My Plateau Nutrition Story, Learn from my mistakes.

Lyadeia

Lyadeia- I have that book, but I know that it's really aimed more at the strength training side of things. Do you think I could still benefit from it even though I'm heavily a cardio girl? I need to have a look through it again.

I just gave you a long answer on your post on my page, but so everyone can see my answer I will give the short version here, lol.

I honestly believe that ANYONE can and will benefit from his book. I personally used to be a cardio junkie doing 6 days of cardio per week and not doing strength training other than certain body weight movements that were in the cardio sessions (like the push ups and planks in Insanity).

The weight training does not have to dominate your workout routine, but I firmly believe that it should never be left out. I personally started with just 2 days per week of total body training and still did cardio 4-5 days a week. When I saw how awesome my firm muscles were starting to look and feel, I upped the strength training and reduced the cardio...I now personally do a 4 day split routine and 30 minutes of cardio after each 30 minute weight training session. I am really seeing the effects of this! I went from a size 10 at Thanksgiving to a size 6 just last week during Tom Venuto's Holiday Challenge. I posted my progress pictures about this in the Success Stories section about a week ago. I only lost a total of 6 pounds, but the pictures tell a whole 'nother story!

I totally believe that to achieve the body we want, it takes a sensible diet AND cardio AND weight training all in good balance. Of course this balance is different for everyone depending on their personal goals, but none of the components should be left out.

Lyadeia

Absolutely GREAT post! I think MFP should take some of your info and add it to a FAQ section so it can be retained permanently for others to refer to when they get stuck on a plateau!! Very good advice and information. Thanks a TON for posting this.

What?! Thats crazy! This isnt a scientific story - its based on one persons experience (granted a lot of you feel the same, but shesh)....

I'd like MFP to provide help and assistance based on medical studies thanks.

Read the book. Then read the references section. It is totally 100% based on scientific peer reviewed studies, and Tom gives examples of personal success stories using those principles.

This thread was started by someone with his own personal success, yes... But the book he references is based not on one man's personal experience, but years of many person's experiences coupled with documented scientific fact.

monkeymouse74

Bump for later.:blushing:

lodro

Now if you truly are burning 3000 calories and you end at a net -600 you're body and it's organs are eating themselves for energy.

probably not though. please don't propagate myths.

MaynardLD50

Now if you truly are burning 3000 calories and you end at a net -600 you're body and it's organs are eating themselves for energy.

probably not though. please don't propagate myths.

More like "Of course not, you must be saying this tongue in cheek because everything I read on the internet can't be true can it?"

No, it was tongue and cheek.

MaynardLD50

Absolutely GREAT post! I think MFP should take some of your info and add it to a FAQ section so it can be retained permanently for others to refer to when they get stuck on a plateau!! Very good advice and information. Thanks a TON for posting this.

What?! Thats crazy! This isnt a scientific story - its based on one persons experience (granted a lot of you feel the same, but shesh)....

I'd like MFP to provide help and assistance based on medical studies thanks.

The bulk of my reading and studies are primarily dug up from medical studies and based on research findings, so please before you begin thread dumping and calling these people crazy why don't you go study? I don't mean to sound nasty, but lashing out at people for taking something away from a struggle I went through is unnecessary and while we're getting personal after viewing your food diary maybe you should heed some of my advice.

versuga

bump

djcon

Bump

danascot

bump

MaynardLD50

hmmm.calculator tells me for extreme weight loss, at my current size to eat about 2000 calories based on exercise level. i'm going to have to think about this. i'm well under that.

I would highly recommend you don't go for the "Extreme Fat Loss!" approach to your change. The old saying of slow and steady wins the race holds VERY true when it comes to losing weight. Remember you're not dieting, your changing your lifestyle.

Thank you for listening to my story. I'm interested in the book you related to in your message...does the author refer to women in this book or is it mainly for men?

Mellolife, Tom Venuto's book caters to humans The book is not really gender specific, but some may take it as he is talking to a man because men are predominately thought of when you use the term "BodyBuilding." I would challenge that though in the fact that in our journey to lose weight are we not all "BodyBuilding"? His book gives you fantastic guidelines and knowledge to encourage the correct decisions when choosing your foods.

Still telling me to eat 1,214 for "extreme" fat loss

Cindy, slow and steady! I cannot stress the importance of taking this slow. Do not sacrifice lean body mass for the scale to ready 10Lbs lighter. you'll get there. Think about it this way, I'm 29, I spent 29 years of my life basically abusing my body by not taking care of it. Now that I care I want to fix it in a matter of months? Take your time and it will pay off in the end.

I have increased my calories, and I seemed to be on a plateau as a result of it. I think everyone's body works differently.

This is very important to remember for everyone as you go. When you measure your results you need to adjust accordingly. Just today I weighed in and was a little shy of my 1Lb lost for the week. I went to looking at what I ate, what I can adjust. Good post.

Yikes !!! Math ...

It's worth it! If you need help let me know via message and I'll gladly help you

Thanks for posting. I will definitely be reading this over again. I downloaded "BFFM" a long time ago and found it to be full of useful information, but I wasn't ready for it yet. It seemed to be written for body builders, and I was so not a body builder then. I'm not now either, but at least I'm transforming it!

I have been stuck in a huge plateau for about 10 months now and cannot seem to find the answer. I've upped calories, decreased calories, changed workouts, etc. I will work on the info in your post and see if this gives my any hope. I have had some success - I've lost pants sizes and inches, but I am really starting to lose patience as far as weight is concerned. Thanks again!

Lkm, that's astounding! 10 month plateau! I would be going nuts, so kudos to you for hanging in there. I would say that if your in a 10 month plateau something isn't clicking in your diet and workouts. BFFM is a great manual for the knowledge, but I find his theories on Cardio to be outdated and silly. He advocates a massive amount of cardio when in reality you get the best benefits from weight training mixed with cardio. What I've found works best for ME is when I do my weight lifting metabolic, generally heavy and 30 second rests between sets. After I complete my lifting I'll finish with about 30 minutes of cardio.

Question -- how are you tracking your body fat % / lean body mass? I have a scale that purports to provide body fat % but I question the accuracy.

I recommend this scale. While it is underestimating it a little now (just had it professionally measured) it's pretty accurate. http://www.amazon.com/EatSmart-Precision-Capacity-Recognition-Technology/dp/B004L6NTHU/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1326738128&sr=8-4

this needs to be bumped, ok I got bump happy, but seriously this needs to stay on message board!

Thank you! I'm honored that so many feel this help!

I agree! I lost another pound this week on my second week of higher calories.. YAY!!! I couldnt wait three weeks I HAD to get on the scale to see what was happening. Plus netting a couple hundred more everyday- FABULOUS!! )

See! Great freaking job!

But my question is... I've worked out where I should be with the Katch-McCardle calculator, do you think that I should just aim for that number (which for me is 1850) regardless of the exercise I've done for the day? Or should I go for say a reasonably small deficit of about 0.7 lbs a week and eat back all of my exercises? If I do it the second day I am ridiculously hungry on my one rest day a week, especially as it's the day after a long run, which is usually a 'hungry day'.

I'm not sure about this eat back your exercise calories way of things yet. It's on my list of things to read this month, but I'm knee deep in medical studies on cyclical calories. Coming from what I know thus far I would suggest sticking with the Katch McCardle calculations, but actually hit that 1850 and not a calorie short.

Not to take anything from your story - but get real people...

I stopped reading responses at the first page....

Thanks - no wonder I have stayed the same for the last 5 days; and wow - thats why I plateau'd this week....

You are likely to stay the same for 5 days and a plaueau is not a week.....

But whatever,.....

Haters gonna hate.

Thanks all for the majority nice comments. I'm probably going to start a MyFitnessPal blog here to share some of my findings from research studies and scouring the field for new credible knowledge. To those that have written me personally I promise I'm trying to get back to you as fast as possible I have a 15 month old little boy who is amazing and a fantastic wife that are occupying my free time a lot, so I'll get to you I promise.

SandraNancy

Wow what a response! I'm glad I'm not the only one who was/is/did suffer from this same problem. I'll gladly answer all of your questions here

THANK YOU for posting this. This is what I've been going through. I have 9.5 lbs to my goal & have upped my work out intensely (from Tae Bo to Insanity) and kept my calories at what MFP has put me - 1200. Usually, a little lower. Well, I burn close to 1000 calories with Insanity and when you mentioned your Net & that was what your body was running off of, I checked mine. Today it's a big ol' 97. Yes. 97. NO WONDER I have stayed at the same weight within 0.5 lb for the last 5 days. I've lost, in total 228 lbs (97 lbs lost in 2004, then 2 pregnancies - 77 lbs gained & lost with one, 54 lbs with the other) and this is the first time I've been really flummoxed and frustrated about my weight loss & have hit a wall. Now the dilemma: It's 8:26pm, should I be eating something to get my calories up? If so, what?
I've just joined MFP and I wonder if it's the calorie counting to the extreme that's making me go so low in calories; all the other times I've been roughly adding them in my head & been successful. Interesting.

THANK YOU for sharing this!

I would say you must figure this out Chevitz. The Katch McArdle way to figure out your calories is wideley regarded as the most accurate way to determine your caloric needs for your body to LOSE weight. I'll give you the formula you fill in the blanks.

I'll use myself as an example:

First your need to figure out your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). This is the amount of calories you burn if you lie in bed all day, comatose.

The equation:
BMR = 370 + (21.6 x LBM(kg)) (Lean Body Mass is calculated by taking your TOTAL WEIGHT x Body Fat %)
Example - I'm currently 200lbs with 16% BF. 200 x .16 = 32 (I carry 32lbs of fat with me currently)
LBM = 200lbs - 32lbs BF = 168 Lean Body Mass
Now we must convert that to Kilograms. Just google "lbs to kg" and you'll get a converter.
168lbs = 76.20kg
21.6 * 76.20kg = 1646 + 370 = 2016BMR
My BMR is 2016 if I were to lay in a bed all day I would burn at least 2000 calories roughly. "But how does that tell me how much I should eat?" Glad you asked

We now take BMR * activity level = Maintenance Calories

Average activity variables are:
1.2 = Sedentary (Little or no exercise + desk job)
1.3-1.4 = Lightly Active (Little daily activity & light exercise 1-3 days a week)
1.5-1.6 = Moderately Active (Moderately active daily life & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)
1.7-1.8 = Very Active (Physically demanding lifestyle & Hard exercise or sports 6-7 days a week)
1.9-2.0 = Extremely Active (Hard daily exercise or sports and physical job)

Example: My BMR * my activity level 1.55 (I workout 5 days a week for 50 - 70 minutes) = 3125 Maintenance Calories (How many calories I should eat a day to maintain my current body build and weight) My advice is that you are very honest about you're daily schedule, taking into account what you do for a living. I picked 1.55 because I'm walking around all day standing and working out 5 days a week 1.55 felt right.

Maintenance Calories = 3125

Now that we know my maintenance calories it's time to CUT IT for the fat burn. Most people will say "Cut it by 500 calories blah blah blah" Well since some of you have mentioned your eating 1200, you couldn't cut it to 700 or you would literally slowly die inside. Rather, pick a % that you want to shave off. Most choose 20% off your Maintenance I chose 30% because it's working well for me. The most important thing if you pay attention to your body fat %.

My Cut Calories = 2187 I rounded up 2200

It is extremely important that you're eating your 2200 calories everyday. Thinking that you're doing great by eating 1500 or 1700 is really not great, you're putting yourself at a disadvantage. You're body will adapt, get use to 1500 calories and you'll get stuck. Eating at your goal will promote weight loss, promote a faster metabolism, coupled with working out you'll be hitting your goals in NO TIME! Be patient!

Quick Blurb about Macros: Macros are your most important nutrients that makeup your calories. I hate that MFP has it set up with % because your body doesn't care if you get 40% Protein 30% Carbs yadda yadda. You really should be able to calculate your own macros P F C

Protein: I would recommend you stick with the bodybuilders recommendations with protein.
1 - 1.15g total weight (if your body fat is average)
1 - 1.5g per lb of LEAN BODY MASS (if you know your body fat and calculated your LBM as stated above)
Each GRAM of Protein is 4 calories. I eat 200g of protein everyday which is = to 800 of my 2200 calories.

Fat: IS NOT THE DEVIL! STOP! "Fat Free this Fat Free that, OH GOOD I'll load my face with fat free ice cream" Nope. Fat is NECESSARY for the body to maintain health and it even helps burn fat! You need to pick the GOOD fats, Poly and Mono are great fats for the body.
Average Body Fat - .45 - 1g total body weight (if you don't know your bodyfat)
High BodyFat - .45 - 1g total LEAN BODY MASS (if you know your bodyfat you'll know your LBM)
Each GRAM of Fat is 9 calories. I eat 92.4g of fat in my diet which is = to 832 of my 2200 calories.

Now add those two up 832 calories from fat + 800 calories from protein = 1632
Now take 2200 - 1632 = 568 calories left for Carbs

Carbohydrates: Oh no! You'll get fat if you eat these! Ennnhhhhhh Wrong. If you're active, an althlete, or working out 5 days a week with weights you're going to need these to FEED THAT MUSCLE!

Carbs are my left over calories 568 divided by 4 = 142g
Considering I'm lifting 5 days a week 142g a day is pathetic so rather then settle for that I choose to take some of my fat down to compensate in the carb department. After all each g of fat is 9 calories so I can get a little over 2g of carbs if I steal it back from fat! Confused?

Example I said 92.4g of fat in my above. I won't eat that much fat, lets cut it to 80g of fat. 92.4 - 80 = 12.4g * 9 calories in each gram = 112 calories (rounded up) available for relocation
112 / 4 = 28g extra for carbs I went from 142g to 170g (thank GOD). Even that is a little low, so don't freak out if you have a lower fat day, workout hard in the gym and you substitute for some HEALTHY carbs.

This was really helpful, thank you. I'm stuck on the desolate 135lb plateau, and it's really frustrating me. I got lazy on my eating and was back up to 140 during the holidays, got to 135 without much effort, and have now been stuck here for weeks. I vary between 135-136lbs, and it's making me crazy. I keep within my 1200 net calories, I work out 5-6 days a week... argh!

This gives me a new tactic. I'm going to try increasing to 1330/day calories, and focus more on the composition of what I'm eating than the caloric number. I was always thrown off by being way over MFP's protein goals for the day; I eat a high protein diet, so I was always way over. This reassures me that that's okay.

You're awesome!

loftus2005

Im so happy to have found this topic too!! Ive been at a plateau also and so annoyed!! Gonna try this and see what happens!!!!! Thanks a Million!!!!

aritchey1977

I have a question. Do you eat the calories that you burn when you work out? Like if you burn 500 during a workout do you eat that much extra to make up for it? I try to not eat whatever calories I burn when I work out and just stay in the 1450 that I'm allowed. What's your opinion about that?

Natihilator

thanks for sharing this, a plateau is what ultimately destroyed my last weight loss attempt, glad I know better now

rpdaries

MaynardLD50, you are a legend, thank for sharing such valuable information. Its hard to keep track of the do and don't sometimes.

carole456

Thanks for the info!

Galletakek

commenting soo I can read later

Erykah3584

Thanks for sharing! Ive been on a plateau since August and Im sure its because my cals are set to 1200. I doubled my workouts and only drained myself and felt more tired than ever. I think its time to raise my cals but Im so scared! lol

CloneSN

wow! I gotta follow your story! I'm in a similar situation as you, and i'm dreading the plateau. What fruits and veggies would you eat?

kwikstop

Bump

SolidGoaled

bmp

NitaCB

Just on a side note- for any of you who say 'I always go over on protein' or something to that effect... Don't you know you can custom set your macros to be at the percentages you want? You don't have to stick to the ridiculously low amount of 15% (I think it is) that is the default setting on MFP. Just go to your goals and click to custom change them.

FireballStrike

Bumpity bump bump.

Savyna

great post! I took down the name of the book. It turns out my body has probably been in starvation mode for quite some time now (i normally don't eat frequently or regularly and I didn't eat as many calories as I should) I lost some weight when I joined mfp but then seemed to plateau, I knew it was about the calories but I couldn't figure out how to change it. I know some people don't feel you need to eat 5 times a day or so with small meals in order to lose weight, but I do, just to ensure that i get above 1200. Lately I've been getting better by working towards at least 1400 or so. But I do a lot of walking daily and usually end up with a net of about 500-600. I've begun weight loss again at a slow pace that I'm happy with. I hope from your post and from others that more people will be aware of how important it is to make sure you're eating and getting enough calories.

cansmith80

This is the most informational and valuable post I have ever read on MFP. I am sending a friend request to you. I saw a net of -29 calories on someone's food diary today, and I saw posts congratulating that diary. Thanks so much for sharing.

skb32881

Bump!

godiva99

What a great thread! Thanks for sharing your experience with us and helping us figure things out...it is of course 1 am here and I'm out of it so will have to read again tomorrow.

I had been wondering about this because I've been having a hard time these past few days and I think this is why... I have been overweight since having my daughters and I jsut started the JM 30DS 2 weeks ago while counting calories at the same time. MFP put me a 1600 daily cals to loose 1lb per week. I'm getting an extra 277 cals from the workouts but I rarely eat into them. I make sure I don't because then what's the point? But I've been tired, irritable, loosing my desire to work out and not seeing a difference in my body. I've been at it for 15 days so far and I want to cry because I just feel HEAVY, instead of feelng lighter and healthier. My legs feel like cynder blocks! I lost 3 lbs the first week, but only 1 the second week.

But I am not eating my full 1600 cals either. I have been feeling hungry a bit, but not acting on it, just drinking water. Now, the calorie calculator recommended here puts me at 2128 cals for fat loss and 1596 for extreme weight loss. So I should be eating my full 1600 that MFP has me on, or should I go for 2100?

Could you, would you, please, guide me here? I'm no good at this...I always had a fantastic metabolism and build, so I never learned to be healthy. I'm 35 and weigh 180lbs and my bad cholesterol is high :-(

2fit4fat

ThanKs so much for sharing! Maybe that's my problem now!!

georgina1970

Eat more - doesn't have to be the whole 3000cal tho!

loftus2005

Ok, Can someone please explain "net calories"?