Advice? Plateaued like a mothaaa.

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galaxyhearts
galaxyhearts Posts: 258 Member
in Food and Nutrition
My dairy is public for your ridiculing pleasure. Try to be constructive - I won't give a snarky response for solid, sound, and scientifically based advice. I JUST upped my calories today based on someone's suggestion to eat closer to my BMR - but until today I was eating 1370/day - and eating back exercise calories.

I've been at a plateau with a small 1 or 2 lb gain or loss here and there.. but not much going on. I just recently started a new exercise program to try and help out. I AM doing cardio exercise as well strength training.

I'm 5'3" and have pretty much been stuck at 209-212 lbs for the past 4 months depending on the day (everyone fluctuates - I know).

A side note about my food entries - I have been using a "Free Day" on Saturday (eating what I want).. and I have been not logging Sundays consistently. I have however, been trying to stay under my calorie goal on Sundays and eat as I normally would during the week. I am trying to learn how to eat properly without logging everything, but I can assure you that I am not completely unhinged on the weekend. So - advice that implies that I am eating 10,000 calories on the weekends will not really help.

Thanks for any suggestions you might be able to give me. If you need more info I can definitely provide it.

Replies

  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    I looked at your diary and there is no glaring problem (in my opinion). I would start logging weekends, as your free day may be doing you in more than you realize. I can empathize with you, I had a plateau that lasted 4 months and it SUCKED. Then one day, the scale just started moving again. It was like my body was testing my patience.

    As a side note, I am also not keen on logging forever. I got to my goal weight then gave up weekend logging. Currently I log M-F and I am thinking of reigning that in too.
  • DrG3n3
    DrG3n3 Posts: 467 Member
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    Sorry I can't help any more than the suggestions Ive made before food-wise. Only thing I can offer is to log the weekends to double check yourself. Maybe someone out there will help out :)
  • DrG3n3
    DrG3n3 Posts: 467 Member
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    Bumping. There are a ton of people on this site that should have some help. :)
  • Smuterella
    Smuterella Posts: 1,623 Member
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    I ran your numbers via http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    I make your BMR 1746, your TDEE 2400 and so your weight loss figure for a 1lb or so a week 2000 calories. i based this on lightly active.

    I would try eating this for a month and not eating back any exercise calories. The worst that can happen is you put on a few lbs and reset your metabolism a bit. you can always drop your calories back and lose those again.

    The best that can happen? you gain a few lbs, then you lose them again, and more, and have so many more lovely calories to enjoy and are one step closer to not having to log everyday because you aren't having to keep such a tight rein on this much more realistic goal.
  • JenAiMarres
    JenAiMarres Posts: 767 Member
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    If u just recently made changes...(new excercize routine annnd just increased cals) my opinion is u will have to stick with what u are doing now for a month before you decide if u are still on a plateau or not. I know the waiting is frustrating... But this could be what breaks the plateau but u will never know unless u stick to it for a bit. My advice. Don't change a thing.
  • Meegz84
    Meegz84 Posts: 74
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    Bump
  • vicki81868
    vicki81868 Posts: 262 Member
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    Another thing you could try is to play around with the percentages. Personally, I think MFP sets the carb percentage too high. You could try a 40/30/30 (protein,carb,fat) ratio and see if that gets things moving again. I find that when I stall, if I change the percentages, but not the calories, the scale starts moving again.
  • MrsLVF
    MrsLVF Posts: 787 Member
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    You have some good food & some not so good food. You could try changing macros to 40protein 40carb 20fat. Log every day, even weekends. it's great to have a treat meal, or day, but you can really only keep track if you logging daily. You're only fooling yourself if you don't. I was just like you, & didn't track my cheats, then.... I had lunch out and it was (gulp)1400 calories, and that's just one meal. With only a 500 calorie daily deficit a couple meals like that on the weekend was blowing all that work I did all week.

    And save the cookies, & ice cream, whip cream & high calorie treats to once a week. Also find something to satisfy that sweet tooth that's a little better for you, maybe a protein shake with some frozen fruit mmm. Or bake (or buy) some healthy chocolate protein bars.

    I hope you find something that works for you :flowerforyou:
  • Aperture_Science
    Aperture_Science Posts: 840 Member
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    If u just recently made changes...(new excercize routine annnd just increased cals) my opinion is u will have to stick with what u are doing now for a month before you decide if u are still on a plateau or not. I know the waiting is frustrating... But this could be what breaks the plateau but u will never know unless u stick to it for a bit. My advice. Don't change a thing.

    ^^ I agree, wait for a while on this program before you consider changes.
  • therealangd
    therealangd Posts: 1,861 Member
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    I'd really take a look at what you are eating on Saturday and Sunday. You don't have to change it, just log it so you can see. You would be surprised to see how much wiggle room you really don't have when you start netting at your BMR. (PS: I don't think you need to net that high, I think you would be fine to NET at 1300 or 1400 during the week if you are going to free day on Saturday) Also, if you are netting at your BMR, that only sets you to lose .5lb per week for most people. That's 2 lbs per month. You can fluctuate water weight in a day by more than 2 lbs (I've seen myself fluctuate as high as 7lbs in a weekend.) It would take months to see an actual trend in weight loss.

    If you haven't heard about fat2fit radio yet, you should check it out. Very insightful stuff for someone looking to get healthy and lose weight smartly.
  • Yanicka1
    Yanicka1 Posts: 4,564 Member
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    I ran your numbers via http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    I make your BMR 1746, your TDEE 2400 and so your weight loss figure for a 1lb or so a week 2000 calories. i based this on lightly active.

    I would try eating this for a month and not eating back any exercise calories. The worst that can happen is you put on a few lbs and reset your metabolism a bit. you can always drop your calories back and lose those again.

    The best that can happen? you gain a few lbs, then you lose them again, and more, and have so many more lovely calories to enjoy and are one step closer to not having to log everyday because you aren't having to keep such a tight rein on this much more realistic goal.

    This is good advice. Going to maintenance is a great idea. It help reset things. Also, I believe that the body has some set points where it really not want to move !!!! In order to get things moving you have to do things vastly different and what was working before eventually stop working.

    Go at maintenance for one month.

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