Weight Loss Plateau?

EJOY1988

Okay so I'm not really sure where I'm going wrong, and I'll try to keep this short and to the point but I'm lost. I generally wouldn't ask for any advice, but this has been going on for about the last 3-4 months or so. I had gotten down to around 150 lbs. with it fluctuating to no more than 152ish. Now I'm back up to about 155-157 lbs. I really need to lose this and fast because I don't meet tape requirements so I have to use weight. I was at weight for the Army recruiter when I did my last weigh in, and now while I'm not over, I'm getting really close (@162) and we're supposed to be scheduling my MEPS date very soon! I had been eating at around 1200 calories (maybe a little more) and doing about an hour of walking/jogging with an hour of cardio (DVDs), and about an hour of weights (not much only about 50lbs. dumbells max as it's all I have) a day, mixed with p90x. I had some people telling me to up my calories, so I did that. I'm now eating around 1400 (maybe a little more), and I'm doing about an hour of cardio a day, I have slacked on the walking/jogging some, but now I also bike about 5-10 miles a day. It seems no matter what I do I'm not losing and it's getting very frustrating. I use a food scale, and measure and weigh everything I eat. I haven't been keeping track on here for a while because I was getting discouraged. I do have a book I use though, but I've been keeping track again for about the last 2 weeks. So yeah, I'm lost. Should I cut back on calories/sodium, up my exercise, cut out carbs. Sorry for the long run on ramble, but any advice would be much appreciated. TIA! :-)

SezxyStef

After looking at your diary it doesn't appear that you weigh your food...choosing correct entries is as important as weighing your food. Even if you weigh out your chicken at 100g then choose an entry that is for 1/2 a chicken breast...how will that work?

Chances are you are eating more than you think.

1/2breast of chicken is how much??? 2oz, 100g????

Logging accurately also means choosing the correct entries and if you can't find them create them.

FindingAmy77

well this happens to me about every ten lbs lost or so.. I find that if I switch to eating my tdee minus 20% instead of what mfp gives me.. its a more accurate way to eat and my metabolism kicks back in and I start losing again. I switch it up here and there but this is the case for me. if you want to still use what mfp gives you.. then you need to eat back your exercise calories or your body thinks its starving.... and you probably will stall in weight loss. I know it seems like you should eat less but I find that when I feed my body more it rewards me with weigh loss. try it for a couple weeks. you may find that it works for you.. I will copy and paste some sites I use. its a learning process. find what works for you. hope I helped. I am no expert really. I just can totally relate.

http://iifym.com/ http://www.fat2fitradio.com/ plus there are some right here on mfp NOTE: the only way any of this works if you are completely honest about your activity/exercise levels and how much calories you eat. You need to weigh and measure your food accurately and make sure you check the nutrtion info on the food diary before selecting it. good luck

EJOY1988

I think I only used the 1/2 chicken breast measurement once when I didn't have access to a scale at the time. But generally I eat anywhere from 2-4 oz. of meat when I do, and I weight it. As far as the TDEE I will try switching to minus 20%, and add walking/jogging again and see if that helps any. Thanks for the advice, and links. I will definitely put it to good use. :-)

SezxyStef

I think I only used the 1/2 chicken breast measurement once when I didn't have access to a scale at the time. But generally I eat anywhere from 2-4 oz. of meat when I do, and I weight it. As far as the TDEE I will try switching to minus 20%, and add walking/jogging again and see if that helps any. Thanks for the advice, and links. I will definitely put it to good use. :-)

I picked that one to illustrate a point.

Your entries are not showing you weigh...1c of this, 1/2c of that, 0.5 bagel, 1med apple, the list goes on.

I see some things measured in grams/oz...but most entries aren't. Meat isn't the only solild that needs weighed...

And chances are you are eating more than you think based on your entries...but feel free to eat more...

EJOY1988

Okay, so this may sound stupid but I am really confused. Should I be measuring "dry food" and "pre-packaged foods" with serving sizes on them with a scale? In all honesty I only recently started putting foods like this back into my diet. To lose the weight I have over the last two years I stuck to almost nothing other than salad (pretty much three meals a day), with very little fruit, and I weighed my meat. My carbs were like maybe occasional crackers, or a pitta here and there to go with salad. And I always used "dry measuring cups" for dry foods, I had no idea it needed to be measured in ounces. Should I toss the cups and stick to scale only?

SezxyStef

Okay, so this may sound stupid but I am really confused. Should I be measuring "dry food" and "pre-packaged foods" with serving sizes on them with a scale? In all honesty I only recently started putting foods like this back into my diet. To lose the weight I have over the last two years I stuck to almost nothing other than salad (pretty much three meals a day), with very little fruit, and I weighed my meat. My carbs were like maybe occasional crackers, or a pitta here and there to go with salad. And I always used "dry measuring cups" for dry foods, I had no idea it needed to be measured in ounces. Should I toss the cups and stick to scale only?

To be frank I weigh almost everything even package items like crackers.

So yes only use cups for liquids...

For example in my diary you will see an entry under snacks for PC speckled chocolate eggs 11 pieces...the package indicates 11 pieces/40g is a serving...I weigh out 40g...great thing is...it's more than 11 pieces...:drinker:

Cottage cheese says a serving is 1/2c or 125g....125g is a lot more than 1/2 c another good one.

Cereal...it's an icky one...fruit loops serving is 3/4c or 27g...27g is not 3/4 of a cup it's closer to 1/2c which makes me very sad :sad: :sad:

in my diary today you see a serving of 1.0005............... cups of cereal because I weighed out 1serving of 30g...used excel to calculate the correct amount as the entry said 27g was a serving box said 30g...I need to make my entry for that now.

It's a pain sometimes but with my scale (it has a zero function) it takes 2mins tops...for each meal.

The only thing I don't weigh is things like individual yogurt, lean cuisine meals and I admit sugar/cream in my coffee but that's it.

EJOY1988

Okay, thanks. So much easier seeing it explained now. I didn't know it was different when weighed out in ounces vs, cups. I will start doing it that way if it's that much of a difference. Definitely not gonna complain about the extra. Hopefully between that, reevaluating my calories, and upping my exercise this will help solve the problem.