ace1bug 's Journal, 21 Dec 22

hi Ace1bug, You are so close to your goal weight... I think whatever you decide to do, it will just take you time if you really feel you need to lose that last few Kg... Copied here is something I found in my research when I hit another plateau in my own weight loss a while ago: There are 7,700kcals (kcal=calorie) worth of energy in 1kg of fat. That means in order to burn 1kg of fat, you must have a calorie deficit of 7,700 cals!!! and also on the same website was the advice that 'you are what you eat and you can't out-train a bad diet...' so if you're eating a well balanced nutritious diet I'd say just keep at doing that, maybe tweak your macros to see if that helps. Also, depending on what your exercise routine is, perhaps you've swapped muscle for fat, maybe take your measurements and see if theyare changing... 

The previous poster said exactly what I would also say. Calories from junk food and calories from healthy food affect your body differently. The numbers are the same but you may find your metabolism improves as healthy food can be digested more effectively. If you really want to stop the calories quickly (but maybe not sustainably) you need to reduce more - maybe down to 1400 for a few weeks.  

Thank you both for your replies! To start off, my diet definitely isn’t the issue. 4 months ago I was a sugar fiend and ate fast food at least once a week. Now i’ve significantly decreased my added sugar intake and focus on eating more protein (I keep track of my macros through this app) as well as rarely eat fast food anymore. As for my measurements.. they haven’t changed sadly. I also thought I swapped fat for muscle therefore my weight wouldn’t decrease, but I guess it’s too soon for that. And for lowering my calories, I’ve tried that too. Since it’s been 4 months my deficit has varied quite a bit. For the first month I was eating 1800 (not knowing what my maintenance was) then after figuring out my maintenance I lowered it to 1400 for at least 2 months and just this past month I have increased it to 1600 because I started to incorporate weight lifting into my routine. Lastly tho, I asked my brother what I should do (he’s lost 60kgs through a calorie deficit) and he recommended I eat at my maintenance since I don’t need to lose weight but rather body fat (as well as build muscle). I trust his judgment (not sure why i hadn’t asked sooner oops) but I still very much appreciate both of your insights. I’ll still be tracking so I’ll definitely update in the near future on how this goes! 

Perhaps concentrate on building muscle. The theory is that it’s muscle that requires most energy, so my increasing your muscle mass you raise your metabolic rate, burn more calories. Higher protein intake and weights, with 2 days rest between, limit cardio to 2 sessions per week. I’m following a 3 day cycle based on Bill Phillips 5/25 plan: upper body, lower body, cardio day. Repeat twice then one day to rest. Each weights day 10 reps of each of 5 exercises, rest 2 minutes, repeat x 4 It takes about 25 minutes each day.