# Why did my losing weight stop?



## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

I lost 23 kilograms in 5 months but I've been remaining at the same weight for more than 2 months. Why did my losing weight stop after I lost 23 kilograms? Why can't I lose 1 kilogram for more than 2 months? I do walking and running 16 kilometres a day.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

In December 2015, you wrote that your BMI is 22. That is right in the middle of normal for a man of average, non-muscular build, I think. For a man of thicker more muscular build, BMI can go a bit beyond that, possibly to around 26 or 27, I would think (the variance was discussed in another of your threads). Why you cannot lose more, I do not know, but I wonder whether there is any point in you trying to lose more  I'd say that at your current fitness level, you likely just need to keep it up, don't take it to the extreme, and relax about your weight


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

brotagonist said:


> In December 2015, you wrote that your BMI is 22. That is right in the middle of normal for a man of average, non-muscular build, I think. For a man of thicker more muscular build, BMI can go a bit beyond that, possibly to around 26 or 27, I would think (the variance was discussed in another of your threads). Why you cannot lose more, I do not know, but I wonder whether there is any point in you trying to lose more  I'd say that at your current fitness level, you likely just need to keep it up, don't take it to the extreme, and relax about your weight


I wrote 22.3 and I have belly fat. I want to lose more weight. Also, 22.3 is closer to the high end. (18.5 plus 25)/2 equals to 21.75.


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## Lyricus (Dec 11, 2015)

I can't possibly find the article given the tremendous amount on the subject cluttering up search results, but I did once read that plateauing is normal; for whatever reason, the body is trying to hold onto the weight. It's possible if you keep doing what you're doing that you'll shed quite a bit suddenly, and that it can take a month or two. If you go three whole months, it's probably something else though, like eating as many calories as you're burning.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

atsizat said:


> I lost 23 kilograms in 5 months but I've been remaining at the same weight for more than 2 months. Why did my losing weight stop after I lost 23 kilograms? Why can't I lose 1 kilogram for more than 2 months? I do walking and running 16 kilometres a day.


Bets advice: Go and see a dietician:tiphat:


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

I am gathering that you have a lost a lot of weight but still have "skinny fat". Your weight is fine - it is now about improving your body composition, ie. replacing your remaining fat with muscle tissue. This can only be achieved with a weight training routine in conjunction with a proper diet. You can keep running as well but you'll want to dial that way, way back - 16 km a day is too much.


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

Couchie said:


> I am gathering that you have a lost a lot of weight but still have "skinny fat". Your weight is fine - it is now about improving your body composition, ie. replacing your remaining fat with muscle tissue. This can only be achieved with a weight training routine in conjunction with a proper diet. You can keep running as well but you'll want to dial that way, way back - 16 km a day is too much.


I don't like going to gym. I want to burn fat by losing weight.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

Muscle is said to be heavier than fat.
You've probably reached an optimum. I agree with Couchie that 16 km everyday is too much.
Don't obsess and look into the mirror, or ask a/the person that frequently sees you naked .


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

Jos said:


> Muscle is said to be heavier than fat.
> You've probably reached an optimum. I agree with Couchie that 16 km everyday is too much.
> Don't obsess and look into the mirror, or ask a/the person that frequently sees you naked .


When I am topless, I have belly fat. I want to lose more weight. I think that the BMI of 22.3 is too much for a non-muscular man. My bmi is closer to the high end.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

You really do need to talk to a nutritionist or physician, or just go to a decent website about this. We're not the best people to diagnose this from afar.


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## Lucifer Saudade (May 19, 2015)

atsizat said:


> I don't like going to gym. I want to burn fat by losing weight.


Start eating the right foods, minimize sugar. Up testosterone - hit the weights regardless.


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

Lucifer Saudade said:


> Start eating the right foods, minimize sugar. Up testosterone - hit the weights regardless.


I don't use sugar, salt.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

The body adjusts to weight loss programmes after a while. One theory is that in evolutionary terms, if starvation seems to be looming, the metabolism slows so as to make the most of whatever food the body gets. People trying to lose weight then almost always hit a plateau. (Many then become discouraged & put all the weight back on again.) 

Jos & Couchie are right - you are not overweight. Surely what matters is to be healthy & happy? People can become addicted to running and/or slimming, with nasty consequences: I speak as one who experienced an eating disorder when I was at university. 

Why not try a muscle-building programme while keeping your weight constant as Couchie suggests? This will give you a good-looking outline. I don't know whether you are interested in attracting females, but if so, research suggests that most women don't like too skinny or too muscular. A bit of belly fat is normal.

:tiphat: Very best wishes, and stay well!


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

I did walking and running 20 kilometres today.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

atsizat said:


> I don't like going to gym. I want to burn fat by losing weight.


What you're trying to do is impossible. Cardio (running, walking, etc) only sheds weight because it puts your body in to a calorie deficit (you use more energy in your activities than you consume from food). Your body makes up the deficit by "eating" your fat cells, but it gets energy by eating your muscles too.

That 50 lbs you lost was not all fat. You lost a lot of muscle too. Running is good for your heart but it's not particularly challenging for most of your skeletal muscles. To lose fat but preserve muscle, you need to challenge your muscles more, to stimulate them to grow and tell the body "I need these, don't consume them", which is where weight training comes in.

If you eat more food than your body needs, it will happily store the excess energy as fat. However, your fat cells are your body's LAST DEFENCE from starving to death, it does not like to burn your fat! If you eat less than you need, it will spike your appetite so you eat more rather than burn fat. It will also burn any muscle it detects you can spare in addition to fat.

You had a lot of extra fat to begin with, so your body more readily gave it up. Now you are in the healthy range, which is when it is medically determined that you have an appropriate amount of fat. Your body is more or less at the point where you have no excess muscle or fat to shed, so your body is very much resisting any further weight loss. Your metabolism slows, and with less of "you" than when you started, your body simply requires fewer calories. If your body was burning 2,700 calories per day when you started now it may require only 2,200. That 500 calorie exercise you do no longer puts you in a calorie deficit = no weight loss.

Those ultra lean bodies you see on magazine covers are in no way natural. Those models follow very strict diets and can keep themselves that lean only for short periods of time, long enough to snap the picture, and typically with the assistance of various illegal drugs spiking their hormones to unnaturally high levels. It's a lie. A sham to sell magazines, useless supplements, newfangled diets, and pointless new exercises and equipment.

The path forward is weight training to regain the muscle you've lost. A modest daily surplus of calories combined with weight training will allow you to add the muscle you've lost without adding too much fat. Once you have a better frame to support less fat, you can put yourself back in a calorie deficit while keeping your weight training going, allowing yourself to shed more fat while preserving the muscle. This cycling between periods of excess and restricted calories the only known way to improve your body composition when you're in the "healthy" bracket. The number on the scale is meaningless - it's about bodyfat percentage now. Also, adding muscle while burning fat at the same time is for most of us simply IMPOSSIBLE without drugs. You have to cycle periods of weight gain and weight loss. Many articles are available online on this cycling and you should contact your physician of course as well.


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

@Couchie; 
Why did my losing weight stop after I lost 23 kilograms? Does my body no longer need energy while walking or running? Even if I do more cardio now, I can't lose any more weight. Isn't it so interesting? It looks like my body no longer needs energy while walking or running. No matter how much more cardio I do, I remain at the same weight. I've been remaining at the same weight for 75 days.


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

I am very determined at losing weight. If how much cardio I do is not enough, I will increase it more and more. I will do more cardio and I will lose some more weight!


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

I tried to submit this before but was told a security code was missijng here goes again.

I am an Internist Certified in Obesity Medicine. The reason that you plateau is that1) You need less calories than you did at the onset to maintain your weight because there is 50 pounds less of you 2) Your body slows it's metabolism down once you lose 10% of your starting weight (aan evolutionary adaptation from Paleolithic times that we are stick with), and 3) Your body becomes more efficient at absorbing calories from a given meal once you have lost weight


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

atsizat said:


> I am very determined at losing weight. If how much cardio I do is not enough, I will increase it more and more. I will do more cardio and I will lose some more weight!


This doesn't sound as someone seeking advice. You've got some very fixed ideas about this. Keep running if you must, best of luck with the weightloss.


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

Triplets said:


> I tried to submit this before but was told a security code was missijng here goes again.
> 
> I am an Internist Certified in Obesity Medicine. The reason that you plateau is that1) You need less calories than you did at the onset to maintain your weight because there is 50 pounds less of you 2) Your body slows it's metabolism down once you lose 10% of your starting weight (aan evolutionary adaptation from Paleolithic times that we are stick with), and 3) Your body becomes more efficient at absorbing calories from a given meal once you have lost weight


I went from 89 kilograms ( BMI:30) to 66 kilograms (BMI:22.3). I lost about 25-26 percent of my starting weight.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

atsizat said:


> I am very determined at losing weight. If how much cardio I do is not enough, I will increase it more and more. I will do more cardio and I will lose some more weight!


Is this what the dietician said to you?
Or are you still not seen someone?


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

Pugg said:


> Is this what the dietician said to you?
> Or are you still not seen someone?


I keep remaining at the same weight no matter how much more cardio I do. Maybe endless cardios are not enough. I may have to start taking less calories from food. My metabolism seems to have begun working so much slower after I lost 23 kilograms. It seems like this. Endless cardios don't make me lose any more weight.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

You've reached your ideal weight.


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

Today I walked 27 kilometres.


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

With the endless heavy cardios, I lost the last kilogram in 3 months. I succeed in losing the last kilogram at last.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

It sounds like you are prepared to risk your health in pursuit of an unrealistic ideal by means which are not particularly well informed. Go see a health specialist, seriously.


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

Let's post before after pictures.

89 kilograms (BMI:30)

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65 kilograms (BMI:22)


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## SeptimalTritone (Jul 7, 2014)

That is a huge improvement! Oh my lord!

Perhaps some sit-ups (and some light arm exercise like push ups and dips) would help. Boxing or rowing or rock climbing or some cardio-strength combination sport, in addition to your walking/jogging, will turn your last bit of belly fat into ab/arm strength. And believe me, you don't really have that much belly fat now. There's just a last bit. You can do it.

As for me, I've personally gotten very involved with stair climbing at the gym, in addition to running. I've gotten up to running 9 miles, and I want to be able to run a half marathon.


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

SeptimalTritone said:


> That is a huge improvement! Oh my lord!
> 
> Perhaps some sit-ups (and some light arm exercise like push ups and dips) would help. Boxing or rowing or rock climbing or some cardio-strength combination sport, in addition to your walking/jogging, will turn your last bit of belly fat into ab/arm strength. And believe me, you don't really have that much belly fat now. There's just a last bit. You can do it.
> 
> As for me, I've personally gotten very involved with stair climbing at the gym, in addition to running. I've gotten up to running 9 miles, and I want to be able to run a half marathon.


Do I need to wok on muscle, if so, can I do it at home without going to Gym? I only do cardio. I think I reached the best I could with cardio. It took 3 months to lose the last one kilogram.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

If you go to a good gym, the trainer will design a 30 minute non-stop workout utilizing cardio and weights. You're already in good shape, so you'll be able to go all out for the 30, and you won't need to run 15 miles. Plus, all that running might mess up your knees and joints later in life. You don't feel it when you're young.

And as others have stated, get some professional advice on diet and needed protein levels. I hate going to gyms, but for only 15 dollars a month I have access to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment.


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

starthrower said:


> If you go to a good gym, the trainer will design a 30 minute non-stop workout utilizing cardio and weights. You're already in good shape, so you'll be able to go all out for the 30, and you won't need to run 15 miles. Plus, all that running might mess up your knees and joints later in life. You don't feel it when you're young.
> 
> And as others have stated, get some professional advice on diet and needed protein levels. I hate going to gyms, but for only 15 dollars a month I have access to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment.


I really don't wanna go to gym. I want to work on muscle at home if possible. Woud it be worthless? And Gyms in Turkey are not as cheap as 15 dollars.


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## atsizat (Sep 14, 2015)

I will also post before after pictures with clothes on.

89 kilograms (BMI:30)








65 kilograms (BMI:22)


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

^^^
You look great! If you can find a gym that will let you join for one month at a time without signing a contract, you can tell the trainer what you want to achieve so they can show you the proper weight training exercises to do. Once you learn the proper techniques, you can then do it at home.

I'm currently recovering from a back injury, and I learned a lot from the physical therapist. He showed me many stretching and strengthening exercises I wouldn't have learned on my own, and I am making good progress after three weeks. Other than that, the only way you can learn is by using YouTube, or books. And that's not always the best way.


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

I'm listening to Turkish dance music working out at my gym right now. Having a great time. I used to hate going to the gym too, now I hate not going. A great psychological boost for a productive day.


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