Does your body get to a certain weight and then refuse to lose anymore?

[astridpeth]

I started dieting 31st March 2021 and up until the new year I have lost 80lb. Since new year I started weight training and have literally not dropped since. It fluctuates a little up a pound or 2 and then always back down to the 80lb mark. I can see my body changing (toning up and firming) but no actual weight loss.
I have 4 more pebbles in my jar (1 per pound of weight) am I likely to get rid of these now or just accept those ones are here to stay?
Age 41 (4 children)
Start weight 209
Current weight 130
Goal weight 126

I have been doing IF (16:8) paired with low carb.
Thank you

Personally, this is what's happened to me.

I eat no more than 1200 calories a day, typically around the 1000 mark (all measured and counted properly). I run three days a week, yoga twice a week and walk pretty much everywhere. I've been doing this since the beginning of lockdown in 2020.

I'm delighted to have lost 3 stone...however I'm still officially 3 stone overweight and the scales haven't shifted in a meaningful way since October last year.

No thyroid issues, nothing else showing in bloods - I've just stopped losing weight. When I did Slimming World years ago this was the lowest weight I managed then too, except the difference between then and now is that I'm maintaining my healthier lifestyle and starting to accept that 3 stone overweight is healthier than 6 stone overweight.

You say you started with weights... well that would account for it, body recomposition going on. Change your focus from weight loss to inch loss, you'll see more difference there.

I think everyone has a ‘set point’ as such that they can maintain and anything underneath requires eating very little/exercising a lot. Overriding said natural weight.

Some people’s set point is higher than others.

I also think that, if you’re pear shaped, it tends to be higher than if your an apple.

I agree with @Chely. How tall are you? At my recent lowest weight (I've put some back on) I fit in the same clothes as when I weighed half a stone less but hadn't done any weight training.

I think you can hit a long plateau (I’ve done 5:2 for a long time, first to lose 25kg and then to lose some baby weight). It worked for me to either switch to 4:3 to get through it, or generally change up what I was doing. Then a few weeks later (which felt like ages) a lot of weight would shift at once.

Started calorie counting in March 2020 and lost 20 pounds over the following year. now I,m stuck at 11 stone for the last year still only eating 12 to 1400 calories a day. sometimes will drop to 10st 12 but that literally lasts a day or two and then it's back up. I m not prepared to drop calories anymore. I,m just stuck at this weight.
I went to visit friends, had bacon bap for breakfast went out for lunch and dinner, didn't pick high-calorie options, but had a pudding after one meal, came home, and was 4 pounds heavier. It's ridiculous.
I,ve increased my exercise but am menopausal now and I don't know whether that is making it more difficult.

I think you sometimes need to try something new with your diet to loose the last bit. if you always skip breakfast you could skip dinner instead. You could make a conscious effort to eat more fibre or protein etc. You could switch to 5:2 with 500 cal on Fd or from 5:2 to fast 800 etc?

I don't think anyone can escape the laws of thermodynamics. If you are in a calorie deficit you will lose weight. However, as your body gets smaller you need fewer calories to maintain your weight and if you get very lean your body will try to conserve energy by reducing your NEAT (calories that you burn unconsciously by things like fidgeting and going about your daily life). If your body wants to conserve energy you will move less without even thinking about.

I think for me as well my behaviour changes. At a BMI of 30.5 I felt uncomfortable in my body and was motivated to to change. My BMI is now 28 and while I am still overweight I don't have the same discomfort so have less motivation to make choices that will enable weight loss.

Is your end goal realistic? because unless you are very very short, 126lbs is very slim indeed. I think the Duchess of Cambridge is supposed to weigh a little more than that 😁

But yes, agree with the above, shaking things up a bit and shocking your body into reacting might just be the thing.

I plateaued around 62kg. Then got very stressed about something and went down to 58kg by barely eating for around a week. I moved back up to 60kg easily and then the stress gets me again (not a great year for me tbh) so currently just under 59kg. So not quite as low as you want to go. I am 5’6 but happy from 58-62kg. I exercise several times a week. I do find my weight moves up quickly from bread, which I love.

I'm at 92kg. It never moves however much I try. I hate myself at times. Thinking about Herbalife as a kick start