Breaking through a plateau

OrangeBlossomSpecial21

Any success stories on breaking through a plateau? I haven’t lost any additional weight in the last couple of months. What can I do to break through? For those that have broken through a plateau, what worked for you?

neugebauer52

A few years ago I sat on a 6 month plateau and eventually gave up, re - gaining all the weight lost. Since joining MFP I have learned so much more - especially how their calorie calculations work. Over a year I have lost just over 30 kg (68 pounds), which means that my daily TDEE dropped by bout 400 calories a day. If I would continue eating the same way, I would end up on another plateau. MFP re - calculated by daily calories - which means a slightly smaller weekly weight loss, but at least I continue losing weight.

OrangeBlossomSpecial21

neugebauer52 wrote: »

A few years ago I sat on a 6 month plateau and eventually gave up, re - gaining all the weight lost. Since joining MFP I have learned so much more - especially how their calorie calculations work. Over a year I have lost just over 30 kg (68 pounds), which means that my daily TDEE dropped by bout 400 calories a day. If I would continue eating the same way, I would end up on another plateau. MFP re - calculated by daily calories - which means a slightly smaller weekly weight loss, but at least I continue losing weight.

Thanks. I am thinking that I need to be much more dedicated about logging everything I eat. I log in every day, but I don’t always log everything. Maybe I just need to tighten things up to break through.

Panini911

OrangeBlossomSpecial21 wrote: »

neugebauer52 wrote: »

A few years ago I sat on a 6 month plateau and eventually gave up, re - gaining all the weight lost. Since joining MFP I have learned so much more - especially how their calorie calculations work. Over a year I have lost just over 30 kg (68 pounds), which means that my daily TDEE dropped by bout 400 calories a day. If I would continue eating the same way, I would end up on another plateau. MFP re - calculated by daily calories - which means a slightly smaller weekly weight loss, but at least I continue losing weight.

Thanks. I am thinking that I need to be much more dedicated about logging everything I eat. I log in every day, but I don’t always log everything. Maybe I just need to tighten things up to break through.

yes i would absolutely start there.

and if that doesn't work i would then start weighing all food with a food scale and CAREFULLY choosing diary entries (lots of incorrect entries in there)

lafayettenana

Last year I was stuck in a plateau. I had been counting calories and monitoring how many calories I had expended using my fitbit. Even though I was supposedly using fewer calories I wasn't losing additional weight. I think a few things were going on. First our bodies adjust to the calories we're getting and it tries to maintain the weight we're at. Second I was eating calories that were sabotaging by metabolism (and my willpower)- in particular Wine. I broke through when I joined Weight Watchers for a few months. Their eating plan directs you to lean protein (chicken breasts & fish), high fiber (legumes, fruit and vegetables) and penalizes processed foods (white bread, white rice, oil/butter, anything with sugar and alcohol. Although one tracks points with weight watchers you end up eating fewer but higher quality calories and avoid the foods that have a higher glycemic response like white bread, rice and potatoes. You might give it a try for a few months. I'm not on WW currently and just using MFP for tracking and community support.
My take away after 3 years of really trying to maintain a healthier weight is that weight loss is more complicated than just reducing calories and maintaining the weight loss is also hard (maybe harder).
Good luck breaking through that plateau.

oceangirl99

1. adjust your calorie allowance (MFP does not do this automatically and I re-set my goals every few lbs). The more you lose, the less you can have (unfortunately).
2. weigh/measure your food
3. log EVERYTHING EVERY DAY
4. don't eat back all exercise calories because calories burned aren't accurately measured (sounds like ~1/2 is okay)
5. Track weight with something like Happy Scale - maybe you aren't at a plateau but the trend is a very slow decline.
6. Measure yourself - muscle gain?

Note - I don't follow all of the above but it is what this site has taught me so when I feel as though I have hit a plateau, I think about all the above points and ask myself if I've really been at a calorie deficit and I'm still not losing. The answer has always been no.

try2again

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10589119/how-to-break-through-a-plateau#latest

mohanj

I was stuck in plateau for 3 weeks in a row. The scale did not budge at all and it was very frustrating when I knew I was doing everything right. Changed my exercise routine to accommodate more time for strength training and added little more carbs to my diet. Wight started dropping.

OrangeBlossomSpecial21

Thank you. all. This has been really helpful.