What did you do to overcome the plateau?

CherylG1983

Just curious, since I've tried everything. I've increased my calories, lowered my calories, increased weights, added more lifting, literally everything that has been suggested to me, I've tried. Having said that, I don't really deprive myself. Today, for example, I went to Costco to get chicken breasts and almond milk and had a sample of mini eggs. Four, to be exact! I just make sure it fits my caloric intake for the day.

So, 6 weeks ago I started T25 again, since I had the best results from this program before. After about a year of being stuck around 181-183, I finally dipped to 177-179. Finally some movement!

Anyway, like I said, I'd just like to hear stories of what you did to break through your plateau!

Thanks!

*Edited to add I do weigh and measure.

diannethegeek

These are the things I wish someone had told me when I stalled out for 8 weeks:

1. Give any changes to your routine 3-4 weeks before changing again. Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.

2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.

5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.

strong_curves

Used a food scale to weigh/measure food/drinks.
Added in 20-30 minutes of walking/running.