Stuck at a Plateau and in Need of Suggestions

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?

Replies

  • NikkiSixGuns
    NikkiSixGuns Posts: 630 Member
    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
    kini324 Posts: 239 Member
    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
    gomidas2007 Posts: 25 Member
    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
    nwelch75 Posts: 6 Member
    Thanks for the suggestions! I appreciate your help!
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    1000 calories a day is your goal?!

    What is your BMR?
  • iWaffle
    iWaffle Posts: 2,208 Member
    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
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    At such a low caloric intake, you shouldn't consider dropping calories further - but more info as others have requested would help.