Plateaus -Breaking with extra calories, but how many extra?
Replies
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mantium999 wrote: »mantium999 wrote: »Hi Everyone -
As the topic says, how many are too many to be used to break a plateau? What is a good rule of thumb if in fact eating extra calories is the correct way to beat a plateau?
Thanks for your input . . .
Tilly
Okay....I JUST got off the phone with my personal trainer regarding this same question. Like you, I have plateaued....for 4+ months. I was consuming between 1000 and 1300 calories a day and not eating my excercise calories. Now I'm sure that everybody has different advice but I am going to choose to take my personal trainers. Here is what she told me to do:
Increase calories. Based on MY activity I SHOULD be eating around 2,000 calories a day (to lose weight). I consume around 1200. She suggested an increase of 800 calories. But NOT ALL AT ONCE. she says I should increase by 250 calorie increments. Stick to that amount for 3 or 4 days....if the scale stays the same....increase by another 250 calories for 3 or 4 days. Keep doing this until the scale GOES UP and you GAIN weight (only weighing yourself every 3 or 4 days). When your weight starts to increase it means that you have found your calorie intake needed for you to GAIN weight. She predicts that my calorie intake will be around 2000+ before I gain any weight. THEN, you DECREASE your calories by 250....do that until you plateau for at least a week. If you plateau....decrease your calories again (by 250). She says sticking to a low calorie (1200 a day) for almost a year has been detrimental to my metabolism. Slow increments of calories will even my metabolism out.
She says when our bodies are used to consuming 3000+ calories (before we begin our lifestyle change)....the worse thing we can do is cut it completely. Every person that starts a weight loss journey should start slow and decrease their calories by 500 calorie increments. Thus keeping our metabolism in check. And giving each person an idea of THEIR OWN calorie needs (as each person is different)
However, I am obsessed with logging and weighing EVERYTHING I eat. And I excercise 60 minutes a day. Cardio and weight training on top of an already active lifestyle. Knowing this....she has given me this advice. You can choose to take it or leave it....but I have plateaued for months and I figure.....what's the harm in trying?!!?
3-4 days is not enough time to assess if a calorie adjustment is doing anything.
500 calorie increments is absolutely not a slow decreasing progression. 2 drops and you have reduced calories by 1000. And right above that you mention 250 increments. Inconsistent info leads to questionable advice.
My trainer says that when people start a weight loss journey they should decrease by 500 calories. Since I have already decreased to the lowest amount she suggested starting with 250
Agree or not...this is what I am talking about with rude people. This person is asking for advice. Weight loss is different for every single person. What works for one may not work for others. This SHOULD BE a place to offer advice without being attacked. We should take people at face value. And don't "assume" what we don't know... Sometimes giving a person a plethora of advice gives them options of the next step that works best for them. That is simply what I was doing.Hi Everyone -
As the topic says, how many are too many to be used to break a plateau? What is a good rule of thumb if in fact eating extra calories is the correct way to beat a plateau?
Thanks for your input . . .
Tilly
Okay....I JUST got off the phone with my personal trainer regarding this same question. Like you, I have plateaued....for 4+ months. I was consuming between 1000 and 1300 calories a day and not eating my excercise calories. Now I'm sure that everybody has different advice but I am going to choose to take my personal trainers. Here is what she told me to do:
Increase calories. Based on MY activity I SHOULD be eating around 2,000 calories a day (to lose weight). I consume around 1200. She suggested an increase of 800 calories. But NOT ALL AT ONCE. she says I should increase by 250 calorie increments. Stick to that amount for 3 or 4 days....if the scale stays the same....increase by another 250 calories for 3 or 4 days. Keep doing this until the scale GOES UP and you GAIN weight (only weighing yourself every 3 or 4 days). When your weight starts to increase it means that you have found your calorie intake needed for you to GAIN weight. She predicts that my calorie intake will be around 2000+ before I gain any weight. THEN, you DECREASE your calories by 250....do that until you plateau for at least a week. If you plateau....decrease your calories again (by 250). She says sticking to a low calorie (1200 a day) for almost a year has been detrimental to my metabolism. Slow increments of calories will even my metabolism out.
She says when our bodies are used to consuming 3000+ calories (before we begin our lifestyle change)....the worse thing we can do is cut it completely. Every person that starts a weight loss journey should start slow and decrease their calories by 500 calorie increments. Thus keeping our metabolism in check. And giving each person an idea of THEIR OWN calorie needs (as each person is different)
However, I am obsessed with logging and weighing EVERYTHING I eat. And I excercise 60 minutes a day. Cardio and weight training on top of an already active lifestyle. Knowing this....she has given me this advice. You can choose to take it or leave it....but I have plateaued for months and I figure.....what's the harm in trying?!!?
to be fair i see a lot of cups spoons and serving sizes in your diary @tabl_23 So not accurate at all!
bread 2 slices can be easily over 50 calories off..some grams here some grams there etc etc
Really that is not weighing everything at all!
Yes....see my post further down about weighing my food..
like i said Your Sara Lee is always 90 calories...mine dont So that indicates you go by servings as well...as a seasoned user as you say...you know that the servings sizes you use..can be very off.
And some grams here some grams there adds up.
you have other entry's like that
half a cup of cottage cheese..always 90 calories...so you never weigh less or more grams....always exactly half a cup?
Kellog chips same always exactly 60 calories for 12.5...no way that that is always the same weight.
Really?
Never said I was a "seasoned user"....I've only been using MFP for 30 days.
I said I was seasoned in weighing things....meaning I do weigh everything. For example: one serving size of Sarah Lee is 90 calories for 2 slices (45 grams). Now YOU please tell me if I am doing this wrong....cause Lord knows you Know EVERYTHING.
I place my plate on my scale. I tare my scale. I place 2 peices of bread on my plate. Scale tells me weight....if it ISN'T 45 grams....if tear off a small peice until it weighs exactly 45 grams. SO when it is logged as 1 Serving (2 peices....45 grams)...that is EXACTLY what I'm eating.
Noting your inconsistencies is not rude, you were not very clear in describing the different calorie adjustments. That could very well confuse a new person. I stand by my assessment that 3-4 days is an insufficient amount of time to reassess calorie adjustments. An incremental decrease should not be a flat number (500, 250, 100, etc.), it should be an incremental decrease based on estimated caloric needs. So your trainer saying people just starting out should drop by 500 is not particularly valuable. A 5'3" woman 30 pounds overweight will need to drop calories by a different value than a 5'10" woman looking to drop the same weight. Which supports your specific remark that weight loss is different for everyone. If you are correctly reiterating your trainer's advice, I question your trainer's nutritional knowledge (which is consistent with point that most trainers have very minimal nutritional knowledge).when i weigh two slices of Sara lee one day it is 43 grams next day the slices are 50 gram etc etc
Which means the sleices of bread are never 90 calories always...it varies
Same for crisps it is never 28 grams every day...and yes you can cut a bit of your bread to make it 45 gram and dont eat that lol
But for me when i weigh a serving of prepacked food like the bread the crisps etc it has never the same weight as the label says always a bit more or less... which also means more or less calories.
So when you do your half cup of cottage cheese you weigh it and take the too much grams out so it is really 60 calories?
Yes. I scoop out little by little on my plate/bowl until the scale says 112 grams. Sorry if this is weird to people. This is just how I do it. I respect that everybody does things different. Can even respect that people have differences of opinion.
To the original poster (which is who I posted to to begin with).
Only you know your eating and weighing habits. If you are honest with yourself then everybody else's opinion doesn't matter. However, if you are like me and are eating between 1000 - 1300 calories a day (and have been for quiet some time with no results)...my question was where do I go from here? I know my logging is tight (regardless of what others believe) and there is an obvious deficiet....still nothing changes. There is only 1 way to go....and that's up. We obviously cant keep lowering calories to nothing. Good luck to you and whatever you decide to do...as only YOU know what's best for YOU.0 -
With a smaller deficit it is important....
This, I think, is the most salient point in the thread. The smaller the deficit, the smaller the margin for error. Accuracy can make or break the effort.
When I've had whooshes, they have happened after 3 week stalls. The math always worked for me in the end. You really have to hold the course for at least 3 weeks before you know whether what you're doing is working or not. There is no "like clockwork."
Some people advocate zig-zag, or eating 200 over one day and 200 under the next, to break a stall. I've done this (intentionally and by accident), and I have never seen an impact on the scale, FWIW.0 -
mantium999 wrote: »mantium999 wrote: »Hi Everyone -
As the topic says, how many are too many to be used to break a plateau? What is a good rule of thumb if in fact eating extra calories is the correct way to beat a plateau?
Thanks for your input . . .
Tilly
Okay....I JUST got off the phone with my personal trainer regarding this same question. Like you, I have plateaued....for 4+ months. I was consuming between 1000 and 1300 calories a day and not eating my excercise calories. Now I'm sure that everybody has different advice but I am going to choose to take my personal trainers. Here is what she told me to do:
Increase calories. Based on MY activity I SHOULD be eating around 2,000 calories a day (to lose weight). I consume around 1200. She suggested an increase of 800 calories. But NOT ALL AT ONCE. she says I should increase by 250 calorie increments. Stick to that amount for 3 or 4 days....if the scale stays the same....increase by another 250 calories for 3 or 4 days. Keep doing this until the scale GOES UP and you GAIN weight (only weighing yourself every 3 or 4 days). When your weight starts to increase it means that you have found your calorie intake needed for you to GAIN weight. She predicts that my calorie intake will be around 2000+ before I gain any weight. THEN, you DECREASE your calories by 250....do that until you plateau for at least a week. If you plateau....decrease your calories again (by 250). She says sticking to a low calorie (1200 a day) for almost a year has been detrimental to my metabolism. Slow increments of calories will even my metabolism out.
She says when our bodies are used to consuming 3000+ calories (before we begin our lifestyle change)....the worse thing we can do is cut it completely. Every person that starts a weight loss journey should start slow and decrease their calories by 500 calorie increments. Thus keeping our metabolism in check. And giving each person an idea of THEIR OWN calorie needs (as each person is different)
However, I am obsessed with logging and weighing EVERYTHING I eat. And I excercise 60 minutes a day. Cardio and weight training on top of an already active lifestyle. Knowing this....she has given me this advice. You can choose to take it or leave it....but I have plateaued for months and I figure.....what's the harm in trying?!!?
3-4 days is not enough time to assess if a calorie adjustment is doing anything.
500 calorie increments is absolutely not a slow decreasing progression. 2 drops and you have reduced calories by 1000. And right above that you mention 250 increments. Inconsistent info leads to questionable advice.
My trainer says that when people start a weight loss journey they should decrease by 500 calories. Since I have already decreased to the lowest amount she suggested starting with 250
Agree or not...this is what I am talking about with rude people. This person is asking for advice. Weight loss is different for every single person. What works for one may not work for others. This SHOULD BE a place to offer advice without being attacked. We should take people at face value. And don't "assume" what we don't know... Sometimes giving a person a plethora of advice gives them options of the next step that works best for them. That is simply what I was doing.Hi Everyone -
As the topic says, how many are too many to be used to break a plateau? What is a good rule of thumb if in fact eating extra calories is the correct way to beat a plateau?
Thanks for your input . . .
Tilly
Okay....I JUST got off the phone with my personal trainer regarding this same question. Like you, I have plateaued....for 4+ months. I was consuming between 1000 and 1300 calories a day and not eating my excercise calories. Now I'm sure that everybody has different advice but I am going to choose to take my personal trainers. Here is what she told me to do:
Increase calories. Based on MY activity I SHOULD be eating around 2,000 calories a day (to lose weight). I consume around 1200. She suggested an increase of 800 calories. But NOT ALL AT ONCE. she says I should increase by 250 calorie increments. Stick to that amount for 3 or 4 days....if the scale stays the same....increase by another 250 calories for 3 or 4 days. Keep doing this until the scale GOES UP and you GAIN weight (only weighing yourself every 3 or 4 days). When your weight starts to increase it means that you have found your calorie intake needed for you to GAIN weight. She predicts that my calorie intake will be around 2000+ before I gain any weight. THEN, you DECREASE your calories by 250....do that until you plateau for at least a week. If you plateau....decrease your calories again (by 250). She says sticking to a low calorie (1200 a day) for almost a year has been detrimental to my metabolism. Slow increments of calories will even my metabolism out.
She says when our bodies are used to consuming 3000+ calories (before we begin our lifestyle change)....the worse thing we can do is cut it completely. Every person that starts a weight loss journey should start slow and decrease their calories by 500 calorie increments. Thus keeping our metabolism in check. And giving each person an idea of THEIR OWN calorie needs (as each person is different)
However, I am obsessed with logging and weighing EVERYTHING I eat. And I excercise 60 minutes a day. Cardio and weight training on top of an already active lifestyle. Knowing this....she has given me this advice. You can choose to take it or leave it....but I have plateaued for months and I figure.....what's the harm in trying?!!?
to be fair i see a lot of cups spoons and serving sizes in your diary @tabl_23 So not accurate at all!
bread 2 slices can be easily over 50 calories off..some grams here some grams there etc etc
Really that is not weighing everything at all!
Yes....see my post further down about weighing my food..
like i said Your Sara Lee is always 90 calories...mine dont So that indicates you go by servings as well...as a seasoned user as you say...you know that the servings sizes you use..can be very off.
And some grams here some grams there adds up.
you have other entry's like that
half a cup of cottage cheese..always 90 calories...so you never weigh less or more grams....always exactly half a cup?
Kellog chips same always exactly 60 calories for 12.5...no way that that is always the same weight.
Really?
Never said I was a "seasoned user"....I've only been using MFP for 30 days.
I said I was seasoned in weighing things....meaning I do weigh everything. For example: one serving size of Sarah Lee is 90 calories for 2 slices (45 grams). Now YOU please tell me if I am doing this wrong....cause Lord knows you Know EVERYTHING.
I place my plate on my scale. I tare my scale. I place 2 peices of bread on my plate. Scale tells me weight....if it ISN'T 45 grams....if tear off a small peice until it weighs exactly 45 grams. SO when it is logged as 1 Serving (2 peices....45 grams)...that is EXACTLY what I'm eating.
Noting your inconsistencies is not rude, you were not very clear in describing the different calorie adjustments. That could very well confuse a new person. I stand by my assessment that 3-4 days is an insufficient amount of time to reassess calorie adjustments. An incremental decrease should not be a flat number (500, 250, 100, etc.), it should be an incremental decrease based on estimated caloric needs. So your trainer saying people just starting out should drop by 500 is not particularly valuable. A 5'3" woman 30 pounds overweight will need to drop calories by a different value than a 5'10" woman looking to drop the same weight. Which supports your specific remark that weight loss is different for everyone. If you are correctly reiterating your trainer's advice, I question your trainer's nutritional knowledge (which is consistent with point that most trainers have very minimal nutritional knowledge).when i weigh two slices of Sara lee one day it is 43 grams next day the slices are 50 gram etc etc
Which means the sleices of bread are never 90 calories always...it varies
Same for crisps it is never 28 grams every day...and yes you can cut a bit of your bread to make it 45 gram and dont eat that lol
But for me when i weigh a serving of prepacked food like the bread the crisps etc it has never the same weight as the label says always a bit more or less... which also means more or less calories.
So when you do your half cup of cottage cheese you weigh it and take the too much grams out so it is really 60 calories?
Yes. I scoop out little by little on my plate/bowl until the scale says 112 grams. Sorry if this is weird to people. This is just how I do it. I respect that everybody does things different. Can even respect that people have differences of opinion.
To the original poster (which is who I posted to to begin with).
Only you know your eating and weighing habits. If you are honest with yourself then everybody else's opinion doesn't matter. However, if you are like me and are eating between 1000 - 1300 calories a day (and have been for quiet some time with no results)...my question was where do I go from here? I know my logging is tight (regardless of what others believe) and there is an obvious deficiet....still nothing changes. There is only 1 way to go....and that's up. We obviously cant keep lowering calories to nothing. Good luck to you and whatever you decide to do...as only YOU know what's best for YOU.
Don't worry, I do it too. I've been known to pluck out Cheerios one by one until I get the serving size the box says! :laugh:0 -
GuitarJerry wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »You don't break a "plateau" with more calories.
Eating less calories than you burn = weight loss
Eating the same amount of calories you burn = maintaining
Eating more calories than you burn = weight gain.
You are maintaining right now, so eating MORE calories would result in gain, not loss. There is a lot of crap floating around out there that eating more will make you lose weight. It's untrue. It would be awesome if it was, but it is not.
Ditto. So much bro science non-sense, even from a trainer. Trainers should know better, but some of them are parrots of the media and Bob the trainer.
Double ditto. Eating more to lose weight is a misunderstood concept.
You only eat more to lose weight if you are already losing weight and want to slow that loss down. You still have to stay within your calorie deficit. However, if you are not losing weight, then it's most certainly a miscalculation of calories in and/or calories out. Even with medical issues, you just need to find your sweet spot for losing weight.0 -
Hi Everyone -
As the topic says, how many are too many to be used to break a plateau? What is a good rule of thumb if in fact eating extra calories is the correct way to beat a plateau?
Thanks for your input . . .
Tilly
Okay....I JUST got off the phone with my personal trainer regarding this same question. Like you, I have plateaued....for 4+ months. I was consuming between 1000 and 1300 calories a day and not eating my excercise calories. Now I'm sure that everybody has different advice but I am going to choose to take my personal trainers. Here is what she told me to do:
Increase calories. Based on MY activity I SHOULD be eating around 2,000 calories a day (to lose weight). I consume around 1200. She suggested an increase of 800 calories. But NOT ALL AT ONCE. she says I should increase by 250 calorie increments. Stick to that amount for 3 or 4 days....if the scale stays the same....increase by another 250 calories for 3 or 4 days. Keep doing this until the scale GOES UP and you GAIN weight (only weighing yourself every 3 or 4 days). When your weight starts to increase it means that you have found your calorie intake needed for you to GAIN weight. She predicts that my calorie intake will be around 2000+ before I gain any weight. THEN, you DECREASE your calories by 250....do that until you plateau for at least a week. If you plateau....decrease your calories again (by 250). She says sticking to a low calorie (1200 a day) for almost a year has been detrimental to my metabolism. Slow increments of calories will even my metabolism out.
She says when our bodies are used to consuming 3000+ calories (before we begin our lifestyle change)....the worse thing we can do is cut it completely. Every person that starts a weight loss journey should start slow and decrease their calories by 500 calorie increments. Thus keeping our metabolism in check. And giving each person an idea of THEIR OWN calorie needs (as each person is different)
However, I am obsessed with logging and weighing EVERYTHING I eat. And I excercise 60 minutes a day. Cardio and weight training on top of an already active lifestyle. Knowing this....she has given me this advice. You can choose to take it or leave it....but I have plateaued for months and I figure.....what's the harm in trying?!!?
Your trainer is an idiot.
It can take a few weeks for your body to adjust to a calorie increase. That he told you to wait 3 or 4 days is laughable - especially when you take into account variations due to water retention. I don't advocate eating too little but really, in 99% of cases, people are just in denial about how much they really eat and increasing their calories WILL make them gain weight.0 -
GuitarJerry wrote: »I_Will_End_You wrote: »You don't break a "plateau" with more calories.
Eating less calories than you burn = weight loss
Eating the same amount of calories you burn = maintaining
Eating more calories than you burn = weight gain.
You are maintaining right now, so eating MORE calories would result in gain, not loss. There is a lot of crap floating around out there that eating more will make you lose weight. It's untrue. It would be awesome if it was, but it is not.
Ditto. So much bro science non-sense, even from a trainer. Trainers should know better, but some of them are parrots of the media and Bob the trainer.
Double ditto. Eating more to lose weight is a misunderstood concept.
You only eat more to lose weight if you are already losing weight and want to slow that loss down. You still have to stay within your calorie deficit. However, if you are not losing weight, then it's most certainly a miscalculation of calories in and/or calories out. Even with medical issues, you just need to find your sweet spot for losing weight.
indeed that is what i did for some weeks ago slowly upping to slow it down
From 2lbs a week i went over time to half a pound...by upping my calorie intake....
(i really wonder why i dint start to lose more weight since i came from 1200 losing 2lbs a week now 1600 and losing half a pound a week....spot on!)
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OP it looks like you have a choice, take the advise of people who have lost 100 lbs and kept it off or someone's personal trainer. As for me, I stick with the people who know that eating more to weigh less is a recipe for failure.0
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I do this with Lucky Charms. But I leave the marshmallows in the bowl.mantium999 wrote: »mantium999 wrote: »Hi Everyone -
As the topic says, how many are too many to be used to break a plateau? What is a good rule of thumb if in fact eating extra calories is the correct way to beat a plateau?
Thanks for your input . . .
Tilly
Okay....I JUST got off the phone with my personal trainer regarding this same question. Like you, I have plateaued....for 4+ months. I was consuming between 1000 and 1300 calories a day and not eating my excercise calories. Now I'm sure that everybody has different advice but I am going to choose to take my personal trainers. Here is what she told me to do:
Increase calories. Based on MY activity I SHOULD be eating around 2,000 calories a day (to lose weight). I consume around 1200. She suggested an increase of 800 calories. But NOT ALL AT ONCE. she says I should increase by 250 calorie increments. Stick to that amount for 3 or 4 days....if the scale stays the same....increase by another 250 calories for 3 or 4 days. Keep doing this until the scale GOES UP and you GAIN weight (only weighing yourself every 3 or 4 days). When your weight starts to increase it means that you have found your calorie intake needed for you to GAIN weight. She predicts that my calorie intake will be around 2000+ before I gain any weight. THEN, you DECREASE your calories by 250....do that until you plateau for at least a week. If you plateau....decrease your calories again (by 250). She says sticking to a low calorie (1200 a day) for almost a year has been detrimental to my metabolism. Slow increments of calories will even my metabolism out.
She says when our bodies are used to consuming 3000+ calories (before we begin our lifestyle change)....the worse thing we can do is cut it completely. Every person that starts a weight loss journey should start slow and decrease their calories by 500 calorie increments. Thus keeping our metabolism in check. And giving each person an idea of THEIR OWN calorie needs (as each person is different)
However, I am obsessed with logging and weighing EVERYTHING I eat. And I excercise 60 minutes a day. Cardio and weight training on top of an already active lifestyle. Knowing this....she has given me this advice. You can choose to take it or leave it....but I have plateaued for months and I figure.....what's the harm in trying?!!?
3-4 days is not enough time to assess if a calorie adjustment is doing anything.
500 calorie increments is absolutely not a slow decreasing progression. 2 drops and you have reduced calories by 1000. And right above that you mention 250 increments. Inconsistent info leads to questionable advice.
My trainer says that when people start a weight loss journey they should decrease by 500 calories. Since I have already decreased to the lowest amount she suggested starting with 250
Agree or not...this is what I am talking about with rude people. This person is asking for advice. Weight loss is different for every single person. What works for one may not work for others. This SHOULD BE a place to offer advice without being attacked. We should take people at face value. And don't "assume" what we don't know... Sometimes giving a person a plethora of advice gives them options of the next step that works best for them. That is simply what I was doing.Hi Everyone -
As the topic says, how many are too many to be used to break a plateau? What is a good rule of thumb if in fact eating extra calories is the correct way to beat a plateau?
Thanks for your input . . .
Tilly
Okay....I JUST got off the phone with my personal trainer regarding this same question. Like you, I have plateaued....for 4+ months. I was consuming between 1000 and 1300 calories a day and not eating my excercise calories. Now I'm sure that everybody has different advice but I am going to choose to take my personal trainers. Here is what she told me to do:
Increase calories. Based on MY activity I SHOULD be eating around 2,000 calories a day (to lose weight). I consume around 1200. She suggested an increase of 800 calories. But NOT ALL AT ONCE. she says I should increase by 250 calorie increments. Stick to that amount for 3 or 4 days....if the scale stays the same....increase by another 250 calories for 3 or 4 days. Keep doing this until the scale GOES UP and you GAIN weight (only weighing yourself every 3 or 4 days). When your weight starts to increase it means that you have found your calorie intake needed for you to GAIN weight. She predicts that my calorie intake will be around 2000+ before I gain any weight. THEN, you DECREASE your calories by 250....do that until you plateau for at least a week. If you plateau....decrease your calories again (by 250). She says sticking to a low calorie (1200 a day) for almost a year has been detrimental to my metabolism. Slow increments of calories will even my metabolism out.
She says when our bodies are used to consuming 3000+ calories (before we begin our lifestyle change)....the worse thing we can do is cut it completely. Every person that starts a weight loss journey should start slow and decrease their calories by 500 calorie increments. Thus keeping our metabolism in check. And giving each person an idea of THEIR OWN calorie needs (as each person is different)
However, I am obsessed with logging and weighing EVERYTHING I eat. And I excercise 60 minutes a day. Cardio and weight training on top of an already active lifestyle. Knowing this....she has given me this advice. You can choose to take it or leave it....but I have plateaued for months and I figure.....what's the harm in trying?!!?
to be fair i see a lot of cups spoons and serving sizes in your diary @tabl_23 So not accurate at all!
bread 2 slices can be easily over 50 calories off..some grams here some grams there etc etc
Really that is not weighing everything at all!
Yes....see my post further down about weighing my food..
like i said Your Sara Lee is always 90 calories...mine dont So that indicates you go by servings as well...as a seasoned user as you say...you know that the servings sizes you use..can be very off.
And some grams here some grams there adds up.
you have other entry's like that
half a cup of cottage cheese..always 90 calories...so you never weigh less or more grams....always exactly half a cup?
Kellog chips same always exactly 60 calories for 12.5...no way that that is always the same weight.
Really?
Never said I was a "seasoned user"....I've only been using MFP for 30 days.
I said I was seasoned in weighing things....meaning I do weigh everything. For example: one serving size of Sarah Lee is 90 calories for 2 slices (45 grams). Now YOU please tell me if I am doing this wrong....cause Lord knows you Know EVERYTHING.
I place my plate on my scale. I tare my scale. I place 2 peices of bread on my plate. Scale tells me weight....if it ISN'T 45 grams....if tear off a small peice until it weighs exactly 45 grams. SO when it is logged as 1 Serving (2 peices....45 grams)...that is EXACTLY what I'm eating.
Noting your inconsistencies is not rude, you were not very clear in describing the different calorie adjustments. That could very well confuse a new person. I stand by my assessment that 3-4 days is an insufficient amount of time to reassess calorie adjustments. An incremental decrease should not be a flat number (500, 250, 100, etc.), it should be an incremental decrease based on estimated caloric needs. So your trainer saying people just starting out should drop by 500 is not particularly valuable. A 5'3" woman 30 pounds overweight will need to drop calories by a different value than a 5'10" woman looking to drop the same weight. Which supports your specific remark that weight loss is different for everyone. If you are correctly reiterating your trainer's advice, I question your trainer's nutritional knowledge (which is consistent with point that most trainers have very minimal nutritional knowledge).when i weigh two slices of Sara lee one day it is 43 grams next day the slices are 50 gram etc etc
Which means the sleices of bread are never 90 calories always...it varies
Same for crisps it is never 28 grams every day...and yes you can cut a bit of your bread to make it 45 gram and dont eat that lol
But for me when i weigh a serving of prepacked food like the bread the crisps etc it has never the same weight as the label says always a bit more or less... which also means more or less calories.
So when you do your half cup of cottage cheese you weigh it and take the too much grams out so it is really 60 calories?
Yes. I scoop out little by little on my plate/bowl until the scale says 112 grams. Sorry if this is weird to people. This is just how I do it. I respect that everybody does things different. Can even respect that people have differences of opinion.
To the original poster (which is who I posted to to begin with).
Only you know your eating and weighing habits. If you are honest with yourself then everybody else's opinion doesn't matter. However, if you are like me and are eating between 1000 - 1300 calories a day (and have been for quiet some time with no results)...my question was where do I go from here? I know my logging is tight (regardless of what others believe) and there is an obvious deficiet....still nothing changes. There is only 1 way to go....and that's up. We obviously cant keep lowering calories to nothing. Good luck to you and whatever you decide to do...as only YOU know what's best for YOU.
Don't worry, I do it too. I've been known to pluck out Cheerios one by one until I get the serving size the box says! :laugh:
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I have the same amount of cottage cheese and berries everyday. I just stop adding to the bowl once I get to the desired grams... Sometimes I'm over by 1 or 2g, other times I'm under by the same amount.
Same with chips. . If I want 30g of chips, then I'll weigh out 30g of chips.0 -
christinev297 wrote: »I have the same amount of cottage cheese and berries everyday. I just stop adding to the bowl once I get to the desired grams... Sometimes I'm over by 1 or 2g, other times I'm under by the same amount.
Same with chips. . If I want 30g of chips, then I'll weigh out 30g of chips.
So you dont have the same amount every day!
You dont log accurately ( doesn't matter btw if your deficit is big enough so i am not judging)
But this is exactly what i mean..... couple grams here couple grams there
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daniwilford wrote: »OP it looks like you have a choice, take the advise of people who have lost 100 lbs and kept it off or someone's personal trainer. As for me, I stick with the people who know that eating more to weigh less is a recipe for failure.
ty Dani
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BUT THE REAL QUESTION IS:
Will OP ever return?0 -
christinev297 wrote: »I have the same amount of cottage cheese and berries everyday. I just stop adding to the bowl once I get to the desired grams... Sometimes I'm over by 1 or 2g, other times I'm under by the same amount.
Same with chips. . If I want 30g of chips, then I'll weigh out 30g of chips.
So you dont have the same amount every day!
Not perfectly exactly, but I've never worried about 1 or 2 grams either way. Some days I do get it spot on. But if I am a gram or 2 out, I'm not going to go in and edit it everyday. I copy from yesterday my lunch and snacks most days. The only weights I do change everyday is the banana, everything else is pretty much negligible. I don't think I'm going to gain weight if I have one extra chip, or 1 or 2 extra berries... Like I said some days are over, others under, so it evens out in the end.
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christinev297 wrote: »christinev297 wrote: »I have the same amount of cottage cheese and berries everyday. I just stop adding to the bowl once I get to the desired grams... Sometimes I'm over by 1 or 2g, other times I'm under by the same amount.
Same with chips. . If I want 30g of chips, then I'll weigh out 30g of chips.
So you dont have the same amount every day!
Not perfectly exactly, but I've never worried about 1 or 2 grams either way. Some days I do get it spot on. But if I am a gram or 2 out, I'm not going to go in and edit it everyday. I copy from yesterday my lunch and snacks most days. The only weights I do change everyday is the banana, everything else is pretty much negligible. I don't think I'm going to gain weight if I have one extra chip, or 1 or 2 extra berries... Like I said some days are over, others under, so it evens out in the end.
And this is exactly the point..yes when you eat the calories surplus or you wipe out your deficit...you gain or have your plateau
Right there!!!!!
This is the perfect example of what i mean
couple grams/calories here couple grams/calories there..... mehhhh doesn't matter!
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mantium999 wrote: »mantium999 wrote: »Hi Everyone -
As the topic says, how many are too many to be used to break a plateau? What is a good rule of thumb if in fact eating extra calories is the correct way to beat a plateau?
Thanks for your input . . .
Tilly
Okay....I JUST got off the phone with my personal trainer regarding this same question. Like you, I have plateaued....for 4+ months. I was consuming between 1000 and 1300 calories a day and not eating my excercise calories. Now I'm sure that everybody has different advice but I am going to choose to take my personal trainers. Here is what she told me to do:
Increase calories. Based on MY activity I SHOULD be eating around 2,000 calories a day (to lose weight). I consume around 1200. She suggested an increase of 800 calories. But NOT ALL AT ONCE. she says I should increase by 250 calorie increments. Stick to that amount for 3 or 4 days....if the scale stays the same....increase by another 250 calories for 3 or 4 days. Keep doing this until the scale GOES UP and you GAIN weight (only weighing yourself every 3 or 4 days). When your weight starts to increase it means that you have found your calorie intake needed for you to GAIN weight. She predicts that my calorie intake will be around 2000+ before I gain any weight. THEN, you DECREASE your calories by 250....do that until you plateau for at least a week. If you plateau....decrease your calories again (by 250). She says sticking to a low calorie (1200 a day) for almost a year has been detrimental to my metabolism. Slow increments of calories will even my metabolism out.
She says when our bodies are used to consuming 3000+ calories (before we begin our lifestyle change)....the worse thing we can do is cut it completely. Every person that starts a weight loss journey should start slow and decrease their calories by 500 calorie increments. Thus keeping our metabolism in check. And giving each person an idea of THEIR OWN calorie needs (as each person is different)
However, I am obsessed with logging and weighing EVERYTHING I eat. And I excercise 60 minutes a day. Cardio and weight training on top of an already active lifestyle. Knowing this....she has given me this advice. You can choose to take it or leave it....but I have plateaued for months and I figure.....what's the harm in trying?!!?
3-4 days is not enough time to assess if a calorie adjustment is doing anything.
500 calorie increments is absolutely not a slow decreasing progression. 2 drops and you have reduced calories by 1000. And right above that you mention 250 increments. Inconsistent info leads to questionable advice.
My trainer says that when people start a weight loss journey they should decrease by 500 calories. Since I have already decreased to the lowest amount she suggested starting with 250
Agree or not...this is what I am talking about with rude people. This person is asking for advice. Weight loss is different for every single person. What works for one may not work for others. This SHOULD BE a place to offer advice without being attacked. We should take people at face value. And don't "assume" what we don't know... Sometimes giving a person a plethora of advice gives them options of the next step that works best for them. That is simply what I was doing.Hi Everyone -
As the topic says, how many are too many to be used to break a plateau? What is a good rule of thumb if in fact eating extra calories is the correct way to beat a plateau?
Thanks for your input . . .
Tilly
Okay....I JUST got off the phone with my personal trainer regarding this same question. Like you, I have plateaued....for 4+ months. I was consuming between 1000 and 1300 calories a day and not eating my excercise calories. Now I'm sure that everybody has different advice but I am going to choose to take my personal trainers. Here is what she told me to do:
Increase calories. Based on MY activity I SHOULD be eating around 2,000 calories a day (to lose weight). I consume around 1200. She suggested an increase of 800 calories. But NOT ALL AT ONCE. she says I should increase by 250 calorie increments. Stick to that amount for 3 or 4 days....if the scale stays the same....increase by another 250 calories for 3 or 4 days. Keep doing this until the scale GOES UP and you GAIN weight (only weighing yourself every 3 or 4 days). When your weight starts to increase it means that you have found your calorie intake needed for you to GAIN weight. She predicts that my calorie intake will be around 2000+ before I gain any weight. THEN, you DECREASE your calories by 250....do that until you plateau for at least a week. If you plateau....decrease your calories again (by 250). She says sticking to a low calorie (1200 a day) for almost a year has been detrimental to my metabolism. Slow increments of calories will even my metabolism out.
She says when our bodies are used to consuming 3000+ calories (before we begin our lifestyle change)....the worse thing we can do is cut it completely. Every person that starts a weight loss journey should start slow and decrease their calories by 500 calorie increments. Thus keeping our metabolism in check. And giving each person an idea of THEIR OWN calorie needs (as each person is different)
However, I am obsessed with logging and weighing EVERYTHING I eat. And I excercise 60 minutes a day. Cardio and weight training on top of an already active lifestyle. Knowing this....she has given me this advice. You can choose to take it or leave it....but I have plateaued for months and I figure.....what's the harm in trying?!!?
to be fair i see a lot of cups spoons and serving sizes in your diary @tabl_23 So not accurate at all!
bread 2 slices can be easily over 50 calories off..some grams here some grams there etc etc
Really that is not weighing everything at all!
Yes....see my post further down about weighing my food..
like i said Your Sara Lee is always 90 calories...mine dont So that indicates you go by servings as well...as a seasoned user as you say...you know that the servings sizes you use..can be very off.
And some grams here some grams there adds up.
you have other entry's like that
half a cup of cottage cheese..always 90 calories...so you never weigh less or more grams....always exactly half a cup?
Kellog chips same always exactly 60 calories for 12.5...no way that that is always the same weight.
Really?
Never said I was a "seasoned user"....I've only been using MFP for 30 days.
I said I was seasoned in weighing things....meaning I do weigh everything. For example: one serving size of Sarah Lee is 90 calories for 2 slices (45 grams). Now YOU please tell me if I am doing this wrong....cause Lord knows you Know EVERYTHING.
I place my plate on my scale. I tare my scale. I place 2 peices of bread on my plate. Scale tells me weight....if it ISN'T 45 grams....if tear off a small peice until it weighs exactly 45 grams. SO when it is logged as 1 Serving (2 peices....45 grams)...that is EXACTLY what I'm eating.
Noting your inconsistencies is not rude, you were not very clear in describing the different calorie adjustments. That could very well confuse a new person. I stand by my assessment that 3-4 days is an insufficient amount of time to reassess calorie adjustments. An incremental decrease should not be a flat number (500, 250, 100, etc.), it should be an incremental decrease based on estimated caloric needs. So your trainer saying people just starting out should drop by 500 is not particularly valuable. A 5'3" woman 30 pounds overweight will need to drop calories by a different value than a 5'10" woman looking to drop the same weight. Which supports your specific remark that weight loss is different for everyone. If you are correctly reiterating your trainer's advice, I question your trainer's nutritional knowledge (which is consistent with point that most trainers have very minimal nutritional knowledge).when i weigh two slices of Sara lee one day it is 43 grams next day the slices are 50 gram etc etc
Which means the sleices of bread are never 90 calories always...it varies
Same for crisps it is never 28 grams every day...and yes you can cut a bit of your bread to make it 45 gram and dont eat that lol
But for me when i weigh a serving of prepacked food like the bread the crisps etc it has never the same weight as the label says always a bit more or less... which also means more or less calories.
So when you do your half cup of cottage cheese you weigh it and take the too much grams out so it is really 60 calories?
Yes. I scoop out little by little on my plate/bowl until the scale says 112 grams. Sorry if this is weird to people. This is just how I do it. I respect that everybody does things different. Can even respect that people have differences of opinion.
To the original poster (which is who I posted to to begin with).
Only you know your eating and weighing habits. If you are honest with yourself then everybody else's opinion doesn't matter. However, if you are like me and are eating between 1000 - 1300 calories a day (and have been for quiet some time with no results)...my question was where do I go from here? I know my logging is tight (regardless of what others believe) and there is an obvious deficiet....still nothing changes. There is only 1 way to go....and that's up. We obviously cant keep lowering calories to nothing. Good luck to you and whatever you decide to do...as only YOU know what's best for YOU.
The point is that if you were eating such few calories you would have been losing weight unless (1) you have a medical condition that is affecting your metabolism, in which case you need to get to a doctor, or (2) you are super duper short and super duper tiny.
How can there be an obvious deficit if you are not losing weight? Science says that a deficit leads to weight loss, a surplus leads to weight gain, and eating just the right amount leads to maintenance. None of us get to defy science, especially when it comes to weight management. If there is ever a time when science can be defied as far as weight goes, I'm first in line.
Of course you can't keep lowering calories to nothing, but you can look for the unintentional errors when it comes to logging food and exercise. When you're not losing weight, the only way to go is down.
Increasing your calories is never the answer to not losing weight. If that were the case, people could eat loads of food and not be overweight.
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Wow, I think I'll not post any more questions here. Stirs up too much.0
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I'm glad you posted the question! I thought it fostered a worthwhile discussion. I've only been truly logging my food for about 4 months, but I have learned so much from the forums, and it's posts like yours that help people like me learn more about how to maintain this lifestyle for life.Wow, I think I'll not post any more questions here. Stirs up too much.
I actually did believe at one time that I needed to eat more in order to lose some weight. The only thing that accomplished was me gaining 5 more pounds lol I also thought I could continue losing by just estimating what I was eating. I read on the forums how important it could be to weigh everything, so I tried it and immediately started on a downward trend that has continued.
Please don't be afraid to post! If you are open-minded, and accepting of the fact that you don't know what you don't know, you can learn some pretty important things that will help you with your weight loss.
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kcn2bluesky wrote: »
I'm glad you posted the question! I thought it fostered a worthwhile discussion. I've only been truly logging my food for about 4 months, but I have learned so much from the forums, and it's posts like yours that help people like me learn more about how to maintain this lifestyle for life.Wow, I think I'll not post any more questions here. Stirs up too much.
I actually did believe at one time that I needed to eat more in order to lose some weight. The only thing that accomplished was me gaining 5 more pounds lol I also thought I could continue losing by just estimating what I was eating. I read on the forums how important it could be to weigh everything, so I tried it and immediately started on a downward trend that has continued.
Please don't be afraid to post! If you are open-minded, and accepting of the fact that you don't know what you don't know, you can learn some pretty important things that will help you with your weight loss.
I am very glad that you posted this
Lots of times we dont hear anything anymore
Even do when people start weighing their food and start losing weight...it is so important that the members see that it really is important!!
Kudos and Respect for posting here!
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XavierNusum wrote: »Hi Everyone -
As the topic says, how many are too many to be used to break a plateau? What is a good rule of thumb if in fact eating extra calories is the correct way to beat a plateau?
Thanks for your input . . .
Tilly
Plateau is another way of saying you are eating at maintenance. If you not losing weight, you don't increase your calorie intake, you try to find the errors in your intake or you lower your calorie goal.
You only increase your calorie goal if you are losing but want to lose at a slower rate, but you still have to stay in a deficit.
So if someone is eating 1200 cal/day and exercising, but not losing they are at maintenance?
No. Your hypothetical someone is eating more calories then they realize, usually by underestimating calories in and overestimating calories out.0
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