a massive plateau!!!

trinakiddo123

Hi guys, i'm new to all this so i hope i have joined the write board!

basically, i have always battled massively with my weight, when my foster dad passed away last year i reached an all time high weight of 19 stone 2 and a size 20! for a 19 year old this wasn't ideal and i decided to lose weight. since the 1st of january, i have dropped to 16 stone 4! obviously i am ecstatic with losing almost 3 stone in just over 3 months - but something strange has happened, in the last 4 weeks - i've lost just 2 lbs. I am pushing myself in the gym more than ever (60/70 minutes of cardio 4/5 times a week) and stuck to eating 1200 calories a day with 1/2 naughty meals a week (other wise i would go insane) i have recently started fitness classes as i was wondering if i just needed to mix things up more? i wondered if anyone had any tips or have any idea if im doing something wrong? im fitter and healthier than ever and feel great, but i want to shift at least a few more stone before i even think about maintaining!

please help

trina x

tricksee

stuck to eating 1200 calories a day

well, there's your problem.

Greenrun99

A month isn't a massive plateau especially when you lost 2 lbs during that month... Your not eating enough and don't expect to lose weight every week.

QuestToLose

Try eating more than 1200 Calories. The 1200 calories may have sent your body into starvation mode. Also, read about BMR and TDEE.
Goodluck!

obrientp

You are not eating enough, especially on the days you exercise, and drink lots of water

kalyse

you don't eat enough - you should also open your diary so we can see what your eating because that plays a huge factor imo. once you get your calories up try adding HIIT 3 days a week. Do you do any strength training?

trinakiddo123

yeah i've recently started weights in the last few weeks, i know i should probably do alot more.. how many calories are recommended?

concordancia

A plateau means you don't lose anything for weeks at a time. You are just seeing your loss slow down. This happens for a couple of reasons.

1) you aren't getting proper nutrition - your body works best when fed a balanced diet that is sufficient for your individual needs. In your case, I doubt that even MFP told you to eat only 1200 a day.

2) our bodies need to adjust - weight loss is not linear. Even if you were burning and eating the proper amounts, few people lose the same amount every single week for weeks on end. You lost an amazing amount in three months, now your body will want some time to consider what is happening to it.

3) our bodies get used to routines. If you are always eating the same amount and doing the same activities, your body figures out how to do that most efficiently and thus burns off fewer calories to do it.

The best way to deal with a stall is:
- verify that you are tracking everything.
- eat healthier foods; not necessarily "health foods," just make sure you are eating lots of veggies, lean protein and healthy fats like nuts, then let everything else fall into place.
- learn about other methods of calculating calorie needs and try one for several weeks
- try a new kind of exercise. If you don't do any, start.

tricksee

how many calories are recommended?

Everyone's number is different unfortunately. But you should eat maximum amount of calories you possibly can while healthily dropping fat.

Use a TDEE calculator! :-) good luck.

Amy106Days

oops new to boards not MFP. Well Welcome anyway. I'll be alright gonna get some coffee

jzammetti

stuck to eating 1200 calories a day

well, there's your problem.

Yup. Eat more.

Griffin220x

stuck to eating 1200 calories a day

well, there's your problem.

Was gonna say that, then I looked down :bigsmile:

Eat more!

mazdauk

Hi! you're doing so well, don't get discouraged. Weight tends to come off quickly at the start and then slow anyway, but as others have said it sounds like you're not eating enough - if MFP set me at 1210 weighing 11 1/2 stone (to lose 1lb per week)its not enough for you at your current weight. You are not morbidly obese so you should not be trying to lose more than 1lb per week - you will just be hungry with saggy skin!:noway:

For me - and I'm not saying this suits everyone, but its working for me so I'm sticking with it -I've set my calories on sedentary (then upped them a little because it was way low) and I eat back my exercise calories - not necessarily all on the day I "earn" them, but over the course of a week. This enable me to enjoy a Sunday roast with my family without guilt, plus keeps my body thinking "hang on, need to digest all this and not hang onto it 'cos there'll be more along in a minute":drinker: :laugh: I also mix up my exercise - the only fixed are my Zumba class on a Monday evening and my walks too and from work. So although I doo about 20 mins every morning, sometimes its aerobic and sometimes toning, while the evening might be arobic, or toning, or both, or even Zumba (again).

heybales

With little to lose, you have narrow margin for error to do things wrong and still lose, otherwise you won't, or you'll lose the wrong weight, like muscle. No good.

Do you really have a 40 hr a week sedentary desk job?
Other than exercise, sitting around the house for rest of the hours? Or up and a lot more active?
That's the difference between MFP Activity level of Sedentary and Lightly Active - most discover they are really Lightly Active if honest.

Did you pick the Recommended 1 lb weight loss weekly? At this point, if within 10 lbs of goal weight, should really be 1/2 lb weekly.

Are you correctly logging your workouts and eating back the calories to actually see improvement? Or not and just creating additional stress that will mess with ability to lose?

You already proved it to yourself, because you held to your diet, but increased your exercise, and the loss slowed way down. Too great a deficit for your body, it got stressed, hormones messed up, less loss.

Though you are also doing great exercise and that would have improvements to it and that is rarely weight loss, but then again you probably aren't eating enough to see great improvements you could have.

Oh, massive plateau are the folks that have had 9-12 months no weight or measurement loss eating way too low and exercising way too much, and they keep doing the same thing wondering why nothing changes.
You got no plateau. But no need to create one either.

trinakiddo123

my job is fairly active, regularly on site with clients and running to meetings etc - other than that i am at university but walk every where, obviously gym and socialising etc... im not lazy at all! (not any more)

im not with 10 lbs of my goal weight, i have alot more to lose then that! atleast another 3 stone.

i've only started using this app again today as i figured i needed more help and guidance from you guys (thanks so much by the way!) so will start filling it out honestly and properly.

i guess i do need to eat more - however i do have the odd day when i eat and drink what i like so i assumed this would even the whole week out in a way?

thanks again.

heybales

my job is fairly active, regularly on site with clients and running to meetings etc - other than that i am at university but walk every where, obviously gym and socialising etc... im not lazy at all! (not any more)

im not with 10 lbs of my goal weight, i have alot more to lose then that! atleast another 3 stone.

i've only started using this app again today as i figured i needed more help and guidance from you guys (thanks so much by the way!) so will start filling it out honestly and properly.

i guess i do need to eat more - however i do have the odd day when i eat and drink what i like so i assumed this would even the whole week out in a way?

thanks again.

At least Lightly Active then, and 1 lb goal loss.

And 1 day doesn't even anything out - it's surplus that day, and unless you have massive glucose stores to refill, and do some great activity while digesting it to use it right then, as excess it's stored as fat.
But then 6 days a week at too big a deficit is what your body is dealing with most and will just slow down.

Some with a good metabolism can make up for too extreme a deficit with a cheat meal, but it's not real extreme in the first place, and their exercise benefits that method.