Weight loss Plateau

zehrjordan

I started my weight loss at about 235 and seem to have hit a wall at 220, my goal is to get back down to around 180 "I'm a 6 foot male" I knew my wieght loss would slow down eventually but I was expecting it to happen closer to the 200 mark. I'm eating between 1500 and 1700 calories a day and working out about 3 times a week. Is there anyway to jump start the wieght loss again? or will I be fighting this hard for every one of the next 40 pounds I wanna loose?

malibu927

How long has it been since you lost?

MaddMaestro

I've hit several plateaus, but minor adjustments in macros have helped me overcome those every time. Also, a doctor had once told me that as you lose the weight, you'll need less calories (but I don't even have a clue how true this is).

quiksylver296

Do you use a food scale to weigh your food, and log everything?

beaglebrandon

zehrjordan wrote: »

I'm eating between 1500 and 1700 calories a day and working out about 3 times a week.

If you work out an HOUR (say 60 minutes on an elliptical) for 3 times a week, you'll burn about 1500 calories. That's LESS than a 1/2 pound loss (1/7 pound loss per workout).

The majority of your weight loss will be from food. You're not eating between 1500 and 1700 calories a day - you're probably well over that, eating around 2500 to 2700. Which is why you're maintaining.

You need to be vigilant 24/7 about what you eat. Buy store-boughten meals which list the calories, like say a Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich for breakfast that is 400 calories, a lean cuisine meal for lunch which is 400 calories, and a frozen dinner entree which is 500 calories. Find a snack bar to have for ONE snack during the day. Make sure it's about 200 calories. Then drink only water or coffee black. That's 1500 calories. No eating or snacking other than that.

You'll lose weight if you're extremely vigilant about what you put in your body. The deficit of about 1,000 calories a day is 7,000 a week, which is a 2 pound loss (about 1/3 pound loss per day)

If I eat right and exercise all day and only take in 1500 calories, I'm fine. But my downfall is eating nuts or having a beer or whiskey at night. I can add 600 calories right there on that 2oz portion of nuts and a beer. And now I'm just maintaining instead of losing.

ninerbuff

MaddMaestro wrote: »

I've hit several plateaus, but minor adjustments in macros have helped me overcome those every time. Also, a doctor had once told me that as you lose the weight, you'll need less calories (but I don't even have a clue how true this is).

You hit several "stalls". Plateaus in weight loss are 6 or more weeks of no weight loss IF one was truly consistent in those 6 weeks. So if you did any partying or extra eating or drinking, then it's NOT a plateau because it wasn't consistent.
And of course you'd need LESS calories if you weight less. You burn less energy, so you'd need less or else you'd gain or maintain weight.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

zehrjordan

I am very viligent about tracking my food intake one problem I find though is that when we go out to eat I try estimate calories in meals for example I try to eat my big meal at lunch so the other day I ordered a Cuban sandwich from a cafe I trie to estimate how many calories it is but I really have no idea, for all I know it was 1000 calorie meal.