Stuck :(

strcrft15

I've been extremely diligent about recording all my calories and staying within my calorie budget and I have been doing really well until about a month ago. I've hit a plateau that won't break. I'm still eating right around 1620 calories net (I eat back my exercise calories so on most days I'm right around 2000). I use the Bodymedia Core armband, so I'm confident that I'm always within a 100 calories of my 750 daily calorie deficit. I've just finished insanity and started P90X last week to change things up in an effort to blast through this plateau , but I'm getting really discouraged. I've even measured by hips, waist, and neck! All the same

I always weigh out my food with a food scale, so I can accurately log my calorie intake. I don't deprive myself of foods I like (Shin Ramen, but only rarely xD), but I always keep within with my calories with only 3 or 4 exceptions during the past 4 months. I do eat out once a week for date night, and if calorie information is not avaliable online, I always try to be generous with my estimations so I don't overeat.

On the high sodium days, I can count on being 2-5 pounds heavier for a day or two due to water retention, but I've just been stuck at 189 pounds for forever. I've lost 22 pounds total so far, but this is just killing me. I've made my journal public so any dietary tips would be appreciated, if you have them. Any other tips to bust through this nearly month long plateau would be welcome

Thanks

HollisGrant

I took a quick look at your diary. I didn't see any water logged. Maybe you drink it and don't log it. If not, try to drink at least 8 glasses a day. I have a hard time drinking enough water, so I bought a 32 oz sport bottle (sold everywhere in grocery and drug stores), fill it with filtered water and a couple of lemon slices, and try to drink two of those a day. Water will wash out some of the sodium and is great for your body in other ways.

Change your diet around to see what happens.I know you're supposed to be able to eat burgers fries, and whoopee pies and anything else you want in moderation, but I would drop them or just eat them once in a while. I was stuck for a couple of weeks, cut the dairy out of my diet (I was drinking a shake for breakfast), changed it for steel cut oats with diced apple, and my weight loss began again. I get my protein from lentils (the protein in 1 cup has the protein of 3 eggs with no cholesterol) and eat them with brown rice and vegetables and my weight loss so far has been steady.

Eat something else for a week to see what happens. Eat food that is lower in sodium and drink more water. Don't run the same calories all the time. Eat your exercise calories back one day and don't the next. Change things around to see what happens.

travlinjess

May I suggest playing around with your macro ratios a little? I eat twice as much protein and I'm 5'8 female. You're following some intense exercise programs…I think you'd benefit more from Insanity and P90X by upping your protein intake. Plus, many find that protein keeps them fuller longer. It's worth trying and might break that plateau.

Also, scale/measurements may be the same, but are you using pictures to monitor your progress? My hubby is doing P90X and can only SEE the difference by comparing progress pictures. His measurements/weight have stayed the same, but his muscles are definitely more defined. Plus he feels stronger and goes around flexing his guns all the time…sigh.

Anyway, hang in there…try changing things up a little and go from there!

pkw58

May I suggest playing around with your macro ratios a little? I eat twice as much protein and I'm 5'8 female. You're following some intense exercise programs…I think you'd benefit more from Insanity and P90X by upping your protein intake. Plus, many find that protein keeps them fuller longer. It's worth trying and might break that plateau.

Also, scale/measurements may be the same, but are you using pictures to monitor your progress? My hubby is doing P90X and can only SEE the difference by comparing progress pictures. His measurements/weight have stayed the same, but his muscles are definitely more defined. Plus he feels stronger and goes around flexing his guns all the time…sigh.

Anyway, hang in there…try changing things up a little and go from there!

Agree on playing with your macros and upping the protein, also add logging water.. I have also found making sure i get 6 to 8 hours of sleep helps

HollisGrant

One other thing you might try. I looked back through your food diary and saw some servings of beans, but you must be getting most of your vegetable nutrition from the shakes. Try eating more actual vegetables. For example, a cup of broccoli with carrots has a lot of fiber and vitamins, keeps you full, and has very few calories. I eat fresh, not frozen (they taste better). I blanch them so they aren't soggy (boil water and throw them in for about 1 minute). Your body might respond to that change if you add more veggies and don't rely as much on the shakes.

bulbadoof

I'm seeing a lot of fast food options and processed foods. Now, I'm not anal about clean eating, but as I understand it the problem with getting a large portion of your calories from pre-made foods is that they often have very little nutritional value - they don't give your body what it needs to function at its best, so it's slowing down processes it needs specific nutrients for because it isn't getting those nutrients. I'd suggest taking a multivitamin to make sure you're covering all your bases.

Also, your body becomes more efficient at things it knows how to deal with and learns how to expend less energy doing them, reducing overall calorie burns and possibly causing you to overestimate your exercise calories. When was the last time you switched up your workout? I don't mean a new program of the same kind of activities - I mean a new activity entirely, one that forces your body to move and work in a way it's really not used to at all.

750 calories seems like a rather large deficit, as well - are you sure you're eating enough? You seem to be eating close to TDEE-33%, when most people recommend, like, -20%. Maybe your body thinks you're starving and is trying to hold on to anything it can.

Alwayssohungry

I don't want this to sound mean but you need to eat some real food. Personally - me, personally, could not survive on shakes alone. I always thought they were for the occasional meal replacement. When I see a log like this I just think that it is not sustainable for the long term. Once you are tired of the shakes you will go right back to the habits that got you here in the first place. I take a multi-vitamin and try to eat a huge variety of food. This will be sustainable for me - I said for me - may not be for you. And water, water, water, water - drinking 24 ounces right now.

MissMdM

Bump. Great recommendations