I am scared

I have been eating healthier since about the beginning of may. I have lost 20 pounds but I have slowed down on losing weight. I weigh 270 and I am 47 5'2. I have been eating 1200 calories up to 1500, I have stayed at the same for almost 2 weeks now. I also have been having issues with constipation and ended up using miralax. I have only been using miralax for about 4 days and with in the 4 days I did have a day where I did have bm pretty much for the day.I get 45g of fiber a day from fruits veggies and husk and flaxseed. I have never had a ed as far as losing weight but I really feel I may beginning to have one. I have to force myself to eat more then 1000g but I am afraid if I do not start seeing results that I may quit eating or limit my calories to 500-900 what should I do.

please anyone?

NM>>>I will find answers elsewhere

You need to remember that this is an American website....most people are still asleep right now.  So, please, try not to get impatient.

While I do not know your activity level (it would be helpful in determining how much you should be eating), I can confidently say that you are NOT eating enough. 

A person your size with a light activity level should be eating about 1800 calories...and that is to lose weight.  You have probably gone into starvation mode due to the low amount of calories you have been consuming.  Your body is holding onto your fat cells with a death grip. 

I would try upping your calories to around 2200 for a couple of weeks to get your metabolism back into balance.  Then, after a couple of weeks, try to lower it back to around 1800 and see what results you get. 

Lowering your calories any more is not going to help.  It will only make you unhealthy and screw with your metabolism. 

Remember, this is a journey, not a mad dash to the finish line.  Try to be patient with yourself.  Do the right thing for your body, and your body will thank you.

Don't give up! :)

You have lost 20lbs since may!!!  You should be proud! 

So common things are, initially you loose water weight, so you see faster results than what your actual fat burning rate may be.

The constipation is interesting, it sounds like you are getting plenty of fiber, but how about water?  A lot of people think 64 oz a day is enough, and you certainly wont die of dehydration, but the larger you are the more water your body needs.  Generally my rule of thumb is that I want my urine to be between clear and very very pale yellow.  Then I know I am getting enough.  The link between water and constipation is that you have to have water in your colon to hydrate the stool.  Basically water helps make you poop.  And if you aren't getting plenty you can get backed up.  Soda (even diet), juices, and other things are still hydrating to an extent but require more work for your body to process, can act as a diuretic, and contain a small amount of sodium.

If both water and fiber are not the issue, then you really may want to see a doctor.

As far as plateaus.  Are you exercising?  I saw in your previous post you are in a wheel chair.  I am not sure what your mobility in the chair is, but some exercises you might consider are resistance bands or small free weights.  Many people think only cardio will help loose weight, but actually weight training helps as well.  Also I have found being around the same weight myself, that weight training raises my heart rate and makes me break a sweat.  Also pilates type movements may be a possibility for you.  Small controlled movements that you can modify to your own mobility level.  Adding or changing exercise can help get you off a plateau.

Also have you tried cycling your calories?  Many people have said this helped them get off their plateau.  You could try eating 1200 for 2 days and then 1700 the next.  The idea is that you are still eating the same amount of calories, but by clycling smaller and larger amounts, it kicks your metabolism into gear.

You can do it, don't give up.  It sounds like you have been on the right path so far and have great results.  Sometimes weight loss is like a science experiment.  Every persons body is different, and may need a few tweaks here and there to keep it going.

You are on your way!!!!

Entering in your stats, you should be eating 1426 calories a day.  If you are eating closer to 1200 each day vs. 1500, then you are definately not getting enough calories.

Are you logging them in? Maybe take a look at what your average comes out to (you can go to food log and select it to show you for the past week, and under the graph/chart it will give you an average of what your calories are)?  If you are averaging less then 1426, then you definitely need to eat more.  Your metabolism will automatically slow down if it is not getting what it needs.  That is why the calorie deficits are usually limited to 500-700 calories.  Much more than that will start to work against you.

I second the advice about upping your calories/restoring metabolism/and THEN thinking about running a deficit... re: "backed up"... also take a look at your fat content. A reasonable amount healthy fats also help to move your system along, and though you appear to be getting lots of fiber, which is great, getting too much without enough water and fats can have the opposite effect and stop things up, sts :)

The calculator I use estimates your daily 'total burn' as 2500 cals a day.... that's assuming you're reasonably active and/or you take some light exercise.  So for weight-loss you should really be looking at 1800 cals a day as an average.  Not 1200, or sub 1000 or even 1500 come to that. 

I would suggest you enjoy a aday where you get your full energy needs of 2500.  Then reduce your intake to 1800 or so to resume weight-loss.  I think you'll feel a lot better and be a lot more successful.  As you lose weight you'll need to gradually trim your intake.  Start off with a crash-diet and you've nowhere left to go.

Regarding the constipation.... you may need to drink more fluids i.e a good 2 litres per day, preferable warm liquids.  Daily gentle exercise such as walking will help as well.    And 45g fibre is probably too much.... 25-30g is quite a lot and extra fibre can be counter-productive.   If you eat plenty of fruit and vegetables you don't need husks etc., on top.

Good luck

several years ago I lost fifty pounds, a feat which I had thought was impossible for my body and the best advice I ever got and took to heart was to eat more, when you lower your calories too severly your body responds by slowing all of your major functions down, I bet if you take a look at your daily activity level,  it has probably lowered a bit as well. Upping your calories reassures your body that it is okay to burn fat, instead of store fat. I would also encourage you in that, sometimes, even with the perfect diet your body just stalls out and the best thing that I have found when dealing with that is to: continue to feed your body nutritional food, up your calories temporarily, change your carbs to fat to protein ratios, change your exercise or take a break from dieting all together.

It took me almost a year to go from close to 190 down to 132, sure it would have been great if I had lost the weight in five months, however one of the great things about losing the weight slowly and learning about nutrition along the way was that I was finally able to break out of the mindset that I had to starve myself in order to be thin and healthy. I have since gained about fifteen pounds back because of pregnancy and losing the weight this time around has been surprisingly easy, because I know my body, I don't even bother with starving myself, I eat healthy, allow indulgences here and there, try to stay active and just let my body do its thing.

http://caloriecount.about.com/cheating-diet-i ncrease-fat-loss-ft7139

This is like, the 4th time I've posted this link in a response. LOL, but it's because it's definately been working for me. I also had a 2 week plateau, but I definately started coming off of it since I followed the advice from the link above. I was 107 on July 4th and now 104.8 at 4'11. 

I was going to try eating maintence calories for a little while, but the advice in the thread has been good for my weightloss.

Also, 45 grams of fiber is ALOT. You might try cuting back to 30 or 35 and see if that helps. Usually if I eat over 30 g. of fiber in one day, I do not get to go to the bathroom the next day, and it makes me very sad.

I was going to try eating maintence calories for a little while, but the advice in the thread has been so far true for me.

I eat 1500 calories day for past 6 months ive lost over 80 pounds.

Im 19 pounds away from my goal and still losing fast.


Just exercise or walk more.

I walk about 4 times a week 4 miles each time and average a 4 pound lost every week.

Kissy:

You may have a bowel or underlying medical problem that is making you constipated and slowing your weight loss.  From what I have heard: when the waste sits around too much, it seems to absorb back into the body causing everything to slow down.

I had the same problem last summer at 47.  I actually gained back everything I lost =20 pounds, and now I am struggling to lose it again.

I went to my doctor, had a colonoscopy to make sure everything was okay.  I too took a lot of Miralax (yuk).  Everything checked out okay, but I do suffer from IBS and my diet change made it act up. 

I hope this helps.  When in doubt see a professional.  You can never be too careful with your health.

BTW:  I had to put carbs back into my diet and that has seemed to help.  Peas, avacado, and corn have a ton of fiber and I hadn't been eating them.

Thank you everyone for your in put and I will certainly do this.

Original Post by skylar87:

http://caloriecount.about.com/cheating-diet-i ncrease-fat-loss-ft7139

This is like, the 4th time I've posted this link in a response. LOL, but it's because it's definately been working for me.

Thanks for posting this the fourth time, or else I wouldn't have seen it.  I'm going to try doing this to get things going.