Help! Plateau'd for a month.

SA747

Can anyone give me some advice. I'm a male, 56 yrs. 5'6", muscular 177 lbs down from 200 since Jan 1. I did everything wrong to start. Limited to 1200 calories a day and worked out 7 days per week. My estimates indicate that I average 1000 calorie workouts although I do not have an HRM to validate (I compare the machine output totals to MFP estimates for actuals). I'm fanatical about calorie counting so no slippage there. In Jan and Feb I dropped 21 lbs. As I started reading more, I looked into TDEE and BMR and all of the commentary about 1200 calories not being enough. Beginning in March, I adjusted my calorie intake to 1800 and maintained my workout regime. I've been stuck for a month now! I was dropping 2.2+ lbs. per week throughout Jan and Feb. and I'm only down 2 lbs. for March. I'm so frustrated. My calories are balanced well (thank you so much MFP) and I vary my training throughout the week (cardio, weights, swimming, etc.). My body is fighting me and I feel like I should be down another 4 - 5 lbs. easy (it doesn't make sense mathematically). Any advice out there. Thanks.

Faye_Anderson

I'd say 1800 calories is still pretty limited for a man. http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ suggests between 2016 and 2471 depending on the intensity of your workouts. Also you HAVE lost weight so technically not a plateau (especially when you've only given it one month) :flowerforyou:

Audy567579

Although I just joined this sight, I've battled 30-50 lbs for several years now. Unfortunately have lost and regained a few times too. 2 years ago I was within 10 lbs of goal weight by eating right and using the YMCA for workouts, felt fantastic; then was hospitalized for 11 days with two emergency surgeries....since then have gained back 30 lbs.!!! Anyway, what I found that worked for me in a plateau is to "confuse" my body by eating different amounts of calories on different days, and having one day a week where my calories were alot. Of course on about 2 days of the week I ate the bare minimums or a little less calories Did that for short time and got past plateau - in fact, did that more than once to help through a plateau. Hope this helps.

Faye_Anderson

^^is not necessary, it's cals in vs cals out, it doesn't matter when they are consumed over the week

slittle80

What kind of breakdown do you use for the macro's (protein/carbs/fat)? 1800 is okay if you are trying to shred unless you are burning more than 600-700 calories a day in exercise, then I'd increase it to 2000-2200 based on your activity level. You can modify the setting on MFP to reduce the protein/carbs/fat ratio depending on your goals. I, personally, try to maintain a 50/30/20 split to reduce my fat and to have enough protein to help rebuild the muscle. I have a 6-day workout regimen that usually has me burning 600-700 on lifting and an additional 500-600 on cardio split up between morning and night sessions. I was on 1800 calories and have recently increased it slowly to 2200 calories a day and I'm still cutting bodyfat.

mimikate68

YOU WILL LOSE weight. Have you ever gotten on the scale after eating really bad for a while and see that you didn't gain a pound. Well this is you now doing the right thing and not losing a pound. Unfortunately that eating bad for a while finally did catch up with you and so will weight loss. Stick with it. Shake it up a bit. Do different exercise or just drink shakes for a couple days. Stay low on calories and your body will have no choice but to lose. Keep up the hard work. If it were easy and immedieatly rewarding all the time everyone would be looking their BEST ALL the time. Add me as a friend if you'd like more support !

tomcornhole

This is hard to diagnose. I plateaued at 205 lbs for almost 6 months. I dropped 50 lbs in 4 months and then stopped. Cold. I was ok at 205 lbs so I just stayed the course. Was easy to maintain, but then I decided to go for 185 lbs in January. Dropped the calories and started working out more. 205 lbs. Ate no carb. 205 lbs. Dropped the calories to 1,400 / day. 205 lbs but now my gut was gut was getting bigger. Switched to egg protein. 205 lbs. Worked out 2 hours a day, every day. 205 lbs (but I felt better).

What I think finally worked was downloading MFP and making sure I ate enough. I upped my daily goal to 1900 cal. That was up from 1400-1600. I have worked hard to keep the calories up for 2 months and the weight has started to come off again (I'm at 194 lbs now). Eating that much is not natural for me. I have to track it to make sure I eat enough. I did not change the diet (Paleoish), but just ate more of it. I think that broke the stall but who knows for sure. I will ride this at 1900 cal / day until I get stuck again.

This plateau stuff can be frustrating. Try not to change too much too fast. That can make it hard to control.

mimikate68

Yes this works for me too.

wswilliams67

LOL I'm right there with you man! I've been stalled for 3 months, actually regaining 7 pounds even though everything has been the same as far as my diet and exercise. Talk about frustration. After adjusting EVERYTHING I determined it HAD to be my calories in vs. out.

I took a leap and got a BodyMedia FIT LINK armband. Been wearing it for a week now. I'm able to keep my caloric deficit at 1000 cals/day no matter what my daily TDEE burn is. I'm OCD about tracking everything so making the $140 investment to be dead on accurate was worth it. Best money I've ever spent. I'm down 2.4 pounds this week, and down 7 pounds since I weighed in at the doctor on 3/15/2013. I know for a fact it's because I can accurately track my TDEE burn and daily adjust my intake.

I'm not schilling the armband at all. I was highly skeptical at first, but I got mine on sale with a 12 month subscription from Costco.com so I made the leap. No regrets at all.

Check it out if you are interested... http://www.bodymedia.com/explore.html

MrsSWW

I'm a 5'2" female, weigh around 145lbs, am moderately active, and aim to eat 2125 calories per day on average, on which I am losing albeit slowly. It sounds to me like you need to eat more, particularly if you do burn circa 1k in workouts.

SA747

Thanks for the encouragement everyone. Just feeling sorry for myself I suppose. I'll continue to read, learn and experiment. Thanks again.