that is the easy part, the hard part is to be drunk and try not to put something in your mouth. that has taken some getting used to.

Hi,

How much are you drinking when you drink? 1 or 2 drinks should not get in the way of your weight loss (although they certainly could slow the process), but 5 plus drinks is another issue altogether.

I would also take a look at the rest of your diet and exercise regimen. For your goals I would suggest avoiding grains altogether and get the bulk of your carbohydrates from vegetables. Also make sure you are including resistance training as well as interval training in your exercise program as opposed to just long, steady-state cardio work. This will help boost your metabolism

Josh Feinman, CPT

 

 

Original Post by star_dust_03:

hmm i will have to try that. I have never done a week average of calories. I just never know exactly how much i burn bc of my job, during workouts and what not. I will definitely try that.

When i drink i usually have roughly 10 shots..which would be roughly 1,000 calories. I try to create a 1,000calorie deficit daily to equal two pounds a week.. but that obviously isn't working!!

I would guess that you are not losing weight because of the alcohol. 10 shots is quite a bit to consume in one evening.  Alcohol completely screws around with your blood sugar levels and eventually drinking large amounts over time (even if it is only once a week) could lead you to develop insulin resistance. Could you try drinking some sparkling water in between so that you are not drinking quite so much? Not trying to be judgmental here but wow, if I did 10 shots I would be under the bar passed out cold! 
 

Isn't it sad that losing weight isn't an exact science?...I mean Isn't 3500 calories worth a deficit suppose to equal a pound...well I've had deficits this high within 3 days of dieting and didn't see **** on the scale! Unfortunately everybody is different and you can't really apply what works for you, to someone else's life...I can offer up some theories though....Our magical bodies have this annoying tendency to adapt to everything we do...how quickly it adapts varies from person to person...So lets say you decided to lose weight and cut back to 1600 cals.  Magically, 15 lbs melted off in a month and you were super stoked...then the plateau hit!....What could have happened is that your body decided, "alright, 1600 cals...I can handle this..whatev!"...so your body slows down its metabolism so you no longer are burning what your guesstimated at rest burn rate is showing you.  At this point, I see two options.  You can try increasing your caloric intake to speed back up your metabolism.  The effect of this will be weight gain for a number months then it will slack off as your body becomes accustomed to its new intake.  At this point...you can cut back down to 1600 cals and start losing weight again.  Is the weight loss from this going to offset the weight gain?...Eff if I know? Most likely you'll end up losing more than you gained.  The other option, is to cut your current 1600 cals down to 1000-1200 cals.  Once again you'll see that awesome spike in weight loss and once again it will start to taper off.  Unfortunately your metabolism will probably slow down even more to adjust for this diet.  So you take option 2...(this is what I did in your situation, and I'm not saying it was the right choice)  Now you're faced with the question "can I maintain this diet for the rest of my life?"  Because you know once you start eating normal again, its going to take a while for your metabolism to spark back up to speed and the result is going to be rapid weight gain.  Its a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation and it sucks.  This is probably why historically overweight people (I'm not talking about a normally skinny person putting on the freshman 15) are most likely at some point in their life, going to put back on all the weight they had lost during a diet kick.

 

Thanks for the advice! I guess when i say that i take 10shots that seems like a lot to people.. its not always 10, i would say between 7-10 and its within 6-7 hour period.. so its not like I  am passing out drunk everytime! I mean.. i'm 22 and i don't feel like i have to stop drinking to lose weight, but i will have to work that much harder. 

I will have to try some of the beer that people suggested. One of my favs is michelob ultra and i believe thats under 100 cals a pop.

I don't know why my body hates me, but i am determined to defeat the stubborn weight!!

Original Post by star_dust_03:

Thanks for the advice! I guess when i say that i take 10shots that seems like a lot to people.. its not always 10, i would say between 7-10 and its within 6-7 hour period.. so its not like I am passing out drunk everytime! I mean.. i'm 22 and i don't feel like i have to stop drinking to lose weight, but i will have to work that much harder.

I will have to try some of the beer that people suggested. One of my favs is michelob ultra and i believe thats under 100 cals a pop.

I don't know why my body hates me, but i am determined to defeat the stubborn weight!!

Your body doesn't hate you...it hates the blood sugar disaster that is created from all the alcohol.  You don't have to completely cut out alcohol but I think limiting it would help you with your weight loss journey.  Honestly, even 6-7 shots is quite a bit. I was your age once too and I do understand the need to party when you are young.  But, only you can decide what is more important to you...the party or the weight loss. I know life sucks sometimes... hate to tell you this but it doesn't get any better with age.

you are my twin. no joke. im 180lbs, i waitress, i work out 4-5 times a week very intensely.

 

but i drink a ton. so thats my problem i guess.