Ridiculous Plateau

ErinG0517

So here's what is going on with me. I have been trying since November 2013 to lose weight. I started at 218 pounds (boo) and over the next couple months, I got down to 200 (woo!) but then I got stuck there, and didn't lose or gain any weight until after May. I attributed that to being super stressed about my wedding in May 2014. After the wedding, my personal trainer suggested I start drinking more water, and I did. I upped my water intake to about a gallon a day and continued to eat healthy, and I started really steadily losing weight. In between May and December 2014, I lost 30 pounds and got down to 170. Since then, I haven't been able to lose any weight, but I haven't gained any either. I started eating less and more, drinking more water, changing up my work out, adding more cardio, less cardio, etc, basically every variation I could think of. I'm getting enough sleep, and I'm not stressed (at least not to an unbearable level like I was wedding planning!) Now I have absolutely no idea what to do, and I'm getting really discouraged. I want to lose about 30 more pounds, but I feel pretty down about it.

Any suggestions? Anyone have similar problems?

Thank you in advance!

StaciMarie1974

How many calories do you eat per day? Do you use a food scale? What's your height?

Opening your diary can help with specific feedback.

ErinG0517

Right now I'm eating about 1400 a day. I lowered it to 1200, but that didn't really seem to help much at all, and I was kind of miserable. I'm about 5'4ish. I've been trying to eat smaller meals throughout the day, with snacks here and there.

I tried a food scale, but I got too obsessive with it. (The same reason why I only weigh myself at the gym and don't have a scale at home) I was concerned, so I got rid of it.

strong_curves

Hmmm maybe these visuals can help you since the food scale is out:

DeguelloTex

If you haven't gained or lost weight for seven months, it sounds like you're eating at maintenance, i.e., you're eating too much to lose weight. Whether this is because of underestimating food, overestimating exercise, or a combination, the bottom line is that losing weight requires a caloric deficit and seven months without loss pretty strongly indicates you don't have that deficit.

I_Will_End_You

ErinG0517 wrote: »

Right now I'm eating about 1400 a day. I lowered it to 1200, but that didn't really seem to help much at all, and I was kind of miserable. I'm about 5'4ish. I've been trying to eat smaller meals throughout the day, with snacks here and there.

I tried a food scale, but I got too obsessive with it. (The same reason why I only weigh myself at the gym and don't have a scale at home) I was concerned, so I got rid of it.

Try using your food scale again. You're obviously eating too much, or logging too many exercise calories. Take out the food scale, re-familiarize yourself with portion sizes. Think of it as a learning tool. If you're going to log calories, you might as well log the correct amount.

Francl27

You're eating too much.

baxgilter

When you have tried something new, dropping calories, more cardio etc. How long did you give it before you decided it wasn't working? A solid 3-4 weeks of something like that is needed before you are going to see change in either direction.

kk_inprogress

strong_curves wrote: »

Hmmm maybe these visuals can help you since the food scale is out:

I use this a lot when I don't have access to a scale! It helps to keep things in perspective.

karenkasbi

I had the same thing for about five months, eating 1200 calories a day and not losing weight. I just stopped dieting for sometime, about three months and just ate healthy whenever I felt like. It wasn't a lot since my stomach had gotten so small but one day, when I stepped on the scale, I noticed that I had reached my goal weight, without even trying. I had lost the remaining 15 pounds. If you eat so little for a long period of time, your body stops burning the food even at a deficit and this happened to me. I was so frustrated. Take a month break, eat at maintenance, continue your exercise, maybe you can even work out a little more and after a month, go back down to eating at a deficit. You might even burn the weight off with just exercise since you're so close to your goal. My experience.

999tigger

My reaction would be im eating at maintenance levels, my estimating method was out and the response after a period of time would be reducing the amount or exercising more. The scale gives you the best chance, but if you wont use it, then use cups and spoons and if you wont use that its eyeball and the bathroom scale. I wouldnt fret about it just keep adjusting till it starts moving again, but give it enough time.

besee_2000

karenkasbi wrote: »

I had the same thing for about five months, eating 1200 calories a day and not losing weight. I just stopped dieting for sometime, about three months and just ate healthy whenever I felt like. It wasn't a lot since my stomach had gotten so small but one day, when I stepped on the scale, I noticed that I had reached my goal weight, without even trying. I had lost the remaining 15 pounds. If you eat so little for a long period of time, your body stops burning the food even at a deficit and this happened to me. I was so frustrated. Take a month break, eat at maintenance, continue your exercise, maybe you can even work out a little more and after a month, go back down to eating at a deficit. You might even burn the weight off with just exercise since you're so close to your goal. My experience.

This would be my dream but when I tried, it did not work. I get too caught up in food and over eat if I don't count. Kudos to you!

leggup

Well, you're either eating more calories than you realize or eating back too many of your exercise calories. It's possible that, even when you think you're cutting calories, you're adding calories to other meals without realizing it.

What's "obsessive" with a food scale? I use mine to weigh all solid food that I eat at home or pack for lunch. It's not obsessive- it's accurate.

You can also open your food diary. We can see if you frequently eat foods that would be hard to eyeball without a scale (oats, cheese, peanut butter... calorie-dense foods) or if there are blatantly inaccurate entries (like homemade entries).

kellygirl5538

It takes a long time....everyone knows that...It could take a month to loose a pound...u need to look at the general trend, go to your graph in MFP and you will feel better