Plateauing for the past week and half, plus 2 lb gain.

dg09

I can't help but to feel helpless right now, with the amount of weight I need to lose and the amount of exercise I do every week, I feel like this shouldn't be happening. Here's where I'm at on my diet and exercise, hopefully someone can pinpoint what's wrong.

Diet: It changes so much every day, but on the average day it is... beef jerky, light pb&j on wheat, natural fruit smoothie, McDonalds premium grilled club sandwich (D:), lean steak (top round) with potatoes and corn at night or chicken and brown rice on other nights. Every night I am under my calorie/carb/fat limits. I do not eat my exercise calories, but I do probably eat the extra fat and carbs from exercise, is that bad?

Exercise: Walk 2.5 miles every other day, and I do a strength training regimen every day in between. But I have to admit, I changed up m strength training routine when I stopped losing weight. Instead of taking a 60 second cooldown in between sets, I'd get on the treadmill between every set and walked for 1 minute. This added up to about a mile and a half every time. Should I not do this? I thought this would help optimize the fat burn.

This all started for me when I decided to enjoy my birthday (7/30) at a local outback steakhouse, I was 2 lb lighter then, than I am now... 2 weeks of floundering about. It's tough to swallow, especially after the amount of sweat drenched shirts I take off every day, I've been really trying.

Sorry for the long post, I just want to get over this hurdle for good, and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Thanks

Yooperm35

As I understand it, it's not really a plateau until it's been many weeks or even months? Am I wrong?

jmcholden

Well, my first thoughts are-

When I eat the MCDonalds grilled chicken sandwiches, I gain. So I am very suspicious of their calorie count. I have decided not to get it anymore. I do better with a light Jamba juice, and still get full.

When I eat bread everyday, I have a problem, even if I am under my calories.

And where are you at in your monthly cycle? Because that is messing me up this week. It always surprises me, Go figure.

Give it time, mix up your menu, find something new that is low in calories to try. And maybe more salads and vegggies.

Packerfan23

Based on what you are saying here, I think you may not be eating enough. You could be in some sort of starvation mode and the bare minimum net calories that is suggested is 1200 daily. Which means, you probably need to eat back some if not almost all of your exercise calories burned. I know when I plateaued for 2 weeks one time, I increased my calorie intake (went over on my daily allotment) for at least one day, and the next week the scale moved downward. Also, you may be having more sodium in your diet and may be retaining fluids...I am not sure how much sodium is in the beef jerky or the McDonalds grilled chicken club, but that could be a culprit too. I tend to go up at least a couple of pounds when I don't watch my sodium intake. It is a constant struggle for me to, so I completely understand. Hope this helps. Have a great day! :-)

dg09

Well, my first thoughts are-

When I eat the MCDonalds grilled chicken sandwiches, I gain. So I am very suspicious of their calorie count. I have decided not to get it anymore. I do better with a light Jamba juice, and still get full.

When I eat bread everyday, I have a problem, even if I am under my calories.

And where are you at in your monthly cycle? Because that is messing me up this week. It always surprises me, Go figure.

Give it time, mix up your menu, find something new that is low in calories to try. And maybe more salads and vegggies.

Good thing you mentioned salads. The past few weeks i've been eating more salads (caesar). I've never eaten veggies before in my life (i'm 21, so I went through the picky food phase because of being a kid), so I'm really trying to go for this which is why it's so frustrating.

4theking

Changing exercises, lots of sweating.....I sense some water weight flucuations. The scale is not always a great measurer of success when it comes to fat loss. Don't sweat it!! LOL

meerkat70

I'd give it a while longer before you start to worry. I know that it's disheartening when the scales don't do that steady downward movement thing, but realistically a week and a half with no loss or even a slight gain isn't unusual on a weight loss programme.

That said, it does look like, from what you're saying, there's a fair bit of fast food and a lot of meat going into your body. You can't control the salt, fat, or indeed the calories in food if you're not making it yourself. I know it can be tricky finding the time to make your own lunch and take it in with you, but I think it's probably worth a go.

kent4j

Beef Jerkey is loaded with sodium, as is most processed or fast food which may be the culprit. Keep an eye on your sodium intake in your diet and drink lots and lots of water. As mentioned the scale isn't always a true indicator of success which is hard to accept when all you want to see is that darn scale moving downward. Keep up the good work!

middlemask

I can't help but to feel helpless right now, with the amount of weight I need to lose and the amount of exercise I do every week, I feel like this shouldn't be happening. Here's where I'm at on my diet and exercise, hopefully someone can pinpoint what's wrong.

Diet: It changes so much every day, but on the average day it is... beef jerky, light pb&j on wheat, natural fruit smoothie, McDonalds premium grilled club sandwich (D:), lean steak (top round) with potatoes and corn at night or chicken and brown rice on other nights. Every night I am under my calorie/carb/fat limits. I do not eat my exercise calories, but I do probably eat the extra fat and carbs from exercise, is that bad?

Exercise: Walk 2.5 miles every other day, and I do a strength training regimen every day in between. But I have to admit, I changed up m strength training routine when I stopped losing weight. Instead of taking a 60 second cooldown in between sets, I'd get on the treadmill between every set and walked for 1 minute. This added up to about a mile and a half every time. Should I not do this? I thought this would help optimize the fat burn.

This all started for me when I decided to enjoy my birthday (7/30) at a local outback steakhouse, I was 2 lb lighter then, than I am now... 2 weeks of floundering about. It's tough to swallow, especially after the amount of sweat drenched shirts I take off every day, I've been really trying.

Sorry for the long post, I just want to get over this hurdle for good, and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Thanks

Ok first let me tell you that I understand how frustrating this can be! Second let me congratulate you on the walking and weight training. Third, with the weight training and walking, you may have gained some muscle which weighs more than fat. So that two pounds may just be muscle you gained and is hiding the fact that you've lost 4 pouds of fat. I can't guarantee it but it's definitely a possibility. My suggest to try and help you is even though you are always below your calorie count I would stear clear of Mcdonald's no matter how low the carbs, McDonald's puts sugar in almost everything even their salads. It's to help create the craving for it. Second I would try not to eat the extra fats and carbs. Staying under in calories is great, but you gotta watch your carbs, just being under them isn't enough you need to make sure you are eatting complex carbs they will keep you full longer and use more energy to break them down, so you end up losing weight. Though this site is great cause it's free, using it with another program like weight watchers would be a good idea, so that you have better ideas on what you can have or not. My biggest thing for you is as hard as it is to not be discouraged, stay up beat, losing weight is hard and we all hit times where we plateau and or gain a little weight back. Your goal should be to not go up anymore, if you can stay at your current weight for another week then you haven't gained weight and that is always good, and you will hit your stride and start losing I promise, but you have to stick with it. We are all here for you and we are all going through it together! My last little bit of advice is to try to cut back on breads and starches. If you can't cut out McDonald's for example change from the premium grilled club sandwich to a wrap, it will eliminate all that yeasty bread. I hope this helps and just remember you are doing great, the fact that you are even trying to lose weight is a major accomplishment because there are many people who give up before they even try and never lose weight at all. You are doing great even though it doesn't feel like it.

dg09

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm going to try and cut out the sodium, fastfood/breads, and just wait it out. And see how that plays out for me.

dg09

If I eat eggs, bacon, a couple small pancakes with a little bit of sugar free syrup in the morning, salad for lunch, and steak/potatoes/corn for dinner. Does anyone see anything wrong in that plan, that could mess me up?

Leah2975

Ive been stuck on my plateau for months now, just give it a few days, and check back when its been longer, you probably have just a little water weight.

Leah2975

the bacon, its very high in sodium

middlemask

How is the potato cooked and how much potato are you having? Baked I think is the best way to have it but I'm not 100% sure and don't do a whole potato, maybe like a fourth of one or less.