How to break a plateau... EAT MORE!!! Scary, I know...

AJCM · July 2008

I have complained much, as of late, about a plateau...

I was stuck for 5 weeks, then I ATE MORE (I know, cringe) and I lost 2lbs! I went from eating about 1200 a day for the past three months, to eating 1700 daily, and exericsing at least once daily.

Last week I was at the cottage, and was an eating machine, I mean I stopped counting calories around the 1800/2000 mark and figured "To h--- with it!". Most foods were healthy, and portions were small-ish, but we did ice cream, chips, chocolate covered almonds, etc (cringe again). There was also lots of swimming, walks, and fresh air.

I come home, and I've lost an lb?!?! How is that possible???

So ladies and gents, EAT MORE CALORIES if you are stuck. I know it's scary, but IT WORKS!!!!
:flowerforyou:

AJCM · July 2008

I have complained much, as of late, about a plateau...

I was stuck for 5 weeks, then I ATE MORE (I know, cringe) and I lost 2lbs! I went from eating about 1200 a day for the past three months, to eating 1700 daily, and exericsing at least once daily.

Last week I was at the cottage, and was an eating machine, I mean I stopped counting calories around the 1800/2000 mark and figured "To h--- with it!". Most foods were healthy, and portions were small-ish, but we did ice cream, chips, chocolate covered almonds, etc (cringe again). There was also lots of swimming, walks, and fresh air.

I come home, and I've lost an lb?!?! How is that possible???

So ladies and gents, EAT MORE CALORIES if you are stuck. I know it's scary, but IT WORKS!!!!
:flowerforyou:

Mireille · July 2008

That's amazing!!!

What a good example that we need not starve ourselves to lose weight.

Way to go!!
Mireille

AJCM · July 2008

Thanks Mireille! I still don't believe it - I'm a natural "chubster" so it's just so exciting!
:flowerforyou:

banks1850 · July 2008

what's your deficit now AJ? I know you are close to your goal, and you look great from your pictures, from what I can see if you are eating more then 300 below maintenance, then I could see you hitting a plateau easilly.

TravisF · July 2008

The same happened to me I was stuck for over a month and changed my diet to the p90x diet. I added 1k calories to my diet and started losing again.

AJCM · July 2008

BANKS!!! Your advice paid off! :flowerforyou:

So, at the cottage, I EASILY ate over 2000 a day (BMR + active lifestyle = 1700 + 500 extra exercise calories average = 2200 burned daily). I guess I pretty much ate my maintenace calories, and lost a pound. Thoughts?

So what do you think I should be eating now? Still creating a 500 cal deficit? I was creating a 1000 cal daily deficit and not losing anything! I basically never felt full, but never stopped eating!

banks1850 · July 2008

1000 cals is crazy IMHO. You have what...3 - 6 lbs to lose at most? 200 to 300 cal deficit would be where I would be. It will take 2 or 3 months to lose the rest, but really, considering you only have a few to lose, why rush it. You will be the only one who notices 3 lbs. Trust me. As a matter of fact, that's where I am now, i've lost 1 lb in about the last month, and happy to do it, cuz I am just about at maintenance and I don't really care whether I lose any more or not, I just want to ripple up the ole stomach.

banks1850 · July 2008

Oh, and Congrats! You are doing AWESOME! :happy:

divalovesyou1 · July 2008

Thanks AJCM!!:bigsmile:

This is great advice!! I'm also at a stand still in my dieting and I've reached my plateau. So, I thought that I needed to increase my exercise time and eat more healthier stuff! I will definetly give this a try!!!

:flowerforyou:

TamTastic · July 2008

I've personally never done the 1200 calorie thing. Granted, I started out at 270 lbs and am down to 171 now....but as of now my BMR is around 1482 calories. On days I don't work out, I eat around 1400-1450 calories and days I do work out and burn around 750 calories, I will eat around 1700-1800 and while I have maintains here and there, overall I have lost very regularly and steadily (99 lbs in about 10 months).....so, if that isn't proof that 1200 calories is only a "guideline", then I don't know what is!

LML79 · July 2008

great job! I think you look awesome!I am still stuck in plateau mode..for over a month now. I'm not gaining weight so thats good.. I started this as a die-hard..working out every day from 45-60 minutes.. eating only my 1200 cals.... but I think I burned myself out. Once my son got sick and was in and out of the hospital ...not working out and eating hospital food threw me for a loop! Now everything is fine..and still I am low energy..I didn't even realize it and went a full week without hitting the treadmill. Now I'm slowly working back to it..right now doing only 25 minutes..and eating between 1400-1600 cals a day. I'm hoping to snap out of this funk I am in soon! I know I won't gain weight so long as I don't eat over my 1800 maintainence weight but I am also no where near my goal weight !!

TamTastic · July 2008

Thanks!

It's hard when you are going through a lot! Just hang in there! Sometimes it's just too much to focus on everything going on in LIFE as well as trying to lose weight. It's a HUGE burden sometimes. You are doing great!! And you will get to your goal! It's only a matter of WHEN, not IF!

I hear what you're saying about burning yourself out! That is why I haven't gone to 1200 calories. I've tried to give myself room to bump things a bit should I need to. So, if I hit a long plateau, I have room to drop another 50 cals..or add another level or another 5 min to my cardio to rev things up a bit. I think that is a HUGE lesson many people need to learn. The fact of the matter is that as long as you are eating less than your maintenance calories and exercising, you WILL lose weight! Even if your body doesn't cooperate sometimes.....it will EVENTUALLY add up!

mommared53 · July 2008

That does sound weird but it works. I was at a plateau recently so I upped my calories slightly and lost another pound or two. Good job. Keep up the good work. :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

kimber607 · July 2008

Hi

Sounds good to me!
BTW, you look great in the pic

Kim

sunshine92 · July 2008

[/quote]

Thanks Mireille! I still don't believe it - I'm a natural "chubster" so it's just so exciting!
:flowerforyou:
[/quote]
you dont look chubby at all girl! you look great!

carvan · July 2008

many people advocate cycling your calories. This means that you eat your 1200 for a few days, then bump them up to about 600. Keeps your metabolism thinking, doesn't let it slow down. Scary though!

shellyws · July 2008

Sorry if this is repetative but I have no clue what you mean by this banks. Can you explain?

ladywalkalot · July 2008

this very thought has been in my head! I am at a plateau......i need to eat more but it is scary....you just don't want it to show up the wrong way on the scale....but because it's worked for all you....I'm going to give it a go.....
Healthier more calories for a couple days, then back it down....and increasing intensity of exercise!

AND not worrying about it so much.......negative brain power holds onto lbs!!!

TravisF · July 2008

The reason as I understand that it works to add calories and lose weight is your body goes into a starvation mode when you work out but don't get enough calories it needs so it holds the fat instead of burning it first so it can be used later when you need it. So your body starts storing fat instead of burning it. when you add the healthy calories it knows it will have plenty so it can burn them at max efficiency.

AJCM · July 2008

Thanks for the info and support! I'm with you - anything that comes off now is gravy, but I would be happy to stay here. I will never be skinny, but I don't think that interests me anymore anyway!

Good luck on rippin' your abs - your probably more ripped than you think...

AJCM · July 2008

Thanks Mireille! I still don't believe it - I'm a natural "chubster" so it's just so exciting!
:flowerforyou:
[/quote]
you dont look chubby at all girl! you look great!
[/quote]

Thanks! You're kind. :flowerforyou:

arewethereyet · July 2008

I love MFP! I was at plateau but not worried because I am in this for EVER for healthy life.

Went to the beach last week for July 4th celebration. I continued to exercise, but not my normal Elip machine. Swam, walked on the beach at sunset (poor me!) but ate more calories than I had been.

I am not sure if it was adding the calories, or shocking my body with new type of exercise but the scale finally moved. WOO HOO!

I havent been 156lbs in 10 years. More than that my 22 yr old son picked up on my healthy changes and HE LOST 20 lbs ...I am happy to be alive. Healthy. And feeling young. ( my neice actually said I look younger!)

AJCM · July 2008

Tam - I rarely only ate 1200 cals, as I also ate my exercise cals, but eating more is agreeing with me for sure! :flowerforyou:

Diva - thanks! You are doing great - keep at it! :flowerforyou:

Laywalkalot - I compltely agree! When I decided I was happy at this weight, the weight started to move again. I just want to be healthy; I'll never be a supermodel. :flowerforyou:

Travis - yes! I think I was in starvation mode, so thanks for posting that note. I was at the point where I would eat 1200 cals, and not be hungry at all. I wouldn't even feel like eating. I think my body had sort of shut down into "stand by".

Mamared - thanks, and congrats on your success! :flowerforyou:

Kimber - thanks girl! :flowerforyou: I'll never see the kind of numbers you see on the scale, but I can dare to dream!

Arewethereyet - CONGRATS! You must feel awesome! :flowerforyou:

banks1850 · July 2008

Don't kid youself AJ, your lookin pretty good IMO! :bigsmile:

AJCM · July 2008

Thanks Banks

AlbertSchwartz · July 2008

Hi shelly, the deficit is the differance between the amount your body needs to stay as it is (maintain) and the reduced amount we eat to lose weight. If you have a long way to go the deficit can be faily large, 500 cals a day say. but as you get closer and closer to your target weight you body can't handle as big a differance in calories between what it needs and what it gets, so you close the gap slightly, to say 200 or 300 cals. Hope that answers you

Al

northernmama705 · July 2008

thanks for starting this post AJCM. I have been at a standstill for weeks now. So after reading this thread I went back to my goals and saw that I had 2lbs per week as a goal. I changed it to a more realistic (for me) goal of 1 lb per week and noticed I went from 1200 calories ot 1550!! Hopefully eating more will help break my plateau. I am only half way to my goal. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks to all for the comments on this topic, very helpful:flowerforyou:

banks1850 · July 2008

Good explaination Al, this one is always so hard for me to describe, I'm a left brain, so for me, numbers are always easy. It's hard, sometimes, for me to translate my geek brain into normal human explainations. Thank guy!

PrincessLaundry · July 2008

Exactly... chow it girlie!

sindyb9 · July 2008

I am in a plateau now almost 4 weeks no weight loss or gain. I was told to eat more as well and I am hoping this works. But not sure how much to eat? I exercise everyday and burn 350 weekdays and 425 on week ends. I think my bmr is 1550 with a 740 cal dificit. What do you think?

How to break a plateau... EAT MORE!!! Scary, I know...

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