Help! So Frustrated

Fenyx

So my weight loss has been going pretty smooth and I have lost 25lbs so far. However, over the last month and a half I have been fluxing between 174 and 169. I'm pretty sure I've been stuck in a plateau. So for a few weeks I upped my calories a bit as told to try and break it. It hasn't worked at all yet. I'm eating right (minus another tip for this weekend to go a little weird) and I'm getting exercise, but it seems no matter what I do to try and make a difference there is no change. So I'm basically looking for any help to jump start my weight loss as this is just killing my motivation and causing so much sadness and emotional distress for me. Everyone on MFP has been such a great help so I figured I would reach out for help on this and because I've hit a point where I'm stuck!

borys12

I found eating after 6-7pm caused the same issue. So I do not touch food in the evening - just tea. Works for me !

george_park

It took a while but changing my calories to match my current weight and activity level it took a week or so and the weight started to come down.

For me mixing my diet up a little more really seemed to help.

I drink a lot of coffee (decaf in the evening) and would totally agree that eating later (before zero activity level) is not good for me.

webdiva1

Do you use a heart rate monitor? If not, you might consider investing in one. Made a big difference for me (but then, I have lots more to lose than you). The thing I discovered pretty quickly is that I'd been eating exercise calories I hadn't really burned. When I got the real story for ME, that changed a lot.

Hang in there ... you won't be stuck forever.

thisismynewmindset

I am in the same boat... I think I am in a plateau.

I created three goals for myself today that I hope will get me out of my plateau

1) Up my water intake to 3L per day
2) Have small meals throughout the day (except for breakfast, which should always be big)
3) Eat the majority of my calories earlier in the day so I have less to play with at night

Before today I was eating most of my calories after 8:00 pm. Don't think it was working.

bethdris

Maybe its just because its' something new for my body, but because of time crunches and a family I work out at midnight for about an hour. It has helped me shed a few more pounds.

Fenyx

great idea to not eat later, my problem with that is due to the situations etc lol I'm a late riser and late to bed. But I will start working on that, cause I use water to fill me before I eat. Oh and I have a great chest strap HRM, couldn't agree more, best thing I ever bought to help me out here. Perhaps I'll go out and get some diet tea so I can have some flavor with zero calories to at least help. And I have been mixing up the diet this week actually, figured it might do something. Thanks guys, I know I'll get through but its so upsetting when my brain just can't come up with any more ideas lol.

Fenyx

Those are great tips, I drink a lot of water as is, but it's slowed down due to my water bottle helper breaking =( thanks for these three though, great ideas. And exercising late at night is a great idea too, makes me sleepy, and as long as I don't go below my 1200 minimum that could be helpful. Sorry I'm replying a lot lol, actually sitting here right now just watching the post eager for tips that I'm so ready to try!

vsyates

You could also try zig zagging your calories.

h3h8m3

I'd be happy to try to give some advice, but to do so I'd really like some more information.

Useful stuff:

Please tell us about your exercise plan. What kind of exercises do you do? Strength, cardio, both? Interval training?

Talk about your eating. What's your plan? How many calories, how much do you weigh, what kinds of foods do you eat?

The more detail you provide the more helpful we can be.

kallen02

I have had this issue in the past as well. I talked to my trainer about it and she said the reason is because your body is either in starvation mode( Not getting enough calories) or your body has become used to what you are doing. I have to change my workout routine once a month to get the muscle confusion and every time I have changed it I have all of a sudden dropped a lot faster. Its different for everyone. Dont be frusterated it happends to us all at one point or another. Good job on the weight loss though.

I also dont eat past 7:00. The general rule is to not eat anything at least three hours before bed so your body can digest it. Anything in your system three hours before bed generally gets stored as fat.

duke520

I have had this issue in the past as well. I talked to my trainer about it and she said the reason is because your body is either in starvation mode( Not getting enough calories) or your body has become used to what you are doing. I have to change my workout routine once a month to get the muscle confusion and every time I have changed it I have all of a sudden dropped a lot faster. Its different for everyone. Dont be frusterated it happends to us all at one point or another. Good job on the weight loss though.

I also dont eat past 7:00. The general rule is to not eat anything at least three hours before bed so your body can digest it. Anything in your system three hours before bed generally gets stored as fat.

Yep. Try some muscle confusion. If you've been doing 4 sets of 8, try 3 sets of 12 for 2 weeks. Then try a 12, 10, 8, 6 set x 2 weeks. Then go to a 4 sets of 5 with heavier weights x 2 weeks. Then 2 sets of 15 x 2 weeks with lighter weights. Think of your body as a little kid. Once it figures out what you're doing, you gotta step you game up. You can do it!

Do work!

h3h8m3

I also dont eat past 7:00. The general rule is to not eat anything at least three hours before bed so your body can digest it. Anything in your system three hours before bed generally gets stored as fat.

I would love to see some proof of that. I believe it's false.

Here's my evidence: http://thedailyfit.blogspot.com/2011/05/timing-of-meals-defines-what-kind-of.html

Fenyx

I'd be happy to try to give some advice, but to do so I'd really like some more information.

Useful stuff:

Please tell us about your exercise plan. What kind of exercises do you do? Strength, cardio, both? Interval training?

Talk about your eating. What's your plan? How many calories, how much do you weigh, what kinds of foods do you eat?

The more detail you provide the more helpful we can be.

Right now my exercise is mostly cardio in the form of walking with a little 30 day shred thrown in here and there. I'm not the best at my exercise but I try to do random stuff to add more (like swimming a few times here and there). My basic exercise is 3 times a week for 30 minutes (though I usually exceed that lately) I eat roughly 1300 calories a day (used to be 1200 but was starting to get hungry all the time so upped to 1300, then 1500 about 2-3 weeks ago trying to get rid of the plateau). I currently weigh 171.8 as of this morning (though it's been 169 -174) As far as kinds of foods I eat, I try to stick to healthier stuff with lower sodium and higher protein and fiber (tummy condition). like most I have "bad" days with unhealthy foods, but I still stay in my calorie budgets.

destiny150

I would not stress to much and agree with most of the comments. Also, please try to get enough sleep, at least 6-8 hours. I agree you should eat a big breakfast but eat lot of foods that will keep you full for at least 3-4 hours. Get your protein in at every meal (at least that's one a personal trainer at my gym said. I would not eat more than 300-400 calories for breakfast. I wish you lots of success in the future, believe me I know what you are going through.

h3h8m3

Right now my exercise is mostly cardio in the form of walking with a little 30 day shred thrown in here and there. I'm not the best at my exercise but I try to do random stuff to add more (like swimming a few times here and there). My basic exercise is 3 times a week for 30 minutes (though I usually exceed that lately) I eat roughly 1300 calories a day (used to be 1200 but was starting to get hungry all the time so upped to 1300, then 1500 about 2-3 weeks ago trying to get rid of the plateau). I currently weigh 171.8 as of this morning (though it's been 169 -174) As far as kinds of foods I eat, I try to stick to healthier stuff with lower sodium and higher protein and fiber (tummy condition). like most I have "bad" days with unhealthy foods, but I still stay in my calorie budgets.

Great summary. And I definitely think there are some easy ways to improve your exercise program and jump-start your weight loss.

Resistance training is a really important part of weight loss for a few reasons.

1. When you do steady state cardio you burn a certain amount of calories during the workout, case closed. When you do strength training you burn a certain number of calories during the workout (less than during cardio) but then the rest of the day your muscles burn a ton of calories as they repair themselves. So as you're sitting at your desk at work you're burning more calories from the morning workout. Cool right?

2. The more muscle mass you have the more calories your body will burn in a day. Don't worry, you're not going to turn into She-Hulk by doing a few strength sessions a week. But you will have more muscle and that will mean you burn more calories every day, even the days you don't work out.

3. Strength training is a different kind of 'difficult." I know that I really hated strength training when I started (and I still don't lift weights ever). But now that I've been doing it for a few months I notice that I actually prefer my strength days to my cardio days. Strength is easier, and it's fun to watch yourself get better at it.

4. With so many different strength exercise available your body won't get used to it nearly as easily as it does a certain cardio exercise. It will keep getting pushed as you do different exercises, and more reps.

So, I suggest 2-3 times a week you spend about 20 minutes doing resistance/strength training. As I said, I don't use weights because I hate them. But you certainly could. What I would do is something like...

1 minute of as many pushups as you can (do from the knees, or on an incline if you can't do a full minute)
1 minute rest
1 minute crunches/situps
1 minute rest
1 minute squats
1 minute rest
1 minute arm haulers (check it out on Youtube to see how to do it)
1 minute rest
repeat the whole thing 3 times (24 minutes total)

Nice thing about this plan is you can do it anywhere... sometimes I like to roll right out of bed and work out.

As for your diet, I think you're probably doing fine there. There's really no reason you can't eat your food on the schedule that's best for you. I do like eating five times a day, but that's just me. If you're having a hard time sticking with a lower calorie diet there are some ideas I can suggest to make you feel fuller, but that doesn't sound like it's your problem. You're sticking with the diet and not losing weight!

I say, do strength training for two weeks and see what kind of difference that makes for you.

Best of luck to you, and feel free to message me if I can help in any way.

h3h8m3

Oh, I just wanted to kick in an agreement that it's very important to get sleep. I'd go farther and say at LEAST 7 hours. Preferable 8 solid every night. Not just for your weight-loss but for total health.

Fenyx

Thank you very much everybody for your help. I'm taking all of your tips into account today and lets see where it gets me in a week or two! Thanks again soooo very much!