Overcoming a Plateau

ArtemisRuns

Hi everyone, I've been hanging around the boards but don't post here often. No reason, I just usually don't have anything unique to say. Today I'd like to share what's going on in my journey right now.

I started out in June by running and in July logging and running. I usually run 4 times a week, and anywhere from 2-4 miles each run. In a good week I run from 12 - 15 miles. I turn to the recumbent bike for bad weather or when it gets dark too early for me to run. I have been working on a calorie deficit and was losing at a steady 4-5 lb/month but in the last 30 days, I have only lost 1.4 lb.

So I am re-evaluating my food, to try to shift more of this weight. My diary is open if you feel moved to read it an comment, but I'm not so much looking for help, I guess I am just sharing. I think plateaus happen to everyone and I'm not surprised or even truly frustrated, I'm just thinking about ways to tweak my eating to get the scales moving.

I haven't been logging my water, so I am going to start doing that. It's hard to keep up with water intake because as a teacher, my bathroom visits are somewhat limited and too much water means too many trips to the restroom. I need to figure out how to get the water in and still be able to work.

I may have been eating some things without thinking about it and failing to log. I pretty much log everything, but in some cases I forget a sauce or a dressing, and they can contain a lot of calories, so I need to get real about that and make sure I log everything.

I am not totally convinced that I buy into this whole "eat more to weigh less" mentality. But, I may want to think about it some more. On days I exercise I may want to add a handful of almonds or something to my day to try to meet my calorie goal. I guess that since I sometimes eat my TDEE I figured it would all wash out in the end....but that appears to not be working at the moment.

Usually right after I post something like this, I lose some weight. HA HA Last time I lost 3 lb in one week. The fact that the process is not linear tends to frustrate people and leads them to want to quit. That's not happening with me, I have no plans to quit.

If you have read this far then you have indulged my need to share. Feel free to comment on my food diary or anything you like, but don't get your feelings hurt if I don't take your advice to heart. Just curious to see if anyone had any thoughts.

I'm done rambling now. Good health, everyone!

-Christy

wheird

That was one heck of a post that could have been summed up quickly.

Well, you are not in a plateau as you HAVE lost weight in the past 6 weeks. A plateau would be about 6 weeks or more of no movement at all. I recommend continuing with what you are doing for another month and reevaluating. If you still are unhappy with your rate of loss, start reducing your intake by 100 calories per week. By the way, please post your daily calorie goal in future posts so we dont have to go looking. :P

A few notes:

-Logging your water is unnecessary
-Make sure you are weighing your food on a food scale (in grams) and diligently logging it accordingly
-If you are eating back your exercise calories, keep in mind that MFP tends to overestimate your burns

loriq41

The key is to be honest and log everything..think about if for example you have two tablespoons of dressing everyday during the work week for lunch at 50 cals a pop...that is 250 calories you are not logging just during the week! The more you become accustomed to drinking water the less you will have to go...I maybe go once or twice during a workday and I drink at least 64 oz a day.