Stuck at a Plateau and in Need of Suggestions

nwelch75

I have been stuck at my current weight for a bit now. I have decreased my caloric intake and added some weight training (even though I haven't logged it... boo for me). I went back and looked at my food diary and I can clearly see I'm not drinking enough water, but am at a loss on what to do. It's very discouraging. Any suggestions?

NikkiSixGuns

You can try calorie zig-zag or take several days off from "dieting". If you take a break from calorie cutting just go to your maintenance calories for those days, keep exercising as normal, then go back to your weight-loss calories. I hit a couple of plateaus during my journey and these methods worked like a charm.

Calorie zig-zag is when you bump your daily calorie intake up & down from day to day but maintain your weight-loss calories on the average.

For example, if your daily weight-loss calorie intake is 1500 calories, you could zig-zag it like this:

Sunday: 1550
Monday: 1200
Tuesday: 1750
Wednesday:1300
Thursday: 1650
Friday:1250
Saturday: 1800

The result is that you consume varying amounts of calories each day, but over the 7-day period you still consume 10,500 calories total (1500 per day average). This helps end the plateau by breaking your metabolism's adjustment to a fixed calorie intake. When you stay at a fixed calorie range for a long period of time, especially a low one, your metabolism slows a bit and it makes it harder to lose weight. I guess you could say that the spikes and drops in calories from the zig-zag keeps your metabolism guessing and prevents it from adjusting to a set rate.

kini324

I have been at a plateau for three months now and I think I'm not eating enough. I'm doing a beachbody program (ChaLean Extreme) and think I need to fuel myself more since I work out pretty hard. I'm going to try that for two or three weeks and see what happens.

gomidas2007

You have probably heard most of this information by now, but perhaps something in here might strike a chord.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/673373-fat-loss-guide

Hope that helps!

nwelch75

Thanks for the suggestions! I appreciate your help!

DanaDark

1000 calories a day is your goal?!

What is your BMR?

iWaffle

I have been stuck at my current weight for a bit now.

What weight at what height? How long have you been "stuck". 1 week, 2 weeks, a month? The more information you give the better or at least more advice you'll receive.

geekyjock76

At such a low caloric intake, you shouldn't consider dropping calories further - but more info as others have requested would help.