Plateau

Nightterror218

I hit a plateau that has lasted a year. Looking for advice.
Background. I started on CalorieCount.com 2 years ago and went from my peak weight of 270 to 245. Hit plateau again, so started working out more and went down to 225. I have been here since march 2012.

I currently workout 2-3 days a week. My caloric intake has been 1500-1700 and recently i have bumped it up to about 2000 on my gym days.

I have heard that I can "reset" by eating just below my TDEE which is about 2200-2400 (websites differ).

Just wondering if you have advice how to kick start the weight loss again.

SideSteel

Hey!

Lets start with this thread. I'd like you to read this and think about it for a while before making any changes to your intake or exercise.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

You can reply here or if you'd like, you can PM me or post on my wall.

I'd like to know how much you believe the above post applies to you. It certainly applies to me at times, just for what it's worth.

Nightterror218

Hey!

Lets start with this thread. I'd like you to read this and think about it for a while before making any changes to your intake or exercise.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

You can reply here or if you'd like, you can PM me or post on my wall.

I'd like to know how much you believe the above post applies to you. It certainly applies to me at times, just for what it's worth.

That was an awesome post. Sounds like the main culprit you were referring to was miscounting of calories. I admit I do eyeball my food and I try to at least have a reference mark so I do not have to keep measuring every thing (like a line in a bowl for cereal in the morning so I know the amount if I hit the line).

But say I was at a lower deceit then I thought. Would it still take over a year and not see a change on the scale? At times I have gone lax out of frustration but did not gain weight. Lately I have tried to log every little thing that i use. I switched over to MFP because it is more accurate in food then the previous place I used.

I am going to spend some more time going threw that very long thread.

SideSteel

If you are not losing over that long of a time you are eating at maintenance intake.

That being said, the issue could be underreporting intake, overestimating expenditure, potentially reduced expenditure due to hormonal downregulation/adaptive responses to prolonged dieting, or a confused combination of all of those.

But my opinion is that you should examine intake tracking accuracy first. Use a food scale and dedicate the next two weeks to being as accurate as you can. Even if you don't permanently adopt this strategy, doing it for 2 weeks will give you valuable information, not to mention a good reference and reminder of portion sizes.

Nightterror218

If you are not losing over that long of a time you are eating at maintenance intake.

That being said, the issue could be underreporting intake, overestimating expenditure, potentially reduced expenditure due to hormonal downregulation/adaptive responses to prolonged dieting, or a confused combination of all of those.

But my opinion is that you should examine intake tracking accuracy first. Use a food scale and dedicate the next two weeks to being as accurate as you can. Even if you don't permanently adopt this strategy, doing it for 2 weeks will give you valuable information, not to mention a good reference and reminder of portion sizes.

thanks i will def work on that. Feel free to verbally smack me on my diary lol

SideSteel

If you are not losing over that long of a time you are eating at maintenance intake.

That being said, the issue could be underreporting intake, overestimating expenditure, potentially reduced expenditure due to hormonal downregulation/adaptive responses to prolonged dieting, or a confused combination of all of those.

But my opinion is that you should examine intake tracking accuracy first. Use a food scale and dedicate the next two weeks to being as accurate as you can. Even if you don't permanently adopt this strategy, doing it for 2 weeks will give you valuable information, not to mention a good reference and reminder of portion sizes.

thanks i will def work on that. Feel free to verbally smack me on my diary lol

I can take a look at it if you want to PM me in a few days, but keep in mind your diary only shows me what you logged. It doesn't show me what you ate.

Shoot me a PM in a few days after making a concentrated effort to log accurately.

markdlennon

But my opinion is that you should examine intake tracking accuracy first. Use a food scale and dedicate the next two weeks to being as accurate as you can. Even if you don't permanently adopt this strategy, doing it for 2 weeks will give you valuable information, not to mention a good reference and reminder of portion sizes.

I'm basically in the same boat as the OP, and am going to apply the above to me as well.

I DID just recently join the group, and have been a reading crazyman as of late.

Thanks for the good reads, and thoughts so far, SS.

Cheers.

SideSteel

But my opinion is that you should examine intake tracking accuracy first. Use a food scale and dedicate the next two weeks to being as accurate as you can. Even if you don't permanently adopt this strategy, doing it for 2 weeks will give you valuable information, not to mention a good reference and reminder of portion sizes.

I'm basically in the same boat as the OP, and am going to apply the above to me as well.

I DID just recently join the group, and have been a reading crazyman as of late.

Thanks for the good reads, and thoughts so far, SS.

Cheers.

:drinker:

Feel free to start a thread if you would like individual feedback. But I do think you should see what shakes out after following the above advice.

markdlennon

:drinker:

Feel free to start a thread if you would like individual feedback. But I do think you should see what shakes out after following the above advice.

Being completely honest with myself as of late, I have NOT been tracking everything that I should. I'm sure it's a rather common thing to see changes stop, both on the scale, and measuring tape...and just say 'forget this' for a while.

Well, that's what I've done the past few weeks, and my weight really hasn't changed too much. +/- 5lbs...not worrysome to me.

I'm starting a new baseline this week, and will check back in 2-3 weeks time, and perhaps seek some feedback at that point as long as I can be honest with myself during those 2 weeks.

Cheers. Thanks again for a great sub-forum.

SideSteel

:drinker:

Feel free to start a thread if you would like individual feedback. But I do think you should see what shakes out after following the above advice.

Being completely honest with myself as of late, I have NOT been tracking everything that I should. I'm sure it's a rather common thing to see changes stop, both on the scale, and measuring tape...and just say 'forget this' for a while.

Well, that's what I've done the past few weeks, and my weight really hasn't changed too much. +/- 5lbs...not worrysome to me.

I'm starting a new baseline this week, and will check back in 2-3 weeks time, and perhaps seek some feedback at that point as long as I can be honest with myself during those 2 weeks.

Cheers. Thanks again for a great sub-forum.

I think what you are describing is common and in addition I think that people who even intend to track accurately still make errors. I tend to think I'm "reasonably accurate" and I still catch myself slightly overeating or getting lazy and estimating, or sneaking in a few bites here and there without tracking it.

That stuff can add up.

markdlennon

I think what you are describing is common and in addition I think that people who even intend to track accurately still make errors. I tend to think I'm "reasonably accurate" and I still catch myself slightly overeating or getting lazy and estimating, or sneaking in a few bites here and there without tracking it.

That stuff can add up.

The best gift I got from the girlfriend this year at christmas was a food scale. I think it's nerdy to use it as much as I do, and being that I like numbers, and tracking things...it's no hassle to use it. One of the big finds for me, was how much cheese 28g is. I was seriously amazed at how much 1/4cup really was.

I'll make a thread in a few weeks after being successful with these next few.

Thanks again.

Sarauk2sf

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Nightterror218

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Sarauk2sf

Locking so we can keep track of active threads better. Please PM myself or SideSteel if you have any further questions and we will unlock the thread. Please link the thread in the PM.

Would love to hear from you when you have started tracking better to see your results.