Anyone hit a plateau and got out of it?

AH2013

Do me a favor, if you can use the BMR tool on this site as well as the link below, then we can start to dive into your problems.
http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr

Okay, so my BMR with MFP says 1,546. From that website the Harris-Benedict reading was 1,622 and the Katch-McCardle was 1,637. According to the outcome I should be eating 2,164 cals per day...holy crap! That's quite scary for me.

I've been zigzagging (freedieting.com) and yesterday went for the fat loss section instead of the extreme fat loss section. It's a lot more calories than I'm eating at present but I'm prepared to give it a go.

castadiva

Bump! Having a similar issue and interested to see what is suggested.

pinksparklefairy

Start a new high-intensity workout you have not done before - your body gets used to doing the same thing and becomes more efficient. Don't forget your body naturally programmed to retain as much fat as possible so you can survive the food supplies run out, so you have to keep changing exercise and the amount of calories you eat.

Try to take some long walks when you have some time - 3-hour hikes at the weekend, ideally in a hilly location

reduce carbs and increase protein

psuLemon

Maybe you could try reboosting your metabolism. If you still want to keep your calorie intake the same, try changing the TIMES that you eat. Try breaking it up into 6 different settings. That way you're never putting much in at a time. Plus, it's constantly keeping your digestive tract moving and working. Also, COLD ice water boosts the metabolism. Maybe you could try this for a few weeks and see if this helps. I wish you luck!

There is only one thing that will actually change your metabolism and that is increasing lean muscle mass. And there have been several recent studies that suggest whether you eat one meal or ten meals, your body burns the same amount of calories metabolizing them.

psuLemon

Do me a favor, if you can use the BMR tool on this site as well as the link below, then we can start to dive into your problems.
http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr

Okay, so my BMR with MFP says 1,546. From that website the Harris-Benedict reading was 1,622 and the Katch-McCardle was 1,637. According to the outcome I should be eating 2,164 cals per day...holy crap! That's quite scary for me.

I've been zigzagging (freedieting.com) and yesterday went for the fat loss section instead of the extreme fat loss section. It's a lot more calories than I'm eating at present but I'm prepared to give it a go.

You can do zigzagging, but to be honest, I would suggest just eating more. I honestly don't think zigzagging will provide much benefit since over a weeks time, your body will still burn the same amount of calories digesting food. I did look at your diary and it appears you are pretty high in carbs (about 60%) and fairly low on protein (20%). I would suggest two things for you. First, bump your calories to 2150. Eat this amount every day, even days you don't work out. You do this to feed your body to repair itself and you are looking at weight loss over a week as opposed to daily. With this approach, you do not eat back exercise calories; it's the approach I take as well an use on everyone else I work with... heck, I don't even track exercise. Next, go into your settings and set your carbs at 40%, protein at 40% and fat at 20%. Monitor that for a month, if you still don't lose weight, then you need to increase your calories by 200. If you start to lose again, then you maintain. If you gain more than 5 lbs, then you decrease by 200.

AH2013

Do me a favor, if you can use the BMR tool on this site as well as the link below, then we can start to dive into your problems.
http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr

Okay, so my BMR with MFP says 1,546. From that website the Harris-Benedict reading was 1,622 and the Katch-McCardle was 1,637. According to the outcome I should be eating 2,164 cals per day...holy crap! That's quite scary for me.

I've been zigzagging (freedieting.com) and yesterday went for the fat loss section instead of the extreme fat loss section. It's a lot more calories than I'm eating at present but I'm prepared to give it a go.

You can do zigzagging, but to be honest, I would suggest just eating more. I honestly don't think zigzagging will provide much benefit since over a weeks time, your body will still burn the same amount of calories digesting food. I did look at your diary and it appears you are pretty high in carbs (about 60%) and fairly low on protein (20%). I would suggest two things for you. First, bump your calories to 2150. Eat this amount every day, even days you don't work out. You do this to feed your body to repair itself and you are looking at weight loss over a week as opposed to daily. With this approach, you do not eat back exercise calories; it's the approach I take as well an use on everyone else I work with... heck, I don't even track exercise. Next, go into your settings and set your carbs at 40%, protein at 40% and fat at 20%. Monitor that for a month, if you still don't lose weight, then you need to increase your calories by 200. If you start to lose again, then you maintain. If you gain more than 5 lbs, then you decrease by 200.

You've said exactly what I've been reading!!! It's easy to get a bit lost though...I shall try your suggestion and see how that goes. It's scary for me to eat that much but I'll give it a go. I actually had my macros set to 45 carbs 25 protein and 30 fat but I'll change to what you said. As a veggie I find it hard to get my protein quota in but will make more of an effort. I really, really appreciate you taking this time out to help!!!!! Thanks so much!

HonkyTonks

Maybe you could try reboosting your metabolism. If you still want to keep your calorie intake the same, try changing the TIMES that you eat. Try breaking it up into 6 different settings. That way you're never putting much in at a time. Plus, it's constantly keeping your digestive tract moving and working. Also, COLD ice water boosts the metabolism. Maybe you could try this for a few weeks and see if this helps. I wish you luck!

There is only one thing that will actually change your metabolism and that is increasing lean muscle mass. And there have been several recent studies that suggest whether you eat one meal or ten meals, your body burns the same amount of calories metabolizing them.

Thank you! I hate the 6 meals a day thing that continues to be repeated like fact. Meal frequency is irrelevant. Your metabolism is impacted by your current weight and lean muscle mass, not the food or frequency you eat at.

wftiger

Resistance training. Build more muscle to help you get past it. Can be as easy as doing more flights of stairs. Make sure your protein is adequate. For women that is 20grams 4 times a day. Need protein to build muscle.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I did maintenance for a few weeks and let my body recover from being in "diet mode" for months-- then I dropped back down to a deficit and started losing again.

ctime

At this point you need to mix up your food intake so your body and fat react properly to diet and exercise. Right now your body is saying "hold up, wait a minute, don't lose any fat". People have maintained body fat on 500kcal a day. The trick is to force the body to release fat by increasing leptin sensitivity and making your body switch back to regular fat burning mode. Once your body detects (through hormones, like leptin) that a significant weightloss has occured (1-5% of body fat lets say), it will try to react by conserving calories and slowing metabolism at all levels. This is the plateau. But there are work arounds..

The vegetarian thing is going to make things more difficult unless you are willing to basically just eat salad greens. The body wants to gain fat, especially when eating anything with lots of sugar and carbs. I would carb load one day (stay away from sugar and fructose, I'm talking about just eat a giant potato or a burrito) and then switch back to low carb/high fat/high protein. Stay away from any sugar that doesn't come with tons of fiber (or all together). My theory about fructose and fruit was that humans have evolved to store fructose as fat as much as possible while the going was good (ie. summer harvest) because winter was probably going to be a starvation. In that sense, fruit is healthy, but when trying to lose weight, I'd get rid of any sugar/fructose and go easy on the carbs.

AH2013

One week on! No longer lacking energy. No longer hungry. Losing weight. Feeling better than I've felt for a long time. Thanks to psulemon for your invaluable advice and help!!

AH2013

Thanks again to EVERYONE who gave the same good advice. I'm sorry I didn't realise people were still posting on this.....

LuciaLongIsland

I had only lost 10 pounds and was on a plateau for a months. I was so discouraged. I do have medical issues though. As I was due, I spoke to my endo doctor. She said 1000 a day. Most of the time I have done that, no exercise really and I am 60. I am now losing about 1.5 pounds a week. As far as starvation, it is a myth. Please need to speak to a doctor and do the research on it. Be patient. I still believe it is calories in, calories out. There is no trick to losing. Read success stories on here. It is a matter of opinion, but I don't eat my calories from exercising back, rarely eat processed food, pizza, candy fast food. I think a lot of is eating healthy. it is not eating garbage. I have seen a lot of people stay under and eat 5 candy bars. You will get out of this. It takes time and you are doing well. Patience.

dtucker3800

Thanks for the tip. I have been struggling with a plateau and was terrified of cutting below 1200.

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psuLemon

Thanks for the tip. I have been struggling with a plateau and was terrified of cutting below 1200.

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Keep in mind cutting will increase muscle loss. Has you tried upping your calories. This is what the op did and it worked. Keep in mind as you get closer to your goal you have to decrease your deficit as your body will fight to hold onto calories more.