My Plateau Nutrition Story, Learn from my mistakes.

ANewLucia

LORD HAVE MERCY!!!!! I tell people this (AND I LEARNED THE HARD WAY MYSELF) and they just don't believe me. I was STUCK at 160 ish forever...I just kept bouncing up and down 3lbs until I read "New Rules of Lifting Weights for Women"...I bumped my non-workout cal to 1800 which is about my maintenance calories and on workout days I eat at least 200 more (usually more like 400-500 more) and SEVEN WEEKS LATER I AM DOWN a solid 6lbs. I lift heavy and do high cardio burns too...who would have ever thought that it was because I wasn't eating. I changed my carbs to 40%, 30%prot, 30%fat and fiber at 30gr or higher. This has changed my life. I am leaning out and the first noticeable place was a nice inch off the waistline. AND I NO LONGER CARB BINGE, feel hunger, because I eat 6 meals a day. What a wonderful revelation. I have had a few that finally got off the little 1200, 1300 calorie diets and they are seeing the same results. Your body can't build muscle or loose fat when there is no fuel...oh and I always drink a big protein drink after every workout. I hope that anyone that wants to give up (and that was me...I was so close to throwing in the towel) would give it a try...IT WORKS!

Missklara

thank you for this post
i found about this a week ago and i'm trying to eat more because i'm on plateau right now
and i've already did this and it really works!

Annafly3

bump for later

Starlage

LORD HAVE MERCY!!!!! I tell people this (AND I LEARNED THE HARD WAY MYSELF) and they just don't believe me. I was STUCK at 160 ish forever...I just kept bouncing up and down 3lbs until I read "New Rules of Lifting Weights for Women"...I bumped my non-workout cal to 1800 which is about my maintenance calories and on workout days I eat at least 200 more (usually more like 400-500 more) and SEVEN WEEKS LATER I AM DOWN a solid 6lbs. I lift heavy and do high cardio burns too...who would have ever thought that it was because I wasn't eating. I changed my carbs to 40%, 30%prot, 30%fat and fiber at 30gr or higher. This has changed my life. I am leaning out and the first noticeable place was a nice inch off the waistline. AND I NO LONGER CARB BINGE, feel hunger, because I eat 6 meals a day. What a wonderful revelation. I have had a few that finally got off the little 1200, 1300 calorie diets and they are seeing the same results. Your body can't build muscle or loose fat when there is no fuel...oh and I always drink a big protein drink after every workout. I hope that anyone that wants to give up (and that was me...I was so close to throwing in the towel) would give it a try...IT WORKS!

AMEN SISTA!!! lol. I love your post ) I can't wait to get to 6 or 8 weeks on this plan and see what results I get. It's only been a month and I've gotten off my plateau, lost a few inches over all. WIN!! )

mhotch

Bump, to read tonight

amymarie8709

What method of calculating body fat do you use? I'm clueless about that.

Katch McArdle method

CommittohealthCHANGED

Wow Thanks for the info and the inspiring post.

allie0630

Okay, can we talk about MACROS
I've finally gotten my BMR and TDEE figured and have changed my daily calories.

However...I'm still fuzzy on the macros. MFP breaks down the carbs/fats/proteins and whatever else you want to keep track of. Are the numbers at the bottom of your food log the number of grams? Because, if so, I am SO FAR OFF of what I need to be doing.

Also... anyone have some ideas for good protein, carbs, fats

MrsFelton2010

Great job at gettin HEALTHY and ive upped my cals to 1400 and still struggle mentaly with eating back more when I workout but I am working on it. I had to learn about NET calories to see I was barely eating. This is a process and we all have to learn one day at a time. I hope a lot of people get to see your post.

fishndad

Thanks for sharing ) I'm a total believer in eating more calories. I used a website to calculate my TDEE and subracted a deficit from there. Like you said "feed muscle, burn fat" once I went up a few hundred from 1200 I'm happier, healthier, have more energy and am acutally starting to lose the 1lb a week I've set myself to do. Eat more people!!

Yasmine91

Well, I guess I gotta force myself to bloody eat then! LOL great info though. Might actually give that book a read

JVanDam77

Bumping for later. :bigsmile:

thurberj

bump

Jljones2787

bump

jsmarkle

I would like to see your menu of what you are eating.

IndyPokerDad

bump!!

TayJoMama

Bump!

Emdog24

bump

BlueEyedTXmom

Thanks for sharing!

jennysmission

bump..so agree!

Takes2long

I have to read this again. :-)

Starlage

Okay, can we talk about MACROS
I've finally gotten my BMR and TDEE figured and have changed my daily calories.

However...I'm still fuzzy on the macros. MFP breaks down the carbs/fats/proteins and whatever else you want to keep track of. Are the numbers at the bottom of your food log the number of grams? Because, if so, I am SO FAR OFF of what I need to be doing.

Also... anyone have some ideas for good protein, carbs, fats

yes the numbers at the bottom all represent the number of grams of each macro you should be getting. When I used the calculations from the first page of this thread and went to change my diary to them the closest I could get was 40% carbs, 30% fat and 30% protein. Plus i've heard that's the best for muscle gain anyhow. Change your macros to 40-30-30 and I think you'll be fine.

ltowns11

Many thanks! I greatly need and appreciate this post!!!

Divajo44

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR YOUR STORY!!...I WENT THRU THIS PLATEAU THING FOR A MINUTE..I EVEN GAINED 6BLS IN 4 WEEKS CUZ I COULD NOT WORK OUT AT THE GYM LIKE I ALWAYS DO...I WAS SO FRUSTRATED BECAUSE MY WEIGHT WOULD NOT GO DOWN PASS THE 230'S..I STARTED AT 273LBS ON JANUARY16 2011....BY AUGUST ..I HAD LOST 40LBS(.WEIGHING 233LBS)....THEN I COULD NOT GO TO THE GYM FOR ABOUT 4 WEEKS FROM THE END OF SEPT TO ABOUT THE END OF OCTOBER..I WALKED IN THAT 4 WEEKS AND I DID MAYBE 3 ZUMBA CLASSES BUT IT WAS NOTHING LIKE THE CALORIES I BURNED WHILE WORKING OUT IN THE GYM..I WAS 239LBS..WHEN I ENTERED THE GYM AGAIN AT THE END OF OCTOBER ..I WENT FOR IT I WORKED OUT 4-5 DAYS A WEEK STARTED DOING DIFFERENT EXERCISES SO MY WEIGHT WOULD GO DOWN AND IT DID NOT ....I WAS NOT ABOUT TO GIVE UP....BUT AT TIMES I WANTED TO GIVE UP BECAUSE MY WEIGH WAS NOT MOVING...THEN I DECIDED TO TALK TO TRAINING COACH AT THE GYM AND HE TOLD ME TO START GETTING IN THE WATER AND JUST EXERCISE. 3-4 DAYS A WEEK I'M DOING MY OWN WATER AEROBICS FROM 60 TO 90 MINS..LONG STORY SHORT...GLAD I LISTENED BECAUSE IT BROKE MY PLATEAU..AND IN ABOUT 6 WEEKS I LOST ANOTHER 13LBS YEAH!!!!..NOW I WEIGH 226LBS ..GOT SOME MORE TO LOSE AND MY BMI HAS GONE DOWN AND I FEEL GREAT!!!

Starlage

Divajo i'm proof it works! I've lost about 3.4lbs in the last month eating a ton of food, a ton of protein, and only exercising about three times a week. Go for it!

allie0630

Divajo i'm proof it works! I've lost about 3.4lbs in the last month eating a ton of food, a ton of protein, and only exercising about three times a week. Go for it!

You are so awesome with your responses!! Thanks for helping everyone and being a motivator!

What kind of protein do you eat? I need some ideas...I do lots of chicken and need something else!

Starlage

OK.....HOLYCRAP!!!!!!!!!!!! i MADE IT TO 20 FINALLY!! only about 10 more to go!! I weighed in at 154 this morning- that's an amazing 2.4lbs down since last saturday, .5 off my waist, .5 off my hips, .25 off my bust, and .5 off my thighs for a fabulous 1.75 inches off this week! WOOHOOOO! I only exercised three times this week and am still netting as close as I can to 1600 cals a day. YAYYY!

Protein answer: I have protein with every meal and get to abot 110-150 g a day depending on whether it's an exercise day or now. Breakfast I do egg whites from a carton microwaved to make it easier- about three egg's worth (1/2 a cup) and add 1/4 shredded cheese and two slices of lunch meat. I used to have a whole wheat carb with breakfast everyday but I nixed that. midmorning snack I have 8oz plain low fat greek yogurt with berries or cucumber, lunch is usually lower but I try to have some kind of chichen or other protein in my lunch, aftenoon snack is always 1oz of nuts with a cheese stick, then I have a pre-mixed atkins protein shake on exercise days right before I exercise and then dinner's always either chicken breast, tilapia, or a hormel pre-cooked beef dish (my favorite lazy dinner). I'll add my other macros- fat's between 60-70g a day and carbs are between 150-200 a day depending on whether i've exercised or not of course.

nicole061488

This is a great post. Thanks for sharing!

emeralds5668

this might be a dumb question.....but my number based on your calc and subtracting 30% is 1540 calories. Do I need to eat that amount including the calories I burn off? So if I burn 1000 calories from excercise then I need to eat 2540?

Starlage

If you exercise every single day and you included that in your calories, yeah. Eat the 1540 a day and don't log your exercise (or log it as zero burned) but if you're like me and DON'T exercise everyday calculate your calories without daily exercise and then log and eat your calories like usual as per the MFP way. Not a dumb question. )