Hit a plateau and don't understand why. Please help.

[Frequency]

For the last 3 weeks, my weight loss has stalled. I've lost and regained the same 3lb over and over for 3 weeks and I don't understand why.

Nutracheck puts my calories at around 830 a day eaten, and 1000 burned from exercise. This isn't entirely accurate because I don't always weigh everything but what I don't weigh are veg, salads, and fruit, not cakes.

A typical days food would be coffee with skimmed milk for breakfast and maybe a vithit water. 6 ocean sticks, 2 inches of cucumber sliced, and 60g cottage cheese for lunch. 120g grilled chicken breast and roughly 250g boiled mixed veg (cauli, carrots, and broccoli) with a tiny bit of Bisto Best gravy for dinner. Snacks would be one muller light and a skinny whip or fiber one bar.

I tried cutting my calories to 500 a day but that made me dizzy and nauseous. I did lose 3lb that week and then put it back on as soon as I started 830 calories again.

I walk 15,000 - 20,000 steps a day.

I did recently try exercise to build more muscle but I went a bit ott and now cannot move very well but I do intend to keep going with that once I can move again. I am still pushing myself to get my steps in even though it hurts and I am still taking the stairs. My Samsung watch tells me I walk, on average, 22 flights of stairs a day.

So, why am I not losing weight? It makes no scientific sense. Even if I miscalculated my veg by half, it would still put me on less than 1000 calories per day and I burn more than that just existing.

I'm also on Orlistat, so allegedly, I don't even absorb all of the 800-1000 calories, although I don't think the Orlistat does much. I only eat around 20g of fat per day and get none of the side effects.

Help, please before I lose my mind and start water fasting.

What weight are you starting at? (I mean maybe you're not so overweight now hence finding it hard to lose)

Also at that very low calorie intake, apparently it is better to have one day a week to eat 'normally' otherwise it's too tough on your body to eat so little

My bmi still puts me at morbidly obese, so I don't think it is that I am reaching my goal weight.

I started at roughly 20 stone, now I am between 16 stone 3 and 16 stone 0.5. I weigh myself daily and I know it sometimes fluctuates because of hormones, water, the way the wind is blowing etc but I would expect to see some movement downwards over a week. I reached 16 stone 0.5lbs three weeks ago.

I am more relaxed with my calories and do less walking on a weekend but not to the point that I go over 1200 calories a day.

You’re not eating enough to even keep your basic bodily functions going.

I'd suggest you need to eat more!

Your body has decided that there is a shortage of food and is keeping fat stores safe.

You need at least one or two days of higher protein 1500-1700 calorie days.

Also how on earth do you find the time to walk 20k that's hours of walking.

Have you tried any weight bearing exercise? Weight lifting?

When I plateau, I need a day or two with increased calories, especially some carbs to get the losses going again. Sounds counterintuitive, but many people find it works.

Please don't cut your calories any lower. Well done with your achievement so far!

Also how on earth do you find the time to walk 20k that's hours of walking.

I walk to and from work and walk around while I'm at work instead of picking up the phone. I work on the fourth floor so going down to see someone on the first floor a couple of times a day can easily add 5000 steps and it's 5000 steps each way to get to work and from work.

On a weekend I walk around 8000 steps a day with the dog.

I know I don't eat enough but I struggle when I see the calories ticking upwards, due to past ED issues. It still makes no sense as to why I am not losing weight. I am not eating as much as I burn and I'm still moving around daily so where is the extra energy coming from? Even if it was muscle I'd still see that on the scales.

I enjoy kettlebells so that is the weight bearing I've been doing (or started doing) but perhaps starting by swinging a 12kg kettlebell around for 45 minutes was not the brightest idea I have ever had. Once I can move my legs and arms again, I'll give it another go but start off slower.

Eat more

Have a 2 day high calorie break

Your body is shocked and thinks it needs to go into survival
Mode

This worked for
Me on the weight
Loss jabs

That's way too few calories. I'm 100 kg and my maintaining is 2152 and to lose .5 kg a week my daily calories are 1614. It is slow but sustainable. I use MyNetDiary to log everything and it adjusts as I lose. It is also helpful to see how far I have come.

I've planned a higher calorie day for tomorrow and I'll see how that goes.

Nutracheck has tracked 1175 calories for my planned food for tomorrow. I'll try to resist the temptation to attempt to burn it all off at the park with the dog.

It is also more carbs and fat than I typically eat.

Either you are lying to yourself about your intake and exercise or there's something very wrong.

That's my mind set. I am tracking what I eat but I don't typically weigh everything. I did used to weigh the chicken/cottage cheese etc and the portion sizes have not dramatically increased since I weighed them out religiously, and a lot of what I eat is pre packed because I'm lazy when it comes to cooking and eating so I don't think my calories are drastically different to what I track.

My watch tracks my steps and i think if it was broken it would track a different number of steps each day but it doesn't. My morning walk is the same every day. The number of steps are roughly the same each day.

I don't know if I need to see the GP or if I just need to be patient or try to increase cardio or resistance exercises.

But I will give higher calories a go first and see if it helps.

I'll try to resist the temptation to attempt to burn it all off at the park with the dog.

This is eating disorder behaviour which you really should seek support for.

I'll try to resist the temptation to attempt to burn it all off at the park with the dog.

This is eating disorder behaviour which you really should seek support for.

I'm so impressed with the walking!

Maybe try and have a few days with no food thinking, just relax enjoy life and eat what your body is telling you to eat? Also maybe chat to someone about the stress this is causing you?