The P Word :x

lexicalabrese

So I posted this in my status, but I wanted to post it here to get more opinions:

The dreaded P word is here - PLATEAU! Booooo...hissss....someone help! I am only 5 pounds away from my goal weight...I'm doing the 30 Day Shred everyday, eating my exercise calories (and sometimes even going over...oops) This whole thing is making me wonder if I'm counting the calorie content of fruit and such incorrectly? It makes me nervous, I don't like eating things without labels and nutrition information on them!

I went to a website suggested to me and it suggested that, with my weight, height and age ( 135 lbs, 5' 4", 21 years old) and working out every day (doing the 30 Day Shred) I should be getting 1700 calories for fat loss. MFP has me on 1200 calories per day (I am basically sedentary during the day with the exception of doing the shred)...I ALWAYS eat my exercise calories, I'm eating more fruits and vegetables than I used to, I'm drinking plenty of water...

Can someone PLEASE help me? I was referred to a site that offers the "zig-zag" calorie plan...but this is the site that is telling me I need 1700 calories a day for weight loss. I am just not sure that I need THAT many calories, and I am afraid to sit there and eat THAT many calories for a week, only to gain weight. Heeelp!

Clew

I wonder if maybe more veggies and less fruit might help - considering fruit is sweet (that whole sugar thing). Just a thought.

Congratulations on almost being at your goal! That's great!!!

junipuni

How long have you been stuck? I'm wondering if it is truly a plateau. I think the zig zag plan might be good for breaking through the plateau. I know my SIL had a program set up by someone she was seeing where her calories were zig zagged each week and that helped continue her weight loss. Good luck!

aippolito1

You're at the last leg of the race so you need to really be strict to get those last couple pounds off. Add some extra cardio. Even a walk every other day for say, 30 minutes, could help.

mamitc01

I plateaued for a whole MONTH! It was awful and I just assumed my day or two of going over was the culprit until I read about calorie cycling and other places saying I should be consuming more calories. I have since upped my 1,200 MFP alloted calories to 1,400, plus eating all or most exercise calories and I have seen a drop. I would say, try a slight increase, maybe not all the way to 1,700 but at least 200-300 more. Good luck!

onyxlibra7

The fruit thing is something to think about. Not that we would encourage u to eat other processed food that has the same amt of sugar. Fruit is always best compared to the processed sugars. Another thing u may want to consider...something I read in a post yesterday. Jill is GREAT..but if you've been doing that for a while your body is most likely accustomed to it. And with you being SO CLOSE to ur weightloss goals ur body is holding on to that 1200 cals a day that ur giving it. U prob. do need to go over a cple time during the week to throw ur body off it's normal rythm and also u may wanna try to incorporate interval training and/or trying to workout twice a day. Ur REALLY CLOSE girl! Don't stop now. I have sooooo far to go but I've done this b4 so it's just a matter of me being patient and riding this thing till the wheels fall off. The weight ur sitting at now is where I want to be by September of NEXT YEAR!! GOOD JOB CHICA!! Hope this helps you out a lil'....

girlruns

Something to consider when looking on other sites for calorie information--MFP is the only one I've seen that subtracts the 500 (for 1lb a week) and then adds back exercise calories. If you consider that another site doesn't do this, 1700 is right on the money, it is just assuming that you are working out to burn enough calories to lose the weight you want. Just my thoughts, but the other posters are also correct.

sabrinafaith

You may want to limit your carbs a little more- and I don't mean fruit. Try reducing your bread/rice/pasta intake by half and lowering your sodium intake so you don't retain any water. Then try eating high fiber crisp bread, like gg scandinavian, wasa, or kavali to get your daily fiber.

I would keep eating fruit. You may want to be careful about which fruits you're choosing though. Melon is great, apples, pairs, clementines, blueberries, papaya. I try to limit mango, pineapple and bananas. Choose high fiber, lower calorie fruit if you are going to have more than 2 servings a day.

Also, I would mix up the work out routine. Sounds like your body got stuck in auto mode or something.

lexicalabrese

The fruit thing is something to think about. Not that we would encourage u to eat other processed food that has the same amt of sugar. Fruit is always best compared to the processed sugars. Another thing u may want to consider...something I read in a post yesterday. Jill is GREAT..but if you've been doing that for a while your body is most likely accustomed to it. And with you being SO CLOSE to ur weightloss goals ur body is holding on to that 1200 cals a day that ur giving it. U prob. do need to go over a cple time during the week to throw ur body off it's normal rythm and also u may wanna try to incorporate interval training and/or trying to workout twice a day. Ur REALLY CLOSE girl! Don't stop now. I have sooooo far to go but I've done this b4 so it's just a matter of me being patient and riding this thing till the wheels fall off. The weight ur sitting at now is where I want to be by September of NEXT YEAR!! GOOD JOB CHICA!! Hope this helps you out a lil'....

I thought the same thing...I did Level 1 of the 30DS for 10 days and just started Level 2 yesterday...I'm hoping starting this whole new level will encourage my body to knock it off...I think I am going to try upping my intake 200 calories per day and try that for a week or two, and if THAT doesn't work I am going to try the zig zag, still with 1400 calories.

Oh, and I forget who asked but I have been plateaued for about a week and a half...I know, I know, it's not REALLY a plateau, and right now IS that TOM but I was used to weighing myself every morning and being at 133 pounds, and now every morning for the last week I've been at 135 pounds...noooot okay with me! That's a 2 pound gain and I'm really really really hoping it's TOM that's doing it to me and that next week I'm going to see a 3 pound shed

I guess I just have to go and eat more food now...oh darn

thumper44

I went to a website suggested to me and it suggested that, with my weight, height and age ( 135 lbs, 5' 4", 21 years old) and working out every day (doing the 30 Day Shred) I should be getting 1700 calories for fat loss. MFP has me on 1200 calories per day (I am basically sedentary during the day with the exception of doing the shred)...I ALWAYS eat my exercise calories, I'm eating more fruits and vegetables than I used to, I'm drinking plenty of water...

Can someone PLEASE help me? I was referred to a site that offers the "zig-zag" calorie plan...but this is the site that is telling me I need 1700 calories a day for weight loss. I am just not sure that I need THAT many calories, and I am afraid to sit there and eat THAT many calories for a week, only to gain weight. Heeelp!

You need to eat alot more than 1200 calories.
I looked and last week you were eating 1200-1400 calories and that's after exercising 200-300 calories burned meaning your body took in net caloric intake of 900-1000 calories for that day.
Your BMR according to MFP is 1362 calories a day.

If your only 5 lbs away from your goal weight, that's another reason you should be upping your calories.

lexicalabrese

Great...so I need to eat more calories, fewer carbs, less sugar (which means less fruit)...now I am incredibly confused. What the hell can I eat?????