Bdy Plateaued advice from people who know what they are talk

bellamia88

Please READ everything first before commenting thanks I don't want any misunderstandings

I started using MFP towards the end of January and have started taking in 1530 cals a day for about two weeks before switching it back down to 1350 and i've been alternating between the two every 2-3 weeks and up till April lost 18 pounds. I normally excercise 4-5 times a week doing bootcamp cardio 3 times and muscle once a week and on the odd day will go swimming or for a bike ride. I also work a very physical job once a week usually on my feet for 4 or 7 hours pushing heavy dish carts or pacing back and fourth to serve people. Since the month of April I have not lost any weight up to this date and i'm stuck at 200 pounds now. I'm a little lost at this point am I suppose to up my calories a little more or bring them down?

ladyhawk00

There are some good ideas for breaking plateaus in this thread:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/20343-how-i-have-avoided-plateauing-length-warning

aloya84

I went through the same thing. I lost 9 lbs. in 3 weeks doing bootcamp and counting calories and then for the next three weeks I didn't lose anything. I actually gained a pound. My bootcamp ended last week so I joined the gym. I was so frustrated and ready to give up but found out I wasn't eating enough calories (1200 a day) so I went up to 1400 and just kept doing what I was doing, never quit, and I've started to lose weight again. I'm anxious to see what advice others can give! Good luck!

gatorflyer

First thing I would suggest is taking a look at what you are eating. Make sure you aren't consuming too much salt and sugar and that you truly are counting every single calorie of everything that goes into your mouth. Make sure you are drinking LOTS of water every day and cut out the sweet drinks if there are any. The second thing I would suggest is changing things up. Pick a calorie count and stick to that one for more than just 2 weeks. You may want to go to 1300 or 1400 and stay there for a period of time. I would also change something up with your exercise routine. Maybe add (or reduce) an extra 5 minutes of one thing and see if that makes any difference. Try wearing a heart rate monitor to truly track how much youa re burning diuring exercise and especially during that one day a week that you have that strenuouos work day. Also, it sounds like you are doing a fair amount of exercise. Remember that you could also be building muscle. which is why you may not be seeing it on the scale. FInally, remember that everyone goes thru this. You just have to work thru it, keep doing healthy things and you will soon start to see results again.

melsinct

It sounds like you aren't eating enough calories for your activity level. Make sure you have the MFP settings accurate (that lightly active, sedentary choice question) and log your exercising. I am thinking you should be eating more on the order of 1800 calories (just an educated guess). I just went through this (three weeks of bouncing up and down 4 pounds) and had to up my calories. It seems counter-intuitive but it is true, you need to eat to lose!

BigBoneSista

Please READ everything first before commenting thanks I don't want any misunderstandings

I started using MFP towards the end of January and have started taking in 1530 cals a day for about two weeks before switching it back down to 1350 and i've been alternating between the two every 2-3 weeks and up till April lost 18 pounds. I normally excercise 4-5 times a week doing bootcamp cardio 3 times and muscle once a week and on the odd day will go swimming or for a bike ride. I also work a very physical job once a week usually on my feet for 4 or 7 hours pushing heavy dish carts or pacing back and fourth to serve people. Since the month of April I have not lost any weight up to this date and i'm stuck at 200 pounds now. I'm a little lost at this point am I suppose to up my calories a little more or bring them down?

Hi. I weigh 206lbs right now and on the days I exercise according to my Bodymedia I burn close to 3500 calories a day. MFP has me set at 1390 calories daily without exercise losing 1.5 a week. My deficit is 1,000. Normally on a day I exercise I burn 600 calories so I have to eat around 1900 calories according to MFP on those days. I do around 1600-1700. I basically sit around most of the day on my job.

Comparing you to me...I definitely think you are under-eating. I would up it to at least between 1700-1900 calories on the days you exercise and 1490 on the days you don't. You are highly more active then I am so I would say its safe to assume you burn more than 3500 calories a day on the days you exercise as well.

bellamia88

Thanks I will up my calories to 1700 and see if that makes any difference.

tillytiger

Ive been stuck on my plateua since early feb! Last september I lost 7lbs then nothing... i was stuck. Then the same again in january, then I stuck again. But this week I had a breakthrough (I think) and managed to shift a couple of pounds. I decided to stop working out for a week, and stopped obsessing so much and it seems to be working so far. I'm going to stick to this so a bit and see if I have finally broke though! Looks like my body just needed a big mix up every now and again to keep it guessing!

BigBoneSista

Ive been stuck on my plateua since early feb! Last september I lost 7lbs then nothing... i was stuck. Then the same again in january, then I stuck again. But this week I had a breakthrough (I think) and managed to shift a couple of pounds. I decided to stop working out for a week, and stopped obsessing so much and it seems to be working so far. I'm going to stick to this so a bit and see if I have finally broke though! Looks like my body just needed a big mix up every now and again to keep it guessing!

When you stopped exercising did you lower your calorie intake? If not then you probably wasn't eating enough on the days you were exercising so your body wasn't responding. So when you start back exercising just eat a little be more and see what kind of results you have.

bellamia88

Ive been stuck on my plateua since early feb! Last september I lost 7lbs then nothing... i was stuck. Then the same again in january, then I stuck again. But this week I had a breakthrough (I think) and managed to shift a couple of pounds. I decided to stop working out for a week, and stopped obsessing so much and it seems to be working so far. I'm going to stick to this so a bit and see if I have finally broke though! Looks like my body just needed a big mix up every now and again to keep it guessing!

So weird I noticed the same about myself too the weeks I got very lazy and would feel like i've gained 10 pounds I actually would LOSE and i'd be so dumbstruck but the weeks I actually work hard and eat clean my body doesn't seem to want to let up and now that i'm 10 pounds away from my mini goal and 3 weeks away from my big vacation this ain't making me feel to happy.