Weight Plateau! Please help!

GoodMorningHypocrite

I've been stuck around 185 - 190 pounds for like 3 months, slightly aggravating. Any ideas how to pass this weight plateau? I'd love to start losing again!

EvgeniZyntx

Open your diary - it is probably related to tracking.

Christine_72

Do you weigh and measure your food everyday? If you've been the same weight for 3mths, then you're eating at maintenance, not in deficit

diannethegeek

The most common problems we see come from underestimating calories eaten and overestimating calories burned.

You're logging everything you eat? Including condiments, cooking oils, veggies, cheat days, etc? Are you using a food scale, measuring cups, or eyeballing your portion sizes? Most people can be off in their estimates by several hundred calories when they eyeball portions. Measuring cups are better, but a food scale is going to be the most accurate.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1290491-how-and-why-to-use-a-digital-food-scale

And make sure that you've calculated your calorie goals appropriately. Remember that these are just estimates. You may need to play around a little to find what works best for you.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

If you're exercising and eating back your earned exercise calories, be sure that you're using accurate estimates of your burn. MFP and gym machines have a tendency to overestimate certain activities, which can cause you to eat back more calories than you need to. Even a heart rate monitor isn't 100% accurate. If you're eating those extra earned calories it might be a good idea to eat only 50-75% of those.

MandiK3

some times changing WHAT you are eating and WHAT you are doing can shake things up.. that's worked for me.

SLLRunner

GoodMorningHypocrite wrote: »

I've been stuck around 185 - 190 pounds for like 3 months, slightly aggravating. Any ideas how to pass this weight plateau? I'd love to start losing again!

Plateau just means you are eating at maintenance. I agree with opening your diary You are most likely underestimating calories in and overestimating calories burned. It's pretty common.

SLLRunner

MandiK3 wrote: »

some times changing WHAT you are eating and WHAT you are doing can shake things up.. that's worked for me.

Please clarify. Weight loss is calories in/calories out only, everything else is preference. Food and exercise type have nothing to do with weight loss.

MandiK3

SLLRunner wrote: »

MandiK3 wrote: »

some times changing WHAT you are eating and WHAT you are doing can shake things up.. that's worked for me.

Please clarify. Weight loss is calories in/calories out only, everything else is preference. Food and exercise type have nothing to do with weight loss.

I have no scientific explanation. Only personal experience what has worked for me.(over 90 lbs lost) you can eat 1500 calories a day eating bread and pasta i personally retain water and fat or you can eat 1500 of lean proteins, veggies, fruits and good carbs.

I also will switch up different exercises for variety which usually fluctuate what i burn I don't use an HRM so I don't know exact calorie burn.

carolynmo1969

I've just passed a plateau. When the scale wasn't budging I gave some thought to my workouts. I joined a new gym with shiny new equipment and machines I hadn't used before and started doing more cardio and less strength training due to the novelty of it all(pre-plateau 1/2 strength, 1/2 cardio; during plateau 20% strength, 80% cardio). Then I considered my strength training routine, it was getting pretty easy to do and I just wasn't feeling any soreness (you know, the good soreness that reminds you you're getting stronger, not pain soreness). So I cut back the cardio and tweaked my strength training at least 1 level of difficulty higher. Plateau BUSTED.

SLLRunner

MandiK3 wrote: »

SLLRunner wrote: »

MandiK3 wrote: »

some times changing WHAT you are eating and WHAT you are doing can shake things up.. that's worked for me.

Please clarify. Weight loss is calories in/calories out only, everything else is preference. Food and exercise type have nothing to do with weight loss.

I have no scientific explanation. Only personal experience what has worked for me.(over 90 lbs lost) you can eat 1500 calories a day eating bread and pasta i personally retain water and fat or you can eat 1500 of lean proteins, veggies, fruits and good carbs.

I also will switch up different exercises for variety which usually fluctuate what i burn I don't use an HRM so I don't know exact calorie burn.

Congrats on your weight loss. Thanks for clarifying that you are speaking about what works for you. However, there are no good and bad carbs, but they do cause water retention. They are not the source of gained fat, only overeating in general makes us fat.

trimm002

It sounds crazy -- but January is the hardest month for me to maintain my weight, and I truly think that it's the time of year. For me, it will come off later in February if I keep trying. Not a scientific explanation! Also, throw in more exercise and make your workouts harder. That cannot fail.

diannethegeek

OP, you never came back! I hope that you were able to find something in this thread that was useful to you.

Idontwanttobeahamplanet

diannethegeek wrote: »

OP, you never came back! I hope that you were able to find something in this thread that was useful to you.

Sorry! Just had to finish up some stuff at work

I'm just absorbing all the tips from you guys.

Kimsoontobe

Idontwanttobeahamplanet wrote: »

diannethegeek wrote: »

OP, you never came back! I hope that you were able to find something in this thread that was useful to you.

Sorry! Just had to finish up some stuff at work

I'm just absorbing all the tips from you guys.

Kimsoontobe

bump

Liftng4Lis

You need to open your diary.

Danilynn1975

Are you cold?
are you losing hair, fingernail changes?
Are you so tired you could sleep as an Olympic event?
are your eyelashes falling out, weird bloating?

do you have a lump in your throat?

and most importantly, have you hit some wall where no matter how hard you log, weigh and measure, work out through pain, tired, and exhaustion can't lose weight?

Go check your thyroid. Don't wait. Don't settle for living a half life of hell.

I have been unable to lose weight past where I am for 2 years. I log so faithfully it is unreal. exercise is a ritual. nothing worked, so I called it done, and have been maintaining/gaining/ping pong bounce with no change in diet between 153 and 164 for that same 2 years.

A lump in my throat as I type this could very well be cancer. They don't know, all they do know right now is it is on my right lobe of my thyroid which is swollen to nearly double it's size with a "normal TSH", which is only 1 test of about 7 for a thyroid panel. You have to fight to get the rest done.

At best right now they suspect I could have an auto-immune disorder called Hashimoto's as my weird stuff is a mix of both Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism.

Check your throat if any of this sounds like you. Plateaus that won't break? despite what you may read in these forums, it may not be your "failure to accurately log" your "weak exercise routine".

Please don't settle for faux science and get yourself checked out.

So, in the next few weeks, I get to be even more of a pincushion for the medical field, I'm going to drink gross stuff to light up my throat for scans and at some point have needles shoved into that growth to find out. Don't wait thinking it's you and "crap logging" that is causing this. It may just be your thyroid. a few blood tests beat the heck out of being told 1 day before your 40th birthday you might have cancer.

SLLRunner

Danilynn1975 wrote: »

Are you cold?
are you losing hair, fingernail changes?
Are you so tired you could sleep as an Olympic event?
are your eyelashes falling out, weird bloating?

do you have a lump in your throat?

and most importantly, have you hit some wall where no matter how hard you log, weigh and measure, work out through pain, tired, and exhaustion can't lose weight?

Go check your thyroid. Don't wait. Don't settle for living a half life of hell.

I have been unable to lose weight past where I am for 2 years. I log so faithfully it is unreal. exercise is a ritual. nothing worked, so I called it done, and have been maintaining/gaining/ping pong bounce with no change in diet between 153 and 164 for that same 2 years.

A lump in my throat as I type this could very well be cancer. They don't know, all they do know right now is it is on my right lobe of my thyroid which is swollen to nearly double it's size with a "normal TSH", which is only 1 test of about 7 for a thyroid panel. You have to fight to get the rest done.

At best right now they suspect I could have an auto-immune disorder called Hashimoto's as my weird stuff is a mix of both Hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism.

Check your throat if any of this sounds like you. Plateaus that won't break? despite what you may read in these forums, it may not be your "failure to accurately log" your "weak exercise routine".

Please don't settle for faux science and get yourself checked out.

So, in the next few weeks, I get to be even more of a pincushion for the medical field, I'm going to drink gross stuff to light up my throat for scans and at some point have needles shoved into that growth to find out. Don't wait thinking it's you and "crap logging" that is causing this. It may just be your thyroid. a few blood tests beat the heck out of being told 1 day before your 40th birthday you might have cancer.

I am sorry you are going through all this and hope things turn out well. However, calories in/calories out is not faux science. 99% of people who can't lose weight underestimate food calories and/or overestimate calories burned. Medical issues such as yours are the exception not the rule.

ana3067

MandiK3 wrote: »

SLLRunner wrote: »

MandiK3 wrote: »

some times changing WHAT you are eating and WHAT you are doing can shake things up.. that's worked for me.

Please clarify. Weight loss is calories in/calories out only, everything else is preference. Food and exercise type have nothing to do with weight loss.

I have no scientific explanation. Only personal experience what has worked for me.(over 90 lbs lost) you can eat 1500 calories a day eating bread and pasta i personally retain water and fat or you can eat 1500 of lean proteins, veggies, fruits and good carbs.

I also will switch up different exercises for variety which usually fluctuate what i burn I don't use an HRM so I don't know exact calorie burn.

Eating fewer carbs = less water weight = more changes in scale weight.
Changing your exercise = changing how many cals you are burning (perhaps using an exercise that challenges you more because you were not increasing the intensity on your usual exercises) = more weight lost.

vmsolko

I agree with all the suggestions to look closely at your calories in. I have also had plateaus recently. I had to get real with myself and admit that I was coasting along exercise-wise and not challenging myself as much as I was in the beginning. I started a new exercise routine, and that helped tremendously. I am noticing I am stronger, and now after a couple weeks, my weight has started to come back off regularly. Good luck to you!