Six week plateau...BUSTED! Yay!

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  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    I think you'll find your metabolism bounces back from eating too low this time. I really think it is severely impacted when you eat too low for a VERY long time - not a few months.

    But, yes.. I've learned you have to eat more to lose more. Seems so very weird, but it is true. :)
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    i am so glad to hear this method actually worked for someone! i've been stuck for the last month or so and was really thinking that i'd lost all the weight i was going to lose. i had several people tell me to adjust my calories to be taking in more but didn't see how that would possibly cause me to lose more. just started the increased intake yesterday so now i'm determined to stick with it. thank you for sharing your success and good luck!!

    It worked for me too. I hit my goal weight (150lbs) in Sept 2010. I maintained my 150lbs through the holiday season and through 3 injuries that kept me out of the gym (sometimes for weeks on end). I was very consistent. Then I had a few days where I ate MORE than the calories I'd been eating for months and months -- within a couple days, I had lost weight. Went back to my "normal" calories and I went right back to 150lbs. I upp'ed them 2 weeks ago just to see what happened - and lost 4lbs!
  • heather0416
    heather0416 Posts: 118 Member
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    Couldn't agree more. I was at a plateu for about a month. Husband told me to up my net. After that I've lost about 5lbs in the last two weeks. Keep up the good work!
  • digidan
    digidan Posts: 3
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    Remember weight is not the only measure of losing weight, body composition is also a huge part. During most plateau's people are swapping fat weight for lean muscle mass. Upping calories during this time can help but it will usually resolve itself naturally once your body adjusts to the new composition. There are cheap tools you can buy at places like Academy that will measure your body comp, I use one that I grip and it measures via electrical resistance. Calipers can also measure this as can a water submersion test. Just keep at it and you'll get there.
  • Black_Swan
    Black_Swan Posts: 770 Member
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    Hey, I did kind of the same thing and it helped me too!! Congrats to us:)!
  • denisemichele
    denisemichele Posts: 35 Member
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    Question-When everyone is "upping" their calories-eating back their exercise calories-what is everyone eating?? Another salad? anther piece of chicken? a bag of brocolli? By the time I exercise -it is evening and I can nevergauge how many calories I will burn until I am done exercising. So at 7:00 at night-what should I eat??
  • myboysmomx2
    myboysmomx2 Posts: 505 Member
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    Great post! Thanks for sharing!
  • Neize
    Neize Posts: 301 Member
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    Thanks for the tip! It's as if you are me because I started with the same weight and we are the same height. I'm stuck at 155/156 I'm definitely going to change things up...
  • Kimrenaud
    Kimrenaud Posts: 118 Member
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    Let me start off by saying I am 5'7" and started MFP in February at 175. I was eating 1200 calories a day and lost weight fast. I had MFP set for a rapid weight loss because I thought, who wants to lose weight slowly? Not me! I ate some exercise calories back, but net calories brought me to between 1100-1200 calories/day. I was losing between 1 and 2 pounds per week, cruising right along, until the end of March/beginning of April. Then the plateau started where I bounced around between 159-161 pounds (I weigh daily). After three weeks of no scale movement (or inches) I decided to up my calories. After reading these message boards and researching plateaus online, I realized I wasn't eating enough. I am now a believer that you must eat to lose!

    After three weeks of eating 1450 calories a day (net) and eating back exercise calories, the scale started moving again. I probably screwed up my metabolism a bit by eating too few calories. I am now losing about 0.5 pounds/week which is probably about right as I have about 13 pounds until goal. I didn't want to believe that I had to readjust and lose slowly in the final stretch but it is true. I have accepted that there is no way I will lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks anymore and I am just thrilled the scale seems to be moving again.

    So for my fellow plateau sufferers, be patient and make sure you are eating enough!
    I tried to do this too but ended up gaining 10 lbs back.......i am fluctuating between 3-5 lbs daily not sure what it is I am doing wrong. I am exercising 4 times a week, jog walking, strength training, eating more or eating less trying to change it up.... is it metformin, menopause, thyroid that it is making this so hard... I stay at 1200 cal for the most part...I was just reading maybe I should try reducing carbs to 20 a meal instead of what dietitian recommended at 30 carbs per meal 3x a day with 2 15 carb snacks. Let me know your thoughts add me as your friend!.
  • Kimrenaud
    Kimrenaud Posts: 118 Member
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    Question-When everyone is "upping" their calories-eating back their exercise calories-what is everyone eating?? Another salad? anther piece of chicken? a bag of brocolli? By the time I exercise -it is evening and I can nevergauge how many calories I will burn until I am done exercising. So at 7:00 at night-what should I eat??

    Great question! I wanna know also!
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    Question-When everyone is "upping" their calories-eating back their exercise calories-what is everyone eating?? Another salad? anther piece of chicken? a bag of brocolli? By the time I exercise -it is evening and I can nevergauge how many calories I will burn until I am done exercising. So at 7:00 at night-what should I eat??

    Great question! I wanna know also!

    I plan my meals out the night before or in the morning. If I know I'll be low on calories I'll add a snack of fruits, nuts, or hummus or I'll add avocado slices to my wraps, sandwiches, or salads. Another good one is to use olive oil when cooking instead of the spray oil. It's tough when the day is done and you still have 200 calories left. Oh, I am also not above eating peanut butter straight off a spoon. :blushing:
  • tsmith6569
    tsmith6569 Posts: 63
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    zig zagging calories really worked for me and I did it the simple way staying at 1200 calories for a few days then up to 1400-1500 for a day , then back again. I am small framed and although I KNOW it's not advisable I would also do a jump start of about 800 calories a day, then 1000, then bounce back up. I changed up my exercising in simple little ways like adding dance steps or changing the incline/speed on the treadmill. I have had to re-set my goal weight LOWER twice now and have met both goals so I am extremely happy with the results and will re-set that goal at least once more!
  • ItsLessOfMe
    ItsLessOfMe Posts: 374 Member
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    I was eating bacl my cals and not loosing (I exercise tons) I got out of my plateu by eat 1,200 cals a day no matter what. So I guess I created a deficit and now I'm loosing again. Am I harming my metabolism? I'm happy loosing I just dont know when my body is gonna stop loosing again now that I'm eating so few amount of cals for my activity level
  • crisanderson27
    crisanderson27 Posts: 5,343 Member
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    Question-When everyone is "upping" their calories-eating back their exercise calories-what is everyone eating?? Another salad? anther piece of chicken? a bag of brocolli? By the time I exercise -it is evening and I can nevergauge how many calories I will burn until I am done exercising. So at 7:00 at night-what should I eat??

    First...pick a number that is usually under what you burn on exercise days. For example, I average 300-400 calories strength training every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday...so I pick 200-250 calories and add it to my target for that day before I even begin. This gives me a goal number to spread into my days meals. For example, a 1oz serving of cashews is 160 calories, and a string cheese is about 60...so at lunch time I'll toss one of each in (see the trend, small volume, high calorie!), and it helps. I will also add a mint oreo or two to my pre and post workout protien shakes for an extra 70-140 calories. Little things go a long way to fill the gaps. I can comfortably feed myself on 1500 calories, and some days with my current zig zag routine, and exercise, I'm needing to eat almost 3000 calories lol. I most certainly don't eat twice the volume in food though...I simply up the caloric content of the food I'm eating.

    As for what you can eat when you're stuck late in the evening with calories to make up? Some people say anything, and I tend to agree from experience. But, at the same time...I try to limit those things to low carb, NO processed sugar, protien or fiber based snacks. Things like cottage cheese, lean meat, etc.

    Cris
  • mvln
    mvln Posts: 96 Member
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    Bump
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    What do I eat when I eat back my calories?

    Well. Sometimes it may mean I can have a larger piece of fish or another piece of chicken with dinner (if I know I'm going to work out). I may have a protein shake. Or I'll have a snack "meal" - where I'll have cottage cheese, almonds, some fruit and maybe a snack that I want - like bagels. It really depends on if I decide to eat my exercise calories BEFORE I exercise or after. Sometimes if I have something going on, I will eat them before I even workout. It's nice to be able to enjoy a nice dinner and even have a little extra. :)
  • anniecg1
    anniecg1 Posts: 10 Member
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    These replys are so helpful. I started in March and lost 8 # now have been up and down currently up 4 pounds after being away for 3 days. . I exercise every other day and try for 1200 calories, Is that too few ? I do eat back my exercise calories. Thanks
  • crisanderson27
    crisanderson27 Posts: 5,343 Member
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    These replys are so helpful. I started in March and lost 8 # now have been up and down currently up 4 pounds after being away for 3 days. . I exercise every other day and try for 1200 calories, Is that too few ? I do eat back my exercise calories. Thanks

    There's so many variables it's impossible to say if it's too few or not. How do you log your calories (optimistic, or conservatively?), how do you log your exercise calories (if you're using the exercises given on the site...they're pretty optimistic)? How tall are you, what's your total loss goal? If you're 5'11", 1200 is probably going to be too few regardless of what the 'accepted minimum' is. If you're 4'11" on the other hand...you could probably get away with less. If you have a substantial amount to lose (25lbs+), you can usually get away with fewer calories for awhile...but really the only one who can safely make those determinations is you.

    I know that wasn't very helpful...but to be honest...there's SO many opinions on this site, and they're all based on almost no information given by the person posting the question. It's not that any of them are 'wrong'...it's that unless someone has ALL the specifics...any advice is going to be very generalized, and thus open to interpretation and flawed.

    One other thing to mention is that how MANY calories you're eating is far less relevant than what KIND of calories you're eating. Whole, clean foods will always give the best results. If you're eating 1200 calories of twinkies and McDonalds (even the 'healthy' choices)...no power in the world is going to help you lose weight.

    Cris
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    I am 5'6"" and weigh 180 pounds after losing 15 since January 1st. Scales are stuck stuck stuck. MFP set to lose 1 pound per week. My calorie allowance is 1340. Over the last month I have been jogging or walking most dats and eat my exercise calories on top and usually eat just under my target on weekdays and at weekends more(altho I step up excersise to allow for extra input)
    Very despondent to be very food focussed and pavement pounding at 5 miles per day and not losing. Please someone help me! I would like to lose another 14 before my hols in august

    Hi there! do you have a HRM? Walking is a good start..I'm not sure what the ratio is jogging/walking, but when I walk for an hour outside at a brisk pace, I'll only burn around 200 calories. Not much...and can be eaten in a second. You may need to up your cardio. Take some classes etc, and really get the heart rate up. Walking is a super start, and is very healthy, but for continual weight loss, you will probably need to bump up the cardio. HTH!! :-)
  • ccbloom1
    ccbloom1 Posts: 82 Member
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    After a 3 wk plateau, I'm upping my net cals to 1400 for a few days to see what will happen. I burn 300-600 cals/day from exercise, and after doing a report of my net cals for the last 30 days, I'm well below 1200 most days. I'm hoping this will help me keep moving forward on this journey since it can be a bit depressing working so hard every day and not seeing any movement on the scale for so long!

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