Hitting a plateau

CandySugar500

I'M Literally stuck I was on a steady pace of losing something every week, but now I'm stuck. I keep thinking just give it time, but its been a month and nothing has change should I just keep giving it time, should I change my workout, or eat less calories what should I do?

Chrisparadise579

I need alittle more info but my suggestions would be to monitor your macros, increase your daily calories by 100 and workout at least 5 days a week if you arent already. I can help you more if you want to talk about it. Ill message you

vismal

How long have you been stuck? If the answer is less then 3-4 weeks, you aren't stuck. If you have been plateaued that long, it's almost always a case of eating too much.

CandySugar500

Chrisparadise579 wrote: »

I need alittle more info but my suggestions would be to monitor your macros, increase your daily calories by 100 and workout at least 5 days a week if you arent already. I can help you more if you want to talk about it. Ill message you

I eat 1200 cals a day sometimes a litte more sometimes a little less I usually exercise for 20-30 minutes
3-4 times a week it doesnt seem like a lot but it worked for me

vismal

Chrisparadise579 wrote: »

I need alittle more info but my suggestions would be to monitor your macros, increase your daily calories by 100 and workout at least 5 days a week if you arent already. I can help you more if you want to talk about it. Ill message you

Why in the world would you eat more to lose weight? That's almost never the answer. When it works it only works because it causes water retention to reverse. Eating more does not stimulate fat loss. It doesn't make a lick of sense to think it does. The much more likely answer is that the OP is simply not eating less then they burn in a day.

CandySugar500 wrote: »

Chrisparadise579 wrote: »

I need alittle more info but my suggestions would be to monitor your macros, increase your daily calories by 100 and workout at least 5 days a week if you arent already. I can help you more if you want to talk about it. Ill message you

I eat 1200 cals a day sometimes a litte more sometimes a little less I usually exercise for 20-30 minutes
3-4 times a week it doesnt seem like a lot but it worked for me

Do you weigh all of your food on a scale or are portion sizes estimated? Can you open your diary?

CandySugar500

vismal wrote: »

Chrisparadise579 wrote: »

I need alittle more info but my suggestions would be to monitor your macros, increase your daily calories by 100 and workout at least 5 days a week if you arent already. I can help you more if you want to talk about it. Ill message you

Why in the world would you eat more to lose weight? That's almost never the answer. When it works it only works because it causes water retention to reverse. Eating more does not stimulate fat loss. It doesn't make a lick of sense to think it does. The much more likely answer is that the OP is simply not eating less then they burn in a day.

CandySugar500 wrote: »

Chrisparadise579 wrote: »

I need alittle more info but my suggestions would be to monitor your macros, increase your daily calories by 100 and workout at least 5 days a week if you arent already. I can help you more if you want to talk about it. Ill message you

I eat 1200 cals a day sometimes a litte more sometimes a little less I usually exercise for 20-30 minutes
3-4 times a week it doesnt seem like a lot but it worked for me

Do you weigh all of your food on a scale or are portion sizes estimated? Can you open your diary?

I estimate portion size but I usually add 100 calories to my dairy just to cover what migjt be wrong. How do I open my diary?

vismal

I estimate portion size but I usually add 100 calories to my dairy just to cover what migjt be wrong. How do I open my diary?

Opening your diary is done in the settings. Go to the diary settings section and under diary sharing, choose public. Estimation of portion sizes can greatly skew how much you are really eating. In many cases it can be FAR more then 100 calories. I used to estimate the size of a serving of peanut butter. I was overeating by 100 calories every single time I ate just 1 serving of peanut butter. Also, how long have you been stalled for?

Unknown

This content has been removed.

SueInAz

If you're stuck then you're not burning as many calories as you're eating. It's almost always that simple. The closer you get to your goal, the more accurate you need to be with your counting because there's less margin for error.

I usually tell people if what you have been doing is no longer working then it's time to change what you're doing. Your body definitely gets used to the exercises you're doing if you're still doing the same workout routine for awhile. It not only gets more efficient at that routine, but you have less mass to move around so you'll burn less calories as time goes on. Either try something new or increase the intensity of your workouts.

Here's another likely culprit... do you use a heart rate monitor to measure your calorie burns? If not, MFP usually overestimates those calories so you may not be burning as many as you think you are. If you use a HRM, have you changed your weight in the settings? If not, that could be a cause of over-reporting calories, too.

lemonsurprise

"I estimate portion size"
I can almost guarantee this is the reason.
Invest in some scales, even cheap ones will do, and make sure you're "breaking down" meals in your diary. Eg not just adding someone else's "home made casserole", but breaking down each ingredient put in.
I was on 1,200 a day and it worked great for me so I'm not going to be one of those who says to increase it, but definitely don't drop below it.

CandySugar500

SueInAz wrote: »

If you're stuck then you're not burning as many calories as you're eating. It's almost always that simple. The closer you get to your goal, the more accurate you need to be with your counting because there's less margin for error.

I usually tell people if what you have been doing is no longer working then it's time to change what you're doing. Your body definitely gets used to the exercises you're doing if you're still doing the same workout routine for awhile. It not only gets more efficient at that routine, but you have less mass to move around so you'll burn less calories as time goes on. Either try something new or increase the intensity of your workouts.

Here's another likely culprit... do you use a heart rate monitor to measure your calorie burns? If not, MFP usually overestimates those calories so you may not be burning as many as you think you are. If you use a HRM, have you changed your weight in the settings? If not, that could be a cause of over-reporting calories, too.

Okay thank you I dont use a HRM but I think Im going to get one now amd change up my work outs

diannethegeek

There a video that was posted here somewhere that I wish I'd saved. It was comparing a day's worth of food. On one tray was a whole day of food as measured by a food scale. On the other tray was the same day's worth of food but portioned out by eyeballing portion sizes. The two looked very similar to the casual viewer, but when compared there was over a 1,000 calorie difference between the two trays.

It doesn't have to be a food scale (though I found mine to be easier and more accurate than messing around with measuring cups) but I would take a look at your portion sizes and make sure they aren't creeping up.

CandySugar500

vismal wrote: »

I estimate portion size but I usually add 100 calories to my dairy just to cover what migjt be wrong. How do I open my diary?

Opening your diary is done in the settings. Go to the diary settings section and under diary sharing, choose public. Estimation of portion sizes can greatly skew how much you are really eating. In many cases it can be FAR more then 100 calories. I used to estimate the size of a serving of peanut butter. I was overeating by 100 calories every single time I ate just 1 serving of peanut butter. Also, how long have you been stalled for?

I opened my diary a couple of days there's nothing really logged because I was fasting. I've been stuck for about 5 weeks

concordancia

CandySugar500 wrote: »

vismal wrote: »

I estimate portion size but I usually add 100 calories to my dairy just to cover what migjt be wrong. How do I open my diary?

Opening your diary is done in the settings. Go to the diary settings section and under diary sharing, choose public. Estimation of portion sizes can greatly skew how much you are really eating. In many cases it can be FAR more then 100 calories. I used to estimate the size of a serving of peanut butter. I was overeating by 100 calories every single time I ate just 1 serving of peanut butter. Also, how long have you been stalled for?

I opened my diary a couple of days there's nothing really logged because I was fasting. I've been stuck for about 5 weeks

You aren't stuck if you aren't being consistent.

CandySugar500

diannethegeek wrote: »

There a video that was posted here somewhere that I wish I'd saved. It was comparing a day's worth of food. On one tray was a whole day of food as measured by a food scale. On the other tray was the same day's worth of food but portioned out by eyeballing portion sizes. The two looked very similar to the casual viewer, but when compared there was over a 1,000 calorie difference between the two trays.

It doesn't have to be a food scale (though I found mine to be easier and more accurate than messing around with measuring cups) but I would take a look at your portion sizes and make sure they aren't creeping up.

I usually use a measuring cup, but is it better to use a scale?

vismal

CandySugar500 wrote: »

diannethegeek wrote: »

There a video that was posted here somewhere that I wish I'd saved. It was comparing a day's worth of food. On one tray was a whole day of food as measured by a food scale. On the other tray was the same day's worth of food but portioned out by eyeballing portion sizes. The two looked very similar to the casual viewer, but when compared there was over a 1,000 calorie difference between the two trays.

It doesn't have to be a food scale (though I found mine to be easier and more accurate than messing around with measuring cups) but I would take a look at your portion sizes and make sure they aren't creeping up.

I usually use a measuring cup, but is it better to use a scale?

Much better to use a scale. Measuring cups are meant for liquids. Looking back at your diary, you quick add calories all the time. What's going on here? You also have tons of entries measured in cups that you can't measure in a cup. Take this entry for example: China Garden - Chicken With Broccoli, 2 cups - 200 calories. This entry is exactly why so many people think they eat 1200 calories but really eat FAR more then that. I am guessing this food wasn't prepared by you. So you have no idea how many calories it contains. I'm also guessing you didn't weigh this food. I would argue that what you are thinking is 200 calories could be anywhere from 2-600 calories. This is just one of tons of examples that can happen to a person in a given week. When you are really and truly stalled you need to start weighing 100% of everything you eat and severely limit the amount of food you eat that you do not personally prepare. This is how you can be much more certain about your calorie counts. I'd give this thread a read as well: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1

SueInAz

CandySugar500 wrote: »

diannethegeek wrote: »

There a video that was posted here somewhere that I wish I'd saved. It was comparing a day's worth of food. On one tray was a whole day of food as measured by a food scale. On the other tray was the same day's worth of food but portioned out by eyeballing portion sizes. The two looked very similar to the casual viewer, but when compared there was over a 1,000 calorie difference between the two trays.

It doesn't have to be a food scale (though I found mine to be easier and more accurate than messing around with measuring cups) but I would take a look at your portion sizes and make sure they aren't creeping up.

I usually use a measuring cup, but is it better to use a scale?

The scale is definitely more accurate. I even use a scale to measure things like peanut butter and salad dressing. The nutrition information almost always has a measurement in grams next to the liquid measurement, for example: 1 tbsp (30 g). I don't eat them often but a peanut butter sandwich is a good example of how using the scale to measure something is better than using a measuring spoon. I'd put the bread on a plate and turn the scale on so it sets to zero, then drop peanut butter onto the bread until I reach the desired portion weight (30 grams or whatever), take the plate off the scale and spread the peanut butter. Then repeat for jelly. You don't get a messy measuring spoon that also retains some of your food! It works the same for salad dressing.

CandySugar500

vismal wrote: »

CandySugar500 wrote: »

diannethegeek wrote: »

There a video that was posted here somewhere that I wish I'd saved. It was comparing a day's worth of food. On one tray was a whole day of food as measured by a food scale. On the other tray was the same day's worth of food but portioned out by eyeballing portion sizes. The two looked very similar to the casual viewer, but when compared there was over a 1,000 calorie difference between the two trays.

It doesn't have to be a food scale (though I found mine to be easier and more accurate than messing around with measuring cups) but I would take a look at your portion sizes and make sure they aren't creeping up.

I usually use a measuring cup, but is it better to use a scale?

Much better to use a scale. Measuring cups are meant for liquids. Looking back at your diary, you quick add calories all the time. What's going on here? You also have tons of entries measured in cups that you can't measure in a cup. Take this entry for example: China Garden - Chicken With Broccoli, 2 cups - 200 calories. This entry is exactly why so many people think they eat 1200 calories but really eat FAR more then that. I am guessing this food wasn't prepared by you. So you have no idea how many calories it contains. I'm also guessing you didn't weigh this food. I would argue that what you are thinking is 200 calories could be anywhere from 2-600 calories. This is just one of tons of examples that can happen to a person in a given week. When you are really and truly stalled you need to start weighing 100% of everything you eat and severely limit the amount of food you eat that you do not personally prepare. This is how you can be much more certain about your calorie counts. I'd give this thread a read as well: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101/p1

SueInAz wrote: »

CandySugar500 wrote: »

diannethegeek wrote: »

There a video that was posted here somewhere that I wish I'd saved. It was comparing a day's worth of food. On one tray was a whole day of food as measured by a food scale. On the other tray was the same day's worth of food but portioned out by eyeballing portion sizes. The two looked very similar to the casual viewer, but when compared there was over a 1,000 calorie difference between the two trays.

It doesn't have to be a food scale (though I found mine to be easier and more accurate than messing around with measuring cups) but I would take a look at your portion sizes and make sure they aren't creeping up.

I usually use a measuring cup, but is it better to use a scale?

The scale is definitely more accurate. I even use a scale to measure things like peanut butter and salad dressing. The nutrition information almost always has a measurement in grams next to the liquid measurement, for example: 1 tbsp (30 g). I don't eat them often but a peanut butter sandwich is a good example of how using the scale to measure something is better than using a measuring spoon. I'd put the bread on a plate and turn the scale on so it sets to zero, then drop peanut butter onto the bread until I reach the desired portion weight (30 grams or whatever), take the plate off the scale and spread the peanut butter. Then repeat for jelly. You don't get a messy measuring spoon that also retains some of your food! It works the same for salad dressing.

Okay thanks you two so much. I'm going to get a scale and a HRM to be more accurate, hopefully things will pick up