7 week plateau? come onnnn

lma0423

I started mfp right when I got back from college in May and was able to lose 25 lbs right before i went back in september. I lost a little in the beginning of college, but it has been 7 weeks today and I am stuck at about a 30 lb weight loss, and I have about 15 lbs left to go. I have continued to count my calories, while I do think there are a few more cheat days and a little too much alcohol (but I always log it) I dont think I am doing anything THAT different from the summer. In fact I think i am more active since my campus is huge and I have to walk everywhere, while in the summer I mostly just sat around. WHAT SHOULD I DO???

cessnaholly

I'm in the same situation. Want to see what others say.

sarahb225

I'm also in the same situation. I'm just going to keep trying and maybe one day the scales will start moving again!

lma0423

thats how i feel too, calorie counting has become second nature to me so there is no point in stopping, its just a little annoying that i am eating a large deficit but my body thinks im maintaining

MissMaryMac33

Can't see your diary --- don't now your height, current weight, goal weight or activity --- so no one will be able o give you a credible response.

lma0423

Can't see your diary --- don't now your height, current weight, goal weight or activity --- so no one will be able o give you a credible response.

sorry!
i started at 200 in may 2011, now i am 169ish, I would like to be 155 (it is right where I am no longer overweight on the BMI scale) and i am 5'6

frugalmomsrock

I am *JUST* breaking through mine. I kept fluctuating with the same couple pounds, but I'm finally over it.

First of all, I know it's going to sound weird. Trust me. I never would have believed it myself if it hadn't happened to me...

I started eating more combined with exercising a little less. Now, this has happened by pure circumstance (the less exercise part). I started out my decreased exercise by having a whole week with no exercise except a walk a day with my babies because I had sick kids and couldn't take them to the gym. So I broke even or went slightly over on calories with very very little exercise. Then I got my exercise bike delivered (because of being so upset over missing the gym the week before) at the beginning of this week, and it's a good thing because I have five kids and they're only just now all getting healthy. I have been doing a little biking and walked a couple times this week, along with coming nearer to breaking even with my calories (within 20-150 calories left), and I have finally started to drop again. Today's weigh in was lower than I had ever been, so I have finally busted through!!


* I wanted to add-I was burning from 800 to 1300 calories a day and ending up with a 500+ calorie deficit every day. Now I'm burning between 350 and 500 a day and eating most of it back.

eeeekie

You do a lot of "quick add calories" which doesn't give you all the information, specially sodium. If I had to guess on the days where you have multiple quick add calories you're going over sodium and probably not drinking enough water to counteract that.

Sodium and water are HUGE.

voodoomoocow

7 weeks is a rather long time for plateau. I think your body has adjusted to your calorie intake OR it's in starvation mode. I would probably focus more on cardio for the time being and eat your calories back, and when you drink, avoid beer at all costs. Stick with things that you can mix with diet sodas (not juice, except maybe 1 cranberry drink) and make sure you are getting all the protein, vitamins, and nutrients that is required. Avoid carbs, and maybe try taking a supplement like omega 3s or something. Depending on how much you weigh/height, you could be at your body's ideal weight. Eat 5 times a day to maintain your metabolism and make sure breakfast is the biggest meal of the day.

if you cheat, make up for it that day with exercise.

voodoomoocow

And drink more water! Lots of it.

Karlirosem

I am in the same boat! 8 week plataue~ I have introduced a protien shake 3 days a week after I work out cause I heard that will bump me back into loosing weight! Its hard to track and exercise and not see the scale move! I am loosing motivation in a big way! :explode: :explode:

MissMaryMac33

Can't see your diary --- don't now your height, current weight, goal weight or activity --- so no one will be able o give you a credible response.

sorry!
i started at 200 in may 2011, now i am 169ish, I would like to be 155 (it is right where I am no longer overweight on the BMI scale) and i am 5'6

You should reset your goals every time you lose 10 lbs. I'm going to assume your activity level is sedentary and you track your exercise.

For your age and stats , your daily net would be 1,690 calories -- not 1200 -- no wonder you're starving and you stopped losing weight. As weird as it sounds, your body needs more fuel. You should also be eating at least half if not all of your exercise calories. Even if you chose to lose 1lb a week you daily net would be 1,440.

Setting your goals based on weight you need to lose:

75lbs or more: Choose to lose 2lbs/week
40-75 pounds: Choose to lose 1.5lbs/week
25-40 pounds: Choose to lose 1lb/week
15-20 pounds: Choose either 1/2lb or 1lb
Less than 15/20 pounds: choose 1/2 lb/week

You can also change your settings to reflect a different diet or track different items. I changed mine to 40% protein, 30% carb, 30% fat because that works best for me. I added sodium to my diary to track and renamed all my meals with a time frame since I like to eat every 3 hours.

Hope that helps.

lma0423

i am just so torn with eating more (which i think i have been doing anyway since i have no motivation) or eating 1200 and under??? and yes i agree with the sodium thing, but i drink about 32 oz of water, not counting all the diet coke i drink


so now that i only have 15 lbs left i should change it to 1/2 a lb a week??

MissMaryMac33

i am just so torn with eating more (which i think i have been doing anyway since i have no motivation) or eating 1200 and under??? and yes i agree with the sodium thing, but i drink about 32 oz of water, not counting all the diet coke i drink

Well, you asked. It's up to you if you want to take advice or not.

Kushgetti

i agree you have alot of quick calories so its never accurate plus ur eating sweets everyday or every other day..maybe do a sweet treat once a week

dad106

i am just so torn with eating more (which i think i have been doing anyway since i have no motivation) or eating 1200 and under??? and yes i agree with the sodium thing, but i drink about 32 oz of water, not counting all the diet coke i drink


so now that i only have 15 lbs left i should change it to 1/2 a lb a week??

Uh, diet coke is not water.. and is pretty detremential to weight loss because of all sweetners.. they tend to make people pretty bloated. So I'd cut it out completely if I was you.

All through out my journey I kept my loss around a pound to half a pound, and have never had any issues. You need to be eating more(but more healthy things) to keep the weightloss moving. Maybe half a pound is too much but 1200 is too little, so you set it somewhere in the middle and see how that goes. That's what I did, and it worked pretty well for me.

melsinct

i am just so torn with eating more (which i think i have been doing anyway since i have no motivation) or eating 1200 and under??? and yes i agree with the sodium thing, but i drink about 32 oz of water, not counting all the diet coke i drink


so now that i only have 15 lbs left i should change it to 1/2 a lb a week??

I had a 2 month long plateau when I had 15 pounds left to lose (sound familiar? lol). As soon as I set MFP at a 0.5 lb/week loss, the weight started coming off again.

MisticAllie314

7 weeks is kind of long... 2-3 weeks I could see. Some advice...
1) Your body turns alcohol into sugar... so again... limit that as much as possible. Also, you should be getting your calories from food! To keep your metabolism going strong. Drinking alcohol has no dietary value. Although what you may eat is within your daily calories... you need to eat good calories.
2) Eat more protein and incorporate weight lifting/strength training to your workouts. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn do anything you do. Be it running, walking, or sitting on your tush.
3) Eat high fiber foods. For obvious reasons. Take some fiber capsules to help you out if needed.

Hope that helps!

MissMaryMac33

i am just so torn with eating more (which i think i have been doing anyway since i have no motivation) or eating 1200 and under??? and yes i agree with the sodium thing, but i drink about 32 oz of water, not counting all the diet coke i drink


so now that i only have 15 lbs left i should change it to 1/2 a lb a week??

Uh, diet coke is not water.. and is pretty detremential to weight loss because of all sweetners.. they tend to make people pretty bloated. So I'd cut it out completely if I was you.

All through out my journey I kept my loss around a pound to half a pound, and have never had any issues. You need to be eating more(but more healthy things) to keep the weightloss moving. Maybe half a pound is too much but 1200 is too little, so you set it somewhere in the middle and see how that goes. That's what I did, and it worked pretty well for me.

This is completely not true. Diet Coke is PRIMARILY water and has no calories -- only sodium. Many people don't give a crap about artificial sweeteners and have no issues with them. Read some of the links in my signature. There are definitely healthier options but it most definitely counts as fluids for the day.

Cold_Steel

I find mixing it up works the best for me. Do a day of low calorie a day of higher calorie a day of lower calorie etc. Keeps your body guessing and you dont get into any routines.

santini1975

Just got off the plateau. Did not decrease calories or exercise more, I just changed it! You need to confuse your muscles. Instead of running, switch to swimming I also started lifting some weights- if you dont want to bulk up, lift less weight but do more reps.