Need Help

jghoffman

I needs some advice. I have plateaued in my weight loss for the past three weeks. I have examined my diet and my workout habits and I am not sure what needs to be adjusted. I utilize MFP to count all my calories and to set my calorie goal. According to the calculations based on the fact I am male, 30, 6'1", work a desk job, and workout 5 times a week on an average of 45 minutes I should be eating no more then 1530 calories a day. I started at 236 lbs and I am currently at 222. I eat 6 times a day between every 2-3 hrs. A typical day for me is as follows:

Breakfast 260 cal
3 egg whites
1/2 cup of chopped green peppers
2 strips turkey bacon
1/4 regular shredded Cheddar cheese

Lunch 530 cal
2 chicken breast - Tyson grilled
1 cup Veggies - Green Giant Steamers
1/2 black beans - generic

Dinner 350 cal
4 oz Pot Roast
2/3 cup Veggies
1/3 cup Instant Mash Potatoes

Snacks 899 cal
2 Proteins shakes - 1st Phorm Strawberry - once morning before workout and one afternoon with snack
1 srv Plain Oatmeal - afternoon snack
1 Cliff Bar - mid morning before workout
1 srv Almonds - right before bed

Dinner is not the same every night but the rest is pretty consistent. I'll switch up the protein at lunch and veggies but the portions are generally similar. Now I wear a heart rate monitor when I workout to help get a more accurate idea of how much I am burning. I have a pretty steady routine of 30 minutes of cardio with 10 minutes full body workout such as squats, planks, dumbbell shoulder press, and push-ups three days a week. Two days a week I do a boot camp class that is a mixture of aerobics and resistance training. On average I burn between 700 and 750 cals according to my heart rate monitor.

So that gives me 2039 - 700 for a net of 1339 calories in a day. Advice?

JoSa37

I'm not sure what your workout entails but try mixing it up for a few weeks. Cut down on Cardio and up your resistance training. Also try alternating your cardio workouts by trying different forms like bike, swim, or row. Maybe try intervals while doing cardio.

Xaspar

You could try changing your strategy for a week. Go to the 'Goals' page and look at the "calories burned from daily activity" number and don't count 'additional' exercise to your daily activity total. Add the calories burned from the exercise you are logging, then subtract 750 calories. Make that your daily goal for a week and DRINK YOUR WATER!
Example.
I am 5'6 and weigh 166 pounds. My calories burned from daily activity (set at sedentary and without taking into account activity that is dedicated as 'exercise') is 1800. I work out to the tune of 400 calories so I add that to the 1800 and get 2400 calories burned for the day. 2400- 750 = 1650 calories. (which should give me a 1.5 pound weight loss for the week.)
Now my daily goal is 1200 (unless I work out).
If your activity level is set higher because your EVERY DAY activity (not counting dedicated exercise calories) is higher (i.e job with lots of lifting or on your feet all day etc.) then your daily calorie burn would be higher too.
If you are counting your exercise calories twice (by setting your status as moderate or higher activity, when in reality the only extra exercise you are getting is when you specifically exercise and then you add that in) well that could be an issue too.

Just a thought, and hopefully it is helpful ... Take a look and see how it works out for you.

kerikris

How much water are you drinking? Try consuming a minimum of 74 ounces to flush your system.

jghoffman

How much water are you drinking? Try consuming a minimum of 74 ounces to flush your system.

I drink almost a gallon a day.

Kushforceones

I think that you should probably drop your calorie goal. I dropped 500 calories off of their reccomended amount and I exagerate my calories.. for example if I eat a egg sandwich I might add an egg sandwich with cheese. Just to be sure I am not going over. Also if I walk for 60 minutes I might only log 45 so it doesn't give me too many extra calories. It works pretty well for me. I am losing about 1.5 - 2 lbs per week.