Should I really increase my calories after the plateau?

katie517

So I finally broke through my first plateau. I was stuck at 165 for a little over a month. So last week, until Saturday, I took a break from exercise (running and strength training) and changed up my diet (made/ate A LOT of low-sodium vegetable soup, fresh fruits and veggies, lean meat, no breads). It was also kind of a cleansing week after the holidays. I weighed in this morning at 163 (yay!).

So here is my problem: When I logged my weight, MFP gave me the “You’ve lost 10 pounds since …” notice and asked me to look at my goals. So I did. Well, MFP wants me to switch to a goal of losing 1 lb/week which increases my base calories from 1200 to 1340. This sounded great for a second. But I am worried about gaining. I am also worried about doing this so soon after I broke my plateau. I know MFP is just a guideline and the calorie in vs. out battle can be a trial and error game. Maybe my body still wants to lose 1.5 – 2 lbs a week. On the other hand, maybe my “plateau” was just that my weight loss was slowing down and I needed to up my calories.

Should I give it a couple of weeks to see how much I lose post-plateau or should I increase my calories now? Anybody have a similar experience? HELP! and Thank you!

erikazj

It's really difficult to say, everyone is different, and it takes a bit of experimentation to see what works. When I moved from losing 2lb a week to 1lb I had a small increase in calories, but I added them in slowly (say 50 a week) over a month to prevent any sudden increase and to give my body a chance to get used to the change (same as you would when you move to maintenance.

Just what I did, and I'm still losing.

Erika

AmyDarina

Yes, but only for a few days. Your body is telling you, ok we've balanced out, we're working the way we're supposed to be. Adding a few extra calories will kick your metabolism into working again, just don't forget to exercise! Try it for 3 to 4 days then cut back down and see if your body will kick start the weight loss again!

katie517

Yes, but only for a few days. Your body is telling you, ok we've balanced out, we're working the way we're supposed to be. Adding a few extra calories will kick your metabolism into working again, just don't forget to exercise! Try it for 3 to 4 days then cut back down and see if your body will kick start the weight loss again!

I don’t think I was very clear. I have already beaten the plateau and am losing again. My concern is whether or not I am at the point where I should be losing more slowly.

But thanks for the suggestion! I will definitely incorporate more calories very slowly when I decide to increase.

musclebuilder

Yes, but only for a few days. Your body is telling you, ok we've balanced out, we're working the way we're supposed to be. Adding a few extra calories will kick your metabolism into working again, just don't forget to exercise! Try it for 3 to 4 days then cut back down and see if your body will kick start the weight loss again!

I don’t think I was very clear. I have already beaten the plateau and am losing again. My concern is whether or not I am at the point where I should be losing more slowly.

But thanks for the suggestion! I will definitely incorporate more calories very slowly when I decide to increase.

you can use amydarina suggestion if you plateau again. If you're losing weight weekly again don't change anything until you have to.. I will bump my cals up about 500 cals above what I'm consuming daily twice a week when I diet as I get leaner. I lower fats, lower protein and up my healthy carbs on these days. This provides a nice mental break, it can prevent the hunger pains associated with dieting and increase hormones that will help you begin losing bf again if fat loss has stalled. Good luck.

katie517

Yes, but only for a few days. Your body is telling you, ok we've balanced out, we're working the way we're supposed to be. Adding a few extra calories will kick your metabolism into working again, just don't forget to exercise! Try it for 3 to 4 days then cut back down and see if your body will kick start the weight loss again!

I don’t think I was very clear. I have already beaten the plateau and am losing again. My concern is whether or not I am at the point where I should be losing more slowly.

But thanks for the suggestion! I will definitely incorporate more calories very slowly when I decide to increase.

you can use amydarina suggestion if you plateau again. If you're losing weight weekly again don't change anything until you have to.. I will bump my cals up about 500 cals above what I'm consuming daily twice a week when I diet as I get leaner. I lower fats, lower protein and up my healthy carbs on these days. This provides a nice mental break, it can prevent the hunger pains associated with dieting and increase hormones that will help you begin losing bf again if fat loss has stalled. Good luck.

Thanks! That is kind of what I was thinking. I just needed confirmation I guess. I will stick to my current goal and if I hit another plateau I will change up the calories.