The dreaded PLATEAU

sparklygrneyes

Hi Everyone...I need some help please :-)

Over the last 11 months, I have changed my lifestyle and eating habits completely. I became a vegetarian in January and started working out 3-4 x a week.

I have lost about 1 pound per week consistently, for a total of 60 pounds. I would like to lose 45-50 more pounds to be at a normal weight. However, I have not lost a pound in over a month!!!

I am eating about 1500 calories a day. I eat clean food, fruits, veggies, whole grains, yogurt, etc. I make sure I take vitamins and monitor calcium and protein (since I am a vegetarian). I have been swimming laps 3x a week, for 50 mins each time. I even purchased swimming fitness equipment to build resistant so I can strength train in the pool.

I'm not sure why the scale is not budging!!!!!! I can't imagine eating less calories as I eat 6 small meals a day. Most of my calories come in the form of fruits, veggies, and beans. I may go over my calories 1 or 2 days a week because I will eat frozen yogurt or have birthday cake at a party or event. I don't drink and don't smoke.

What am I doing wrong? How can I get over this plateau to reach my goal? I'm confused and not sure what to do. Any help would be SO appreciated. Thanks so much!!!

WVmom24

Is it possible that you're eating more carbs than you need? I was always a huge carb lover (ESPECIALLY the 2yrs I was vegan) and thought people were idiots that ate low carb, but since lowering my carb intake so much, the weight's really come off and I feel great.

megannxx

Hi there! I've been told different things to try to break through plateaus. Try switching it up, like doing things you havent done in a while, or try pushing yourself harder. I know that if your body gets used to the workout you do then you wont see progress. Or try changing your calorie goal weekly, (I have one lady on my friends list who does this and she's lost over 120lbs.) She has it high for one week and then takes in back to a lower amount for a week and keeps changing it up so your body doesnt get used to one thing.

Good luck and I hope you break through that stubborn plateau!!

bethanytowell

You have done great with your loss so far, congrats! My best advice to you (Im not an expert of any kind) is to pick up a strength training or heavy lifting program. Starting to train with heavy weights (Weighted squats, Lunges, Deadlifts, Bench Press) seems to always get women to bust right through their plateus. With training heavy, you do need to up your calories to somewhere no less than 1700 or so calories a day with lots of protein.

Hope my 2 cents helps out a little bit. Check out New Rules of Lifting for Women if you are interested.

FiveElevenClimb

My advice would be trying to UP your calories for a bit. It seems like the reverse of what you want but i did it a few months back and broke my plateau. I chose to increase by 200 calories at a time and stay at that goal for a few weeks to see what happened. I ended up upping 400 calories and it helped me. and if you decide to try it and you dont like the results you can always go back to your original calorie goal.

VeganZombie13

Try this,,, http://nutritiondiva.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-break-a-weight-loss-plateau.aspx

DanaDark

Don't know what your calorie goals are.
Don't know your TDEE.
Are you tracking other measurements such as waist, hips, thighs, arms, and body fat percentage?

Going over once a week means 14%... going over twice a week is 28%... That is enough to stall you right there.

Inkchick

Congratulations on your weight loss! I'm no expert but a few suggestions - reevaluate your calorie needs based on your current weight/activity level. If you've been at 1500 cals consistently throughout your loss it may be time to change your intake amount. Check your carb level as the previous poster suggested. Are you measuring yourself and not just going by the scale? I too have been stagnant for four weeks but went down an inch in my waist measurement during that time. It's frustrating and I ended up moving the scale by doing some calorie cycling over a couple weeks.

Most importantly hang in there and stay focused - the weight will come off

now_or_never12

Try eating at maintance for a week or two than drop back down to weight loss goals. Sometimes your body needs a break. Also try changing or swtiching up what you do for exercise. Doing the same thing over and over will make it less effective in time.

Onesnap

I don't think there's any such thing as a plateau.

Here's why:

You found out the exact food intake and exercise combo to MAINTAIN your current weight. Not a plateau.

So, do some research and make some adjustments. You'll be okay. You need to feed your machine. If you are not meeting your calorie goals--try the settings for .5 loss/week and see what that does--you will not lose weight. There's nothing wrong with the setting to lose .5/'week--that's how I lost 20 lbs last year.

her4g63

A status I had not that long ago said: "When you get to a plateau, think of it as a landing on the stairway to your goal. And maintenance is a lifelong plateau, so a bit of 'rehearsal' for maintenance isn't the worst thing in the world."

Congratulations on the amazing weight loss (:

STrooper

I basically went through ALL of 2011 at the same weight after losing 58 pounds...oh, it change a little to the plus or minus side of 190 but was fairly stubbornly stuck at the same weight.

HOWEVER, my body was still changing from the time I reached that weight until the time I began to drop again. The "flab" that was left rom the inital weight loss was tightening up. I call it "losing the bubble wrap."

I kept to the same exercise routine all year and began to log my food towards year end (manually, not through MFP). The inches were coming off but not the weight.

Finally, I upped my excercise goal by 10 percent in January of 2012, dedicated myslef to accurately tracking my food and altered my food choices only slightly.

AND dropped the final 16 pounds.

Unless you have some sort of race with your body weight, I would give your body some time to adjust to its current weight. Some alteration in the food groups might help but give the mass you've lost, your body will fight you for what you've accomplished.

Note: it took 4.5 years from the time I started until I reached my first real weight goal. It was not a straight down drop to reach my weight goals.

carlysuzanne85

A status I had not that long ago said: "When you get to a plateau, think of it as a landing on the stairway to your goal. And maintenance is a lifelong plateau, so a bit of 'rehearsal' for maintenance isn't the worst thing in the world."

Congratulations on the amazing weight loss (:

I like that

sparklygrneyes

OMG, I guess MFP does not inform you that people reply to message boards?!?!? I am now just seeing all of the awesome suggestions and comments. Thank you everyone. I will do some research about the suggestions! Wishing you all a happy holiday!