Plateau

sneetch

Hi guys,

I've been using MFP for a few months and initally I had a pretty steady level of weight loss. I was looking to lose about 20lbs and so far I have lost about 12. Unfortunately though, about seven weeks ago, the regular loses just stopped and the weight has clung to my body quite stubbonly ever since. I've had a good search around here and discovered that my 'plateau' experience seems pretty typical.

My calorie target is 1200 per day. I do between 400 - 500 calories of exercise per day, and I pretty much eat all of those most days.
So I'm eating around 1700 calories most days. I'm definately not one of those people who struggles to eat all of their daily calories. I find I need every last one of those 1700. Even then ... I'm hungry a lot of the time!

I do the best I can to vary my exercise routine but unfortunately I have a laundy list of chronic injuries and medical issues which mean certain activities are difficult, dangerous or just plain out of the question.
My routine currently includes day to day alternating of the following:

Day 1 - Cardio (1 hour) - Stretch + Stationary bike, Treadmill, Stair Climbing (I live in a house on a hill with a lot of stairs). I alternate between these three, doing no more than about 8 minutes of each at a time. I find it lessens the chance of hurting myself.

Day 2 - Stretching (1.5 hours) - Stretching, Ab work. (With a short /slow cardio warm up and warm down on a stationary bike).
I'm trying to reintroduce some free weights, but am limited to performing just the movements, without the weights for now.

Not too sure what to do at this point. I have begun to vary the intensity of my workouts and I am trying to eat a more varied diet. I have cut out almost all naughty bad candy and such. I'm STUCK! Stupid body, you're a constant dissapointment!
(Just kidding ... and not talking to myself ... not at all).

Hope some who have succeeded may have some advice.

rbc_racing

How exactly are you figuring your calories burned during excersize, if your not using a HRM you may be overestimating the amount of calories you burn? Also you may want to try more fiber in your diet it should keep you full longer.

SHBoss1673

what is your calorie deficit. I.E. what is your maintenance calories, and what did you set your goal calories at.

I ask this because many people on here initially set their goals up too high and then wonder why they can't lose weight. For someone with only a few lbs to lose, having (for instance) a 2 lb per week goal isn't probably going to work for them.

fivefatcats

I agree with SHBoss - you may need to re-evaluate your calorie in/out balance. According to Jillian Michael's website (yes, I'm a huge fan) she recommends eating 12 calories per pound of body weight. Personally I feel that is a little much, so I aim for 10 calories per pound of my GOAL WEIGHT. I weigh 183 right now, but my goal weight is about 150 - so my calorie goal is 1500 - that would be maintenance for a moderately active adult at 150 pounds. Then add in and eat any calories you gain from exercise.

Regarding exercise - I strongly feel that you should do whatever you are able to do to maintain your heart rate at 75% of your target heart rate for a minumum of 30 minutes in a row to get "the burn" .

(220-your age x 85% - for example I am 40years old so 220-40=180, 85% of 180 is 153beats per minute, 75% would be 135 beats per minute.)

I know you said you have some injury issues and I don't know where you are as far as cardio ability/weight, but I feel you - I am in a plateau right now too. I just have to remember not to give up or I lose all the progress I made so far!

Hang in there!

SHBoss1673

I agree with SHBoss - you may need to re-evaluate your calorie in/out balance. According to Jillian Michael's website (yes, I'm a huge fan) she recommends eating 12 calories per pound of body weight. Personally I feel that is a little much, so I aim for 10 calories per pound of my GOAL WEIGHT. I weigh 183 right now, but my goal weight is about 150 - so my calorie goal is 1500 - that would be maintenance for a moderately active adult at 150 pounds. Then add in and eat any calories you gain from exercise.

Regarding exercise - I strongly feel that you should do whatever you are able to do to maintain your heart rate at 75% of your target heart rate for a minumum of 30 minutes in a row to get "the burn" .

(220-your age x 85% - for example I am 40years old so 220-40=180, 85% of 180 is 153beats per minute, 75% would be 135 beats per minute.)

I know you said you have some injury issues and I don't know where you are as far as cardio ability/weight, but I feel you - I am in a plateau right now too. I just have to remember not to give up or I lose all the progress I made so far!

Hang in there!

Unless you're really short, 1500 calories would not be maintenance for any adult female, more like 1900 or 2000. Now for a sedentary, 55 year old female who is about 5'4" or so, then yeah, 1500 would probably be maintenance.

sneetch

Hey,
Thanks so much for your replys. A little more information ...

"How exactly are you figuring your calories burned during excersize?"

I am not using a heart rate monitor to count calorie consumption. At the moment I'm just relying on the calorie burn numbers for different activities that are already set in MFP. I have checked them against a few other sites though and there does seem to be some consistency. I suppose you can't beat a monitor though.

"what is your calorie deficit. I.E. what is your maintenance calories, and what did you set your goal calories at. "

My maintenance calories are set to 1680 per day. I'm 5 ft 1 (also known as "really short"!). 34 years old, femaIe and set to "lightly active". My goal is set at losing 1lb per week which gives me a 480 calorie per day deficit if I consume 1200 calories (excluding exercise calories).

fivefatcats
I'm currently about 131lbs. As per your equation, that gives me more like 1572 calories per day. Minus my 480 calorie deficit, that gives me 1092 calories per day (excluding exercise calories). I'm prepared to do whatever is necessary but to be honest, that doesn't seem like a lot.

I certainly won't give up, but I am pretty keen to start making a bit of progress again.

SHBoss1673

personally, I think that for you, 1 lb a week (considering you only are looking to lose about 15 to 20 lbs total) is a pretty aggressive goal. I would probably lower that a little. But that's just me. Being aggressive with your goals is great, but if it doesn't work for you, you really should be tweaking it. And you don't want to be creating a larger deficit.

Remember, you're a small person in general, you're not going to lose the same volumes of weight as someone who is 200 lbs, it just isn't going to happen for you that way. So I would expect 2 to 3 lbs a month loss, in 4 to 5 months you should be right where you want to be (or very close to it).

fivefatcats

Unless you're really short, 1500 calories would not be maintenance for any adult female, more like 1900 or 2000. Now for a sedentary, 55 year old female who is about 5'4" or so, then yeah, 1500 would probably be maintenance.
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SHBoss -

You're probably right. Actually I really hope you are right. I love to eat and the thought that maintenance at 150pounds is 1900 calories is really encouraging to me.

Thank you for the accurate information!!!

bjberry

The fiber suggestion (for reducing hunger) sounds accurate. I have been drinking fruit and vegetable juices and eating lots of veggies and fruits, plus lots of water and taking fiber powder. When I get hungry, I take some form of protien and carbohydrate and drink some more water (and coffee). I am also in a plateau right now, but I know I will get past it. It normally takes a week or so of plateau before I start to lose again.

I wish you much success with your meals, exercise and weight loss.

SHBoss1673

SHBoss -

You're probably right. Actually I really hope you are right. I love to eat and the thought that maintenance at 150pounds is 1900 calories is really encouraging to me.

Thank you for the accurate information!!!

ahhhhhhh, don't we all (love to eat I mean...). I hope it didn't sound to harsh, sometimes my written word comes out different than my meaning. Usually I re-read to make sure that doesn't happen, but I read this back today and realized that it may have sounded a little high-handed, which wasn't my intention. :flowerforyou:

rjadams

How is your water intake? that can make a real difference too.

sunshine79

It's just a suggestion but have you tried interval training? You can do it on any cardio machine, alternate between high intensity burst and lower intensity periods e.g 30 high intenisty, 1 min low intensity. It's really good for accelerated weight loss. Google 'high intensity interval training' for more info. Just a suggestion.