When does the "plateu" end-I'm trying EVERYTHING!

DaSavedSinner

Only thing I can think of it try to relax, when your stressed it can cause your body and mind to do all kinds of crazy stuff. Try eating something that makes you feel good but not over full, go for a leisure walk to clear your head and then take a looooong hot shower to relax the muscles from the walk and let the stress go down the drain with the water. Above all Stay positive, you you stop laying tracks the train gets stranded.

secretlobster

You and I have similar habits. I am 138lbs, work out 5 days a week and have been eating 1200-1400 calories a day. I've been stuck at the same weight (and body composition) for a couple of months. Well, it took me some time to realize that's still UNDER my BMR. I started eating between 1450 (rest day, BARE minimum) and 1700 calories a day, and ALWAYS "eating back" exercise calories. I haven't noticed a huge change in the scale yet (I'm only looking to lose some lower body fat), but my body feels good and I have a lot of energy. I'm thinking it will help a lot. Active people shouldn't be hungry.

therealangd

I think you should change your exercise focus from cardio to muscle buidling.

The end result is going to be that you will weigh the same or more and be able to maintain at a higher calorie level, but you will be a smaller size. Which in the end, that's what you want. To be smaller than you are.

It's crazy hard to lose that last 10 to 15 pounds.

But regardless of which path you choose, you will more than likely have to net more than 1350 to see any change.

poodlelaise

[/quote]

The "MINIMUM" a person should eat is bodyweight * 10. Most people lose weight about body weight * 12.

The average range for people to lose is 10-15. The exceptional range is 16-20.
[/quote]



I would not trust this information. My maintenence calories would be less than 10 at my current weight.

DaSavedSinner

I personally eat way under my BMR (not saying its wise for you) MFP says 1820 as my goal but most days I eat more around 1300, I eat the 1300 for 3 days then on day 4 I zig zag to the around 1600-1800 then repeat that 3 low 4th up 3 low 4th up etc. I am not saying to try this but lately this is my method and my recent plateau only lasted about a week and I dropped the up amount plus extra I was 243, plateau and got to 250, broke the plateau and down over a few days to 247, 245, 243, 241, 239, now I am 239 as of today.

sculley

I was loosing the same 2 lbs and stuck at a plateau for three months... I googled "TDEE calculator" and figured out how many calories I should be eating I customed my number and I am proud to say it's only been a week and I instantly started seeing it go again.... You should try that

meechi53

How do I find out what my BMR really might be? What is TDEE?

I have been traveling a lot these past couple of weeks, I just spent 4 days at my sister's house with no working out and ate about 1800-2000 calories da day probably with no working out, which is what I eat pretty much on the days I do work out, give or take. I have my MFP set to lose 1.5 lbs a week and just to get it up to give me 1300 calories a day I had to choose "active" on my profile even though without my scheduled workouts I'm not that active.

I guess I'll just keep plugging..maybe another 150 calories to the mix.

Some days I have a hard time eating all of my NET calories that I should on the days I work out (eating back my calories) and I've been known to look for a high calorie snack (cake or ice cream) every once in awhile just to fill the void.

jlavinia13

You definitely should find a BMR calculator and see how many calories your body needs a day to function properly. I just upped my calorie intake from 1389 to 1630 because I found out I was eating under my BMR. Eating under your BMR will send your body into starvation mode , which means every time you eat your body will store away as much as possible. The concept is hard to grasp at first, eating more and still losing weight, but I would give it a try. Even if you cannot eat the calories, drink the calories through oj, milk, protein shake, anything. When checking your BMR find a few different calculators. Each one may tell you something different, but then you can take the average of them all.

Good luck!

Jezebel9

I am doing measurements and they've been pretty much the same for the past month also. What is TDEE? I have no idea what that means.

I am at a desk job so not really very active during the day. I gained 35-40 lbs a year and a half ago basically from just not moving around and I think my metabolism changed.

I used to do mini-workouts at work to try to kick start my metabolism.
First of all, other people are allowed 'smoke' breaks, so I never felt guilty about having an 'air' break. Or you could say you are going out to smoke (when 'smoke' is a term used for burning- like burning calories and fat!)

Ideas: Find a quiet place for your smoke break, take a towel with you and just knock out some floor exercises- push ups, crunches, leg lifts etc. ~or~ go up and down the stairs for your smoke break ~or~ do squats against the wall during potty breaks (a quieter bathroom is good for this) ~or~ get some exercise in before or after your lunch.

Check the internet for exercises you can do in your office, int he stairwell, outside, in the bathroom.

Good luck.

secretlobster

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Easily the best calculator for estimating the calories you need. I always set my activity level to "sedentary" so I get a bare minimum of what I need to eat (and I really want to make sure I exceed the minimum), and eat my exercise calories back.

Awkward30

How do I find out what my BMR really might be? What is TDEE?

I have been traveling a lot these past couple of weeks, I just spent 4 days at my sister's house with no working out and ate about 1800-2000 calories da day probably with no working out, which is what I eat pretty much on the days I do work out, give or take. I have my MFP set to lose 1.5 lbs a week and just to get it up to give me 1300 calories a day I had to choose "active" on my profile even though without my scheduled workouts I'm not that active.

I guess I'll just keep plugging..maybe another 150 calories to the mix.

Some days I have a hard time eating all of my NET calories that I should on the days I work out (eating back my calories) and I've been known to look for a high calorie snack (cake or ice cream) every once in awhile just to fill the void.

All of this advice sucks, nobody asked you to calculate your stats, they just randomly said to eat more or less?!

fat2fitradio.com calculate your BMR. Put in your current weight as your goal weight, and tell me what the sedentary and lightly active calories are. You should not be losing 1.5 lb per week, .5-1 is more reasonable. You should not set yourself to active AND eat back exercise calories because you are then eating your exercise calories twice, which could easily put you at maintenance.

Do you wear a HRM or do you use MFP estimates for calories burned? MFP estimates can be really high. If you don't have a HRM, I would advise finding the TDEE from fat2fitradio.com for lightly active and eating 500 below that on average (can go over on a heavy workout day or under on a light day depending on hunger levels). You can log exercise, but don't eat back those calories because you will be counting them twice then.

fiveohmike

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Easily the best calculator for estimating the calories you need. I always set my activity level to "sedentary" so I get a bare minimum of what I need to eat (and I really want to make sure I exceed the minimum), and eat my exercise calories back.

This one is gold....just remember to be honest with your activity level and do not underestimate. A lot of people underestimate activity level (especially on MFP when using theirs)because they are afraid of the calorie amounts they see.

Sarauk2sf

I would suggest working out what your maintenance should be (use the sites recommended already - but rememeber that the fat2fit site includes a deficit already so this is not the best one to use for maintenance) and eat to that level for about 4 weeks.

Then after 4 weeks, deduct 500 calories from that and eat to that. (Or you can use the fat2fit one without deducting the 500 cals as a deficit is already baked in).

jenluvsushi

Here is what works for me.....I up my protein, I eat 7 servings of mostly veggies with maybe one or two fruits (eat the rainbow), and I drink at least a gallon of water. I also make sure to up my healthy fat intake. Another thing I do is I take a diet break one day here and there and eat about twice my BMR. Being that you are so close to your goal, you might want to consider calorie cycling. Plateaus are normal......you will get through it.

Sarauk2sf

I would suggest working out what your maintenance should be (use the sites recommended already - but rememeber that the fat2fit site includes a deficit already so this is not the best one to use for maintenance) and eat to that level for about 4 weeks.

Then after 4 weeks, deduct 500 calories from that and eat to that. (Or you can use the fat2fit one without deducting the 500 cals as a deficit is already baked in).

In fat2fatradio.com, You can set your goal weight to maintenance. So it should tell you your maintenance calories.

I have tried that before and the numbers come up a little odd.

meechi53

OK well I've gone to some of these calculators and I'm eating too little according to all of them. They all show my BMR between 1400-1650 calories, and I bumped up from 1200 to 1300 so I'll start shooting for 1550-1600 after excersise calories. I did a body fat one on fat2fit, and I thought I had more body fat than I really do. I was thinking I was over 30% still, but according to that I am at 27% and I'll be shooting for 22%, which is only 15 more lbs according to that.

I really didn't want to cut down on my Zumba because I LOVE it!

stubbysticks

Maybe you need to stop trying EVERYTHING & pick ONE thing. I typically have to stick with a new program for a minimum of 3 weeks to determine if it works or not. Sounds like you switch up the exercise frequently so how would you be able to tell if it's the activity or intake that's stalling you out? And I suspect your intake is too low as well.

Apart from that, I've gone for MONTHS seeing little to no movement on the scale. At some point I had to convince myself that managing my intake & exercising was still benefitting my body even if the scale wasn't moving. I kept myself busy by setting (& smashing) fitness goals & eventually it did start moving again. When I look at pictures from before & after my most recent period of slow losses, there's only 7 lbs difference over like 6 months but I see a significant difference in my body.

My advice: Don't make it all about the scale.

ETA: By "one thing" I don't mean pick one exercise & do it all the time. But set a weekly exercise routine that stays the same for at least 3 weeks so your activity level is consistent across the whole time period. Then pick a net calorie target & do your best to meet it for the entire period & see where you're at.

meechi53

Maybe you need to stop trying EVERYTHING & pick ONE thing. I typically have to stick with a new program for a minimum of 3 weeks to determine if it works or not. Sounds like you switch up the exercise frequently so how would you be able to tell if it's the activity or intake that's stalling you out? And I suspect your intake is too low as well.

Apart from that, I've gone for MONTHS seeing little to no movement on the scale. At some point I had to convince myself that managing my intake & exercising was still benefitting my body even if the scale wasn't moving. I kept myself busy by setting (& smashing) fitness goals & eventually it did start moving again. When I look at pictures from before & after my most recent period of slow losses, there's only 7 lbs difference over like 6 months but I see a significant difference in my body.

My advice: Don't make it all about the scale.

ETA: By "one thing" I don't mean pick one exercise & do it all the time. But set a weekly exercise routine that stays the same for at least 3 weeks so your activity level is consistent across the whole time period. Then pick a net calorie target & do your best to meet it for the entire period & see where you're at.

Well when I say I've tried everything, I mean less carbs/more carbs, upped calories, (possibly not enough) etc. I've been doing Zumba and Kickboxing religiously since mid January, Most weeks I do 3 zumba classes and 2 kickboxing classes per week, ( sometimes I do 3 and 1 and 2 and 2 if I travel) and I was at the 1200 that MFP advised and the first 20 lbs came off easy, then 2 lbs slowly (took a month) and I've been the same since mid-April, I have not lost anymore inches since mid April, either. No difference in how clothes fit. Just a bona-fide stall. I do see that maybe I'm not eating enough and I'm going to bump up from 1300-1350 to 1550-1600 and see how that works. According to the fat2fit body fat calculator I'm at less body fat than I thought, so I'm actually healthier than I thought which is a good thing.

secretlobster

I did a body fat one on fat2fit,

Just so you know, any body fat measurement that is not done in person (with calipers or a submersion test) is not accurate, and really not worth taking. Especially for women.

MissMaryMac33

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Easily the best calculator for estimating the calories you need. I always set my activity level to "sedentary" so I get a bare minimum of what I need to eat (and I really want to make sure I exceed the minimum), and eat my exercise calories back.

Ditto on this one --- except I think its better to put in your actual activity level. You would definitely fall in the moderate category. I have a desk job, but I go the gym 4-5x week so I use modericate. I am only 5'4" and my daily net is almost 1800. After months of plateuaing on 1200-1300/x day and even eating back my exercise calls -- this is what got my body moving again. You need fuel.