10 week plateau!!!!

sdoherty1000

i have lost 51lb but the last 10 weeks have been a total drainer for me. i currently weigh 199/200lb and need some advise on how to break my plateau. I have inceased my calories from 1680 to 1880 and still the scales arnt dropping!!!

What methods have you guys won to stop the plateau?

thanks

chevy88grl

Upped my calories, upped my water intake and I totally switched up my gym routine. Was doing straight cardio and switched to more a of a circuit training kind of routine.

Don't give up. Keep tweaking it until you hit on what works.

ak_in_ak

make sure salt is not to high and cut carbs?

funkyspunky871

I upped my water intake, changed exercises (doing the 30DS and C25K now), and started calorie zig-zagging.

erickirb

If you have not yet, I would suggest changing up your workout routine to shock your body. It is recommended to change up your routine every 4-6 weeks to keep your body working hard, and not letting it get use to what you are doing.

sarahttini

I zig zag calories, cut down on sodium, cut out any type of sugar or starches and eat LOTS of veggies and protein and it ALWAYS moves the scale without fail. Good luck!!!

microwoman999

I would also like to hear others ideas! I am also at 50 pounds dropped. I was stuck at 30 pounds for awhile and what I ended up doing is upping my calorie intake for 2 months, I know seems like a long time, however I ended up dropping my calorie intake back down and dropped 10 pounds pretty fast then another 10. Lets see I was eating 1200 calories I upped it to 1500 calories and then after 2 months dropped it back to 1200 and that is where I dropped. Now this is not a consistent thing I have only tried this once so far because I am still loosing so I have not changed since. I would say if you just upped your calories continue with what you are doing for a bit.....let your body adjust to it then after a while trick it and drop 300 calories or whatever you would like off that and it will trigger to loose. I really believe what happens is we all are putting our bodies into starvation mode even though we don't think we are and this is a way of tricking it out of that process. I have heard it takes your body 2 to 3 months to go back to normal after lowering your calorie intake. It needs time to adjust you may even gain a few pounds in the begining of upping your calories. Good Luck I will be popping back into to read what others say!

eylbrown

After 40 lbs lost, I've been off my "routine" for about 2 months now, meaning I've upped my calories and now trying to cut them back down to see what happens. I haven't lost a darn pound in 2 months.. gained a couple but lose that over night.. lol

I have not had any workout routines really and need to start that. 40 lbs lost is my halfway point and I can't do the rest without some kind of exercise, although I am finding it difficult to get back onto a calorie routine now that I've been off it for a bit..

sdoherty1000

problem i have is im always hungry so decreasing calories would leave me starving!! For example, I had a bowl of cereal yesterday and 45 mins later i felt like i needed to eat a horse.

Maybe i should try 1200 cals a day and see if my body adjusts to it

erickirb

problem i have is im always hungry so decreasing calories would leave me starving!! For example, I had a bowl of cereal yesterday and 45 mins later i felt like i needed to eat a horse.

Maybe i should try 1200 cals a day and see if my body adjusts to it

1200 cals/day is the minimum a woman should get, a man should not get less than 1500-1600 Net (1500-1600 plus eating back exercise caloires)

melibea

I am in no way an expert in this, but now that you have upped your calories, how about lowering them to 1600 again? It works for me. I eat 1200 calories regularly, but when I get stuck, eat 1500 for a couple of days then go back to 1200 and the weight starts dropping again.

The suggestions the others have been making about switching up your workout routine is also worth a shot. Your body could be getting used to doing the same again and again.

SMarie10

Lots of great advice here. I had a really slow period of wt. loss over the past two months. Seems to have helped when I vary (zig-zag) my calories, but I rarely go under 1200 - usually much higher because I eat back my exercise calories. If you goole zig-zag, you will get some idea of how to do it. Also - do a search on MFP and there are other threads on this topic.

sdoherty1000

Cheers all for the good advice, I'll lower to 1600 and see what happens.

welloiledmachine

Are you eating enough protein? You should plan 1g. per pound of body weight. Protein helps to keep you feel full longer along with complex carbs.
Not sure of your diet, but eating every 3 hours with the right macros will keep you energized and boost your metabolism which helps aid in losing weight.

microwoman999

I apologize erickirb is correct that 1200 is the minimum for a woman......I didn't think about that when I said what I said but I have heard many people say (woman) that they would never be able to go that low either that is why I was suggesting a 300 calorie drop from where ever it may be. Hope you can jump start that weight loss again!

titletown

Here's an amazing article on Zig-Zagging calories that I just started on Monday and I'm losing again after a stubborn 5+ week plateau:

http://www.rippednaturally.com/zig-zag-diet.html

titletown

Just a quick update on my plateau...

I've been zig-zagging according to the link I posted above and...

I've busted through!

After being in a nearly 6 week plateau, after just 5 days of this approach, I've lost an additional 2.8 lbs already

The body is an amazing thing, I'm eating more calories than I was before, and I'm losing again, go figure!