Off The Plateau!

natskedat

Hi All! I'm looking for personal account information on how people get off plateaus. I cite all the textbooks in the world, but none of it means a thing until real people tell real stories.

How long were you on your plateau?
Did you increase your calories? What were your starting numbers vs. your increased numbers?
Did you exercise more? What were you doing and what did you change?
Did you change your nutrient intake? What did you increase/decrease?

Thanks so much! Your help is greatly appreciated!

ChrisR0128

I just got off one that lasted almost 4 weeks. I think what got me off mine is I switched up exercise routine. For a week I stopped doing weight training and did nothing but work on my running. the scale started moving agian, going to do this for another week then add my weight training agian. I plan on if it happens agian to drop running and do only weight training.

MamaGraves2

bump!! Great thread.

hummzz

My first Plateau was at about 20 lbs lost. I was there for about a month or so. I continued about my regular routine and still wasn't losing weight. So I started to eat things that weren't on my regime but still staying within my cals and not quite exercising as much for about 2 weeks. Then went back to my regular "healthy" food intake and exercise and "VOILA" I lost almost 10 lbs in 2 weeks time and been steady since until recently which I'm close to another 20 lb loss mark. Might have to do the same thing as before.

I think there may be something to that calorie zig zag stuff they talk about.

lsd007

I'm not sure mine would be classified as a plateau, it only lasted three weeks BUT I increased my calories from 1,200 to 1,450 and zigzagged those calories so I ate more some days and less others, but with an average of 1,450 at the end of the week. I have been losing steadily since.

Panda86

I plateaued recently after having a miscarriage. I could not get the few lbs that I gained off. I started zigzagging my calories and working out more, and I lost 1.2 lbs last week. My calorie intake was 1527, 1527,1222,1800,1527,1375,1680. Usually I eat my exercise calories (and this worked well for the first 25 lbs of my fat loss), but I didn't when zigzagging because the site I used already factored that into the equation. Worked like a charm. Its easy to do, too. You can try it using your exercise calories. Some days only eat a few (if you are hungry), the next eat most of them. The next only eat half... etc. As far as workouts, I do a combination of cardio AND strength training (building muscle will give you a higher BMR, so you burn more even while resting). Also, I tried to eat more lean protein and get most of my carbs from fruits and veggies. Hope that was helpful

therealangd

I had a 4 week plateau in January/February. I increased my calories by 100 / day. Then I had another 4/5 week one in April. I think between going on vacation and eating lots and walking lots, then getting sick and not eating anything and not exercising is what did it that time.

aristel

I was in a plateay for almost 2 months... (I´m off now)
I increase cardio workout with high intensity intervals (elliptical, stationary bike and long walks)... I rest one or two days a week
I ate almost all my calories from exercise and vary my diet. Some days I eat more than others (zig-zagging calories).. Watch your sodium daily intake, no more than 2000 mg.. Tonnes of water, I drink 3 to 4 liters daily.

Drunkadelic

Zig-zagging helped me break a 3 week plateau

joannbuist23

bump...I havn't hit a plateau yet but I'm sure eventually I will so it will be nice to look back at this.

monkeymomof3

I plateaued recently after having a miscarriage. I could not get the few lbs that I gained off. I started zigzagging my calories and working out more, and I lost 1.2 lbs last week. My calorie intake was 1527, 1527,1222,1800,1527,1375,1680. Usually I eat my exercise calories (and this worked well for the first 25 lbs of my fat loss), but I didn't when zigzagging because the site I used already factored that into the equation. Worked like a charm. Its easy to do, too. You can try it using your exercise calories. Some days only eat a few (if you are hungry), the next eat most of them. The next only eat half... etc. As far as workouts, I do a combination of cardio AND strength training (building muscle will give you a higher BMR, so you burn more even while resting). Also, I tried to eat more lean protein and get most of my carbs from fruits and veggies. Hope that was helpful

What site gave you zig zag guidelines?! I would love some help with this!!!

stormieweather

I had a 3 month plateau last year. I tried everything I could think of at the time. Finally, gave myself 2 months off of reduced calories and strenuous exercise. I stlll walked and did yoga. The idea was to reset my metabolism.

I got a FitBit to measure actual calories burned for Christmas. Then, I dropped calories by 500 and began working out again the beginning of this year and lost weight - 12 pounds.

Then I hit another plateau. This one went for 6 weeks. So I dropped calories another 100, made it a point to hit my protein goals, increased water intake to at least 100oz per day and began the most difficult type of exercise for me - running (more like shuffling and wheezing, at first, lol). I do it every other day, at least a mile. Since April 25, I've lost another 6.5 pounds for a total of 18.5 pounds so far this year.

natskedat

These are great! Thanks to all!

Fruit4dessert

I've hit various plateaus over the years. What has worked for me is to change my exercise routine dramatically, in the direction of being gentler on my body, even if it means spending more actual time exercising. I take it to mean that my body has too much stress and stress hormone (cortisol?) from all the strenuous activity, which makes it harder to lose fat.

Some examples: one time, I went all-yoga 7 days a week for a month, taking a break from cardio/weights, and that broke the plateau. Another time, I stopped lifting heavier weights and went really low-weight/hi-rep for a month, and again, I moved past the plateau. Most recently, I decreased the intense cardio, HIIT, intervals etc. and started doing LSD (long, slow distance) walks, hikes, and other steady-state cardio, and that busted my weight-loss plateau.

Interestingly, fiddling with my diet hasn't helped me get past plateaus. I've tried the zig-zagging that works for so many people with no noticeable plateau-busting. I don't want to eat too little (I refuse to go below 1200 cal./day) and if I eat too much, I gain.

I suppose it really is individual, and different things work for different people. When I hit a plateau, it seems to be my body telling me that I'm creating too many stress hormones from high intensity workouts, and to ease up a bit. HTH!

Qarol

What helped one of my plateaus (I get them often) was drinking more water, even more than the minimum 8 glasses. Another was helped by lowering my carb intake a bit.

angeldiet77

I was on one for two weeks and just the last two days, I was babysitting my 4-year old nephew and was running around with him and driving back and forth 50 miles between my sister's and my house. I lost another 3 lbs so quickly from my last weigh in!

I guess different activities on a normal day could do it!

v0ss3

i had a plateau for like a couple weeks (if that counts) after i lost the first 20lbs so i changed up my workout routine, i was usually doing 3x cardio (running) 2x strength training and so i flipped it to 3x a week strength training, changed up the routine itself like upping weights, changing order, adding in new moves taking out ones i hated, changed my cardio (shin splint) to interval hiking or elliptical. I also upped my calories from around 1600-1750 to 2000 (5'10" 230 lb female). Did the trick. going to have to do more zig zagging to ward off future plateaus, i also go out for dinner 1-3x a week so i think those spikes in calories might help been losing about 2lbs a week since

liamsmummy09

bump!