The mother of all plateaus - please help.

rw0lf

Hi everyone,
I've been avoiding posting here for a while as message boards terrify me, but since I've been using myfitnesspal's app for so long, I figured the community here would be the best place to turn for help.

The problem is I've hit a complete plateau. Three months and counting.

Background info: I was about 215lbs (over 15st) at my highest weight, mostly as a result of depression (eating my feelings) and an underactive thyroid (now medicated with 125mcg Levothyroxine). Totally sedentary, unfit, unmotivated.

I'm currently at 140lbs (and still 5ft 5inches) and have been on a plateau for 3 months. My highest weight was about 4 years ago, so this has been a gradual weight loss. The biggest loss in a shortest amount of time was when I was severely depressed and stopped eating for months. I don't want to go down this road ever again.

Although it'll sound like a complete lie, I really believe my dietary habits are good. Really good. (Dairy free, gluten free, fish only, high veg intake, sensible fruit, nut and legume intake, non-drinker, smoker of about 5 a day, absolutely zero refined or processed foods and B12, Iron and Calcium+magnesium supplements). I still suffer from the normal hypothyroid issues: coldness, often tired, etc.

My exercise habits need improving, but it currently stands at 3 x 10K runs/shuffles per week (-500-600 cals per session), 3 x bike+HIIT+ Jillian 30 day shred per week (-500 cals per session), and one rest day. I also do aerial silks training twice weekly for core and upper body.

The issue is, with this currently diet and exercise combo, nothing has changed in 3 months. It's been 139-140lbs without change. I don't even think there's been a change in body composition, if anything a slight increase in muscle density and improvement in tone which is barely noticeable.

My daily life is almost sedentary bar intentional exercise, although I'm starting work as a full time teacher next month which means I'll be on my feet a lot.

My biggest confusion lies in calorie intake. My BMR works out at 1536 calories. My reasoning (and it might be completely wrong) was that a Net intake of 1000 cals would provide the 500 cal defecit needed for a pound a week of 'weight' loss. But I've gone and confused myself... one isn't supposed to eat back the calories one exercises away... but my system is to Net 1000 cals regardless [meaning a day where I run and the run burns 550 cals, as measured on my HRM, I will eat 550 extra cals to bring the net amount back to 1000]. Is this totally wrong? Should I be eating 1500 cals a day regardless of exercise and not base my numbers on the Net intake at all, meaning the Net could total 1000 cals or 1300 cals depending on exercise?

I've also read contradictory information on moving past a plateau. Some suggest cutting down calories, some suggest increasing them. I'm terrified of increasing my intake because I cannot gain weight back so far down a previously successful road.

Every website offers information which is useless - cut out processed food, drink more water, etc etc... the kind of thing that has already lost me about 70lbs.

Apologies for such a long and disjointed question. Any advice anyone could offer would be great, I'm losing my mind here. For what it's worth, my goal weight is 125lbs although this is a ball park figure, as being lean and healthy is more important than an arbitrary number.

Big thanks.

uconnwinsnc

Don't use your BMR to determine how many calories you should eat, especially with how many miles you are doing. I suspect your TDEE is much higher than 1500 being the active and young person that you are.

dmt4641

You are not eating enough, especially for with of the exercise you are doing. You should be netting above your BMR, not below it. The deficit should be taken from your TDEE (BMR + exercise + thermic effect of food). Try one of the TDEE calculators and subtract only 10-20%. I know this will be more food than you are used to and you will probably retain some more water weight initially, but you are really not eating enough food.

Helloitsdan

PM me the following:

Age
Height
Weight
Body Fat%
Occupation

Current routine looks to comprise mostly of cardio.

So whats the end goal?
Fat loss?
Leaner physique?
Faster runs?

I can break your plateau but i'll have you step way out of your comfort zone for at least 8 weeks.
Send a PM.

Ninkyou

First, your BMR of ~1500 calories is what your body would need if you were lying in bed at complete rest. TDEE (Total Daily Expenditure) is the amount of calories your body uses daily, as a normal person, moving about doing daily stuff. You should be taking your deficit from your TDEE, not your BMR.

You can use http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/ to figure out your BMR, TDEE and how much you should be eating with your exercise calculated in. Using this method, you would not add in your exercise calories, and just eat the number provided.

That being said, are you weighing your food? If you're not, I suggest you do so that you're getting an accurate calorie count. Many people on MFP who have plateaud come here who do not weigh, and when they're suggested to do so, begin losing weight again. It's a matter of eating more than they thought they were. By eliminating those extra unknown calories, they moved back into a deficit and began losing weight again.

Try those things, and you should see the scale move again.

christa279

I would try using your TDEE as your base number and create a deficit from that. To lose weight, it's not so much about what foods you are eating as much as being in a calorie deficit.

If you are not already doing so, weigh (using a food scale) and measure your foods. You may be consuming more calories than you think.

Also, do measurement of your body (if you aren't already). I have some weeks where the scale doesn't cooperate but I have had a consistent loss in inches. You can't always go by what you see in the mirror because we are always critical of ourselves. Measurements have helped me to realize that although I might not be happy with the loss in my hips, I am happy with the losses in other areas.

graysmom2005

Before I lowered or raised calories, I would ask yourself if you are truly measuring your intake correctly. With a food scale. Not ballpark or even with measuring cups. A few hundred extra calories can add up. FAST.

And talking to Dan is never a bad idea. Give him a PM for sure! :-)

You are at an ideal weight for your height, so this is going to be hard and slow as these are vanity pounds. I have been there...still am....

rw0lf

Thank you all so much for your replies.

I am indeed weighing my food whenever I'm eating something new, and periodically re-weighing the measures of regular foods to make sure the portions aren't creeping up. Which is why the plateau has been extra frustrating!

I will do everything everyone has suggested and PM away. In three weeks I'm moving to Japan from the UK, so I guess after things have settled down there and I'm familiar with Japanese food and have made a new exercise routine based on the time I have and what I have access to, I can get started on losing the last 15lbs. I'll never be able to find the right sized shoes over there, but I'm determined to at least fit into their tiny barbie clothes.

Using the suggested scooby calculator, my updated BMR is 1382, my TDEE (Calories to Maintain Weight) is 2143 (really? with my non-existent thyroid?) and my Daily Calories required to 'lose fat, (25% weight reduction) is 1607 cals. As I only want to lose 15lbs of fat, should I have set the percentage I aim to reduce lower? 1600 cals already seems like so much food. I'm still finding it hard to get my head around eating/exercise balance. It should be 1600 intake regardless of Net total with exercise?

Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate the help. Sorry if I'm asking really stupid questions.

writergeek313

You might give this site a try to get a better sense of how many calories you should be eating: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ I plugged in your stats (and guessed you're 25), set the calories at a 10% deficit since you don't have too much left to lose, and got somewhere between 1700 and 2000 calories depending on the exercise you get.

Teaching may really impact your workout schedule, at least until you adjust to your new schedule and workload. Maybe that means you mix up your workouts for awhile, running one week and biking the next, or doing things differently for awhile. That will help you keep a schedule you can stick with even with your new job, but it may also help get your weight loss going again.

As others have mentioned, a food scale is a great idea if you don't already have one. Getting one is what's helping me slowly get things going again after a few months of just maintaining.