In desperate need of advice.

gail2207

Hi all.

I seem to have reached a plateau and i'm not sure what to do. The facts are I go to the gym or run every day, doing 20-30 mins of cardio (usually HIIT). I also do 10-15 minutes of weights when I can get in to the gym.

I'm on a diet of 1200 calories a day (though it's not really a diet for me, more a lifestyle as i've been eating 1200 for about 2 years now). I eat back my exercise calories but I only started doing that a week ago which I thought might help with the plateau I seem to be at. At first it did and I lost another 1lb, but at the moment I am doing exams and so haven't been able to do any cardio for 2 days. I've stuck to my 'diet' and walked an hour a day, but still in the past two days I haven't been to the gym I have put on 1lb.

I know they say not to weigh everyday as your weight fluctuates but I've been weighing every day for a year and my weight really doesn't fluctuate unless I do something wrong like drink alcohol or eat out for dinner.

So I'm basically very confused and a little bit upset as it seems to me that just to avoid a weight gain I have to push myself into doing intense cardio and dieting every single day. This doesn't seem right to me. If anyone can give me any advice I would really really appreciate it.

notoriousgtt

I think its just your body adjusting.
Do you mix up your cardio work or is it the same thing consistently? If you dont vary it your body can start to get accustomed to doing the same thing time and again.

ReneeOfTheFae

Two things I think may be going on.
1.)Your body has hit its "comfortable weight." It may not be going anywhere anytime soon.
2.)You are still consuming too few calories, even if you are eating back your exercise cals. Sometimes, if you up the fuel just a tad (say, go from 1200 base to 1270/1300), that could be the change your body needs to get back to losing. If you're that active, you may inherently need more calories than you used to just the get through the day. If you're not getting enough just to function, your body is in starvation mode. That will cause a long plateau...and muscle loss.

Good luck! i hope this has helped!

gail2207

Do you mix up your cardio work or is it the same thing consistently? If you dont vary it your body can start to get accustomed to doing the same thing time and again.

I mix it up. In the gym I do HIIT on the bike for 30 min, when I run I do a mixture of a fast job with medium paced walking as well. I've only recently started going to the gym, but i've been running and 'dieting' for 2 years now.

gail2207

Two things I think may be going on.
1.)Your body has hit its "comfortable weight." It may not be going anywhere anytime soon.
2.)You are still consuming too few calories, even if you are eating back your exercise cals. Sometimes, if you up the fuel just a tad (say, go from 1200 base to 1270/1300), that could be the change your body needs to get back to losing. If you're that active, you may inherently need more calories than you used to just the get through the day. If you're not getting enough just to function, your body is in starvation mode. That will cause a long plateau...and muscle loss.

I think you may be right about the 'comfortable weight', I just really want to lose just a few more (6) pounds!
I think i'm definitely getting enough calories, sometimes I go to 1300, and i'm also trying to build muscle from doing weights in the gym... thank you for your advice. x

Pineapples

Hello there, perhaps you need to give yourself a break. As you mentioned you have been eating 1200 for 2 years now, which more than likely your body has become efficient and it has starting to burn less calories. I would suggest zigzagging your calories for a week or two, or eat at your maintenance calories.
In regards to weighing yourself every day, I can tell you the scale number doesn't mean anything when you are doing everything right. I hit a pleato for the last two months and half way through last month I got really sick and had to stop working out and I mean i wasn't overtly eating either in any way it was the other way around. Weigh myself in and guess what?? I had even gained. So I thought the heck with it.. I'm going to eat; yes out of frustration. So I weighed in today and as it was expected I've gained 5lbs but yet my measurements from last month didn't change. You would think that a gained of 5lbs would have an impact on measurements, which it probably would if the gained was actually true. I am starting a fresh week today; I have recalculated my calories to a more realistic figure considering all the working out I do(meaning eating more then I have for the last 5 months), I will also resist the temptation of weighing myself every week. I'll do measurements and weight every 4 weeks. So in summary, don't stress about the numbers on the scale.

gail2207

Hello there, perhaps you need to give yourself a break. As you mentioned you have been eating 1200 for 2 years now, which more than likely your body has become efficient and it has starting to burn less calories. I would suggest zigzagging your calories for a week or two, or eat at your maintenance calories.

I just couldn't possibly eat more than I already do, I have 3 meals a day and two snacks and am never hungry! But I will try upping it maybe by another 200 a day and see what happens. After my exams I'm also going to go down to weighing myself once a week if I can bear it.

Thanks so much for your advice,

KarenLouise1981

Hey I agree with the comfortable weight thing - I have dropped 8kg and i'm now sitting at 61kgs and I CANNOT lose those last 2 pounds to get me to 60!! I have been at the same weight now for 3 whole weeks and have tried everything under the sun! Also you said you were sitting exams? How long have you been revising? When the body is under stress it produces cortisol which is a b*tch for messing up your body and interferes with the whole weightloss thing!! Could you resist the scales until maybe a week after your last paper and just concentrate on diet and working out? You may get a pleasant suprise and if not at least your body should have recovered from uni stress.

If you find anything else out though please let me now as i'm going crazy overe these last 2lbs!!!

Good luck x

beccarockslife

What are you eating? I know you stick to a low calorie but what makes up those calories, your diary is closed so I can't see it.

have you checked your sodium intake? Drinking enough water?

gail2207

What are you eating? I know you stick to a low calorie but what makes up those calories, your diary is closed so I can't see it.

have you checked your sodium intake? Drinking enough water?

Hi, I don't eat anything 'naughty', i eat plenty of veg, 2 pieces of fruit as snacks and healthy dinners of low fat/cal foods. If you add me you can take a peek at my diary, I don't know how to make it open to everyone!

I'm not sure about my sodium intake as we don't get the info for it with college meals, and when I enter on MFP sometimes the sodium columns are blank. I drink about 12 glasses of water a day, a lot because lately my mouth has been so dry all the time.

gail2207

How long have you been revising? When the body is under stress it produces cortisol which is a b*tch for messing up your body and interferes with the whole weightloss thing!! Could you resist the scales until maybe a week after your last paper and just concentrate on diet and working out? You may get a pleasant suprise and if not at least your body should have recovered from uni stress.

I've been revising for about a month now. The problem is as soon as I finish my exams (tuesday 31st) I have a wedding to go to, which is not going to be ideal for weight loss. I also wanted to have lost a bit more weight by then but with this stupid plateau (and gain) it seems impossible.

corieueber

are you finding any changes in your measurements? if you have started doing weights perhaps your last bit of weight is being taken up by your new musles (KWIM?) if you have joined a gym perhaps try changing your cardio by doing a few classes

gail2207

are you finding any changes in your measurements? if you have started doing weights perhaps your last bit of weight is being taken up by your new musles (KWIM?) if you have joined a gym perhaps try changing your cardio by doing a few classes

Hi, thanks for replying. My measurements have not changed, they have increased slightly but they constantly fluctuate anyway. I've though about the fact that it could be muscle mass, but since the pound has only come on in the last 2 days (when I haven't been weight training) I don't see how it can be.

The gym is just a crappy college gym with a few machines, so no classes or anything like that! Have looked into local classes but I just can't afford it unfortunately.

gail2207

PS. I have changed my food diary to public. Some of the things on there are innacurate, e.g. yesterday it says I had a boots wrap and chip shop chips, whereas in fact I had a chicken wrap and a handful of lattice potato chips at college, but I couldn't find anything like that on MFP and didn't know the exact info to enter it myself.

I have thought I might be getting too much carbs, does anyone know if that can cause weight gain?

reallivefitness

I have thought I might be getting too much carbs, does anyone know if that can cause weight gain?

I did an experiment in eating low carb at the end of this past semester, and it helped me drop weight. I didn't look at your food diary, but if you're getting a vast majority of your calories from carbs, try cutting it down. I try to keep mine around 100 g per day, so I can still have veggies and fruits, which is about 25% of my total calories. If you wanted to stick to 1200 calories a day, 25% of that would be 75 g of carbs per day. I know that when I lowered mine to 100 (which is nowhere close to Atkins induction levels - I work out too much to be able to do that), the weight started falling off and I felt great. I'm trying to get back into that habit now after a week of not watching it so carefully.

reallivefitness

Ok, after looking briefly at your food diary, you need to up your protein girl!! You are so not getting enough, especially if you are working out regularly. If you do lose any weight, at those protein intake levels it'll probably just be muscle anyway.

gail2207

Ok, after looking briefly at your food diary, you need to up your protein girl!! You are so not getting enough, especially if you are working out regularly. If you do lose any weight, at those protein intake levels it'll probably just be muscle anyway.

Thanks so much for the advice. I can't always accurately enter my protein info as we aren't told what it is at college. Also having to eat at college means I can't change the level of certain foods i'm eating, I get what i'm given basically! I always try to eat fish or chicken at dinner, do you know of any other good sources of protein?

keiraev

unless I do something wrong like drink alcohol or eat out for dinner.

I also think you need to give yourself a break, you have been enduring 1200 cals a day for 2 years so you must be at the ideal weight by now- and it's awful to think you view treats such as alcohol and a meal out as something wrong

I know you want to get down to 119 but your body may just be happy where it is at 125. You're exercising all the time so must be really healthy and fit- maybe just focus on that? Sorry I know it's easier said than done and it's how you feel youself- but I really think you are being too hard on yourself x

gail2207

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I also think you need to give yourself a break, you have been enduring 1200 cals a day for 2 years so you must be at the ideal weight by now- and it's awful to think you view treats such as alcohol and a meal out as something wrong

I know you want to get down to 119 but your body may just be happy where it is at 125. You're exercising all the time so must be really healthy and fit- maybe just focus on that? Sorry I know it's easier said than done and it's how you feel youself- but I really think you are being too hard on yourself x
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Thank you for this, I know it sounds like i'm being petty over just 1lb but it gets to me that I do so much in terms of exercise and diet and don't see results that I want.

I appreciate your advice. x