Plateau

Kaye8395BTS

HELP!

Hi Ladies I am sure we have all been here...the dreaded plateau. I have been here before too and given up, but this time I REFUSE! Any help/advice is GREATLY appreciated!

I started my weight loss journey in January, at the 1st of the year, topping the scales at 263 lbs. To date I have lost a little over 60 lbs (now at 201 lbs) WHICH I AM THRILLED ABOUT!!! Although, I am stuck! Back in June I hit 50 lbs and couldn't have been happier, but stalled. Not knowing what to do I started to cut down on my carbs, which helped me loose an additional 10 lbs relatively quickly. Now its been over a month and I have not budged. I realize I added carbs BACK into my diet, but I didn't gain anything back so that's good!


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I am a member at a woman's gym called Get in Shape for Woman, who help me along with my progress with both nutrition and training, but they have not been able to help me move past this plateau. I would GREATLY appreciate any tips, advice or stories from you woman who have been there, done that and succeeded! Or... are suffering from the same problem, either way!

lesley12345

Maybe changing up your workout routine will help boost your metabolism as well as adding more cardio. Not really sure I too am dreading the plateau, just stay patient , you are doing a great job!!!

Amarillo_NDN

Take a day off and just let loose. yes you may gain a pound but bet you a cupcake you start loosing again.

Edestiny7

When I hit a plateau, I read Jillian's plateau advice. It said to change up your workout OR rev it up AND eat around 2000 calories for three days straight before going back to your normal eating. I started working out 6 - 7 days per week and ate about 700 - 800 above my normal eating for 2 days. Sure enough, it worked! I also attempt to eat ALL of my exercise calories every single time. Otherwise, at a daily goal of 1200 calories, I would have a net of only 400 calories after exercising. Not healthy as I discovered after 4 days of riding our new bikes and I was so weak. You can do it! :flowerforyou:

RaeN81

I'm near my goal weight and I am pretty sure I am hitting a plateau too. Not all plateaus are bad though--try taking your measurements! However, I have heard from several people that actually increasing your calories can help with a plateau. It seems illogical, but after thinking about it for a while it began to make sense. Often plateaus come when our body goes into survival mode and starts storing as much as possible. In order to start utilizing those fat stores again, our body needs to believe that the famine is over. Try resetting your goal to half a pound a week for a few weeks and see what happens, it's worth a try.

billgiersberg

I am at a plateau at a point that is halfway to my goal. Perhaps a lot of people here would not call it a plateau as the overall trend is down and it's only been a week or so but I have done a little reading on the topic. What happens is our bodies don't like to give up their fat reserves easily and so they strive to find an equilibrium that tries to level things off and match food intake the best it can with calories burned. In addition I have also been reading a little about Jack LaLanne. One thing he does is to change his workout routine every 4 weeks or so. He says it keeps his muscles guessing and growing. Do a Google search for Jack LaLanne and changes in his workout routine and you will be able to see for yourself what he says or just go to his website. I think that is the key... trick your body out of it's equilibrium. I notice that the website I subscribe to to help me in my strength workouts changes the routine every 6 weeks so maybe there is something to it. I have seen several people say what Amarillo says...let lose one day. Your body will think the lean times are past and bump up the metabolism to build muscle and/or burn a little fat. Eat your high end of calories for a couple of days and then drop back to your weight loss levels.

But I'm trying to break through right now myself so take what I say with a grain of salt. (Not too much salt though...MFP monitors the sodium. lol)

KeepOnMoving

When I hit a plateau, I read Jillian's plateau advice. It said to change up your workout OR rev it up AND eat around 2000 calories for three days straight before going back to your normal eating. I started working out 6 - 7 days per week and ate about 700 - 800 above my normal eating for 2 days. Sure enough, it worked! I also attempt to eat ALL of my exercise calories every single time. Otherwise, at a daily goal of 1200 calories, I would have a net of only 400 calories after exercising. Not healthy as I discovered after 4 days of riding our new bikes and I was so weak. You can do it! :flowerforyou:

Good advice! That makes sense. I feel like I torch calories from running hills. But if I feel like I am trying too hard to cut out calories, I get weak and not have any energy. I almost wonder if I should bother to count the calories of raw veggies and raw fruits. They don't exactly keep you full for several hours.

KeepOnMoving

Don't forget muscle weighs more than fat. I haven't really lost any this month - except on 1lb today. I found a note from last year a few days ago. It said I weighed less last year. But unlike last year my waist is now 1 1/2 inch smaller and my hips are 1 inch smaller. So the scales don't tell the whole story.

ajswriter

I am with you--lost 42 total but have 44 more to go & am STUCK...going to exercise more for sure & try to cut out soda/juice. I'm tired of drinking so many calories. We will get there!

huggywuggybear

I need help too! In 4 weeks, I lost 8 lbs (out of the 60 I'm trying to lose) but can't seem to get more weight off. I started doing spin class 4 times per week for 1 hour and I cut my calories to under 1200 (usually more). I also cut my carbs big time. On weekends I eat about 1500-2000 calories. What do you think could be the problem? Not sure what I'm doing wrong but I was hoping the lbs would come off faster since I have so much weight to lose. Ideas?

Kaye8395BTS

Hi EVERYONE! Thanks so much for your replies, every little bit helps!

I had been restricting myself to just 1200 calories a day and my trainer suggested upping to 1350-1400 roughly, so I did, but for the last month or so I have been a bit loose about my calories, which you would think would help! As a new MFP member, I hope it will help me track better.

I belong to small-group training gym where they keep my work outs pretty new, switching it up relatively often, so that's good. For cardio they have us do 30 minutes of treadmill or elliptical in interval training like 1 min fast, 2 slow or 2 fast, 1 slow etc etc. I also have a dog who keeps me on my toes and needs walks a lot! So, I try to walk him about 2 miles at least 5x a week on top of it all.

My biggest vice is Diet Coke, I have been an addicted since High School. I cut it out completely for my first 3 months and then slowly started to add it back in and now it's getting pretty bad again. I don't like juice or coffee, so its either DC or water, but I do like the crystal lights so that helps after I have been drinking water all during the work day and just want something else.
Sunday's without even trying I tend not to exercise or track, so I consider that my 'free" day, but I don't go crazy either.

OK THANKS AGAIN!!! I look forward to hearing more

clipsychic

bump!