Eating to lose and I broke through my plateau!

sjwhite7

Today I broke through my month long plateau. I am so happy that I did my little dance this morning! LOL Last week I was told by a nutritionist to up my calories and weight myself today to see if it helps. It did! Its funny that you have to eat to lose...I also changed my workouts just a little. I up'd my weights. I was so skeptical because I was not hungry at 1200 calories and it is so hard for me to eat 1400 calories a day especially when I have to eat back my exercise calories but I have been pushing myself to come as close as I can to the 1400 as possible. I kept telling myself not to give up and that I will find out the reason and break through this plateau and I did. Im proud of myself for not giving up. For everyone who has encouraged me and gave me advice i just want to say THANK YOU! It so hard when you hit a plateau and you don't know why. Sometimes even harder when you come here and see that some people just do it right the first time and lose without plateaus. Even harder when you post topics and everyone fights over advice given and then you feel lost and overwhelmed...Sometimes you wonder how many people give up over the conflicts and discouragement. Its sad for me to think about. I promised myself I wasn't going to let anything stop me this time no matter how hard it was. I won this battle but I know I have more trials to come and I am standing on my word and not giving up...

Symphony6

I did the same thing. MFP had me eating 1330 calories, but my weight loss slowed after two weeks and I was so hungry. I immediately started doing some research into calorie intake and upped my cals to 1560ish. Bammo, weight loss started again and has been going for over a month. So glad that you found where you're supposed to be!! Keep up the great work!

busyPK

Sounds very similar to my experience. I was stuck at a 21lb weight lose for 2+ weeks and changed my eating (actually more now) and have finally saw the scale go down again. Congrats on finding something that works for your body. Some people can eat 1200 calories and lose weight consistantly, while other hit many plateaus through the course of their jouney.

albali

Thanks for posting this. I have been on a plateau (kinda yoyoing really) for nearly a month. I have upped my calories as of today, and will be increasing (and slightly changing) my exercise. Good to know it worked for you! Hope it has the same effect for me!

tangiesharp

Happy to hear about your success!! I had to do the same thing to get off my plateau. Eating is good!

mfjutras

Ugh! I totally know what you mean! I've been givin' it for the last 2 month and I've only lost like 5 pounds ish. I've been steady for the last 2 weeks and struggling with eating back calories (I workout out 1 hour+ 5 days a week so it tells me to eat 2000 calories on some days - bleh). I'm happy to hear that you broke through the plateau. I've increased my food (sucks because I'm not really hungry but I must pull through! :P) and hopefully I'll see a change like you Keep it up girl!

G30Grrl

Thank you!! I needed to hear this. I just started heavy lifting a couple of weeks ago, and also upped my calories to account for it. I haven't seen the payoff yet, as I am still on the plateau. But stories like yours give me hope that I will break through soon.

Jennicia

hmmmm, i posted the same thing today about how I've been on a plateu. MFP has me eating 1440 calories already. What do u suggest I bump it up to just a few hundred more and for how long? thanks for posting, no I know Im not alone!

klkelley

Congratulations on a well deserved victory!!!

imustbegood

Yay what a fab feeling...

I have been on a plateau since Xmas. I have increased my exercising from 30 mins a day to 60 mins a day since 1 Jan and since then havent lost any weight (and have 3 lbs which comes on and off constantly depending on the exercise I am doing ) Last week I upped my calories from 1200 which MFP had set me on to 1500 as a base line - no weight loss so far.... but its early - quick question tho..... when I exercise I normally earn 400-500 exercise cals - should I be eating some of these back too ?

ChristinaBarnhouse

Thanks for posting this. I have also been questioning the same thing. Since I started MFP, my goal has been set to 1250 calories a day. If I have a "good exercice day", I can easily meet that goal. If not, it's very hard to stay under 1250. Today I upped my calories to 1400. I'll keep you posted!!

Great job on your weightloss!

sjwhite7

hmmmm, i posted the same thing today about how I've been on a plateu. MFP has me eating 1440 calories already. What do u suggest I bump it up to just a few hundred more and for how long? thanks for posting, no I know Im not alone!

It depends on your weight, height, and activity level I can give you the formula to figure out the calories you need to function and then you have to factor in your activity level to get the right amount. There are many different formulas but the one that seems to be working for me is the Harris-Benedict formula : Women--655+(9.6x wt in kg)+(1.8x ht in cm.)- (4.7x age in years) Men--66 +(13.7x wt in kg) + (5x ht in cm) - (6.8x age in years) This number is your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate)

Once you get your BMR you need to figure out how active you are and use these multipliers:
(little or no exercise, desk job)= Sedentary stays as BMR you just got
(light exercise/sports 1-3 day a wk)=lightly active= BMR x 1.375
(Moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days a wk)= mod. active= BMR x 1.55
(hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a wk)= Very active= BMR x 1.725
(hard daily exercise/ sports & physical job or 2x day training, marathon, football camp, contest, ect.)= Extra active= BMR x 1.9

I hope this helps and is not too confusing. The book that has really helped me to understand a lot of this is Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto.

I am sure that this can cause a lot of people to give up and get discouraged. Im glad that this post has helped you! Don't give up!

sjwhite7

Yay what a fab feeling...

I have been on a plateau since Xmas. I have increased my exercising from 30 mins a day to 60 mins a day since 1 Jan and since then havent lost any weight (and have 3 lbs which comes on and off constantly depending on the exercise I am doing ) Last week I upped my calories from 1200 which MFP had set me on to 1500 as a base line - no weight loss so far.... but its early - quick question tho..... when I exercise I normally earn 400-500 exercise cals - should I be eating some of these back too ?

I can't answer that question and feel comfortable that I am correct. Some people say yes and some people say no. When I was using MFP I did. Now that I am using the Harris-Benedict formula which factors in activity already I don't. Not sure if that is correct or not. Its working for me but it may not work for someone else. I am not a expert. I guess its really trial and error from here on out for me. Some things may work for others and some may not. You will get many different answers and it will confuse you to death. I was almost sick over it. But I just tried this and it happened to work for me. It may slow down again and I might have to try something new. Im not sure yet. LOL

melsinct

I also had to eat more to lose. I had to do this twice to break two different plateaus!

Congrats on breaking the plateau and a big YAY to eating more!

cmriverside

Agree. Set your goals realistically. Be truthful about your food, and eat enough. I also broke a plateau of six weeks by eating (substantially) more.

imustbegood

Yay what a fab feeling...

I have been on a plateau since Xmas. I have increased my exercising from 30 mins a day to 60 mins a day since 1 Jan and since then havent lost any weight (and have 3 lbs which comes on and off constantly depending on the exercise I am doing ) Last week I upped my calories from 1200 which MFP had set me on to 1500 as a base line - no weight loss so far.... but its early - quick question tho..... when I exercise I normally earn 400-500 exercise cals - should I be eating some of these back too ?

I can't answer that question and feel comfortable that I am correct. Some people say yes and some people say no. When I was using MFP I did. Now that I am using the Harris-Benedict formula which factors in activity already I don't. Not sure if that is correct or not. Its working for me but it may not work for someone else. I am not a expert. I guess its really trial and error from here on out for me. Some things may work for others and some may not. You will get many different answers and it will confuse you to death. I was almost sick over it. But I just tried this and it happened to work for me. It may slow down again and I might have to try something new. Im not sure yet. LOL

Thanks for ur reply hun - I will have a go at working out from the formula u just posted and try that ad it factors in the exercises - thanks x

Reckabek

Thank u! Just posted a similar post, im haven a hard time upping my cals, but am trying. Ate more for lunch! Yay! 2 month plat. Lets change that!

lizzybethclaire

Congratulations!:drinker:

dlyeates

I increased my calories by only about 100 a day and continued eating back my exercise calories and the scale started moving for me too. I'm actually increasing more now with my research but I won't be able to tell what my weight loss looks like until Easter since I gave up my scale for Lent. :-(

deniserenee_02

Great Post!

sjwhite7

I spoke with 3 different trainers and 2 nutritionists and they all said that using the Harris-Benedict method you do not need to eat back your calories you exercise. The exercise is included in the formula. I figured that I would ask some pros to get a better answer. Still not sure if they are correct but it is working for me. All smiles today that is for sure!!!