Plateau advice from those that met their goal

Helloitsdan

Eat more for a couple days and rest. Also, take measurements!! I have seen inches lost when I haven't seen the scale move.

^^^^This

A group of my friends decided on January 1st and for 2 weeks to eat at maintenance to break any plateaus.
This was on my wall yesterday of one of my friends using my numbers.
She was stalled FOREVER!

"AmyW125 Ok...no scale movement BUT I went from a size 5 jean to a size 0!!!!! Thanks...I'll keep eating! "
Shes eating between 1500-2k a day and working out 3 times a week.

Better bodies are built in the kitchen and in bed sleeping!
Everything else is secondary!

ninerbuff

Plateaus are generally caused by:
1) body adaptation to a routine
2) metabolism slowing down due to VLCD
3) You are at your goal but your brain isnt agreeing with your body

I recommend that anyone hitting a weight loss plateau to eat at maintenance for 2 weeks then resume the diet.

Be sure you know the big 3!
TDEE
BMR
Body fat %

I have 6 people this week report no weight loss but inches lost due to proper nutrition and macronutrients.
Is your MFP configured correctly or did you take the cookie cutter approach and not do the math?

THIS. I would also do the same for clients who have "stalled". Most people here "stall" and are NOT on a plateau.

So what's a plateau? A plateau is 6 weeks or more of no weight loss or gain IF consistent with diet and exercise. If you've haven't lost anything in LESS than a week to 5 weeks, it's a stall. Stalls are much easier to overcome than plateaus.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

JennBunny73

My first ever Spike Day 8 years ago broke my diet plateau and I spiked my way to losing over 100lbs. Even better I've kept it off and I'm in the best shape of my life. Just pick a day coming up and try to eat a small calorie surplus. It only takes a day of overeating to restore the "ant-starvation" hormones.

Congratulations on your weight loss. And your transformation is amazing. You look great! I think I will try a spike day. It is worth a try

JennBunny73

I really think the earlier advice of measuring is helpful....a lot of times your weight stabilizes (especially when you are close to goal or only have a little to lose), but the inches keep creeping off. I also think the type of calories you consume can make a difference. I can't eat 1200 calories that are carb heavy & lose weight, but can eat the same 1200 calories with a higher protein ratio, and the weight keeps coming off slowly & steadily. Just don't give up, and trust your smart choices & healthier lifestyle. You can do it.

Thanks...This makes total sense. I took my measurements..and i have started losing inches in a different place. When I started TurboFire on Nov 7...until late December I had lost about 1.5 pounds a week average..and lost inches from my waist, chest and hips..I just checked...and now my waist has stayed the same since hitting this stall...but an inch off my things and .5 off my hips..so maybe losing the inches in a different place is causing the stall in pounds lost.
I am going to try to add higher protein and I think I will add some extra fresh fruit at night. Thanks for the encouragement. No plans to give up...going to keep fighting until I reach my ultimate goal, even if it takes forever to get there!

JennBunny73

I was told to add foods that help your boost/speed up your metabolism

Check out this web site
http://www.metabolism-boosting-foods.com/

Thanks! That is a good resource. I think I might be adding some oatmeal and tuna to my diet. Don't know why I had forgot about tuna being a good lunch option

JennBunny73

Has anyone tried weaving calories? Like 2 days you stay on your plan..say 1200 calories..then 1 day of eating what you want, 2 days back to your calorie plan, next day of eating what you want.. If so how long did you do this for? 1 week, 2 weeks? Any good results?

Helloitsdan

Jesus just eat!
Why are we over thinking this stuff so much.

You eat below TDEE you lose weight.
You eat close or below BMR you lose lean mass.

O.O
Exhausting!

Plenty of people calorie cycle but its a huge pain in the *kitten* because you have to think about it too much.

Set calories to 1600, lose weight and eat well!

Simple!

lk27

bump....4 months stuck at the last 10 pounds!!!! HELP!!!!

Same here.... I have upped my calories and am changing up my workouts this week, also adding more weight to my weight training.... Hopefully this helps!

Helloitsdan

bump....4 months stuck at the last 10 pounds!!!! HELP!!!!

Same here.... I have upped my calories and am changing up my workouts this week, also adding more weight to my weight training.... Hopefully this helps!

A group of friends and I ate at maintenance for 2-3 weeks and broke out plateaus. Try it! It boosts metabolism and gives you an extra 20% of food to eat!

tangiesharp

bump

JennBunny73

Jesus just eat!
Why are we over thinking this stuff so much.

You eat below TDEE you lose weight.
You eat close or below BMR you lose lean mass.

O.O
Exhausting!

Plenty of people calorie cycle but its a huge pain in the *kitten* because you have to think about it too much.

Set calories to 1600, lose weight and eat well!

Simple!

Not true for a female that is almost 40...I have ate that much before and gain weight Exhausting..of course it is..there is definitely a science behind it when you are my age. My body doesn't respond like a 20 or even 30 year old. That used to be the case until I got into my upper 30's. In fact, one bad weekend for me and I am up 2 or 3 pounds and it takes another 1-3 weeks to lose it. I can't afford to eat without over thinking or I will never get to my ultimate goal.
And I was just asking for the opinions of people that have tried it and what was their success?\

taso42

one bad weekend for me and I am up 2 or 3 pounds and it takes another 1-3 weeks to lose it. I can't

You realize this is water weight right? To gain 2 or 3 lbs of fat you would need a surplus of 7000-10500. This is regardless of age or gender.

People need to stop freaking out about water, glycogen, food, poop, and urine fluctuations and focus on health and body composition.

ninerbuff

one bad weekend for me and I am up 2 or 3 pounds and it takes another 1-3 weeks to lose it. I can't

You realize this is water weight right? To gain 2 or 3 lbs of fat you would need a surplus of 7000-10500. This is regardless of age or gender.

People need to stop freaking out about water, glycogen, food, poop, and urine fluctuations and focus on health and body composition.

THIS. While there might be a slight gain, the point is that it has to be done for a couple of weeks to totally assess if it works.


A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Helloitsdan

Unless you have a medical condition that hinders your metabolism or you are under 5 foot you will lose weight at my numbers. You just cave to commit to them for a month. Do you stay in bed all day? Probably not. Ive got men and women eating at numbers ive suggested and losing fat while maintaining lean mass. Some are in tgeir 60s! Its up to you but hop on the Internet and google "sustainable diets" 99% of them will have you eating above 1600 daily and devouring protein.

Jumpin2thefire

I lost 85 pounds cycling and anytime I hit a plateau and was being honest with myself about food intake and it actually was a plateau, I would go crazy with food for a day, like eat a whole box of mac and cheese and then some(over 1,000 extra calories), in addition to my normal food routines. it would break the plateau every time.

623Hernandez

bump
to reed later
I am on my way to work

chezmoss

Bump

mariasotera

Bump

themommie

great info here thanks for sharing

NitaCB

I don't know if you call it a stall, a plateau or some new category altogether when you've been on here a year and instead of losing gained a few instead! I have finally come to the conclusion that I've been undereating for many years, thus messing up my metabolism.

I'm 5"4 135lbs and I run about 5-6 days a week, plus 2 Pump classes in which I lift fairly heavy. I've got my goal set on 1400 at the moment, and I'm now making sure I'm eating back all my exercise calories. But nothing has changed. (It's been about 3 wks now.) I'm still pretty darn hungry most of the time, I wonder if I need to take them higher? Or perhaps try eating at maintenance for 2 wks. I just don't know how I'd handle going back to being hungry all the time again!

And I do eat a pretty good balanced diet, heaps of fruit and veges and about 30% protein.

Any suggestions welcome.

Helloitsdan

I don't know if you call it a stall, a plateau or some new category altogether when you've been on here a year and instead of losing gained a few instead! I have finally come to the conclusion that I've been undereating for many years, thus messing up my metabolism.

I'm 5"4 135lbs and I run about 5-6 days a week, plus 2 Pump classes in which I lift fairly heavy. I've got my goal set on 1400 at the moment, and I'm now making sure I'm eating back all my exercise calories. But nothing has changed. (It's been about 3 wks now.) I'm still pretty darn hungry most of the time, I wonder if I need to take them higher? Or perhaps try eating at maintenance for 2 wks. I just don't know how I'd handle going back to being hungry all the time again!

And I do eat a pretty good balanced diet, heaps of fruit and veges and about 30% protein.

Any suggestions welcome.

bump to 1600-1800 for 2-3 weeks and see what happens.
worst case scenario is youll boost metabolism and lose an inch.

NitaCB

Just checking- do you mean 1600 + exercise calories? So 1600-1800 net?

Helloitsdan

Yes! Its well below TDEE but above BMR.

Pattinan

Interesting advise from Jillian. I was not losing much..took 2 days off of exercise and upped my calories...I lost 2 lbs!! Hard to wrap my mind around how that works, but it does!

psuLemon

I don't know if you call it a stall, a plateau or some new category altogether when you've been on here a year and instead of losing gained a few instead! I have finally come to the conclusion that I've been undereating for many years, thus messing up my metabolism.

I'm 5"4 135lbs and I run about 5-6 days a week, plus 2 Pump classes in which I lift fairly heavy. I've got my goal set on 1400 at the moment, and I'm now making sure I'm eating back all my exercise calories. But nothing has changed. (It's been about 3 wks now.) I'm still pretty darn hungry most of the time, I wonder if I need to take them higher? Or perhaps try eating at maintenance for 2 wks. I just don't know how I'd handle going back to being hungry all the time again!

And I do eat a pretty good balanced diet, heaps of fruit and veges and about 30% protein.

Any suggestions welcome.

Didn't you just have a thread on this?

But either way, you are probably burning over a 1000 calories a day if you are running that much and doing body pump. So if you BMR is 1400 (about common for your size) lets look at some figures.


1400 * 1.2 = 1680+1000 = 2680 *.8 = 2144.


So gross calories would be over 2000. If you aren't losing and you aren' consistently gain, you aren't eating enough.

jrreed1

bump to read later

psuLemon

Jesus just eat!
Why are we over thinking this stuff so much.

You eat below TDEE you lose weight.
You eat close or below BMR you lose lean mass.

O.O
Exhausting!

Plenty of people calorie cycle but its a huge pain in the *kitten* because you have to think about it too much.

Set calories to 1600, lose weight and eat well!

Simple!

Not true for a female that is almost 40...I have ate that much before and gain weight Exhausting..of course it is..there is definitely a science behind it when you are my age. My body doesn't respond like a 20 or even 30 year old. That used to be the case until I got into my upper 30's. In fact, one bad weekend for me and I am up 2 or 3 pounds and it takes another 1-3 weeks to lose it. I can't afford to eat without over thinking or I will never get to my ultimate goal.
And I was just asking for the opinions of people that have tried it and what was their success?\

The only time age comes into the equation is retention of lean muscle mass. As you age, you can lose up to 1% of lean muscle mass each year, or close to that standard. This means, you have to work hard to maintain. But even so, there is still a simple equation to figuring out your caloric needs. It doesn't change based on age. The only thing that does is your metabolic rate or your base number. And really the difference in calories is minimal.

Also, when you did do 1600 calories, how long did you monitor the progress? Was it a month or two? Or was it a week and you quickly changed back. You do have to keep in mind, that when you go from 1200 calories and up it, it takes time for your body to adjust (up to a month). It's just your body freaking out that it is seeing more calories than it is used to and it's adapting to get rid of the spare calories.

NitaCB

I don't know if you call it a stall, a plateau or some new category altogether when you've been on here a year and instead of losing gained a few instead! I have finally come to the conclusion that I've been undereating for many years, thus messing up my metabolism.

I'm 5"4 135lbs and I run about 5-6 days a week, plus 2 Pump classes in which I lift fairly heavy. I've got my goal set on 1400 at the moment, and I'm now making sure I'm eating back all my exercise calories. But nothing has changed. (It's been about 3 wks now.) I'm still pretty darn hungry most of the time, I wonder if I need to take them higher? Or perhaps try eating at maintenance for 2 wks. I just don't know how I'd handle going back to being hungry all the time again!

And I do eat a pretty good balanced diet, heaps of fruit and veges and about 30% protein.

Any suggestions welcome.

Didn't you just have a thread on this?

But either way, you are probably burning over a 1000 calories a day if you are running that much and doing body pump. So if you BMR is 1400 (about common for your size) lets look at some figures.


1400 * 1.2 = 1680+1000 = 2680 *.8 = 2144.


So gross calories would be over 2000. If you aren't losing and you aren' consistently gain, you aren't eating enough.

Ha ha, yea me again. I just still haven't been getting anywhere at all. Now that I've got an HRM I know I'm not burning over 1000 a day, an average would be more between 400-750. My BMR is about 1350 I think.

I'm going to try raising my net to 1600 and see what happens.