Plateau...help!

pez9375

I'm 37 yr. old female. Current weight 173, height 5'5". I have lost 24 lbs since January of this year but only started Myfitnesspal in March. I have been stuck at 173 for a month and am becoming very frustrated. I lost down to 169 for a short period but then my weight went right back up to 173 even though I have been exercising more (from 3 days per week up to 5-6 days)and only consuming 1200 cal per day. I can tell I'm toning up but the weight just won't come off the scale!!! I know it's supposed to be harder to lose weight the older you get but I need some help if I'm doing something wrong. I've also been gluten free for a month and cut out most dairy. Any suggestions?

herblackwings39

If your ticker is accurate you have less than 20 lbs to lose. If you set MFP to lose .5 to 1 lb a week, eat your calorie goal, and your exercise calories you might start to see the scale move. MFP expects you to eat those burned calories back since your loss deficit is already built in. I'm guessing, without seeing your diary, that at least part of the cause is your exercising 5-6 days a week and only eating 1200 calories. Depending on your burn you could be giving your body very little to work with.

darwinwoodka

Eat a bit more, do a bit less cardio. Lift weights. ;^)

Oh, and more protein, less carbs.

pez9375

Thanks so much for your help. You're right about the calories...I have only been consuming 1200 cal. regardless of how many cal I burn through exercise. Though it seems counter-intuitive to eat more to lose weight, I'm going to give it a try. After a month at the same weight, I'm need to do something. I'll let you know how it goes:happy:

loriq41

It definately works..went from 1200-1500..felt alot better. Then later on I plateaued for 6 weeks! Try zigzagging your cals..it breaks plateaus!

pez9375

Thanks. After my post, of course I discovered all these posts about eating your exercise calories. Serves me right for not looking a bit more. I'm going to eat my exercise cal and hopefully that will help break my plateau. My diet is pretty low carb but I definitely need to eat more lean protein and less fat. I do weight training but it is usually combined with cardio. Thanks again for your help.

pez9375

Thanks! Will definitely give it a try and let you know how it turns out.

kgraves3

Go hard on the strength building exercises. Building lean muscle is the ONLY thing that will reliably increase your metabolism for the long term, and that, for many people, is the key to breaking through plateaus.

Don't worry about getting bulky, if that's something you would worry about. Women don't build muscle the same way as men. Not naturally, anyway.

Oh, and I'm just going to reaffirm that you MUST eat your exercise calories, or at least most of them.

tlwshaw

I have been stuck for the past month. I am 51, 5'5" and eating about 1100 calories, plus part of my exercise calories, buring 300-320 and eating 100 to 200 of them. I just checked this website listed, and it indicates I should be eating 1585 to lose 1 lb. a week. I guess I need to eat more.

Thanks for the advice. I hope this helps.

healthytanya1

1200 calories worked for me for 2 1/2 months then I got stuck even gained a lb. A week ago I went up to 1600 calories and I have already lost a 1 1/2 since then. I'm 5'7" 167 lbs so similar to you.

tlwshaw

I have another calorie question. I went to the website indicated in this thread which said I should eat around 1600 calories a day to lose 1 lb. a week. Does this mean I should eat 1600 calories period, or do I need to eat the 1600 plus the calories I burn exercising. I do an ifit workout on the treadmill 5 days a week, for 30 minutes and burn around 300 calories.

This is so confusing!

herblackwings39

I have another calorie question. I went to the website indicated in this thread which said I should eat around 1600 calories a day to lose 1 lb. a week. Does this mean I should eat 1600 calories period, or do I need to eat the 1600 plus the calories I burn exercising. I do an ifit workout on the treadmill 5 days a week, for 30 minutes and burn around 300 calories.

This is so confusing!

Anytime you enter your exercise level into the equation you don't eat those calories back. It's giving you your BMR and TDEE numbers . The bottom number where it says "To lose 1 pound per week means that you have to consume...." that's the number you want to be eating at. You can still log your exercise if you want to track it, just enter it in as 1 calorie burned.

tlwshaw

Thanks for the clarification. I knew there was no way I could eat 1900 healthy calories a day. I know it will take some time to get my metabolism straightened out, but I will keep working at it.

bonitacash08

Thanks for the clarification. I knew there was no way I could eat 1900 healthy calories a day. I know it will take some time to get my metabolism straightened out, but I will keep working at it.

That's not true at all.. I eat 1900 calories a day

I'm not too sure what "healthy" means to you but it works for me!

michellechawner

it's your 1200 calories a day.

Eat more. I too am 5'5 and am losing while eating 1450 a day. I started at 1200 and was starving the entire time. I went up to 1300 and plateaued for 5 weeks while at 1300. up to 1400 and the weight was flying off again. Now i'm getting closer to maintenance because I've almost lost all my weight so I'm upping my calories every 2 weeks or so until I hit my 1700-1800 maintenance (I'm going off my fitbit, my average total burned is 1811 a day).

DCpaleochick

ok nobody go yelling at me but just want to clarify: If we use calculators such as the one given above we should not eat exercise cals back? Basically go by food intake not net intake? See this always confuses me. I think my problem have been overeating...I'm eating 1800ish plus half or more of my exercise cals because I thought I needed to net 1800ish after working out.

bonitacash08

ok nobody go yelling at me but just want to clarify: If we use calculators such as the one given above we should not eat exercise cals back? Basically go by food intake not net intake? See this always confuses me. I think my problem have been overeating...I'm eating 1800ish plus half or more of my exercise cals because I thought I needed to net 1800ish after working out.

Yep the calculators are for gross intake (meaning don't eat back exercise calories.)

MFP method is for net intake (meaning eat back exercise calories.)

emuyshondt

I need help too. I'm a 53 year old male, sedentary. I started using MFP in late February of last year. I log in every day, and have the app on my iPhone, so I log every single thing I eat. I also weigh in pretty much daily, though I travel a lot and don't usually have a scale when I'm not home.

I'm not very knowledgeable about my metabolism and that may be the root of my problem. I thought I would loose weight as long as I ate less than what MFP tells me is my calorie goal.

I progressed pretty well between February and October. I slowly but steadily lost 1/2 to 1 lb every week (blurring out daily ups and downs) but then hit a wall after I lost about 22 lbs. Since October, I've pretty much maintained my weight and don't know how to get beyond my plateau. I have not changed my eating or exercise habits from when I started with the program. I drink 8-12 glasses of water/day. Water made a difference when I was first starting out - not enough water intake - no weight loss, even eating fewer calories.

MFP is telling me right now that I should be eating 1870 calories/day, after having set my goal at 1 lb. per week with my current statistics. I typically eat 100-400 calories less than that. LEss than once a month, I might eat a 100-200 calories more. I do eat whatever MFP tells me I've burned when I exercise. I don't exercise regularly or often, though.

Is this what is causing me my problem? Has my body become accustomed to say 1,600 calories/day and won't keep burning fat unless I actually start eating more? Seems counterintuitive to me.

If I understand some of the comments here, perhaps I should treat the recommended calories as sort of a floor or fixed target that really shouldn't be altered by much in either direction. Thus, I should increase my intake to get as close as possible to 1,870. The Harris Benedict link above says I should be eating 1,903 calories. I guess I could target somewhere between those two numbers.

I just started checking into this issue today. I'm going to be looking for more information on my physiology to better understand what is happening.

DCpaleochick

ok got it.....thanks for responding

tlwshaw

it's your 1200 calories a day.

Eat more. I too am 5'5 and am losing while eating 1450 a day. I started at 1200 and was starving the entire time. I went up to 1300 and plateaued for 5 weeks while at 1300. up to 1400 and the weight was flying off again. Now i'm getting closer to maintenance because I've almost lost all my weight so I'm upping my calories every 2 weeks or so until I hit my 1700-1800 maintenance (I'm going off my fitbit, my average total burned is 1811 a day).

Is the 1450 total or net after calculating exercise calories burned?

tlwshaw

Well, after plateauing for several weeks, last week I did quite a bit of reading on these forums and found that I wasn't eating enough - I was only consuming about 1200 total calories. I checked several of the suggested links and found I should be consuming closer to 1700 given my size (5'5", 144 lbs.), activity level (30 minutes of exercise 5x a week) and goal to lose 1 lb. a week. I have been working to consume more calories, but still eat good food, not junk, and this is proving a little difficult, as I don't want to eat just to get calories, but don't feel hungry. Anyway, I have now gained a pound, which I am assuming is normal. I realize that my body needs to come out of starvation mode and adjust to the increased intake and not "hoard" the food and store it as reserves.

However, my question is, how long does this adjustment normally take before I will see weight start to come off? When will I know if this is not working and I might need to back off on the calories? Does it take a matter of weeks or a month or more? I tend to be somewhat obsessive compulsive, so am trying not to be too much so, as I can easily drive myself nuts.

I just need a little guidance from others who have been through the same thing to know what to expect.