Getting over a plateau?
katieca123
Posts: 70 Member
I'm slowly working on getting over a plateau. How can I prevent that from happening in the future? I read somewhere that eating 1000 calories over your goal for one day every week helps. Is that a myth or does that actually help?
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I hope it works. As I'll be eating 1000 calories over my tdee on Christmas day
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Unless you are eating at maintenance, plateaus will eventually get rid of themselves. Lots of people enjoy regular diet breaks, whether they are structured (re-feed) or not. I've done a few diet breaks and I've never seen consistent differences in weight. I've both gained and lost when taking diet breaks, and then after a few weeks it goes back down.
update your caloric intake goals if your weight loss slows down.0 -
Carb cycling helped me actually... I have two cheat meals a week and go over my calories and I still lose weight... BUT I increased the intensity of my workouts too0
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How long have you gone without losing?
Weight loss isn't linear, so some weeks you will lose more than you would expect and other weeks you will lose less, or even nothing. It doesn't mean you are doing anything wrong. Just stick to your deficit.
If you go more than 3 or 4 weeks without losing anything, then you are not in a calorie deficit, you are eating at maintenance. At this point, you either need to tighten up your logging to make sure you are eating the calories you think you are, or you need to drop your calorie goal.
Personally, I think all the plateau-busting tricks just unintentionally help people adhere to their calorie goal - either an exercise change burns more calories than the old routine, or a "cheat day" to look forward to helps them stay under goal for the rest of the week - but that's just my opinion
Hang in there! 0 -
katieca123 wrote: »I'm slowly working on getting over a plateau. How can I prevent that from happening in the future? I read somewhere that eating 1000 calories over your goal for one day every week helps. Is that a myth or does that actually help?
A plateau just means you are eating at maintenance. No, eating 1000 calories over your goal once a week does not help you get over a plateau, it just puts you into the surplus calorie goals.
I suggest you read the sticky the top of the forum: You are Probably Eating More Than You Think.
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christinev297 wrote: »I hope it works. As I'll be eating 1000 calories over my tdee on Christmas day
It's a myth. However, eating over one will not hurt a thing at all. Enjoy!0 -
If you aren't losing weight, how can eating more help?0
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I have been at this a long time and lost over 100lbs, I have found that when I am plateauing I am glossing inches. So take measurements and keep at it, it will start up again. It takes some time for your body to catch up.0
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I have been at this a long time and lost over 100lbs, I have found that when I am plateauing I am glossing inches. So take measurements and keep at it, it will start up again. It takes some time for your body to catch up.
While not all report this I did happen like you reported in your case. I agree it takes some time for our bodies to catch up.
To others: Not sure while overeating one day helps some of us and not others when plateauing but it has more than once in my case. There are so many things that we just do not understand about the human body when it comes to weight loss that blows our CICO expected numbers out of the water.
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GaleHawkins wrote: »To others: Not sure while overeating one day helps some of us and not others when plateauing but it has more than once in my case. There are so many things that we just do not understand about the human body when it comes to weight loss that blows our CICO expected numbers out of the water.
Totally agree, we are all guessing and experimenting to a certain extent and what works for one, won't necessarily work for someone else
I've been plateauing for about a Month now. Certainly not overeating or anywhere near.
At first I accepted it, then panicked and ate a lot less, making myself feel ill. Then just thought, what the hell, increased my calorie goal and relaxed with it. I am back now beginning to lose some weight again.
I have read about eating too little can cause the metabolic rate to slow down. In other words, your body adjusts to the lowering of calories, panics and looks after itself by using less calories doing ordinary stuff.
Not claiming it's true but it makes logical sense and could well be. I imagine over a longer term, yeah, if you do continue to eat too little, you will again start to lose weight that way but it would be very bad health wise.0 -
Why do people quote stuff and not comment ?
Eating at a defecit will break your stall ...whether that's eating less or ramping up your exercise
If you are really in a plateau then you need to refocus on your calories, cos you'll be eating at maintenance0 -
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katieca123 wrote: »I'm slowly working on getting over a plateau. How can I prevent that from happening in the future? I read somewhere that eating 1000 calories over your goal for one day every week helps. Is that a myth or does that actually help?
The best way I've found to get over a plateau is to mix up your routine. Eat different foods, start a different workout routine, cut something new out if your diet... etc. A couple months ago I was at a stall and I cut out fake sugars, just going to plain water or sparkling water, and that helped mix things up for me as well as a new workout. Your body is probably used to the routine you have going right now, it needs a new surprise! Sometimes eating a few more calories can help, but I would be very careful with that because you could end up stalling your weight loss even more. Try it, but if it doesn't help just reevaluate and try something different!0 -
If you go more than 3 or 4 weeks without losing anything, then you are not in a calorie deficit, you are eating at maintenance. At this point, you either need to tighten up your logging to make sure you are eating the calories you think you are, or you need to drop your calorie goal.
OK, I'll bite. This advice is fine if you're calorie goal is modest. One of those, "just eat a little under your TDEE and you'll be fine" types of situations 120lbs girls find themselves in when they want to get to 115lbs. What if you're deficit is higher already though? At 5'11" 226lbs I stopped losing weight at 2200 calories a day and I work out 3-5 days a week. 2200. What should I do? eat 1900? 1700? 1500? Queue the "but you don't have to starve yourself chants." And yes I weigh and measure. I own not one but two food scales (one for work).
How accurate is your food diary? Some days you are only at 1200 and some at 2600, so it's hard to say where you are actually averaging.
OP, do you use a food scale and how accurate is your logging?
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To others: Not sure while overeating one day helps some of us and not others when plateauing but it has more than once in my case. There are so many things that we just do not understand about the human body when it comes to weight loss that blows our CICO expected numbers out of the water.
Totally agree, we are all guessing and experimenting to a certain extent and what works for one, won't necessarily work for someone else
I've been plateauing for about a Month now. Certainly not overeating or anywhere near.
At first I accepted it, then panicked and ate a lot less, making myself feel ill. Then just thought, what the hell, increased my calorie goal and relaxed with it. I am back now beginning to lose some weight again.
I have read about eating too little can cause the metabolic rate to slow down. In other words, your body adjusts to the lowering of calories, panics and looks after itself by using less calories doing ordinary stuff.
Not claiming it's true but it makes logical sense and could well be. I imagine over a longer term, yeah, if you do continue to eat too little, you will again start to lose weight that way but it would be very bad health wise.
I think the fact one thing works for some and another works for others makes things more confusing for some.
So many on this site know from our experience that eating more can seem to break a period of plateauing. We also know eating less can force weight loss as well. I have grave concerns about losing weight long term from under eating because for 40 years I have done that only to regain it all+.
These are just morning weights since the 12th of Dec. 215.8, 215, 216, 216.4, 216, 215.4, 214.6, 215.8 and 214.6 this AM. I had been stuck at 220 for a couple months then went to the 215 over a few days. While it may not have been related I did develop a bad sinus infection so I decided to pick up my eating after tagging 215.
Yesterday I did my normal 700 cal breakfast and two hamburger steaks with two slices of tomatoes and onion with some lettuce. Before bed I had another 1400 calories of mainly fats and 30 grams of protein. I expected to be up this am but was at my low point of the past 20-25 years.
Now when I drop 5 pounds fast I try to regain a pound or two and drift back down to my new low point over the next week or two.
Weight loss is not my main objective any longer but it is to learn how to eat so I never yo yo again at my age. Also I want to be able to stay at home should a major health issue occur instead of being force to go to a nursing home because I am too fat for the family to handle me at home.
Finding what works for each one and doing it is the key to success I now think. What works me may be bad for you and the other way around.
Not sure how this wound up inside of the quote.
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claygirl1518 wrote: »katieca123 wrote: »I'm slowly working on getting over a plateau. How can I prevent that from happening in the future? I read somewhere that eating 1000 calories over your goal for one day every week helps. Is that a myth or does that actually help?
The best way I've found to get over a plateau is to mix up your routine. Eat different foods, start a different workout routine, cut something new out if your diet... etc. A couple months ago I was at a stall and I cut out fake sugars, just going to plain water or sparkling water, and that helped mix things up for me as well as a new workout. Your body is probably used to the routine you have going right now, it needs a new surprise! Sometimes eating a few more calories can help, but I would be very careful with that because you could end up stalling your weight loss even more. Try it, but if it doesn't help just reevaluate and try something different!
I agree with claygirl on mixing it up can be helpful and even if not it does not hurt anything.
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I would occasionally have a really high day (like if I go to the movies and get a popcorn with butter) so the next day I'll fast until dinner or the afternoon causing a lower day. There are also rare "hey come to my birthday party" type days.
I pointed this out in another thread but if you say you stopped losing the automatic response is "you're a dummy, you're not logging right." At the same time if you say "how do I go to a birthday party/restaurant/event and log" people will say "just don't worry about it, it's just one day." So which is it? Do you need to log 100% of the time down to the microgram or can you go to a dinner every couple weeks where you just don't log because you have no way of estimating the calorie value of the 7000 ingredient item being served? I'd say the vast majority of my days are accurate and the few and far between ones aren't nearly so high that it should be stopping my progress. I'm puzzled as to why "it's just one day" applies to everyone else but me.
EDIT: if you're looking at my recent intake I've been increasing it under the advice of some people here. They say basically to try eating more towards what my maintenance supposedly is (assuming you trust calorie calculators). So I haven't worried about gaining/losing for a few weeks. The two low days this past Fri & Saturday are just like I said. Dinner out one night, party the next. The usual seasonally nonsense. I logged most of what I could. The rest I didn't. Chinese food Friday I think. What'd they put in it? Who knows? The next day it was a birthday/Christmas party. What was in the slice of cake I had? Beats me. Couldn't log it. Guessing would be as dumb as leaving it off. Off by an inch, off by a mile. Wrong is wrong right?
So while I don't want to hijack this thread, I will try to make it apply to both you and the OP. The fact is, we all understand that you will have days that won't be logged or days that you have a party, especially during the holidays. But at the same time, you can't fully expect to lose those days if you are not exactly accurate. Personally, I accept that fact that I will not lose between thanksgiving and xmas because I rarely log my calories during that time. Another thing to consider, as you lose weight, your body naturally burns less calories (not only during normal activities but during exercise as well). So throughout your loss, you will need to evaluate your intake and in many cases lower it or increase exercise to offset the adjustments in TDEE. So at this point, without knowing your fully history, I wouldn't have a suggestion or a cause for why you aren't losing.
Regarding the OP's questions about eating more calories, there is some suggestions that a refeed or eating a maintenance for a few weeks could be beneficial. I have worked with a few people who have benefited from it. But when they do it, it's only for one to two weeks. Eating an additional 1000 calories (one day a week) will more than likely only reduce your deficit, or if you are not in a deficit, will cause you to go into a surplus.
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I recently had a minor 'plateau' and now I'm over it the weight seems to be coming off in big chunks... which suggests it's weight I'd already lost (during my plateau) but water weight had masked the results until now. So sometimes it's worth just sticking to your routine for a month or so and battling it out.
I suspect that the 'cheat meal' strategy works only in that it encourages the body to release water weight - I read this in a really good article somewhere but can't find it now - and so it 'ends' the plateau for some.
The end of my plateau actually coincided with me switching out protein bars at breakfast for oatmeal and fruit, so maybe switching up your diet is a factor? (Same calories, different macros?) I plan to go back to protein bars just as soon as I start lifting though. Lifting is my January 2015 goal! 0 -
Re: Guessing would be as dumb as leaving it off: After doing this a while, I typically know *about* how many calories are in things. If I went to a restaurant and got the lasagna? Then I go to "Add Food", search lasagna, look at the first few choices, and see which one is likely what I ate. My brain won't let me leave it blank, I need an approximate.
For the OP, my scale hasn't moved much in the last 3 weeks, so I am feeling your pain. How long have you been at this? I would suggest sticking with the plan as is, if you're following the calorie counting closely. Your body may just be catching up to the changes: if you're early in, this is normal; if you're further in your journey, perhaps some workouts could be changed? Just a suggestion. 0 -
Thanks for everybody's suggestions! For the past few months I've been eating 1600 calories a day. Someone recommended that I eat my macros at 40/40/20, but I don't eat a lot of meat so I rarely make it there.
I've been using my time off to reevaluate my diet and I think a lot of it has to do with the holidays and end of semester stress at school. I think I'm going to try switching things up a bit with my exercise routine and I think that should help a lot. I also think that I'm going to give myself one cheat day per week (I am in college which involves drinking)
Thanks again and keep them coming!0 -
As you lose weight...the amount of calories you burn per day just walking around and even exercising can drop as you now weigh less...and are doing less work. Not sure of your current weight or activity level so it is hard to say for sure...but I have experienced this before and see it happen all the time. You may want to re-run your numbers and also track (measure/weigh out) your foods to make sure you are hitting your targets.0
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I have been at this a long time and lost over 100lbs, I have found that when I am plateauing I am glossing inches. So take measurements and keep at it, it will start up again. It takes some time for your body to catch up.
I think that's true. I've only been doing this for a month, so I can't say much, but I lost 8 lbs in 3 weeks and then only .5 lbs in the last 9 days, but I feel slimmer. I haven't measured myself, but I'm sure it would show in inches. So I try not to get discouraged, just keep going as before.0 -
claygirl1518 wrote: »katieca123 wrote: »I'm slowly working on getting over a plateau. How can I prevent that from happening in the future? I read somewhere that eating 1000 calories over your goal for one day every week helps. Is that a myth or does that actually help?
The best way I've found to get over a plateau is to mix up your routine. Eat different foods, start a different workout routine, cut something new out if your diet... etc. A couple months ago I was at a stall and I cut out fake sugars, just going to plain water or sparkling water, and that helped mix things up for me as well as a new workout. Your body is probably used to the routine you have going right now, it needs a new surprise! Sometimes eating a few more calories can help, but I would be very careful with that because you could end up stalling your weight loss even more. Try it, but if it doesn't help just reevaluate and try something different!
The bottom line is you created a calorie deficit. Cutting out fake sugar and mixing things up were coincidental.
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That's probably over kill on a protein macro. General consensus suggest .8 to 1g of protein per lb of lean body mass. For the most part people get that with 25% to 30%. Personally, 40/30/30 works well.katieca123 wrote: »Thanks for everybody's suggestions! For the past few months I've been eating 1600 calories a day. Someone recommended that I eat my macros at 40/40/20, but I don't eat a lot of meat so I rarely make it there.
I've been using my time off to reevaluate my diet and I think a lot of it has to do with the holidays and end of semester stress at school. I think I'm going to try switching things up a bit with my exercise routine and I think that should help a lot. I also think that I'm going to give myself one cheat day per week (I am in college which involves drinking)
Thanks again and keep them coming!
The biggest thing is just work on accuracy and consistency; so log daily and use a food scale often. After that give it time.
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