Weight plateau

Monroe07

Hi. Sorry for the long post but am hoping the history may help with with any advice. 3 years Ago i was 155 pounds after my third baby. Dropped to 140 pounds over a year (with some ups and downs in between) through personal training sessions, Pilates and running mainly. I maintained for a year but then got fed up with doing what I felt was a lot of exercise, eating pretty healthily and yet still not being properly slim. So I thought I'd tried FP to see if I could get down to 133 pounds (am 5ft 6, 38 years old and the lightest I've been was at 18 at about 133 pounds). I i set myself a patient goal of a pound a week (=1300 calories a day for me) And was so pleased as from week 1 i saw results. Every time ive stopped watching what i eat (as ive had family staying or went on holiday) i put weight back on v quickly but ive managed to drop it again when i got straight back on fp. Over all I've dropped 6 pounds on and off over 4 months but now I'm stuck. Have weighed the same (or one week even more!) despite sticking to my calories. Even if I was somehow under estimating what I eat (bearing in mind I've successfully used the system for 4 months) I should have lost a pound or two in this time. I'm really fed up. I can do this as long as I'm getting results but I'm really concerned now as if this is what it takes just to maintain then I can't do it the whole time. I really wanted to get to 133 and then hoped I could relax the calories to maintain for a while (I like the exercise so m happy to keep this) but I just can't seem to hit those last 2 pounds. can anyone help? Is there something I can do to kick start this again? I do kick boxing for an hour once a week, run for 45-55 mins once an week and do an hour of Pilates once a week. Plus I do some sit ups etc 2 or 3 times a week (and am running round after the kids). I have about 200 calls for breakfast (normally 0 fat yog, blueberries and agave syrup or 1 piece Wholemeal toast, butter and marmite), about 400 calls for lunch (normally a ham sandwhich on Wholemeal bread with salad and low fat mayo) and a normally vegetarian or fish based meal at about 650 cals. I use the calories earned form the exercise for a takeout and some drinks once a week. Or to be able to relax with food at the weekend. The only differences I can see in the last months are: my breakfast used to be more like 300/350 cals as I would use Greek yog and have pine nuts too - dropped it to low fat yog without the pine nuts (savin approx 100- 150 cals) so that I could use these calories later in the day for a glass of wine or small choc treat etc. also I upped my running from 35mins to 45-50 mins (and again use the extra calories burned so I can have a bit of cake with the kids or something) Any support or advice would be much appreciated. I've been as much delighted at the fact that I could control my weight (and am not just destined to be a fixed size just because of genetics or something) as with the actual weight loss and now I'm feeling really despondent with the whole thing.

JesterMFP

First of all, and sorry if I missed this, but how long have you been stuck?

Secondly, if I understand correctly, you're currently around 135 lbs? If so, you're at a healthy weight now, so any further weight loss is going to be very slow. At a a BMI of 21-22 ish, a loss of 6 lbs in 4 months is not unreasonable. 1 lb a week is probably not a reasonable expectation. Your body just can't let go of fat at the same rate as someone who has more fat stored.

Thirdly, it's not for me to say what you should weigh, but it may be that you body has changed and your "perfect" weight at 18 isn't going to be your ideal weight at 38. It might be better to focus more on your other measurements, how your clothes fit and what you look like in the mirror/photos. Your body composition may be different now 20 years later.

Finally, are you doing any resistance or strength training? Have you considered it? The leaner you are, the less relevant the number on the scale is. It may be that to feel better about your body you would have more success with changing your body composition with strength training, rather than losing more weight. Increasing cardio is unlikely to make you look much different. Strength training on the other hand, could have a dramatic effect without much change on the scale.

jzammetti

If I add correctly, you eat less than 1300 calories per day on average. Please search the forums for eat more to weigh less and eat more.

JesterMFP

If I add correctly, you eat less than 1300 calories per day on average. Please search the forums for eat more to weigh less and eat more.

Yes, I didn't make it clear in my response, but I'd also recommend eating more. I think a large calorie deficit is counter-productive when you're a healthy weight.

vorgas

Many people have found success adding heavy lifting to their routine. They don't necessarily lose the final few pounds, but their body mass looks noticeably slimmer because of the density differences between muscle and fat.

Check out these posts:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/976497-women-heavy-lifting-free-weights-16-month-progress
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/929824-its-been-over-a-year-since-my-hot-affair-began

there are many more...

Monroe07

Hi ive been stuck. For 4 weeks. I hear your point re optimal weight. i gave my best weight at 18 to give my post context but FP gave me hope that there is no such thing as a fixed weight and that we can control what we weigh. 133 pounds doesnt seem too low to me. id like to go a bit lower even if i can after a while (126 would be amazing) because i by no means look 'drawn' or anything. I don't even really look slim. I look kind of normal and have plenty of feminine bulges still! :-) Which is better than being heavy but doesn't feel quite good enough for the effort i put in.. Hope that makes sense. Clothes wise I feel the same. If anything my thighs seem a bit tighter in my jeans so I don't know if that's the running or something or water retention maybe??? Ahhhhh!

Monroe07

Sorry, also to say I do generally eat 1300 cals. The foods given were just an example. I'm always hungry so always go to the max - if I have spare ill have a treat and as I said I use the calories earned from exercise and eat those too! I don't do weights as such but I would have thought the kick boxing would be covering this part of exercise?

Monroe07

So I suddenly sropped 3 pounds in just over a week. Im presumong thats an optomistic measurement but still im do wn one way or another. So I'm guessing that I was carrying some water or something which is why I was plateauing and now my body is in a different cyle or whatever I've lost it. I guess the moral of the story is keep the faith and try not to be swayed by day to day measurements or even weekly. I guess sometimes these things just take time. 3 steps forward two steps back (but I got there in the end!)

Monroe07

Sorry that should have read dropped.

jljshoe1979

Glad you saw a drop - I know how frustrating a long term plateau can be...for what its worth, if you hit another plateau maybe try mixing up your workouts (ie switch out the kickboxing and running for some circuit training, swimming and/or hiking)...I think sometimes our bodies just "get comfortable" and need a little wake up call.