Biting the bullet

sunshine79

I'm biting the bullet and have 'eaten back' some of my exercise calories today and will continue to do so. I'm working really hard to make sure my net cals are never lower than 1200. This may be the thing that breaks my (2 month long) plateau?:explode:

- I'm eating several times a day and really working on getting protein into each meal
- I'm weight training 3 x per week
- I'm doing intervals (HIIT)
- I'm trying to limit my carbs
- My sodium is always low
- I don't consume too much processed sugar or many processed foods
- I'm drinking my water and still nothing!:sad: :sad: :sad:

I'm not losing inches, weight and neither has my body fat percentage gone down.

I'm anxious about eating more but it's worth a try. Looking back at my food diary my net has often been quite low. As I'm only just starting with the eating back calories thing, how long before I can expect to see some inch/weight loss?

I have 10lbs to lose I'm currently 149lbs. Any other advice?????? I need all the help I can get :happy:

SayLiLIG

i had a friend of mine lose about 105 pounds in a year and about 5 months in he hit a plateau. So he gave himself a week of "crap eating" and he actually LOST weight. And then after that week he would start back on healthier food. But about every 2 1/2 months after that he would hit a plateau and he would give himself that week of no restriction. I dont know how well that works with females, but it may be worth a try lol.

It wasnt total crap...just stuff he wouldnt normally indulge in. It wasnt fast food everyday.

lauble

I finally had to bite the bullet too and eat back some of my exercise calories...I have been doing that for about a month now and the weight is coming off much easier.

Sasha_Bear

I think you got the right idea Sunshine, I was stuck for 2 weeks when I decided to look back at my diary I noticed I was only eating about 800 calories a day. That week I concentrated on making sure I ate my recommended calories and the weight starting shedding again. It only took that one week for me to see the difference.

rebysue

I did the same thing a while back. I wasn't losing weight and someone told me to eat more. It sounded so WRONG! But I was willing to try anything. I lost weight (a couple of pounds actually) the first week of eating back my exercise calories!

deannarey13

If you are doing HIIT and strength traning, you likely need WAY more calories.

Just to give you a comparison - I work out hard 5 days per week and weigh 135lb (the less a person weighs the less calories they need) and according to my BodyMedia (a device that tracks all calorie burn throughout the day) I burn on average about 2,100 calories on a REST day. If I netted 1200 calories, I wouldn't lose any weight either.

I would recommend uping your calorie intake to at least 1500 or more.

Sasha_Bear

i had a friend of mine lose about 105 pounds in a year and about 5 months in he hit a plateau. So he gave himself a week of "crap eating" and he actually LOST weight. And then after that week he would start back on healthier food. But about every 2 1/2 months after that he would hit a plateau and he would give himself that week of no restriction. I dont know how well that works with females, but it may be worth a try lol.

It wasnt total crap...just stuff he wouldnt normally indulge in. It wasnt fast food everyday.

Exactly it's like zig zagging sometimes you have to shock your metabolism back into action!

deannarey13

If you are doing HIIT and strength traning, you likely need WAY more calories.

Just to give you a comparison - I work out hard 5 days per week and weigh 135lb (the less a person weighs the less calories they need) and according to my BodyMedia (a device that tracks all calorie burn throughout the day) I burn on average about 2,100 calories on a REST day. If I netted 1200 calories, I wouldn't lose any weight either.

I would recommend uping your calorie intake to at least 1500 or more.

I would say you should net 1500 or more cals. I would change it so that is your base and then ALSO eat back calories burned. If you burn 500 at the gym, you would then eat 2000 for the day.

Muscle burns more calories than fat. I would definitely say that your metabolism is faster than you think and if you don't feed it, it's going to come to a halt which is what appears to be happening.

meribethd

How tall are you?

I am 5'6" and hovering in the high 140s and also want to lose ten pounds. I've been plateaued for quite a while now. I work out six days a week and have been scared to eat all my exercise calories, but I think I'm going to give it a shot. I'm not sure what else to do! I am doing similar things to you in terms of diet (keeping an eye on carbs, protein w/each meal, limited processed foods, low sodium) but these last few pounds are seriously slow going.

I have thought about changing my workout routine but don't know what to do about it yet. Currently I do the 30 day shred/circuit training at least 3 or 4 times a week, started Turbo Jam (cardio party), I hike, I walk and run on the treadmill. Maybe heavier weights?

Anyway--this whole post is me saying I am right there with you. I hope the suggestions people have for you help. I'll be taking some of them into consideration myself. Good luck and keep up the good work!!

sunshine79

If you are doing HIIT and strength traning, you likely need WAY more calories.

Just to give you a comparison - I work out hard 5 days per week and weigh 135lb (the less a person weighs the less calories they need) and according to my BodyMedia (a device that tracks all calorie burn throughout the day) I burn on average about 2,100 calories on a REST day. If I netted 1200 calories, I wouldn't lose any weight either.

I would recommend upping your calorie intake to at least 1500 or more.

Thank you so much for your helpful information. I think I will increase my intake but I will do it incrementally maybe increase by 100 each week dependent on the results. I think you're right and I probably could eat much more than I am at present - I'm just really nervous about gaining weight but seeing as I work out intensely 5 times per week I think you're probably right.

Thanks

sunshine79

How tall are you?

I am 5'6" and hovering in the high 140s and also want to lose ten pounds. I've been plateaued for quite a while now. I work out six days a week and have been scared to eat all my exercise calories, but I think I'm going to give it a shot. I'm not sure what else to do! I am doing similar things to you in terms of diet (keeping an eye on carbs, protein w/each meal, limited processed foods, low sodium) but these last few pounds are seriously slow going.

I have thought about changing my workout routine but don't know what to do about it yet. Currently I do the 30 day shred/circuit training at least 3 or 4 times a week, started Turbo Jam (cardio party), I hike, I walk and run on the treadmill. Maybe heavier weights?

Anyway--this whole post is me saying I am right there with you. I hope the suggestions people have for you help. I'll be taking some of them into consideration myself. Good luck and keep up the good work!!

I'm 5' 5" and stuck at exactly 149.6lbs!!!!!

I think changing up your workout routine is the best idea. I have a personal trainer and he regularly changes my program and I do notice the difference in my body (although not the weight.... yet)

My PT taught me that it is important, even for women, to use the heaviest weights they can manage. If you can do 12 reps of an exercise with the weights you're using then go heavier, by the last rep you should feel like you couldn't possibly do any more. This really works and I've seen a lot of strength gains from increasing my weights.

I have turbo jam but it's not really intense enough for me.

I'll send you a friend request, it's be great to share ideas on how to lose this stubborn 10lbs.

sunshine79

I finally had to bite the bullet too and eat back some of my exercise calories...I have been doing that for about a month now and the weight is coming off much easier.

This is really encouraging - thanks for taking the time to share this. I hope the same happens to me now I'm eating those calories back:happy: :happy:

MsFitnFabulous

i had a friend of mine lose about 105 pounds in a year and about 5 months in he hit a plateau. So he gave himself a week of "crap eating" and he actually LOST weight. And then after that week hewould start back on healthier food. But about every 2 1/2 months after that he would hit a plateau and he would give himself that week of no restriction. I dont know how well that works with females, but it may be worth a try lol.

It wasnt total crap...just stuff he wouldnt normally indulge in. It wasnt fast food everyday.

I would agree shock your system a bit, but only in a healthy way. I hardly ever eat the same amount daily. I've heard that fasting for 12 hours can also help. Whatever you decide you can try it for a week to see and change back if it's not working.

meribethd

I'm 5' 5" and stuck at exactly 149.6lbs!!!!!

I think changing up your workout routine is the best idea. I have a personal trainer and he regularly changes my program and I do notice the difference in my body (although not the weight.... yet)

My PT taught me that it is important, even for women, to use the heaviest weights they can manage. If you can do 12 reps of an exercise with the weights you're using then go heavier, by the last rep you should feel like you couldn't possibly do any more. This really works and I've seen a lot of strength gains from increasing my weights.

I have turbo jam but it's not really intense enough for me.

I'll send you a friend request, it's be great to share ideas on how to lose this stubborn 10lbs.

That sounds great!

My husband used to lift weights and he has been encouraging me to incorporate real, honest to goodness strength training into my routine, too. Maybe adding that in a couple of days a week will be helpful.

I look forward to sharing ideas with you!

sunshine79

i had a friend of mine lose about 105 pounds in a year and about 5 months in he hit a plateau. So he gave himself a week of "crap eating" and he actually LOST weight. And then after that week hewould start back on healthier food. But about every 2 1/2 months after that he would hit a plateau and he would give himself that week of no restriction. I dont know how well that works with females, but it may be worth a try lol.

It wasnt total crap...just stuff he wouldnt normally indulge in. It wasnt fast food everyday.

I would agree shock your system a bit, but only in a healthy way. I hardly ever eat the same amount daily. I've heard that fasting for 12 hours can also help. Whatever you decide you can try it for a week to see and change back if it's not working.

I will do just that - try it for a week and watch VERY closely. If it's not having the desired affect I'll change my approach. I am not giving up, I'll find the key to unlocking my weight loss in the very near future - in Jesus name I WILL!!!