More plateau advice

carnivalnights

I've made a post similar to this before but after trying all of the advice I received, the scale still hasn't moved. So I am hoping for some alternative advice or ideas.

I'm 32F and after losing 70lbs, the scale stopped moving for me. I know plateaus are common, but it's been about 5-6 months since I've lost a pound despite my aggressive efforts and I am nowhere near my goal weight. My weight is not moving up or now (obviously by a pound or two here and there but I always go back to exactly what I was). Every week, I am always over my plan deficit (more calories out than in) and should be losing at least 1-1.5lbs/week based on everything I am doing. Even my nutritionist is at a loss.

Here are the things I have already tried and that have not worked:
-changing up exercise
-exercising more (either increasing duration or number of days per week)
-adjusting macros (nutritionist-advised)
-adjusting daily calories (decreasing actually made me gain)
-had blood work checked (thyroid, testosterone, etc. all fine)

What I already do and have always done:
-use a food scale for precise measurements of EVERYTHING I eat
-record all foods/liquids via MyFitnessPal
-track steps and calories burned via Fitbit
-track all other exercise/calories burned
-workouts: combination of cardio/strength training 4-5x/week
-1 take-out meal per week, absolutely no junk (candy, chips, etc.)

Any alternative ideas out there? Especially from people who have lost a lot (like I plan to) and have probably experienced many plateaus... Any help would be greatly appreciated!

TavistockToad

open your diary

LivingtheLeanDream

that one 'cheat meal' a week could actually wipe out any deficit you would have had for the whole week....

VinnyWong

Do you fit your cheat meals into your caloric deficit, or is it part of a "re-feed" where you consume MORE calories than maintenance..?? You may need "re-feeds" if you have been on a constant deficit.. How are your energy levels..?? Do you feel depleted..?? Have you been doing any HIIT..?? Any weight training.??

savithny

Do you record the cheat meal?
Do you eat back exercise calories after you track them?

pdm3547

Are you taking body measurements? You may find you are changing shape; building a little bit of muscle perhaps, if your protein levels are high?

cathipa

Agree with taking measurements. The scale can be deceptive and is not always a true reflection of your body composition.
How close are you to your goal weight? If you are within 20-25 pounds you may see a slow down from what you were accustomed to. Try changing your calories to 0.5 pounds loss per week and see if this helps.

Francl27

Not possible that decreasing calories made you gain... nope. Was probably a fluke due to water retention.

Without looking at your diary, my guess is that you're using inaccurate entries, using too many packaged foods (known for inaccurate labeling), or overestimating your exercise calorie burns,

trigden1991

If you have not lost weight in 5-6 months then you are eating too much. Eat in a deficit and you will lose weight.

auddii

How long did you give each of these changes before declaring it a failure and trying the next thing? Did you make several changes at once?

carnivalnights

RunRutheeRun wrote: »

that one 'cheat meal' a week could actually wipe out any deficit you would have had for the whole week....

No, I still don't go over my calories with the cheat meal (which is just a take-out meal, nothing extreme).

Bmoremama

How did you adjust your macros? I would up protein significantly, cut out any foods that could lead to inflammation to see if they have that effect on you (I cut out dairy, gluten, added sugar - I also cut out most packaged foods because I'm allergic to a preservative in many of them). And weight train. I'm down about 80 pounds depending on the day.

tahxirez

The only answer is eating in a deficit. That is not happening right now as you are not losing. Open your diary, people will help you...

carnivalnights

VinnyWong wrote: »

Do you fit your cheat meals into your caloric deficit, or is it part of a "re-feed" where you consume MORE calories than maintenance..?? You may need "re-feeds" if you have been on a constant deficit.. How are your energy levels..?? Do you feel depleted..?? Have you been doing any HIIT..?? Any weight training.??

I always stay within my calorie goal and my cheat meals pretty much always stay within that range, give or take a few instances where I have been a bit over. I have not tried eating exercised calories back since my goal is weight loss but why do you suggest this? I'm willing to try to understand! To shock my system? I've done some HIIT but it's still low impact because of my physical abilities right now. But I do have cardio programs that combine some HIIT that I do. I do weights within my cardio programs as well. As for energy... it's not the best! I get about 6 hours of sleep a night, drink lots of water, etc. so I don't really see any excessive reason for that. It definitely takes a lot of discipline and self-talk to workout after work. :P

carnivalnights

savithny wrote: »

Do you record the cheat meal?
Do you eat back exercise calories after you track them?

Yes to the tracking, no to the eating exercise calories back. I follow my macros/calories regardless of calories burned via exercise.

arditarose

I think you might have to lower your calories, unfortunately

carnivalnights

pdm3547 wrote: »

Are you taking body measurements? You may find you are changing shape; building a little bit of muscle perhaps, if your protein levels are high?

I just started doing this recently. Thanks for the tip. I don't think that is the case, sadly, but I guess we'll see over time!

carnivalnights

cathipa wrote: »

Agree with taking measurements. The scale can be deceptive and is not always a true reflection of your body composition.
How close are you to your goal weight? If you are within 20-25 pounds you may see a slow down from what you were accustomed to. Try changing your calories to 0.5 pounds loss per week and see if this helps.

Nowhere near it. I need to lose another 100lbs or so. Lol. For sure I expect to see a slow down but not this soon. 70lbs is a lot to lose of course but I still have a long way to go. Thank you for the advice! I will continue body measurements.

carnivalnights

Francl27 wrote: »

Not possible that decreasing calories made you gain... nope. Was probably a fluke due to water retention.

Without looking at your diary, my guess is that you're using inaccurate entries, using too many packaged foods (known for inaccurate labeling), or overestimating your exercise calorie burns,

I don't eat packaged, processed or canned foods. Could be inaccurate entries but I always try to use verified ones or double check them on a nutrition site if they seem off to me. In terms of calories burned, I am using the calories based on my body weight, height, etc. info that I entered into either MyFitnessPal or Fitbit. So if they are inaccurate, I am not sure what to do about that. It's the same way I would calculate them manually.

carnivalnights

trigden1991 wrote: »

If you have not lost weight in 5-6 months then you are eating too much. Eat in a deficit and you will lose weight.

As noted in my post, I am always meeting/exceeding my deficit. That's why this is so confusing. And that's why I started weighing all my food on a scale in case alternative measurements were not accurate enough.

carnivalnights

auddii wrote: »

How long did you give each of these changes before declaring it a failure and trying the next thing? Did you make several changes at once?

I made one at a time so that I would know which did/didn't work. For example, after decreasing my calories which didn't work (I think I gave that about 2-3 months), I was told by my nutritionist to try decreasing carbs and increasing protein again (which I tried for another month or so).