I've hit a plateau....

Hi;
I'm a male, 38 and 200 lbs. I started working out and eating better 7 weeks ago and lost 12 pounds. For some reason I quit losing weight. I haven't lost anything in almost two weeks. Is this normal? When will I lose more? I think I feel leaner, but the weight isn't coming off.
Last week, I started a membership at a local gym and the kid has me on a higher protein diet. I feel like I'm over eating yet, I workout >1.5 hours a day.
What is going on? Am I normal?
Thanks in advance.
-Grinn

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Replies

  • Grinn...I read your post and it is nearly the exact situation I'm in. 43 y/o, 200 lbs. lost 12 lbs pretty easily but have stalled for the last 8 days at 200. Not sure what's going on. I assume if we just keep doing the things we did during the first 12 lb loss, the weight loss will continue. Good luck and don't get discouraged. We're not the only ones to plateau.
  • Thanks for replying.

    Check out this article.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

    I think there are hints in here about it...

    I know I was calorie starved while I lost the weight initially. After reading this post, it seems like I just need to tell my body to ramp up the metabolism with an increase in calorie intake in addition to the exercise. I just hope it doesn't take 3-4 weeks for my body to adjust (as in the post).

    Onward....
  • Posts: 322 Member
    how many calories are you consuming per day?? how much exercise are you doing and what are you eating?? all those 3 things play a part.. change them up and your plateau will move
  • Posts: 28 Member
    Change your workout routine. Add more cardio--that's what I've been told.
  • There so many things it could be.

    1. Weight loss doesnt meen dropping lbs every day or week, you could be losing inches off areas from toning at this point without you realising it. So measure yourself, not weekly that is a bit excessive, but maybe every 2-3 weeks.

    2. The first huge chunk you lost always happens, luring people into a false sense of achievement. This is a long slow process, and the major jump at the start is just your body adjusting to the change in nutrition and excercise.

    3. If you have been on it for 7 weeks, the exercise your doing might not be pushing you enough anymore. Try switching it up with different routines after every 6-8 weeks. Try including weights, HIIT types of exercise.

    4. Nutrition, really what are you eating? Do you know what your "macros" are? What %'s are ur macros? These are the key areas of nutrition not how many caloires you are consuming. Although a man should never really be under 1500, id recommend 2000 as a healthy amount.

    This 2000 spread over 5-7 healthy meals (or snacks, but make them healthy) creates a faster, fat burning metabolism. Instead of the normal 3meals with bs snacks in between. Personally I have 5 "meals" they are small meals too, and you can simply adjust the size to suit the cals then have 2 healthy snacks such as fruit or nuts etc.
  • Great article, Grimm. Back in March I did the HGC diet and lost 30 lbs in 30 days....and then put on 32 lbs in 45 days (I could actually hear myself getting fat again.) This article explains it perfectly, combined with going back to my old eating habits.

    I'm consuming 1200 calories and eating back my exercise calories. My macros are 40c/40p/20f and I try to keep it within 3-4% on a weekly basis.

    Lately, my excercise has been a little light due to some tendenitis in my knee. I'm going to start pushing it again this week.

    I think we are both in the same boat and just need to reset our metabolism. Good luck and let me know when the scale starts to move for you.
  • Good luck Dave!
  • Our bodies are creatures of habit and it takes 28 days for your body to get used to a gym routine. You need to create muscle confusion in order to boost your calorie burn and rev up your metabolism. It is totally normal for your body to feel comfortable at a specific weight and resist change. So that is why it is important to switch up your workouts and keep your body guessing. Also try to change up your eating plan (I'm only assuming you eat the same things weekly). Did you ever look at carb cycling? Google it and see if it would be something you would want to try. That is a great way to shock your system into change. Good luck, and no worries, you will get to your goal if you continue to stay focused, sounds like you are doing a great job already!

    Oh and also, make sure to be taking measurements and body fat - I didn't lose any weight for weeks, only to find out my measurements didn't change but I lost 2% body fat. So you want the muscle to replace the fat.
  • I agree, also I'd go by a tape measure more so than a scale. Your weight could vary a few pounds from begining to the end of the day just from water weight or a water inbalance. Plus you could also be holding water as well..
  • Posts: 348 Member
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  • Posts: 2,625 Member
    Hi Grinn,

    Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale though: water retention, digestion, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations

    The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool, the same with other metrics. Take front, side, and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

    IF the trend starts going up, only you can decide calories, base it on how you feel and what the scale trend is doing, not what anyone here tells you to do. You can always gradually notch your calories up or down by 100 and see how you do. It takes some experimentation to find what works for YOU. What worked for the next person may not work for you just because it did for them. For the most part, if you have fat reserves eating more to lose weight is just plain silly, think about it.

    If you have a lot of body fat reserves you would be surprised at how little you can eat (unless you have emotional eating issues or disorders). The leaner you get the less your body has to draw from and then you have to taper up your calories. There is no such thing as starvation mode for women over 12% body fat or men over 6% body fat. I am a living breathing example of that. I went from obese to now under 12% BF and I've maintained for one year and built muscle the whole time. You don't BUILD muscle in starvation mode, so I proved everyone wrong.

    According to "The Reverse Taper Diet " :

    The Theory of Fat Availability:
    •There is a set amount of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
    •The more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
    •The less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
    •Towards the end of a transformation, when body fat is extremely low you
    may not have enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

    At the extreme low end, when your body fat cannot ‘keep up’ with the energy deficit
    you've imposed on your body, the energy MUST come from SOMEWHERE. This is
    when you are at risk of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to
    as ‘starvation mode’). This happens at extremely low levels of body fat, under 6% in
    men and 12% in women [Friedl K.E. J Appl Phsiol, 1994].

    Oddly enough, it seems as though some obese people have an unbelievable amount of fat available as a fuel, but a lower ability to burn that fat, whereas as they get leaner, they have less and less fat available as a fuel, but a greater and greater ability to burn the fat they do have. So at extreme levels of leanness, it is the fat availability that limits a persons ability to lose fat.
  • Thank you all for your support and suggestions!!!
    Right now, I'm averaging about 1,400 calories a day over the past two weeks or so. Before I was under eating a lot (probably <1000). This might be why I hit the plateau as I'm adjusting to the new intake.
    I talked to my trainer yesterday and tired some HIIT today for just 6 reps 30 sec each (on top of my 45 min cardio). It felt great.
    Again, thanks for the thoughts and suggestions, I really appreciate it. It's very motivating.
    -Grinn

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