HELP! Quick!!

kroger7

So I've been sort of at a plateau, and yesterday I was realllyyyy good all day...til after supper. I had 2 chocolate chip cookies, 3 small glasses of milk, a chocolate dipped granola bar and some fruit salad. But this morning I'm down half a lb....should I be eating more calories than I have been? Obviously not cookies, but more of nutritious foods and upping my calories? Or is this just a coincidence? Any advice would be helpful! :happy:

amberc1982

I have heard that if you are on a plateau that you need to change up your calorie intake for a few days. Like up them for a couple of days and then lower them for a couple of days and it will trick your metabolism. I'm not sure if it is true. It is just what I have heard.

finallyproud

It doesn't hurt to change up your routine every once in a while. It keeps your body on it's toes, so to speak, and you end up losing.

SHBoss1673

tweaking is part of the game. Every single one of us on here has some small differences in their body and how it processes food. If I tried to follow exactly as MFP set my goals, It would have taken me twice as long to succeed as it did.

If you're at a plateau, you should be trying everything out, I.E. changing your calories, adding different exercises, changing the timing of when you eat, changing the amounts per meal, changing the times and days when you work out...etc.

Couple of notes though: 1) give it time. The worst thing you can do is change something and only give it 5 or 6 days to work, that's not how our bodies work, it takes (at a minimum) 3 weeks for you to see the effects of change, 1 day can be (and usually is) anything.
2) Don't try to change more than one thing at a time, if you do, you're not going to be sure which change made your body react.

I know these things sound like they will take forever to do, but that's the way the game is played, you can't expect the changes to happen over night.

hope this helps.

-Banks

kokonutmama

I find that things like chocolate, granola, sugar and fruit get me "moving" so to speak (trying not to be gross) and a half pound is really not that much. I, personally, wouldn't base any decisions on one instance of a half pound difference. ITA with everyone, though, that changing up your diet and having more calories on some days works for me.

kroger7

Thanks Banks (hey that rhymes hehe) I have tried doing some different types of excercise, like running which i never do, and cutting my calories by about 160 everyday, as well as evenly dividing my calories throughout the day, as opposed to eating as little as possible and then "saving" them for the evening when I tend to get more hungry. I hope I'm not changing too much at once, but I'll keep going and hopefully the loss continues.

BTW, when you've only got 7 lbs left to lose, half a lb is a big deal!

carajo

Thanks Banks (hey that rhymes hehe) I have tried doing some different types of excercise, like running which i never do, and cutting my calories by about 160 everyday, as well as evenly dividing my calories throughout the day, as opposed to eating as little as possible and then "saving" them for the evening when I tend to get more hungry. I hope I'm not changing too much at once, but I'll keep going and hopefully the loss continues.

BTW, when you've only got 7 lbs left to lose, half a lb is a big deal!

I am glad you made this post!! I am in the same situation! I have to say Thanks Banks also, that gave me some new ideas on changing up my eating times....and you are right 1/2 pound is sooo a big deal!!!! so good job on your loss

SHBoss1673

Thanks Banks (hey that rhymes hehe) I have tried doing some different types of excercise, like running which i never do, and cutting my calories by about 160 everyday, as well as evenly dividing my calories throughout the day, as opposed to eating as little as possible and then "saving" them for the evening when I tend to get more hungry. I hope I'm not changing too much at once, but I'll keep going and hopefully the loss continues.

BTW, when you've only got 7 lbs left to lose, half a lb is a big deal!

note that, also, with only 7 lbs to loose, changes will be ultra slow, it took me about 5 months to get rid of the the last 4 lbs I had. So don't expect to see changes daily or even weekly, it's more like monthly.

Be aware that there's really no such thing as a weight plateau when you're talking about 10 lbs or less, it's more like, your in a battle that's slow, and very very evenly matched, you'll have weeks where you win the battle, and weeks when you lose, but in the end you hope that you win more weeks than you lose total, that's how you lose the last couple of pounds.

Remember, it's not about weight at this point, it's about body composition (body fat, muscle mass, cholesterol levels, conditioning and oxygen efficiency...etc.), focusing on weight when you have less than 10 lbs to lose is focusing on the wrong thing IMHO.

SherryRueter

Remember, it's not about weight at this point, it's about body composition (body fat, muscle mass, cholesterol levels, conditioning and oxygen efficiency...etc.), focusing on weight when you have less than 10 lbs to lose is focusing on the wrong thing IMHO.

Wow, I really needed to hear this today. I've been *attempting* to maintain...but lately I've been loosing the numbers game. Obviously my game plan needs to change. My focus needs to shift from the # on the scale, to the body composition.

So, am I correct? I shouldn't fret if I am up 2# this week as long as next week I am back down?

Win the battle more weeks than loosing the battle.... right?

SHBoss1673

Remember, it's not about weight at this point, it's about body composition (body fat, muscle mass, cholesterol levels, conditioning and oxygen efficiency...etc.), focusing on weight when you have less than 10 lbs to lose is focusing on the wrong thing IMHO.

Wow, I really needed to hear this today. I've been *attempting* to maintain...but lately I've been loosing the numbers game. Obviously my game plan needs to change. My focus needs to shift from the # on the scale, to the body composition.

So, am I correct? I shouldn't fret if I am up 2# this week as long as next week I am back down?

Win the battle more weeks than loosing the battle.... right?

that's my philosophy, it's worked for me so far.