frustration with plateau

lollienluke

feeling a bit frustrated with myself, still havent lost anymore weight and only 11 weeks til the wedding and 25 days until i get measured for my dress. need help, what am i doing wrong? how can i get my weight loss kick-started again? Rejoining the gym on friday so hopefully that will help but just feel so mad and upset with myself : (

mgs68pony

Boy this does seem to be a common problem. I am hoping I finally got over my hurdle. Not exatcly what I did that seemed towork......my husband and I changed several things.

1. eating more protien than MFP suggests and be more cautious with my carbs (not cutting out or doing low carb)
2. increase exercise
3. not eating back my exercise calories

Hope you find something that works for you!

PJudt

Hi. Congrats on the wedding! Drink more water throughtout the day always helps. If possible you can spread your exercise throughout the day. Say you exercise for 30 to 40 minutes every morning, maybe you can change it up by exercising 20 minutes in the morning, 20 minutes at lunch and then another 20 in the evening. This adds 20 minutes to your daily exercise as well as keeping your heart rate up throughout the day burning more calories. Take note that the scale is not the overall factor as you can gain muscle while losing fat remaining the same weight. Try and get a tape measure or a caliper tester. You may be surprised at actual change. Good luck!

mrsweasley23

I would say from reading around on the forums, INCREASING CALORIES seems to break stalls as many people are eating under the calories they need (especially after exercising). I agree with mgs that increasing protein seems to help too. If you want more info about how many calories you should be eating let me know. How much weight are you hoping to lose before your wedding?

lollienluke

i weigh 185 at the moment, want to loose as much as possible before the wedding but also want to tone up as well especially on my arms and back as my dress is strapless x

mes1119

it is hard to help when I can't see your food diary or understand your workout routine.

imaheal

Don't get discouraged. As long as you're faithfully sticking to your program, your body has to adjust to your new weight. Give it time, you can't lose everyday. Don't worry, you'll be a beautiful bride.:flowerforyou:

lollienluke

it is hard to help when I can't see your food diary or understand your workout routine.

i have opened my diary. I try to work out most days, but work full time, quite a stressful job and have 2 small children so it is sometimes difficult to fit in a workout. I am trying to cut down on chocolate but sometimes feel that i need it (wish i could give it up completely)

I have rejoined the gym so hopefully will be able to get some good workouts in but feel like im running out of time. Thanks for your help everyone x

hanlousmith

Having hit a plateau myself recently I am steadily recovering and have lost a couple of pounds this week. I have looked at your diary and, like me, you seem to have a sweet tooth? Chocolate is my enemy. I went through a phase of HAVING to have a bar a day, which would sometimes turn into 4/5 but I'd still be under my calorie goal. The problem with this is not receiving the right nutrition and then going hungry! I banned chocolate from my diet for a while and substituted it for sweet low fat yoghurts and fruit and it was so hard at first but gradually the cravings went away. Now I treat myself once in a while but I don't feel the NEED like I did before. Maybe give this a go and see if it works for you? Eating more calories of the right foods may shift the plateau and aid you in continuing your weight loss!

al262

Having hit a plateau myself recently I am steadily recovering and have lost a couple of pounds this week. I have looked at your diary and, like me, you seem to have a sweet tooth? Chocolate is my enemy. I went through a phase of HAVING to have a bar a day, which would sometimes turn into 4/5 but I'd still be under my calorie goal. The problem with this is not receiving the right nutrition and then going hungry! I banned chocolate from my diet for a while and substituted it for sweet low fat yoghurts and fruit and it was so hard at first but gradually the cravings went away. Now I treat myself once in a while but I don't feel the NEED like I did before. Maybe give this a go and see if it works for you? Eating more calories of the right foods may shift the plateau and aid you in continuing your weight loss!

I have looked at your diary too, and come to the same conclusion. I would say that when you want a chocolate, make yourself wait 5 mins before eating it, it makes think a bit more if its worth all the exercise you can squeeze in your already very schedule.
As well, i would increase your protein intake and drop your carbs which will help get your sugar craving under control.
I am a choc addict and find that method works for me.
Hope that helps. good luck and congrats on your wedding coming up.
oh yeah, one more thing, don't stress, it's not worth it. it won't make you lose weight faster and actually can slow it instead.

em9371

This may not be what you want to hear but it will help you out........

You are not eating enough and what you do eat is mostly absolute crap.
Everyone needs a bit of chocolate sometimes but do you seriously expect to lose weight with ovet half of your cals coming have chocolate??

The goal MFP gives you already includes a 500 cal per lb deficit. To get a goal of 1200 cals it's likely you have chosen a goal that is too high for what you have to lose. Everybody wants the weight off quickly, but of you aim for more than your body can cope with it doesn't work as you are increasing the deficit to a potentially unhealthy level and your loss stops as you have found out.
It will also mean your body burns muscle as well as fat. The less muscle you have, the less calories you burn, so you stop losing even when eating less, see where this is going?!
You are not getting all the nutrition your body needs from what you eat.

The good news is 11 weeks is long enough to get some good results.
Change your cals goal to 1lb and eat ALL cals including exercise.
Cut down the choc to 1 treatsize bar a day, or maybe 2 full size bars a week. Choc protein shakes really help with chocoalte cravings, and they are high protein, low fat/carb/sugar.
Eat fresh, healthy foods like lean meat, fish, eggs, whole grains, healthy fats and 5 a day fruit and veg
Start tracking sugar
Set your macros to 40c/30f/30p.
It helps to plan out your diary the night before, then you can alter meals as needed to suit your macros. My diary is open if it will help you.
Start heavy weight training. This maintains muscle so you lose more inches, and muscle burns more cals than fat so it will help your loss. Cardio only means you will also lose muscle and end up thin but flabby.

This shows the difference weight training can make, she is actually heavier but much smaller, at the end of the day it doesn't matter what you weigh, it's the inches that will have you looking fabulous in your dress :-)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/392784-skinny-fat-vs-fit-photo?hl=skinny+fat

lollienluke

This may not be what you want to hear but it will help you out........

You are not eating enough and what you do eat is mostly absolute crap.
Everyone needs a bit of chocolate sometimes but do you seriously expect to lose weight with ovet half of your cals coming have chocolate??

The goal MFP gives you already includes a 500 cal per lb deficit. To get a goal of 1200 cals it's likely you have chosen a goal that is too high for what you have to lose. Everybody wants the weight off quickly, but of you aim for more than your body can cope with it doesn't work as you are increasing the deficit to a potentially unhealthy level and your loss stops as you have found out.
It will also mean your body burns muscle as well as fat. The less muscle you have, the less calories you burn, so you stop losing even when eating less, see where this is going?!
You are not getting all the nutrition your body needs from what you eat.

The good news is 11 weeks is long enough to get some good results.
Change your cals goal to 1lb and eat ALL cals including exercise.
Cut down the choc to 1 treatsize bar a day, or maybe 2 full size bars a week. Choc protein shakes really help with chocoalte cravings, and they are high protein, low fat/carb/sugar.
Eat fresh, healthy foods like lean meat, fish, eggs, whole grains, healthy fats and 5 a day fruit and veg
Start tracking sugar
Set your macros to 40c/30f/30p.
It helps to plan out your diary the night before, then you can alter meals as needed to suit your macros. My diary is open if it will help you.
Start heavy weight training. This maintains muscle so you lose more inches, and muscle burns more cals than fat so it will help your loss. Cardio only means you will also lose muscle and end up thin but flabby.

This shows the difference weight training can make, she is actually heavier but much smaller, at the end of the day it doesn't matter what you weigh, it's the inches that will have you looking fabulous in your dress :-)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/392784-skinny-fat-vs-fit-photo?hl=skinny+fat

Thanks for the reply my current goal is set at 1.5 to 2lbs a week. I did try a protein shake for a week, but found that although i didnt snack as much my weight loss/inch loss stopped completely. I will try to use more weights - doing 30ds and been to the gym today and had a personal training session using medicene balls and viper and weights which was really good. I am more interested in inches lost and toning than weight loss if im honest i dont really care what i weigh just want to be smaller and toned.

i do tend to reach for a chocolate bar when im hungry or moody. I bought some small fudges and curly wurlys for my son but have eaten them all myself. Will not do that again its too tempting having them in the house.

Thanks again for your reply i will have a look at your diary and try to adjust my settings.

lollie x

em9371

This may not be what you want to hear but it will help you out........

You are not eating enough and what you do eat is mostly absolute crap.
Everyone needs a bit of chocolate sometimes but do you seriously expect to lose weight with ovet half of your cals coming have chocolate??

The goal MFP gives you already includes a 500 cal per lb deficit. To get a goal of 1200 cals it's likely you have chosen a goal that is too high for what you have to lose. Everybody wants the weight off quickly, but of you aim for more than your body can cope with it doesn't work as you are increasing the deficit to a potentially unhealthy level and your loss stops as you have found out.
It will also mean your body burns muscle as well as fat. The less muscle you have, the less calories you burn, so you stop losing even when eating less, see where this is going?!
You are not getting all the nutrition your body needs from what you eat.

The good news is 11 weeks is long enough to get some good results.
Change your cals goal to 1lb and eat ALL cals including exercise.
Cut down the choc to 1 treatsize bar a day, or maybe 2 full size bars a week. Choc protein shakes really help with chocoalte cravings, and they are high protein, low fat/carb/sugar.
Eat fresh, healthy foods like lean meat, fish, eggs, whole grains, healthy fats and 5 a day fruit and veg
Start tracking sugar
Set your macros to 40c/30f/30p.
It helps to plan out your diary the night before, then you can alter meals as needed to suit your macros. My diary is open if it will help you.
Start heavy weight training. This maintains muscle so you lose more inches, and muscle burns more cals than fat so it will help your loss. Cardio only means you will also lose muscle and end up thin but flabby.

This shows the difference weight training can make, she is actually heavier but much smaller, at the end of the day it doesn't matter what you weigh, it's the inches that will have you looking fabulous in your dress :-)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/392784-skinny-fat-vs-fit-photo?hl=skinny+fat

Thanks for the reply my current goal is set at 1.5 to 2lbs a week. I did try a protein shake for a week, but found that although i didnt snack as much my weight loss/inch loss stopped completely. I will try to use more weights - doing 30ds and been to the gym today and had a personal training session using medicene balls and viper and weights which was really good. I am more interested in inches lost and toning than weight loss if im honest i dont really care what i weigh just want to be smaller and toned.

i do tend to reach for a chocolate bar when im hungry or moody. I bought some small fudges and curly wurlys for my son but have eaten them all myself. Will not do that again its too tempting having them in the house.

Thanks again for your reply i will have a look at your diary and try to adjust my settings.

lollie x

when you had the protein shakes, were you having them included in your allowance or in addition? If they are part of your calorie goal they shouldnt affect weight loss in any way.

I know what you mean with the chocolate, I try to not keep it in the house. I buy blue ribands and breakaways for my husband because I dont like them, any other biscuits in the house I would have to eat them! I have a few chocolates in fridge from Hotel Chocolat which for some reason I am able to resist eating more than one at a time, maybe because they are so expensive lol

Your gym routine sounds good. 30ds / weights / VIPR will all help with the inch loss, getting your diet right will make them so much more effective for you :-)

lollienluke

when you had the protein shakes, were you having them included in your allowance or in addition? If they are part of your calorie goal they shouldnt affect weight loss in any way.

I know what you mean with the chocolate, I try to not keep it in the house. I buy blue ribands and breakaways for my husband because I dont like them, any other biscuits in the house I would have to eat them! I have a few chocolates in fridge from Hotel Chocolat which for some reason I am able to resist eating more than one at a time, maybe because they are so expensive lol

Your gym routine sounds good. 30ds / weights / VIPR will all help with the inch loss, getting your diet right will make them so much more effective for you :-)
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they were included, was having them for breakfast as it kept me going til lunch time. had one today so will see how it goes. x