how to beat plateau

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  • blktngldhrt
    blktngldhrt Posts: 1,053 Member
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    TDEE is total daily energy expenditure. To give yourself a deficit, you can find an online calculator to get your number then subtract 15-25%.

    If you're not using a scale and measuring your liquids, you have no way of knowing how many calories you are consuming. Best guesses are usually incorrect.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    ritaluna1387 wrote: »
    no i don't track my food with a scale. like when i eat oatmeal i just go by the serving size on the box

    So thats your most likely reason. Your estimates or however you are doing it, mean you are eating more than you think and are more likely at maintenance. That means you wont lose any weight until you are accurate enough to know you are back at a calorific deficit.

    Are you doing any exercise? Are you eating back any of those calories? how are you measuring the burns?

    It can be helpful if you open your diary.
  • opalsqueak007
    opalsqueak007 Posts: 433 Member
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    I agree with advice about the food scale. I used to log one portion of porridge for breakfast. When I bought a food scale, I found out I was eating four times that much. Food scale is a great idea. It keeps you in reality.
  • ritaluna1387
    ritaluna1387 Posts: 29 Member
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    @vismal I've been at 144-145 for almost 2 months
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    Tracking calories more accurately and consistently hitting your goal every day is probably going to be the answer. You could also open your diary so we can look at it and give some more suggestions.
  • ritaluna1387
    ritaluna1387 Posts: 29 Member
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    sometimes i get lazy and just don't exercise
  • blktngldhrt
    blktngldhrt Posts: 1,053 Member
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    vismal wrote: »
    marie_leverton wrote: »
    That's not too many calories, it is plausibly not quite enough so your body maybe trying to save fat. The alternative is that perhaps you're not eating the right foods? Quite often a change to breakfast can help reinvigorate weightloss. For example, egg white scramble egg with cherry tomatoes and spinach or a small amount of porridge made with soya milk. If you're up for cold food, bananas. Try not too eat something with lots of sugar in first thing, or too much bread. If that doesn't work, try ensuring you space your calories out, if you're active during the day best to eat more calories early and less late on. Do you exercise? What are your 1400 calories made up of (do you eat sweets or something you think may be causing a plateau)?
    I don't understand any of this. Why would changing the foods you eat for breakfast make any difference at all? Your body doesn't store or save fat when you restrict calories, it burns fat. That's what the body uses for fuel when you do not eat enough calories to meet your daily needs. Why suggest bananas then warn against sugar? Bananas are almost pure sugar. For that matter, why would sugar or bread stop weight loss? Why would the time of day you eat make any difference? The types of foods you eat do not cause a plateau.

    The extreme likelihood is that the OP is eating much more then they think. This is a VERY common occurrence. Just in the one reply she says she "usually" eats "like" 1400 calories. That's way different from "I consistently eat 1400 calories daily." Also, even if your calorie count is consistent, what about your tracking methods? You may think you are eating 1400 calories consistently but if you estimate portion sizes or use measuring cups and spoons on solid foods, you are VERY likely miscounting your calories. Food should be weighed on a scale and estimation should be as little as possible. Even then people are prone to forget to log things, have cheat days where they don't track calories, etc. Also how long has the OP be stuck at her current weight? Some people call it a plateau this first week they don't lose weight. I don't consider myself in a plateau until I don't lose for 3-4 weeks.

    I mean, if there's a medical problem the type of foods being consumed could be causing a plateau.. But she didn't say anything about a medical problem.

    Banana is sugar. I miss bananas.

    I forgot to ask!! What is the length of this plateau?
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    Think youll find it makes the task easier if you move a bit more. Try and walk min 30 mins a day or whatever level you start then walk a bit more or a bit faster each week. You should probably get someone to check your numbers as well and how you are calculating it.
  • blktngldhrt
    blktngldhrt Posts: 1,053 Member
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    ritaluna1387 wrote: »
    sometimes i get lazy and just don't exercise

    Ha. Me too. Weight loss is more about the calories you eat than the exercise you do.
  • funchords
    funchords Posts: 413 Member
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    STOP IT. If you are putting as much effort into your weight control as you're putting into this topic, its no wonder why you're not getting anywhere.

    Can I introduce you to features of the keyboard like capital letters and punctuation marks?
    • Are you logging everything?
    • Are you weighing, measuring everything?
    • Are you serious? A bag of hot Cheetos?

    C'mon, back to basics. Just log your food, measure it, and -- yeah, sometimes I want a half gallon of ice cream but I will have a single portion, measured, logged, and within my calorie goal because I'm trying to control my weight.
  • ritaluna1387
    ritaluna1387 Posts: 29 Member
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    i already opened my diary
  • funchords
    funchords Posts: 413 Member
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    ritaluna1387 wrote: »
    i already opened my diary
    No, it's still not open.

  • blktngldhrt
    blktngldhrt Posts: 1,053 Member
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    It might be open to friends but not to everyone. Try the public setting.
  • ritaluna1387
    ritaluna1387 Posts: 29 Member
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    ok now i opened it
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    ritaluna1387 wrote: »
    I cant seem to lose any more weight. How did you guys get passed your plateaus??

    First, getting a food scale at the beginning of this journey was key. I log everything more accurately now.

    To get over a five month stall I had (part of which I did intentionally maintain), I also lowered my calories by 100. Turns out I was eating too much. Try adjusting your calories 100 at a time until you start losing again. Give it 2-4 weeks between lowering by 100.

    Also, if you are depending on MFP burns, don't eat back all of your exercise calories. They tend to be overestimated, and you may be eating more than you need.

    And finally, make sure you're eating enough! Net a healthy amount per day after exercise, preferably over 1,200 per day net.

    Good luck!
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
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    You're not weighing your food accurately, so the plateau is probably due to the fact you are eating too many calories.
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    ritaluna1387 wrote: »
    ok now i opened it

    Just saw the last few entries in your diary. Glad I said the above advice.

    500 calories a day is not enough. You need to be eating far more than that. You hit your goals other days, but there's many entries well under 1,000.
  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
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    How come you're not eating dinner on the 500 cal days?
  • ritaluna1387
    ritaluna1387 Posts: 29 Member
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    Sometimes i forget to log in foods that's y its coming out less than 1000. like yesterday I only logged in breakfast and lunch
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    You're eating more than you think.

    To beat it:
    -buy a food scale
    -weigh everything you eat, even prepackaged items (because yes, they can come up higher as well)
    -LOG EVERY SINGLE THING YOU CONSUME. In the past week you have no dinner logged four times. Everything, even oils and butters used for cooking and drinks that aren't water, should be accounted for.

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