I think I've reached a plateau.....

IRun4Me_12

So, I've been gaining and losing the same 2 lbs for about 2 weeks now. I just can't seem to get my body to go any lower. I'm REALLY anxious to drop another pound from my lowest number to get into the 170's! I lost relatively quickly - an avg of 1.75 lbs per week since January 6, and I know it will come off more slowly, but I can't get that scale to budget below 180.5!!

Any tips on what I should change up in my diet? Increase/decrease protein, carbs, calories over all? I did take about a 4-day hiatus from cardio because I was in serious pain from shin splints. They seem to be much better now, so I'm going to get back on the wagon today.

I have opened my diary .... please be nice

melsinct

I lost 30 pounds total and plateaued at exactly halfway (15 pounds down). I tried a bunch of different things that people suggest on MFP (zig zagging calories, changing up workouts, etc.) and the only thing that worked for me was upping my calories. I went from 1200 to 1400 and that did the trick after a 2 month long plateau. Generally at some point near the end of your loss, you'll benefit from setting MFP at a 0.5 lb/week loss instead of something more aggressive. I looked through your diary and it looks like you leave hundreds of calories on the table pretty regularly. Before trying anything really different, I would work hard to come as close as possible to hitting your calorie target daily (not 200 calories below, not much above, but aim for spot on as much as possible). MFP has calculated the deficit for you. By eating that much less, you are creating a much bigger daily deficit than intended for your goal/height/weight.

AoifeA30

Hi

I was having the same problem for 3 weeks, whatever I did I couldn't get the scales to move. Last week I decided to up my fibre intake to at least 25g/30gs a day and upped my water intake to 2 litres/8 glasses. It worked. Lost 3 pound this week!

Sometimes its a case of playing around to find what works for you! I find that unless my system (!) is working well I tend not to lose weigh!

Good luck

renstwin

I agree with the previous poster. Some days you are hundreds below your calorie goal. You also eat out a lot, which could be affecting your sodium level. Try eating the 1420 MFP has you set at and give it a few weeks.

IRun4Me_12

@ melsinct - I know I need to eat the calories that MFP calculates, but half the time I get to the end of the day and realize I still have a few left, and am not hungry. I guess I just have to plan a little better ahead of time.

@ renstwin - This week was BAD for eating out I normally don't eat out that much!

Thanks for the advice! I'm aiming to eat all of my calories today! Do you eat back your exercise calories every time? I normally burn over 300 cals each time I work out. I do eat back some of them most days, but not all the time. I very rarely eat them all back.

lbibbens

First I will say Congratulations on your progress thus far....

As I looked through your food diary a couple of things....

1. Nestle coffeemate---Get the Sugar Free vs Fat Free only 15 calories per serving in the sugar free vs 35 per serving in the fat free.
They taste the same

2. Personally I would add Sodium to one of your columns. It's the one thing that doesn't change if you work out or not. You can't gain additional sodium mg's a day by working out. But sodium is the number one key to retaining water. I personally can feel it now when I've had a day with where I surpassed my sodium and the next day I feel dehydrated. More I think it about 100% add Sodium.

3. I agree with an earlier post, MFP has already calculated the deficit so that you don't have to. Work hard to eat all of your calories. Focus on one or two more healthy small meals/snacks.

4. Understand that this is a Journey. Every week is going to be different than the last. In the time where you haven't lost weight per se, check your measurements, you may have lost inches. In addition which I don't hear enough, internally you're becoming healthier every week. Blood Pressure, Cardiovascular, Blood Sugar levels, just overall you are setting yourself up to live the remainder of your life....... Healthy!!!!!

renstwin

I usually eat most of mine back. I set my activity level to sedentary, and use a HRM to track calories burned. Average calories I eat per day are between 1500 and 1900.

My week was bad for eating out too! Just keep at it. I hit a month long plateau and was very frustrated. Just keep going!