Need help - Major Plateau and getting frustrated by the second!
hoffmann2828
Posts: 15 Member
Background info:
Age: 39
SW: 218 (9/8/15)
CW: 159-161
I have used MFP the entire time. It originally set me at 1200 calories a day (to lose 2 lbs. per week) and I work out (walking/running/weights) every day, with the rare occasional day off. In April, I started to plateau and I've been at 159-161 since. I spoke to some of the people/trainers at my gym and they all told me that I was not eating enough calories.
I reconfigured MFP and updated my goals to losing only 1 pound per week and updated my activity level to "active" (I had it on sedentary, which is what I started at). It now tells me I should be consuming 1710 per day. I've also been trying to focus on protein consumption over carbs where I can. I'm eating around 1600-1700 calories most days and it's been 2 months of still no movement on the scale. I know muscle weighs more than fat, but there is no way I'm adding a pound of muscle per week, right?
Please help, this is getting me really down and my motivation is suffering because of this. I was on a roll for so long, a small setback is okay, but after a couple MONTHS of nothing, I'm going crazy!
HELP!!!!
Age: 39
SW: 218 (9/8/15)
CW: 159-161
I have used MFP the entire time. It originally set me at 1200 calories a day (to lose 2 lbs. per week) and I work out (walking/running/weights) every day, with the rare occasional day off. In April, I started to plateau and I've been at 159-161 since. I spoke to some of the people/trainers at my gym and they all told me that I was not eating enough calories.
I reconfigured MFP and updated my goals to losing only 1 pound per week and updated my activity level to "active" (I had it on sedentary, which is what I started at). It now tells me I should be consuming 1710 per day. I've also been trying to focus on protein consumption over carbs where I can. I'm eating around 1600-1700 calories most days and it's been 2 months of still no movement on the scale. I know muscle weighs more than fat, but there is no way I'm adding a pound of muscle per week, right?
Please help, this is getting me really down and my motivation is suffering because of this. I was on a roll for so long, a small setback is okay, but after a couple MONTHS of nothing, I'm going crazy!
HELP!!!!
2
Replies
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I go through long spells of no weight loss, sometimes it goes up for no apparent reason, then slowly climbs down, goes up again, then eventually goes down some and ends up a little below. I feel very frustrated with that too, but if i look back at the chart, i do realize that it is on the downward path after all, and it helps with frustration. I don't think eating more will help you lose, so just stick with it. Sounds like you are doing quite fine, from 218 down to 159-161. Congratulations. What is your goal weight and how tall are you ? I started @ 225, down to 186, I'm 5'7", 44 yo
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okay so...lets start with the activity level. MFP activity should not include exercise....see below for average non exercise steps for activity level.
Per this article
1) <5000 steps.d (sedentary);
2) 5000-7499 steps.d (low active);
3) 7500-9999 steps.d (somewhat active);
4) > or =10,000-12,499 steps.d (active); and
5) > or =12,500 steps.d (highly active)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14715035
2nd. Plateaus mean you are probably eating at maintenance....do you use a food scale?
Your diary doesn't show you do.
and there are days missing
To ensure you are not eating at maintenance you need to log accurately and consistently using a food scale and the correct entries.
The answer of eat more food is never right when the question is "why am I not losing?"...
and to top it all off....read this.
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How are you calculating your calories eaten and your calories burned by exercise? I would imagine you are getting close to a healthy weight range and it's really important to tighten up your food logging when you don't have a lot to lose. Digital food scale. Reasonable calories-burned numbers. I use a flat 300 calories extra when I exercise for 1 hour.
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I looked at your diary. Lots of quick adds, "mediums" "1 serving" etc. Those are not accurate entries.
The other thing...why are you (mostly) not eating back the calories given by exercise? No need to make this harder than it needs to be. Your gym told you to eat more, but you really don't know what or how much you are eating. So eat your exercise cals if you are going to use MFP's numbers, adjust after you have a good data set of time and accuracy. I would think 1600-1700 would be a good number (adding a couple hundred on exercise days,) if you had accurate records.
Your results depend on good records. No way to know how/where to adjust if you are flying by the seat of your pants. Good tight numbers are your friends.3 -
Wow, lots of good info here. I'll try to answer a few questions to get you guys more accurate info.
I'm 5'4 tall. I'm at 159(ish) and my goal is 135. If I can reach 145 I'll still be happy. I know this is going to sound foolish to you guys, but at 145, I'd finally be considered "average" in the BMI range. At 146, I'd still be considered overweight, and I didn't work this hard to get to "overweight" - although I'm still happy I'm out of "obese" range. I know BMI is crap, but still, it's a mental thing.
Here is my last week's numbers from Fitbit:
5/25 - 16,939
5/24 - 16,916
5/23 - 22,517
5/22 - 14,775
5/21 - 13,765
5/20 - 16,126
Most of this is walking, some running/jogging, and perhaps some aerobic exercise thrown in on one or two days.
I'm not adding any extra exercise in - it's just what MFP gives me according to the fitbit steps.
As for food logging...I do try to be extremely accurate. I didn't log in yesterday (extremely rare for me) because it was the kids last day of school and I had a couple Margaritas (VERY unusual for me!). I still ate well the rest of the day. I do have a digital scale and my quick adds are Subway sandwiches using an online nutritional calculator designed for Subway sandwiches....they are always the same (6" Italian Roast Beef, only veggies on it (L,T,O,GP) and my only condiment is vinegar, no oil.
Thanks for everyone's input so far!
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Why not log the Margaritas? Even guesstimating would tell you what your average intake was for the week, to put it in perspective.
That aside aside, 1700 may be your maintenance calories.3 -
I get it on wanting to be in the healthy BMI range. Unless you are really muscular, it's still a good range. I strive to stay there, too.
I agree with WBB. When I log everything, at least I have numbers that are real - and that can be adjusted if necessary...and 1700 is probably really close to your maintenance - so it is important for you to get the most out of your logging. If you're going to log sometimes but not others, what's the point? You can easily eat up your whole week's deficit by slacking off for a day or two; although I'm often way over and I'm still not back to gaining. I think it's just a matter of time, though. I know exactly how much I'm eating (give or take 100-150 error-factor) and it took me several months to establish that by keeping good records. So I know how much I can eat based on the amount of activity I'm getting right now. It takes months of scrupulous/sometimes tedious record keeping but it's the only way to do it.
Also, you said it wasn't this much work to get into "overweight" - yeah. That's how it works. When there is a lot to lose, it's easier to lose. The less available body fat, the slower you need to go (and the slower your body will make you go.)
If you are confident with your record keeping then you're eating at maintenance, so cut 200 calories and give it another month.2 -
I just plugged in your stats into http://www.calculator.net/calorie-calculator.html
And it says 1657 calories is maintainance for you. To lose a lound a week, you need to eat 1157 a day -- so to maintain nutrition that would be 1200 calories a day and lose a little under a pound or make up the difference with exercise. I used the sedentary setting so you can actually count all exercise.
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If the scale isn't moving then you're pretty much eating at maintence. Also, muscle and fat weigh the same, a pound is a pound but muscle takes up less volume.
I'm close to your stats, 5'3 and usually around 155 lbs. When the scale slowed down and then stopped I switched my focus to fitness vs weight. I set goals for being able to do a certain number of push ups or squats or increasingly difficult workouts (I did mainly strength/body weight with about 30% cardio). After about 2 months of this, people were starting to comment that it looked like I was losing weight even though the scale wasn't moving.
I definitely understand how a number on a scale effects us psychologically, but adjusting your goal away from a number to a fitness goal might help kick start your motivation and reduce some of the stress. Good luck!3 -
Should you be eating your exercise calories back if you have mfp set to active, plus having a fitbit synced? This just sounds wrong to me..1
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If the MFP is set to Active, the Fitbit should only be giving exercise calories if she exceeds what MFP calculates based on an Active rate.
I see some of your Fitbit steps are a good bit lower on some days.... Maybe try setting yourself to Sedentary (even though you are not), then on days you move a lot you get a lot of extra calories, but on days you are less active you earn some but not as many? That has worked for me!3 -
yeah i set myself to sedentary too, even though I aim for a minimum of 20,000 steps a day0
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Hi there,
First let me start with, don't be discouraged. You have come along way.
Now, let me ask, how much water are you drinking each day. I can't stress enough how important it is to drink water. Your kidneys are working extra hard each day if you aren't, and a good indication you aren't, is if you see any hint of yellow after you do pee, sorry if that's TMI. How can the body focus on losing fat when it's too busy being over worked from dehydration? And know this, if your pee isn't clear, you are already at dehydration.
2nd, try to see if your body wants less starchy carbs (i.e. potatoes, bread, rice and other pastas). Try to eat your starchy carbs no later than say, around 12 or 1 pm each day, and do that 5 days out of your week. So in the am, try to eat good wholesome starchy carbs, like oats or ezekiel bread with jelly and a tbspn of peanut butter. Lunch can be sweet potatoes or brown rice. Then dinner, instead of a starchy carb, load that plate with a lean meat, and lots of veggies! Snacks, get creative, feed your body wholesome foods like low fat yogurt with blueberries....things you enjoy.
Try that for 3 weeks (this is only a suggestion lol and certainly not professional advice).
Oh, and by chance, have you thought about adding a light weight lifting regimen to your routine? Walking is great, but muscles burn calories even while at rest, which by the way brings up another good point, you would not believe how much not getting enough sleep can affect weight loss. Make sure you are getting your zzzzz's, along with plenty of water! Good luck, you got this!
Melanie3 -
I agree with Melanie above! LOTS of water, sleep, and maybe monitor how much sugar you consume too! YouTube "Refeed" and "carb re-load." With drastic weight loss your body could have metabolic adaptation. Carb reloads remind your body to burn fat and not burning muscle while retaining carbs you consume for reserve energy. It's worked for me thus far! Along with any exercise your doing also, building muscle definitely helps, more muscles require your body to naturally burn more calories even while at rest. Good luck!1
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hoffmann2828 wrote: »
I'm 5'4 tall. I'm at 159(ish) and my goal is 135. If I can reach 145 I'll still be happy. I know this is going to sound foolish to you guys, but at 145, I'd finally be considered "average" in the BMI range. At 146, I'd still be considered overweight, and I didn't work this hard to get to "overweight" - although I'm still happy I'm out of "obese" range. I know BMI is crap, but still, it's a mental thing.
Here is my last week's numbers from Fitbit:
5/25 - 16,939
5/24 - 16,916
5/23 - 22,517
5/22 - 14,775
5/21 - 13,765
5/20 - 16,126
I'm 5'4'' too, and when I was around your weight with similar step counts, my maintenance calories were around 1800. So it seems to me that it might be a good idea to aim for a 0.5lb loss per week so that you can eat 1550 calories each day - that's a reasonable goal, and not as miserable as 1200 calories.
Congrats on all the weight you've lost so far! A huge thing to note now that you don't have as much weight to lose: your body burns less calories now, so there is less room for error. If you are going to aim for a 250 calorie per day deficit, then you really should be as accurate as possible with your logging. This means no skipped days, and weigh all your foods (don't trust prepackaged foods, they are often off by about 10%). Little errors can add up and end up wiping out your whole deficit. But accuracy and patience will get you to your goal
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If you are eating more protein than carbs, how much more protein. An excess of protein will lay down body fat. Protein should be a moderate portion at each meal around 4oz. If you are hungry increase you fat consumption eg oil, butter cream.0
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Hovis15351 wrote: »If you are eating more protein than carbs, how much more protein. An excess of protein will lay down body fat. Protein should be a moderate portion at each meal around 4oz. If you are hungry increase you fat consumption eg oil, butter cream.
no true at all.
Protein and carbs have the same amount of calories per gram. which is 4 calories per gram...
I eat 120 grams of protein everyday....that is a lot more than 4oz of "meat" each meal.
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Hovis15351 wrote: »If you are eating more protein than carbs, how much more protein. An excess of protein will lay down body fat. Protein should be a moderate portion at each meal around 4oz. If you are hungry increase you fat consumption eg oil, butter cream.
no true at all.
Protein and carbs have the same amount of calories per gram. which is 4 calories per gram...
I eat 120 grams of protein everyday....that is a lot more than 4oz of "meat" each meal.
I used to eat hearty portions of "meat" each day but since then have cut down on portions for meat and feel a lot better. It was disrupting my digestion quite a bit because it took so long to digest. I do know CICO works but each person needs to juggle macros in a way that makes weight loss possible.
I seem to do fairly well with 50% carb but do have sensitivity to refined flour because the brominated flour can interfere with my thyroid functioning and slows me down. Other people can eat whatever they want in smaller quantities and various ratios, but I do need to experiment to see what works best for myself.0 -
Hovis15351 wrote: »If you are eating more protein than carbs, how much more protein. An excess of protein will lay down body fat. Protein should be a moderate portion at each meal around 4oz. If you are hungry increase you fat consumption eg oil, butter cream.
no true at all.
Protein and carbs have the same amount of calories per gram. which is 4 calories per gram...
I eat 120 grams of protein everyday....that is a lot more than 4oz of "meat" each meal.
I used to eat hearty portions of "meat" each day but since then have cut down on portions for meat and feel a lot better. It was disrupting my digestion quite a bit because it took so long to digest. I do know CICO works but each person needs to juggle macros in a way that makes weight loss possible.
I seem to do fairly well with 50% carb but do have sensitivity to refined flour because the brominated flour can interfere with my thyroid functioning and slows me down. Other people can eat whatever they want in smaller quantities and various ratios, but I do need to experiment to see what works best for myself.
protein helps keep you feeling fuller longer along with helping in the repair of muscle and keeps nails and hair strong.
Macros have nothing to do with weight loss...protein has 4 calories per gram and so does Carbs...so yes CICO works for everyone regardless of macro split and macro split has nothing to do with weight loss.0 -
Hovis15351 wrote: »If you are eating more protein than carbs, how much more protein. An excess of protein will lay down body fat. Protein should be a moderate portion at each meal around 4oz. If you are hungry increase you fat consumption eg oil, butter cream.
no true at all.
Protein and carbs have the same amount of calories per gram. which is 4 calories per gram...
I eat 120 grams of protein everyday....that is a lot more than 4oz of "meat" each meal.
I used to eat hearty portions of "meat" each day but since then have cut down on portions for meat and feel a lot better. It was disrupting my digestion quite a bit because it took so long to digest. I do know CICO works but each person needs to juggle macros in a way that makes weight loss possible.
I seem to do fairly well with 50% carb but do have sensitivity to refined flour because the brominated flour can interfere with my thyroid functioning and slows me down. Other people can eat whatever they want in smaller quantities and various ratios, but I do need to experiment to see what works best for myself.
protein helps keep you feeling fuller longer along with helping in the repair of muscle and keeps nails and hair strong.
Macros have nothing to do with weight loss...protein has 4 calories per gram and so does Carbs...so yes CICO works for everyone regardless of macro split and macro split has nothing to do with weight loss.
This is true! I love protein. I was eating 12 oz steaks. Now I eat 6 oz petite steaks and my digestion has improved! I was overeating meat.0 -
If protein inhibits weight loss, I'm stuffed then! I'm at 195g today
I just naturally gravitate toward high protein foods. 0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »If protein inhibits weight loss, I'm stuffed then! I'm at 195g today I just naturally gravitate toward high protein foods.
I used to be able to do that.0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »If protein inhibits weight loss, I'm stuffed then! I'm at 195g today I just naturally gravitate toward high protein foods.
I used to be able to do that.
What do you mean, used to? Did something bad happen?1
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