Getting out of Plateau jail

underminer66

Ok so I've been on the MFP program since the begining of February and I was kicking butt, have lost 36 pounds to date. But I'm pretty much stuck and have been for the last 2-3 weeks. Can you fine people tell me the best ways to shake off the plateau blues. Thanks!!!!

momswanson

Let me go ahead and summarize the answers you will get: Eat more, Eat less, Exercise more, Exercise less, increase your intensity, increase your time, zig zag your calories, change up your food, change up your exercise routine...did I forget anything? I think that these are all good answers; you need to look at what you are doing and make one or more of these changes to your routine. Remember, if you keep doing the same thing over and over again, you will keep getting the same results. Good luck, and check back and let us know what you changed and how it worked! :happy:

GelinaKnows

I get the same thing, everytime I start anything, I plateau at the same weight: 137...beginning to hate this number lol

momswanson

Oh wait...I forgot to mention that you might need to add weights to your routine!

albayin

Let me go ahead and summarize the answers you will get: Eat more, Eat less, Exercise more, Exercise less, increase your intensity, increase your time, zig zag your calories, change up your food, change up your exercise routine...did I forget anything? I think that these are all good answers; you need to look at what you are doing and make one or more of these changes to your routine. Remember, if you keep doing the same thing over and over again, you will keep getting the same results. Good luck, and check back and let us know what you changed and how it worked! :happy:

Columbo would say "just one more thing": drink much more water,much more...:)

Good summary and good advice. To me the only thing worked was removing myself from the "diet" mode for a couple of weeks and start eating normally (of course not going crazy either) and then start again.

diannethegeek

Let me go ahead and summarize the answers you will get: Eat more, Eat less, Exercise more, Exercise less, increase your intensity, increase your time, zig zag your calories, change up your food, change up your exercise routine...did I forget anything? I think that these are all good answers; you need to look at what you are doing and make one or more of these changes to your routine. Remember, if you keep doing the same thing over and over again, you will keep getting the same results. Good luck, and check back and let us know what you changed and how it worked! :happy:

You forgot: open your diary, cut carbs, cut sugar, don't eat after midnight, don't get them wet ... wait, I think I've strayed into the wrong list of rules.


I agree with changing things up. I got stuck on a plateau in February for two months and finally got off it by changing up my workout routine entirely, eating slightly more, and eating new foods outside of my normal recipes. Change is good when things aren't working.

cmriverside

I agree with momswanson's first post. You are going to get suggestions all over the map. It really comes down to good record keeping, reviewing your past and changing ONE thing at a time, so you know what worked. Get an Excel spreadsheet going, the "reports" here are pretty basic.

Make sure you have a good understanding of how this site figures your calorie deficit, and be honest in setting your goals.

By changing ONE thing and letting it sit for a month, you can make the changes necessary.

Two or three weeks may or may not be a "plateau".

shorty35565

Are you taking measurements too? & pictures? U might think u've plateaued & really haven't. I haven't lost a whole lot of weight in the past 3 months, but I've lost some inches & I can see a big difference in pictures.

underminer66

You know I really haven't taken any kind of measurements. All I've used to gage my progress is the scale and how my pants fit.

cmriverside

I use the pants/weigh once a week method myself.

underminer66

I know what you mean. My ultimate goal is about 185, but I've been stuck right around 200. Enough already!!!!!!!:explode:

gdortiz

hey under, maybe we can team up and try to knock off those last pounds ... put money on it, or just do a friendly wager, i don't know, i'm so damn stuck trying to knock off the last 15-20.

I'm at 211 and I got to get to 195-190.

underminer66

Thanks for all your responses. One thing I've done is raised the weights on all of my weight resistance excercises, like 10 pounds. Another thing I'm trying is to raise my caloric intake by 500 calories per day. I read somewhere where if you do this for 7-10 days then return to your previous weight loss level, that'll jump start the weight loss again. I've also started running on a treadmill, and after I have better conditioning I'll try running outside. I'll have to check back and let you all know if I'm successful. Thanks again!!:happy:

mcarter99

My advice is BE PATIENT. Focus on non-scale results like those pants. Don't change up too much if what you were doing was working (and you've 'reset' your inputs if you use an MFP goal and you've lost at least 10 lbs.)