YOUR EXPERIENCE !

22MaiHicka22
22MaiHicka22 Posts: 35 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello mfp peeps ,

I am struggling with "wieght plateau" for two months now -though I gained few pounds back :'(
I read some articles about this subject , but I need to hear your experiences and tips to overcome this dilemma *sigh*

Please , I need this :p<3

Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    If you have not lost in 2 months, you need to drop calories.
  • LUHAN27
    LUHAN27 Posts: 211 Member
    edited September 2016
    Do you count your calories/have a calorie deficit set? I read counting calories is important in weight loss. Do you use MFP calories burnt calculators for your workouts? I heard that sometimes that calculator isn't always accurate, and that you should maybe eat about 50% of the calories back.(that's what I read on the forums)
    I'd say continue your usual routine; it may seem like you hit a "plateau" but it could just be muscle gain/water weight or simply weigh fluctuations. If none of these, don't give up! You'll eventually reach your goal through routine.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    m66345eubnbv.jpg
  • 22MaiHicka22
    22MaiHicka22 Posts: 35 Member
    edited September 2016
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    m66345eubnbv.jpg

    This is really informative I thank you , but I need other people experience .
    I read many articles and theories about this ,and I am not satisfied yet . :D
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    m66345eubnbv.jpg

    This is really informative I thank you , but I need other people experience .
    I read many articles and theories about this , but I am not satisfied yet . :D

    That's my experience. Once I started using a food scale, measuring my food in grams, and logging everything, I lost weight.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    If you haven't lost in two months, then you're most likely eating more than you think and need to tighten up your logging. This may mean any of the following: making sure every piece of food and non-water liquid that passes your mouth is logged, using a food scale to weigh all foods and measuring cups for all liquids, double-checking that the entries you use are 100% accurate, using the recipe builder over homemade or generic entries when you're cooking, and being mindful of how many exercise calories you burn and/or eat back.
  • SingingSingleTracker
    SingingSingleTracker Posts: 1,866 Member
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    Hello mfp peeps ,

    I am struggling with "wieght plateau" for two months now -though I gained few pounds back :'(
    I read some articles about this subject , but I need to hear your experiences and tips to overcome this dilemma *sigh*

    Please , I need this :p<3

    It's all right HERE.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    m66345eubnbv.jpg

    This is really informative I thank you , but I need other people experience .
    I read many articles and theories about this ,and I am not satisfied yet . :D

    Every single time I've plateaued i traced it back to sloppy logging aka eating too much.
  • 22MaiHicka22
    22MaiHicka22 Posts: 35 Member
    SingingSingleTracker wrote: »
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    Hello mfp peeps ,

    I am struggling with "wieght plateau" for two months now -though I gained few pounds back :'(
    I read some articles about this subject , but I need to hear your experiences and tips to overcome this dilemma *sigh*

    Please , I need this :p<3

    It's all right HERE.

    Thank you very much , I loved the article ,It was well written !
    BUT , There is one question nagging me !
    I am in 1400 calories deficit "Thus It is not working for me anymore " I thought I could simply switch to 1000 calories per a day but he said " It is not healthy". What am I supposed to do then???
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    SingingSingleTracker wrote: »
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    Hello mfp peeps ,

    I am struggling with "wieght plateau" for two months now -though I gained few pounds back :'(
    I read some articles about this subject , but I need to hear your experiences and tips to overcome this dilemma *sigh*

    Please , I need this :p<3

    It's all right HERE.

    Thank you very much , I loved the article ,It was well written !
    BUT , There is one question nagging me !
    I am in 1400 calories deficit "Thus It is not working for me anymore " I thought I could simply switch to 1000 calories per a day but he said " It is not healthy". What am I supposed to do then???

    First I would make sure you're actually eating 1400. Like it's been said, most plateaus are caused by logging errors. And 1000 calories is too low.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Make sure you're logging accurately. As in, you're weighing your food on a food scale, to the gram and using the correct entries in the food database. This is 100% of the time, the reason I don't lose weight... by not logging properly, by being sloppy with logging, not weighing my food and eyeballing it instead, etc. Don't just assume you're in a deficit. Make sure you're in one.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    SingingSingleTracker wrote: »
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    Hello mfp peeps ,

    I am struggling with "wieght plateau" for two months now -though I gained few pounds back :'(
    I read some articles about this subject , but I need to hear your experiences and tips to overcome this dilemma *sigh*

    Please , I need this :p<3

    It's all right HERE.

    Thank you very much , I loved the article ,It was well written !
    BUT , There is one question nagging me !
    I am in 1400 calories deficit "Thus It is not working for me anymore " I thought I could simply switch to 1000 calories per a day but he said " It is not healthy". What am I supposed to do then???

    Please read my post above about tightening up your logging
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    edited September 2016
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    SingingSingleTracker wrote: »
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    Hello mfp peeps ,

    I am struggling with "wieght plateau" for two months now -though I gained few pounds back :'(
    I read some articles about this subject , but I need to hear your experiences and tips to overcome this dilemma *sigh*

    Please , I need this :p<3

    It's all right HERE.

    Thank you very much , I loved the article ,It was well written !
    BUT , There is one question nagging me !
    I am in 1400 calories deficit "Thus It is not working for me anymore " I thought I could simply switch to 1000 calories per a day but he said " It is not healthy". What am I supposed to do then???

    No, you need to become more accurate with your food and logging as well as exercise calories. How are you determining the exercise calories?

    If you're using cups/spoon and guesstimating, you are eating more than you think, way more than 1400.
    malibu927 wrote: »
    If you haven't lost in two months, then you're most likely eating more than you think and need to tighten up your logging. This may mean any of the following: making sure every piece of food and non-water liquid that passes your mouth is logged, using a food scale to weigh all foods and measuring cups for all liquids, double-checking that the entries you use are 100% accurate, using the recipe builder over homemade or generic entries when you're cooking, and being mindful of how many exercise calories you burn and/or eat back.

    This.
    Before you drop your calories, start using a food scale and weigh everything that isn't a beverage or stock, log accurately (this means, logging absolutely everything, even binges) and choosing correct food database entries. Ditch the cups and spoons (even for oil/butter/veggies/cereal). Log everything including cooking oils, condiments and anything that has calories. Also weigh prepackaged foods, as they can be off weight wise and throw your calories off by a couple hundred.
  • 22MaiHicka22
    22MaiHicka22 Posts: 35 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    SingingSingleTracker wrote: »
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    Hello mfp peeps ,

    I am struggling with "wieght plateau" for two months now -though I gained few pounds back :'(
    I read some articles about this subject , but I need to hear your experiences and tips to overcome this dilemma *sigh*

    Please , I need this :p<3

    It's all right HERE.

    Thank you very much , I loved the article ,It was well written !
    BUT , There is one question nagging me !
    I am in 1400 calories deficit "Thus It is not working for me anymore " I thought I could simply switch to 1000 calories per a day but he said " It is not healthy". What am I supposed to do then???

    Please read my post above about tightening up your logging

    I did and I am grateful to you for your help !
    It's just frustrating , you know .I've been eating like this for 6 months and I dropped 20Ib , Then everything suddenly stopped progressing ... Well ; I guess It's time to buy a food scale *sigh*
  • 22MaiHicka22
    22MaiHicka22 Posts: 35 Member
    cerise_noir wrote: »
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    SingingSingleTracker wrote: »
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    Hello mfp peeps ,

    I am struggling with "wieght plateau" for two months now -though I gained few pounds back :'(
    I read some articles about this subject , but I need to hear your experiences and tips to overcome this dilemma *sigh*

    Please , I need this :p<3

    It's all right HERE.

    Thank you very much , I loved the article ,It was well written !
    BUT , There is one question nagging me !
    I am in 1400 calories deficit "Thus It is not working for me anymore " I thought I could simply switch to 1000 calories per a day but he said " It is not healthy". What am I supposed to do then???

    No, you need to become more accurate with your food and logging as well as exercise calories. How are you determining the exercise calories?

    If you're using cups/spoon and guesstimating, you are eating more than you think, way more than 1400.
    malibu927 wrote: »
    If you haven't lost in two months, then you're most likely eating more than you think and need to tighten up your logging. This may mean any of the following: making sure every piece of food and non-water liquid that passes your mouth is logged, using a food scale to weigh all foods and measuring cups for all liquids, double-checking that the entries you use are 100% accurate, using the recipe builder over homemade or generic entries when you're cooking, and being mindful of how many exercise calories you burn and/or eat back.

    This.
    Before you drop your calories, start using a food scale and weigh everything that isn't a beverage or stock, log accurately (this means, logging absolutely everything, even binges) and choosing correct food database entries. Ditch the cups and spoons (even for oil/butter/veggies/cereal). Log everything including cooking oils, condiments and anything that has calories. Also weigh prepackaged foods, as they can be off weight wise and throw your calories off by a couple hundred.

    Thank you very much. It is harder than I thought . I'll take your advice in all seriousness . <3
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    This is my experience:

    1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! 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.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    edited September 2016
    My experience since January 25 is that I've lost 75 lb. Some weeks I lost more than 2 lb and some weeks I lost less than 2 lb. Some weeks I gained. There have been a number of days in which I exceeded my calorie intake plan. In each case, I immediately returned to the low-calorie plan the following day. I have had one brief vacation of 3 days with no heed paid to my low-calorie normal plan, and I returned to my plan the next day. Indeed, that vacation was July 20-22 and I weigh several pounds less now than I did July 19. About one month ago I began using an Autodesk standing desk at work because sitting had become painfully uncomfortable. In that month, I have observed that my weigh loss halts during the work week and whooshes away on the weekend. I'm not exercising, except standing is a MET 2 exercise and I burn 300-500 calories a day doing it. Perhaps a deliberate weekend of rest from your exercises would allow your whoosh to happen.

    I have been using a food scale for several months. During most months I've lost 10-12 lb. For August I lost 8 lb
  • rcktgirl05
    rcktgirl05 Posts: 87 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    If you haven't lost in two months, then you're most likely eating more than you think and need to tighten up your logging. This may mean any of the following: making sure every piece of food and non-water liquid that passes your mouth is logged, using a food scale to weigh all foods and measuring cups for all liquids, double-checking that the entries you use are 100% accurate, using the recipe builder over homemade or generic entries when you're cooking, and being mindful of how many exercise calories you burn and/or eat back.

    This is excellent advice. I would add to it... Get a heart rate monitor like a Fitbit so that your exercise estimates are more accurate as well. I've never had as much success as I have since I got a Fitbit and a food scale. I think my calorie logs (in and out) are all pretty spot on, and weight has really been falling off of me. Plus I'm over 40. I have discovered it doesn't have to be a constant battle.

    Accurate food tracking + accurate exercise tracking = SUCCESS
  • Arapacana1
    Arapacana1 Posts: 117 Member
    If you have not been weighing your food but eyeballing your portions, that's probably the answer to your question right there. Weigh everything, eat within your calorie limit, and you will lose weight.
  • 22MaiHicka22
    22MaiHicka22 Posts: 35 Member
    Arapacana1 wrote: »
    If you have not been weighing your food but eyeballing your portions, that's probably the answer to your question right there. Weigh everything, eat within your calorie limit, and you will lose weight.

    Alright , I will do my best . Thank you ^^
    It just frustrating , thus I suddenly stopped progressing .. seeing the same number on the scale over and over for two months in a row puts me in a bad mood ughh .
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
    My experience is also that if I don't weigh everything I don't lose. I concur with Arapacana1.
  • alereck
    alereck Posts: 343 Member
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    m66345eubnbv.jpg

    This is great! Should answer any questions.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    SingingSingleTracker wrote: »
    22MaiHicka22 wrote: »
    Hello mfp peeps ,

    I am struggling with "wieght plateau" for two months now -though I gained few pounds back :'(
    I read some articles about this subject , but I need to hear your experiences and tips to overcome this dilemma *sigh*

    Please , I need this :p<3

    It's all right HERE.

    Thank you very much , I loved the article ,It was well written !
    BUT , There is one question nagging me !
    I am in 1400 calories deficit "Thus It is not working for me anymore " I thought I could simply switch to 1000 calories per a day but he said " It is not healthy". What am I supposed to do then???

    Please read my post above about tightening up your logging

    I did and I am grateful to you for your help !
    It's just frustrating , you know .I've been eating like this for 6 months and I dropped 20Ib , Then everything suddenly stopped progressing ... Well ; I guess It's time to buy a food scale *sigh*

    The weight usually always drops off quickly in the beginning and inaccurate logging isn't always noticeable when you have more to lose. But the closer you get to your goal weight and the smaller the deficit, the tighter your logging has to be.

    Some folks only have a 250 calorie deficit, this would be super easy to wipe out if they estimated their food/calories. An extra dollop here, a bit more peanut butter there, trusting serving size weights on bread for example, and Bam!! You are no longer eating at a deficit, you may even be eating above your TDEE and start gaining.

Categories