plateau success help?
Replies
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People can be a little harsh on these boards, try not to let it bother you. I get where you're coming from when you say you log extra calories if you cant weigh what you're eating. If this only has to happen infrequently, I think it's a decent strategy when necessary.
However, if you go out with coworkers a few times a week and eat things you cant weigh on a regular basis, especially when you're losing at a slow and steady rate where your deficit is only a few hundred, that extra 100-200+ calorie can absolutely cause a stall like this.
It's not sustainable forever to not eat out and prepare every meal, but I would recommend that you prepare and weigh every single thing you eat for three weeks. See if you notice a difference.
You mention a thyroid issue and no one here can advise you on that. If you weigh everything for a few weeks to a month and see no movement, maybe check in with your doctor just to be safe.1 -
So 100% honesty - I only had 20 lbs to lose and I was not willing to give up dinners at my parents, getting lunch on occasion with a coworker etc. So what did I do? I accepted that on week's I did a lot of that, I might not lose any weight because I was guessing in my food log too much. I'm 5'4 and started at 145, I just didn't have enough wiggle room to guess too much and expect faster results.
Whenever possible I ate at home, pre-prepped snacks and meals to take to work, tried to steer social engagements to non-food related venues. But when that didn't work, I would have weeks at a time where I didn't lose any weight and I just accepted that my logging was the issue. I basically lost 1 lb per month because of it. Was it slow and frustrating? Hell yes. But I knew what I was willing and not willing to do, and had to accept the results.
If you haven't lost weight for 9 weeks, you have been eating your maintenance level calories. In order to lose 0.5lbs per week, you need to eat 250 less calories per day than you have been. How you make that happen is really personal based on what your day to day life is like, and what you are willing to do. At the least, my suggestion would be to start weighing out everything you possibly can at home, so it's only meals where you are out with other people that you have to guess. If you want, temporarily making your diary public would allow us to make suggestion on bad entries you are choosing, but it's understandable if you don't want to do that.
The thing is, there is no such thing as a 9 week plateau. There's no way you are maintaining on 1200 cals per day, unless you have a medical condition. You could get a checkup and bloodwork done to see if perhaps you have an undiagnosed thyroid condition, it couldn't hurt. There are no tips to "shake things up", those are all diet industry myths. I wish I had a different answer for you, and I hope you find a way forward. Good luck!
I said in my OP I do have a diagnosis as hypothyroid. I lost .5 a week by eating 1200-1400 logging everything and MFP would estimate around 500+ cal deficits daily. MFP would estimate I would lose a pound a week, but I never did.
I feel frustrated because I was losing 0.5 a week logging what appeared to be 1200-1400 cals.
When the weight los stopped, I added 1200 cals of extra exercise a week. Of which I probably eat back 200 cals- so extra 1000 cals burn a week and cut cals down to 1200.
Let’s just say I was logging incorrectly-
I was losing weight.
I stopped losing - so I added more workouts and ate less every day.
THAT alone should equal weight loss.
You say it’s impossible to eat 1200 and not lose weight.
THAT is entirely why I’m so frustrated.
It makes NO sense that I was eating more than I am now and I was losing.
I was working out less.
I don’t see how I can eat any less food that I am now.
This is my typical Thursday:
My protein bar is 270- lets round it up to 300
My sushi rolls with cucumber and salmon - all items weighed by myself = 250
How do I weigh and measure the Trader Joe’s salad when it’s all different pieces- I don’t know, but the package says it’s 500 with dressing- so I’ll skip the dressing and log 500 anyway. It’s all veg and chicken.
I’m at 1050. Then one thin mint (40 cals- but I guess I need to weigh that and see if it’s really 50??) and two cups of tea with 1/3 cup (measured out) of milk for 100 more cals.
Puts me at 1200
The same day I run 3 miles at the gym and do strength training.
This is a typical day. I don’t understand where I’m going wrong. Even if I under estimated and my protein bar is 200% as in its 500 cals or something, I am still creating SOME deficit that should have SOME result.
I don’t see how eating out at lunch one day a week and not measuring is throwing it all off. I’m certainly not eating an extra 3500 at the restaurant.
So yeah, I hope it’s just that my meds are not correcting my thyroid correctly yet. Maybe there is something still off. My vitamin D was off too, so I’m on a high dose of that now as well.
It’s just a waiting game while I eat next to nothing and hope every day when I get on the scale that TODAY is the day things will start to work out.
My hope is that this is all a hormone imbalance because I totally understand how it’s impossible to eat so little and NOT lose.
I’m tempted to just stop eating for a day or two. I mean I HAVE to lose weight if there are seriously NO cals coming in. Maybe try 800 a day?
Mentally it’s either that or give up on dieting for a few weeks, because the losing nothing is making me nuts- and hearing people say “that’s impossible” makes me nuts.
I KNOW it’s impossible-hence my frustration.
I overlog everything to be on the safe side.
Ugh.
Since most people posting to “help” me are just telling me I’m wrong. I give up.
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OP, I don't really understand what you expected us to say. Weight loss is about calories. We can't see your diary and we're not doctors. I apologize, i forgot you already mentioned your thyroid. If you are sure you are eating 1200 calories and not losing weight, you need to see a doctor. For strangers on the internet, that's all we can tell you - either your logging is off or there is a medical issue messing with your numbers. I really am sorry you are frustrated and thought I was commiserating with you. Perhaps taking a break from worrying about your diet and scheduling a checkup would be the best option. I'll bow out now, I obviously don't have whatever answers you thought you were going to get.16
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I hate to say it but the trantrum will not help you reach your goals. Weighing your food with a scale might not be your favorite option but if you truly want to see what’s going on that’s where you start.
You asked for advice, here you have it. The only person you are hurting is yourself by not arming yourself with the knowledge and data you need. Now chin up, tomorrow is a new day and there’s a plan available for change if you accept it.
And I highly recommend a trending app in addition to using a scale for everything, at least for the first month or two.12 -
I don’t see how logging more carefully will help.
No one seems to have heard-
I was losing weight.
Regardless of how off I was- I tried eating MORE and working out MORE and didn’t lose with OR gain.
How could I have added what I thought was 300 cals a day for TWO weeks and not seen any change on the scale- I didn’t even gain weight.
Then- because nothing was changing- I ate MUCH less than I’d been eating before the addition of 300 cals skipping meals etc but kept working out the same for two weeks
Still no change.
How can I eat 300 or more MORE cals and not change weight- and then eat much much less and still not change?
Regardless of what the calories are- if you eat a lot more- the scale should change.
If you eat a lot less it should change. Right???0 -
You are already a healthy weight for your height which means that losses are going to be incredibly slow. You also stated that you added a couple more workouts each week which might end up with water retention masking any losses. In most cases, plateaus are related to logging errors. So I’d encourage you to look for areas you might be able to improve there. But even if you are logging correctly it will still be slow losses at your size.
Are you taking body measurements? Sometimes when the scale isn’t moving it’s nice to have another method to measure progress.
When I hit a plateau, I take a hard look at my diary to see if I am hitting my own nutritional goals. Then I start looking at new recipes to help me meet those goals. Sometimes when I am frustrated with the journey I take a few days to choose to eat at maintenance calories before going back into a deficit. A few days at maintenance calories might give you a chance to regroup.7 -
OP, see if something in this podcast is useful to your situation. https://www.irakinutrition.com/podcast-with-lyle-mcdonald/
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drockncrisso wrote: »I don’t see how logging more carefully will help.
No one seems to have heard-
I was losing weight.
Regardless of how off I was- I tried eating MORE and working out MORE and didn’t lose with OR gain.
How could I have added what I thought was 300 cals a day for TWO weeks and not seen any change on the scale- I didn’t even gain weight.
Then- because nothing was changing- I ate MUCH less than I’d been eating before the addition of 300 cals skipping meals etc but kept working out the same for two weeks
Still no change.
How can I eat 300 or more MORE cals and not change weight- and then eat much much less and still not change?
Regardless of what the calories are- if you eat a lot more- the scale should change.
If you eat a lot less it should change. Right???
One last idea popped into my head...
You mentioned your scale having not budged at all. Curious... Have you tried replacing the batteries in your scale recently? Maybe they are getting low and need replacing. Or, have you tried weighing yourself on another scale elsewhere? Not that a scale somewhere else might be calibrated properly, but perhaps if you tried out a couple different scales, you could compare it to yours.
Just throwing that out there as well as possible troubleshooting. I wish you the best! Keep us updated on your progress and if you manage to figure out the culprit. As I said earlier too, hopefully your doctor can get your levels at a normalized level for you too, to help alleviate any extenuating circumstances - allowing you eliminate another possibility off your list.
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Another thing to think of is your menstrual cycle...if you’re switching things up every 2 weeks you may be hitting your water weight swings in the wrong places, masking weight gains and losses, making it seem like maintenance.
For example, if I lower my calories for 2 weeks, but it coincides with my water weight increase before my period it will look like I haven’t changed weight...if I then decide to eat more but I am now losing that water weight, the scale won’t show the gain because I’m losing water.
When your fat loss is slow, I think the advice is to look at the weight change from last month, not last week or yesterday (assuming you’ve kept the variables the same)
Again, just a thought. When it gets down to the nitty gritty last 5-10lbs it can be little details and impatience that trip us up.
I was so frustrated when I gained for a full week after tightening up my food weighing and logging before the scale started to drop - must have coincided with something else (I personally don’t track my period weight gain, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the culprit)5 -
drockncrisso wrote: »I don’t see how logging more carefully will help.
No one seems to have heard-
I was losing weight.
Regardless of how off I was- I tried eating MORE and working out MORE and didn’t lose with OR gain.
How could I have added what I thought was 300 cals a day for TWO weeks and not seen any change on the scale- I didn’t even gain weight.
Then- because nothing was changing- I ate MUCH less than I’d been eating before the addition of 300 cals skipping meals etc but kept working out the same for two weeks
Still no change.
How can I eat 300 or more MORE cals and not change weight- and then eat much much less and still not change?
Regardless of what the calories are- if you eat a lot more- the scale should change.
If you eat a lot less it should change. Right???
You've already decided what the problem isn't (your calorie intake) so I don't know how you expect anyone here to help you.
I will say that I've been on this forum for years now and the vast majority of the time when people aren't seeing the results they expect it's because they're making a mistake either in estimating their calories out or their calories in. Maybe you're the exception. If so, good luck figuring out what is going on.7 -
drockncrisso wrote: »I don’t see how logging more carefully will help.
No one seems to have heard-
I was losing weight.
Regardless of how off I was- I tried eating MORE and working out MORE and didn’t lose with OR gain.
How could I have added what I thought was 300 cals a day for TWO weeks and not seen any change on the scale- I didn’t even gain weight.
Then- because nothing was changing- I ate MUCH less than I’d been eating before the addition of 300 cals skipping meals etc but kept working out the same for two weeks
Still no change.
How can I eat 300 or more MORE cals and not change weight- and then eat much much less and still not change?
Regardless of what the calories are- if you eat a lot more- the scale should change.
If you eat a lot less it should change. Right???
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10697068/how-i-stopped-kidding-myself/p13 -
I took what a lot of people said to heart and pulled out our digital scale - the fancy one that I can zero out. Because I figured-
Everyone says it’s impossible to eat 1200 and exercise and not lose. So I decided to find where I’m going wrong.
I think I’m creating at LEAST a 250 cal deficit by eating 1200 (since my bmr is 1450) and I work out 3 days a week- burning on average 1600 workout cals a week. Total- 3,350 weekly deficit. But if I’m not losing and I AM working out that much, I must be accidentally eating not only the extra 250 per day, but an additional 230 to undo my exercise. So an extra 500 a day that I’m not aware of.
So let’s weigh and measure everything and see where I’m off.
I put out the food I normall eat, last night, to do a test weigh.
I weighed 10 of my protein bars. All of them were 59 or 60 grams. The package says 59g and I’ve been logging 1+1/8 bar since I assumed they were wrong - I’m over logging my bar by 25 cals.
I weighed piles of 10 cashews and 10 almonds and all the piles were within 1-2 grams of the correct weight for 1/2 serving (since the serving size is “about 20” almonds - or cashews depending on the pack) - so when I’m logging 80 cals for my cashews it could actually be 85.7 cals
I weighed my dry organic oatmeal packs - these things must be packed by machines because they’re all accurate to +/- 2-3 grams error. But when you’re taking about an 150 calorie packet of oatmeal that is 40g - then if it’s 43g that makes it 11 calories more than the package said. The milk I add is measured in a cup, so I can imagine how that can be over.
So far I’m over estimating my breakfast bar by 25 cals, under estimating my snack nuts by approx 5.7 and lunch oatmeal by maybe 11 cals.
My other lunch is salad - I mean ( I’ll be honest, I don’t weigh or measure my spinach and lettuce, it’s 7-15 cals for an entire cup, so I always just log 30 cals for the bowl of greens) with cheese and nuts. Again, the nut serving that I tested is not off more than 1g (7 cals) and so I weighed all the cheese slices in groups of 2 to see if I was off. Again, they’re almost all correct except occasionally being 1g lighter or heavier. Not enough to account for 500 incorrect calories.
The two practically balance each other out.
My measurements on the rice and fish stuff hasn’t changed because it’s a plastic set you use to press the rice into.
I can weigh the 1c of rice in the future, but so far I’m not finding where my huge weight loss defeating miscalculation is.
Maybe I’m accidentally eating 500 extra cals of rice??
I’m gonna keep weighing stuff to figure out where I am off, but so far I’m not finding any glaring errors.
The biggest miscalculation is my overestimate on my breakfast bar that I assume is 295 cals when it’s actually genuinely 59 grams which says 270 cals.
If all of my snacks are off 5-7 cals that still only accounts for about 25 calories extra tops.
Like I said, I’ll keep hunting, I didn’t have time last night to think of what else I could be off on.
And for things I can’t measure I just double it. Like my toddler likes to feed me goldfish crackers. I count them when he does and if he feeds me 3, I log 6. I could go test the cracker weight and see if they’re ever double the weight in grams, but I doubt it, so I’m pretty sure I’m safe to over calculate by doubling the number when I can’t weigh them.
Tonight I’ll be weighing Girl Scout cookies. We will see if they’re uniform or not.
And I know I’m not over eating them. I literally get a pretty little plate for my one cookie and go sit and eat it with a cup of tea. I gotta figure out how much milk 1/3 cup should weigh. Maybe my cups are off?
I drink tea with milk two or three times a day and it’s always 1/3 cup measured- but maybe I should weigh it. Yes, I do drink a ton of water, too, not just tea.2 -
It’s not just about weighing, though; it’s about using good DB entries. There have been posters who’ve plateaued because although they were weighing everything, they were using a cooked rice entry for dry rice without realising.
If you open your diary, people can spot issues like that. If you don’t, nobody can really help.2 -
If all the food that you prepare yourself is as many calories you expected then it must be all the meals you eat out. You've said that you often eat out with coworkers and family, but you've also said that you only go out for lunch once a week so I'm not sure which one it is.
With a small deficit (if it's 250/day) it can very easily be wiped out by eating out once or twice a week. Anytime I eat out at a restaurant it's pretty much guaranteed that I'll be eating around maintenance or over for that day, unless I do like a 10km run or something. When I'm focusing on weight loss I limit going out as much as I can, only once/week for lunch and maybe once on the weekend, but I try to avoid it unless I know about it in advance so I can prepare for it, either with a big cardio session before or eating 100cals less on the days leading up to it.
You said you don't want to miss out on dinners and visiting people, but maybe you can limit it a bit while you focus on losing and then reintroduce them when you want to do maintenance again. Don't eliminate it all together if it's something you enjoy doing but maybe try reducing that for a couple weeks and see if that moves the scale at all.4 -
^^^OP, see if something in this podcast is useful to your situation. https://www.irakinutrition.com/podcast-with-lyle-mcdonald/
This was very informative, more protein, more diet breaks, more heavy lifting, less aerobic exercise.3 -
One thing I do since I have such a small margin of calorie deficit and I like to eat out once a week - I don't eat anything until we go out that night. my calories with my 250 deficit is 1350. I know when I eat out, it's at least 1400 -1500 calories - I either eat a burger and fries with ketchup, or broasted chicken with potato and butter/sour cream. This wipes out, and then some, the deficit, and puts me over maintenance.1
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