Can a Plateau literally last forever?

mcarter99

Two thoughts- Google 'twinkie diet'. You can lose weight on junk food. I do think we tend to under-track it, though, because it does leave us hungrier than 'whole foods' and we're only human, we'll even fool ourselves in our own journals to justify not going hungry.

Also, why is Zumba in so many plateau stories? And why does everyone think they burn 1000 calories at it? Is the class 90 mins. long?

Bobby_Clerici

I just have to say after she opened her diary up it was clear I was right. Most if the time we get "stuck" is because we are in denial about our eating and/or workout habits. Hate on me if you want, but it's truth. Medical *kitten* can happen, but for the majority of us it's just not the case.

And plz remember I am speaking from experience, from a place of understanding, I'm not just talking out my *kitten*. I've been there. Until you get real with yourself change won't happen, period.

Well I'll tell you I work my *kitten* off at Zumba, and kickboxing. if you've never done it you wouldn't know that i'ts not just dancing around. We do lots of squats, lunges, resistance training, they change up our workouts because the instructor says you should not get used to just one routine. I do arm work till my body is screaming and I keep going, so I don't think I'm in denial about my working out. In fact, I had been told I might be logging too little calories burned for Zumba but Im not going to change it to higher.

Its funny though, through 1 week of my diary people seem to think because I ate rice one day I must be eating piles of it constantly. Same with Grapes. I bought a bunch because they were on sale so I had to eat them. I only eat whole wheat bread and have been doing that for years...so don't know where the bread thing comes from.... Maybe I'll try to just have carbs at 1 meal and a snack instead of all 3...

But I also failed to mention that I'm in the same clothes now size wise as I was when I weighed 10 lbs less..

Yes, but you're the one crying the blues over a lack of results.
Try eating just lean meats, low fat dairy, nuts, whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies.
If man makes it, don't eat it.
And eat to goal every day as close as you can.
Try that for a few weeks, and just see what happens.
Good Luck :flowerforyou:

meechi53

Two thoughts- Google 'twinkie diet'. You can lose weight on junk food. I do think we tend to under-track it, though, because it does leave us hungrier than 'whole foods' and we're only human, we'll even fool ourselves in our own journals to justify not going hungry.

Also, why is Zumba in so many plateau stories? And why does everyone think they burn 1000 calories at it? Is the class 90 mins. long?

I guess because the videos tell people they do? That's why I only put it between 550-650 depending how hard the class was and how it flowed.

nsblue

I feel for you. Plateaus and Stalls are a bugger and are most discouraging when losing weight. My first stall was 6 weeks... very very hard. I went over everything I ate with a fine tooth comb, kept my exercise up and still nothing...infact I even gained a few pounds which was very frustrationg BUT I stuck with the program...and my weightloss started back up.
I must say, that last year when I really pushed myself in exercising, my plateaus of non loss were very very minimal...i usually lost every day and when I seen no loss for 4 days I knew my body was in that mode...but it didnt last n I would start losing as before.
Oh I could say the different things I tried when in a stall/plateaus...whether or not they really did work or were coincidental, I really don't know..we all have to examine ourselves with fine tooth combs , watch n learn. I have things i tried in one of my blogs.... but the main thing is to NOT GIVE UP. Stalls and plateaus happen... a guarentee for sure.... keep plugging along n try not to get too discouraged.

kcoftx

Your zumba calories are probably much closer to the truth than 800-1000 frame. I suggest you get an HRM. Let it be your gift to yourself for sticking through this and having a new toy might even further motivate you.

I am 5'4" and when I started zumba, I weighed 154 and was getting 450-600 calorie burns per my HRM. Most of the time it was closer to a low 500. Granted there are other factors besides your height and weight that goes calculating your burn so don't take my numbers as absolutes for you. An HRM would be a valuAble gift to yourself.

Kudos for owning a food scale and using it. That is also another really important tool to have in your bag.

I can hear your frustration a mile away. It is common for people to be so frustrated that they are in vent mode rather than listening mode. You have been given at least a few new things to try. Let out your frustrations. We are listening. Then breathe, reevaluate the tips you have been given and see what else you can tackle and try. You can do it!

Sarauk2sf

A couple of suggestions here:

- you seem to have tried quite a few things to break your plateau - but may not have stuck at them for long enough. You need to give something a go for at least 4 weeks

- generally, if you are maintaining for a long period of time - it is maintenance not a plateau, however, it is hard to say whether you are actually at maintenance as you have changed your approach quite a few times for the last few months.

- on looking at your diary - it seems as though you are averaging 1600 calories a day. Based on averages, you should be losing on this. So, there are only a few things that can be causing this in reality:

- your BMR is lower than average. If you can, I would suggest getting this testing. Pretty much everything in the weight loss 'formula' is an estimate. If you get your BMR testing, this should get one if the variables in that 'formula' more accurate

- one of the reasons your TDEE (total calories out) may be lower than expected is medical issue - get yourself checked for PCOS and thyroid issues (this is not to say you have them, but it would be a good thing to know and to 'rule out')

- you are over-estimating your calories - however, based on what you eat and on your comments, this may be unlikely.


So, my suggestions would be:

- as mentioned by LadyRaven above, work out your TDEE and eat at a deficit from their. I find it easier to average exercise calories over the week so you end up eating a consistent amount each day. You look at your deficit on a weekly basis.

- get the tests I noted above done

- start weight training (heavier lifting)

- up your protein target - MFP is very low. Rule of thumb - eat 0.65g of protien per 1lb of body weight

Unless you have a medical condition, the quality of food is irrelevent to weight loss with one caveat - if you eat cr*p, and as such do not get the appropriate micronutrients, you will not 'function' as well, which in turn leads to lower burns in the day.

Edited to fix typos

quinjacobs

I just have to say after she opened her diary up it was clear I was right. Most if the time we get "stuck" is because we are in denial about our eating and/or workout habits. Hate on me if you want, but it's truth. Medical *kitten* can happen, but for the majority of us it's just not the case.

And plz remember I am speaking from experience, from a place of understanding, I'm not just talking out my *kitten*. I've been there. Until you get real with yourself change won't happen, period.

Well I'll tell you I work my *kitten* off at Zumba, and kickboxing. if you've never done it you wouldn't know that i'ts not just dancing around. We do lots of squats, lunges, resistance training, they change up our workouts because the instructor says you should not get used to just one routine. I do arm work till my body is screaming and I keep going, so I don't think I'm in denial about my working out. In fact, I had been told I might be logging too little calories burned for Zumba but Im not going to change it to higher.

Its funny though, through 1 week of my diary people seem to think because I ate rice one day I must be eating piles of it constantly. Same with Grapes. I bought a bunch because they were on sale so I had to eat them. I only eat whole wheat bread and have been doing that for years...so don't know where the bread thing comes from.... Maybe I'll try to just have carbs at 1 meal and a snack instead of all 3...

But I also failed to mention that I'm in the same clothes now size wise as I was when I weighed 10 lbs less..

She wasn't putting you down. Read what she said again. If you want results, you might have to change what you're doing. She mentioned your diary, so she was referring to the food you put in your mouth. Her point was most of the time people want to justify being able to eat crap because they "work hard". Then they wonder why they don't lose, or stop losing, or gain. We ALL struggle with it. It's up to you to change it.

*Edited for typo*

Robin_Bin

A few more ideas...

Are you drinking enough? (I don't track water because when I spot check it, I'm fine, so one less thing to track. But it is important to drink enough.)
Perhaps you are undercounting the exercise, and your resulting calories are low enough to lower your metabolism ("starvation mode"). In that case, eating more for just a day or two will just give your body more calories to hold onto instead of convincing it that the famine is over.
Try tracking fiber.

gsager

Log everything and eat back your exercise calories. Get a HRM so that you know exactly what you're burning. I'm 5'2" and weigh 115 lbs and am maintaining at about 2000 calories a day. Good Luck!

ShazMc73

Helllooo!! Can't beleive I came onto this topic and it is you!! Tricia and I were talking about our stalls just this morning. I have been on the upswing with weight gain since Carnival and Miami, but FINALLY re-looked at what was happening and had to admit that I was a bit complacent; not moving enough, doing my weights and eating badly. Am back on track for the last 2 weeks or so, I added you (madam!) so look at my diary, the weight gain I had is coming off not quickly but consistently. Some little things that I have found useful

1) Log EVERYTHING that you eat; I have shameful days, but do keep it on record
2) Do weight training - twice a week along with your cardio
3) Invest in protein shakes or a protein bar instead of Slim Fast
4) Buy a heart rate monitor - it's the only way to really know what you are burning. Christine and I will so the same workout but because we are such different sizes I might butn 300 calories in 1/2 hour and she will do 220. Polar has some easy to use models - FT7 is what I have....

Let's do this thing together Miche!

Denjo060

Tell me about it! Same 2lbs going on and off for AGES!! I've upped cals, dropped cals, ate exercise cals, not eaten exercise cals....and no inches off here either even though I'm doing SL..although I think my thighs are getting bigger!

Love to hear the responses

OMG that is so me I weighed in this morning and gained 2 lbs for the last week I have eaten 1300 calories and not eaten back my exercise calories I also have upped my calories and lowered them and eaten my exercise calories back and not eaten them back Im going to open my diary if anyone wants to look at it BTW Ive been here since Feb

joanfitness

Try this it might help. Look at what you are eating and stick to 163 carbs 29 g fat and 98 protein. Shake up you exercise routine. Sounds like you are getting a lot of cardio but no toning...lift some weights now. Cardio 30 to 40 min every day and weights 3 days. Your body seems to be use to what you are doing right now so change it up. You'll see some results i'm sure.

trud72

last yr i had one for 6/7 months and then fell off the wagon! :sad:

meshashesha2012

i'm by no means an expert at any of this since this is literally the first time i've ever tried to lose weight, but i stalled at around 25 pounds back in april and it's just now starting coming off again. during that time i tried changing up my calories, my exercise, the timing of meals, the timing of exercise and nothing really helped.

what has seemed to help has been taking a diet break for 2 weeks. that doesnt mean that i'm back to eating 5K calories like i did before, just that i'm staying in my calorie goals but i'm eating a lot of the naughty stuff i stopped eating (carbs, simple sugars, generally unbalanced diet :laugh: ). today will be my last day of eating like this. i think after 5.5 months of eating well and being so concerned over hitting my macros, my body might have needed a bit of a break

mom2mozart

You need more fiber in your diet. MFP recommendations are too low. You should be consuming 25 to 30 each day. You are about 15 most days. Try increasing your fiber and drink plenty of fluids. You should hopefully see a difference soon.

amehime

I just broke out of a plateau that lasted months and I'm finally losing again. I had to eat at maintenance for a couple of months, then changed my goals back to losing 1/2 lb a week. I had been maintaining (plateaued) at the lower calories, so it took a couple of months of eating at maintenance to reset. I gave myself several days of cheating when I ate at maintenance, and I added in heavier strength training as well, so I built my muscle up a bit at the same time. My body fat % has been dropping as well as weight. Might work for you, though I know it's hard to go a couple of months without "progress." It was the only thing that worked for me though.

kayemme

I thought the Silk protein drinks were supposed to be good for you thats why I bought it. ??! I use slim fast because it's convenient to have on the way to work really no other reason.

have you tried making green smoothies in the morning to take with you to work? they're more nutritious than boxed drinks, full of fiber (because it's not juice) and reasonably low in sugars. even the sugar count isn't processed sugar (refined) and in the morning you'll be sure to burn it off by lunch.

consider them! they're so delicious. I had one the other day that tasted like something from Jamba Juice (which I often think are too sweet) but it was because we added orange juice to the mix of beet greens, blueberries, strawberries and a banana.

paired with a good protein in the morning, it should stave off any hardcore cravings until true hunger sets in about lunchtime.

mcarter99

At your size, I wouldn't ever figure more than 10 calories per minute burned through exercise. And that's for the hard parts, not the warm up and cool down. Even if you log Zumba as 650, if something inside you believe it's really burning 1000 because Beto says so, you might tend to allow a bit of extra food here and there to go unlogged, to 'balance it out'.

BeantownSooner

I agree with many here that you need to ajust your diet. Try doing this for the next month to see if it helps you break through. Stay where you are calorie wise. Anytime I stalled I review my diet then go back to basics of whole foods.

Beachbody (the makers of P90X and other fitness programs) have a nutrition substitution plan called Michi's Ladder. If you only eat the items on the 1st two rungs of the ladder you'll have near perfect nutrition. I personally stay on the top 3 rungs but limit the 3rd whenever possible. You can find the foods on this link. Very flexible to eat whatever you want from this list to create your own meals. Try to keep your ratios around 40%/40%/20% Protein, Carbs, Fat (good ones such as Olive, Sesame or Coconut Oil; Nuts and all-natural Nut butters)

http://www.teambeachbody.com/eat-smart/michis-ladder

SoozeE512

I'm 5' 2" and I wouldn't be able to lose weight on 1500 calories even when young with a much faster metabolism unless I was exceptionally active.

I agree with this. I'm 26, 5'3", and I'm eating around 1200 to lose.