Ive hit a plateau after 60 lbs lost... HELP

GettinMyLifeBck

Ive hit a plateau after 60 lbs lost... My trainer told me to take a week off at the gym and add 200cal to my diet. Anyone heard or tried this method?? I still have another 60lbs to lose....HELP

MrsGriffin67

Bump

dhutt2011

I have heard this from many MFP's and have done it myself it does work. Sometimes you need to confuse your body to get it out of the rut of your normal eating and workout routine.

Amyding115

I recently hit a plateau and couldn't get past it. Then I got sick. So I just didn't have the energy to workout at all! But I did still track my calories. I made sure I never went over (okay, once) and the week i was sick I lost 3 pounds. give it a shot

rebysue

Yup! Tried it and had success.

cjwilder2

I would listen to your trainer. They are educated in nutrition. Good luck.

cobarlo14

I've been there....Shake up your workouts, try new foods, drink more water....be patient I've been there many times!
You can do it - Don't let that mess with your head....

blunderwhere

Oddly, decreasing activity a bit and adding food can jump start your metabolism. However, in my opinion, the best thing you can do at a plateau is be gracious and kind to yourself, know you are doing what you need to do, and just wait. You WILL start losing again. You body is just getting the house in order. It's normal.

Iheartsushi

Yep I have heard of this method. I'm not sure about taking a week off from the gym, but I have heard of zig zagging your calories (the adding 200 calorie recommendation). This 'shocks' your body a bit. After the week go back to eating your normal calorie intake and see what happens.

GymRatRaceRunner

A plateau is your body's way of trying to hold on to what it has left. If it thinks you are consuming too much of what it has stored up for you and it also thinks that you aren't consuming enough to replenish what you've lost, it will slow your metabolism done to a crawl, hence the plateau. If you take a break from exercising for a little bit, and consume a little more calories, your body will then be tricked into thinking it is not in danger of running out of stored fuel and will kick the metabolism back on, and thus you will start losing weight again.

gp79

Everyone experiences this at some point. Focus on the overall lifestyle change with better habits and controlled nutrition and worry less about the temporary pause in progress. Think long term. It took you how long to gain the extra 120lbs? Take your time and don't get discouraged.

meli_medina

Ive hit a plateau after 60 lbs lost... My trainer told me to take a week off at the gym and add 200cal to my diet. Anyone heard or tried this method?? I still have another 60lbs to lose....HELP

I just hit a month-long, no-loss-in-inches-or-pounds, plateau that I was able to break by going into maintenance for a week. I lost 1.3 pounds pretty much overnight with that method. I also took a couple of days off exercise and a week off running. I started 30 Day Shred for a second time on the third day, still eating maintenance and not eating back the exercise calories. Then bumped back down to a -250 deficit and have been eating back about half of my exercise calories. Another .2 this morning (a week later) so it seems to be working.

I would try it. The worst that could happen is that you don't lose any weight. You're already plateaued, so it's not like you haven't been experiencing it already.

AdventureFreak

I had to do this recently for the same reason. Read about set point weight theory if you want to know more. I bumped calories, took some time off, and then came back with new exercises and more intensity and have dropped another 10 pounds since.

Here is some set point reading:

http://weightloss.about.com/od/glossary/g/setpoint.htm

And what I suspect will be a failed active link to that same article

<a href="http://weightloss.about.com/od/glossary/g/setpoint.htm">HTML in MFP answer test</a>

jonesz922

A plateau is your body's way of trying to hold on to what it has left. If it thinks you are consuming too much of what it has stored up for you and it also thinks that you aren't consuming enough to replenish what you've lost, it will slow your metabolism done to a crawl, hence the plateau. If you take a break from exercising for a little bit, and consume a little more calories, your body will then be tricked into thinking it is not in danger of running out of stored fuel and will kick the metabolism back on, and thus you will start losing weight again.

Thank you!
I am guilty of sticking to SAME routine food & exercise wise... GREAT ADVICE :flowerforyou:

GettinMyLifeBck

Thanks everybody!!! Its just so frustrating, but I feel a little better... :-)

v_addison

I'm in the same plateau after 50lbs lost. I was told to try the same thing, so that's what I'm doing right now. I hope for both of us, that it works!

1goodymom67

Your trainer is saying you've done a great job take a rest and we'll go from there. Sometimes we hit a certain weight and our body is saying oh hold on let me get comfortable (if that is the right word). It may be your set point but you are not done yet. Listen to your coach, it will start coming off again.

claudializ

Your trainer is absolutely right. After months of the same eating habits and working out, your body does need to be shocked to get those pounds off. Same thing happened to me. I was eating way too many carbs and too little fat (good fats). I added more healthy protein (lean canadian bacon, whole eggs, whole milk, cheeses for calcium, steak, avocados) and limited my carb intake to green veggies like salads with ranch dressing, sautéed zucchini & green chard, fresh green beans (also onions, tomato, mushroom, bell peppers, salsa) but NO fruit bc they have way too many carbs. And totally cut out the high carb starches like bread, pasta (not even whole wheat), potato, tortillas, NO sugary drinks including diet stuff. Can u believe after 3 days of doing this, I woke up on day 4 and lost 4 lbs??!! This is without even working out! I'd been at the same weight for 6 long months eating healthy & exercising. Guess my body needed some shocking, and a delicious shock it was. I'm so happy I got to enjoy some yummy food AND lost the lbs. Gonna stick to my 35 carb daily limit for 2 wks then up my carb intake to 50 a day until I get the lbs I want off. I am taking supplements religiously. Try it, it works!

GettinMyLifeBck

Thanks Lady!!

GettinMyLifeBck

Thanks Lady!!

GettinMyLifeBck

I recently hit a plateau and couldn't get past it. Then I got sick. So I just didn't have the energy to workout at all! But I did still track my calories. I made sure I never went over (okay, once) and the week i was sick I lost 3 pounds. give it a shot

Well it hasnt been quite a week but I weighed myself and I have lost 3lbs... yay

voguextc

I'm glad I found a post on this... It's been three weeks and I've for some reason been teetering between 170-165. It odd too cause I'm 20, I've lost 10 pounds and I'm already at a plateau. I eat plenty, exercise plenty, and drink lots of water. So I don't get it, but I'm going to try the "take a week off and eat more". I hope it works because I want to lose this weight by march... Which doesn't seem too horribly bad -.-

jg627

If you're hitting a plateau on a calorie deficit it's due to water retention. Eating more will purge the water because you're changing your diet. Also exercise makes you retain water. It's actually not that you've stopped 'burning fat'. I think you'll do fine and your trainer has you on the right track. Nothing wrong with taking a break once in a while.

2blueeyedbabies

I, too, hit a plateau a couple weeks ago. I told my trainer about it on Monday. He suggested increasing calories by 200 (from 1100 to 1300) and I'm now walking 3 min, then jogging 1 min (15 min before training and 15 min after) 3 times a week at the gym instead of just walking. I looked at him like he was crazy -- how could INCREASING my caloric intake help me LOSE weight? Weighed myself this morning and am down 5 pounds in 5 days. I will never question him again!