Stuck at certain weight

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mrharper68
mrharper68 Posts: 10
in Introduce Yourself
Has anyone ever been stuck at certain weight for a while even though they are are eating and excercising correctly?
What did you do to get out of the glut? How long did the glut last? any advice?

Replies

  • chantihayes
    chantihayes Posts: 76
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    ive been stuck for about 2 1/2 weeks now... discouraging so i llook forward to responses here
  • cessnaholly
    cessnaholly Posts: 780 Member
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    bump
  • AggieCass09
    AggieCass09 Posts: 1,867 Member
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    i've been exactly the same weight since January 1 (yup, its AUGUST)

    BUT my body fat has gone from 34% to 26% SO the eating well and exercising has helped obviously. The scale isnt the best (or the only) indicator of success.

    When i get stuck, I zig-zag my calories (see links on my about me section for this topic) and/or i'll change up my exercise routine. I make new challenges for myself all the time that focus on parameters OTHER than the stupid scale.

    good luck, and stick to it!
  • janiecorona
    janiecorona Posts: 248
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    I was stuck for like 2 weeks. It sucked. I just kept going and didn't quit. I also upped my calories up since I guess I had been eating too little for the amount I was exercising. Just don't give up!
  • PaulaJKelly
    PaulaJKelly Posts: 96
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    Some suggest that you eat more calories to kick start your body. How much? What? How many days? I don't know what to suggest. Your body is functioning well in the program you are on and that's probably why you have plateaued.
  • ChrisFA5
    ChrisFA5 Posts: 59 Member
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    I was stuck for a little under a month, kept logging staying at my recommended calorie count, and eventually it started moving again. Keep the faith, you'll get there. Oh and drink lots of water!
  • SallieBeige
    SallieBeige Posts: 341 Member
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    Yes, I started by following all the rules and lost ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for two months.

    No way could it be called a plateau as I hadn't lost anything at all before that.

    I am a teacher, so I am lucky its holidays - I don't know if I can maintain - but I now eat well below the 1200 calories that is stated, exercise more and don't eat my exercise calories back and for the first time in two months, things have started to happen.

    I am absolutely not suggesting this as an early option, and two weeks is not a lot (all sorts of things can happen, like tom, salt retention from some meals, bowel activity, etc), but eventually the only thing that worked for me was to examine what was going on with my body and adapt accordingly.

    I know that most people here would probably object to this thinking, but from my perspective, this was the only option
  • biojen
    biojen Posts: 1 Member
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    About 15 years ago, I was a personal trainer at Bally's when I was in college and I have a degree in Physiology with a major in Sports Medicine. What I know from my days of training myself and others (and what I need to keep in mind for myself now too) is that when you are stuck at a plateau the WORST thing you can do is to keep doing what you're doing! Your body has an amazing ability to adapt and when you are doing the same exercises or eating the same calories every day, it doesn't really matter how little you eat, your body will slow its metabolism to burn as few as possible. You body doesn't know you WANT to lose weight, it only knows that it needs to survive. So...as hard as it may be...eat, eat, eat. I try to cycle my calories every four days or so with three days at a calorie deficit and then one day above. Expect that a day or two following your high-calorie day you WILL be higher, but then you should see a drop as your metabolism kicks in. Just make sure you don't go crazy- maybe add in enough to put you 10% over your maintenance calories. If my maintenance is 1800 and I regularly consume 1200 for my diet, I might do 1200, 1200, 1200, 2000, then back down again. If it bothers you to be taking in more calories, just do a second cardio session on those high days. You'll burn off your extra calories but the extra food will fire your furnace and give you a little jumpstart. And don't forget that salt intake can play a role in holding onto weight too. Drink lots of water and keep track of your sodium. You might start seeing a correlation between higher weight days and salt intake. Lastly, change up when you are eating different foods. Try eating 90% of your carbs before 1:00 in the afternoon and the remaining carbs in the evenings from fibrous veggies. Extra carbs can be nasty when it comes to being stuck at a certain weight.. Good luck! :) -Jennifer
  • batlou
    batlou Posts: 97 Member
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    I have been more or less stuck since Feb/Mar 2010. That's correct, 1.5 years. I lost steady down to 175, this was my original goal. I got stuck and stayed there for about 10 months. Threw in the towel in Dec and been fighting 175-185 since. Got down to 180 before my last race and then gained like a cow after. Did not weigh because I did not want to know. When I finally did after a couple of weeks of control I was at 185.

    So here I am at 179 this morning and losing steady. Will see if I can break that 175 barrier and move down to 160-165 over the next 4-6 months.

    My post is not to sound discouraging but rather let you know that it happens and while I try to not obsess about weight it's hard. Try to remind yourself that this is a lifetime commitment / lifestyle and not a quick fix. Your overall health is much more important than what the scale reads. Eat healthy and keep exercising and eventually the weight will come off.
  • AggieCass09
    AggieCass09 Posts: 1,867 Member
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    About 15 years ago, I was a personal trainer at Bally's when I was in college and I have a degree in Physiology with a major in Sports Medicine. What I know from my days of training myself and others (and what I need to keep in mind for myself now too) is that when you are stuck at a plateau the WORST thing you can do is to keep doing what you're doing! Your body has an amazing ability to adapt and when you are doing the same exercises or eating the same calories every day, it doesn't really matter how little you eat, your body will slow its metabolism to burn as few as possible. You body doesn't know you WANT to lose weight, it only knows that it needs to survive. So...as hard as it may be...eat, eat, eat. I try to cycle my calories every four days or so with three days at a calorie deficit and then one day above. Expect that a day or two following your high-calorie day you WILL be higher, but then you should see a drop as your metabolism kicks in. Just make sure you don't go crazy- maybe add in enough to put you 10% over your maintenance calories. If my maintenance is 1800 and I regularly consume 1200 for my diet, I might do 1200, 1200, 1200, 2000, then back down again. If it bothers you to be taking in more calories, just do a second cardio session on those high days. You'll burn off your extra calories but the extra food will fire your furnace and give you a little jumpstart. And don't forget that salt intake can play a role in holding onto weight too. Drink lots of water and keep track of your sodium. You might start seeing a correlation between higher weight days and salt intake. Lastly, change up when you are eating different foods. Try eating 90% of your carbs before 1:00 in the afternoon and the remaining carbs in the evenings from fibrous veggies. Extra carbs can be nasty when it comes to being stuck at a certain weight.. Good luck! :) -Jennifer

    great advice!!! eating LESS is the COMPLETE wrong thing to do thats forsure, i effed my metabolism doing that in college :/

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