I haven't been able to break a plateau for 2 years

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  • bpreteroti
    bpreteroti Posts: 68
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    No expert here either, but I have been told to drink more water to get off the plateau... it worked for me!
  • stephanj
    stephanj Posts: 898 Member
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    I have had the exact same struggle, and the only thing that has ever made it budge is keeping my carbs below 100g per day. Have you tried playing with your carb ratio? It's the only thing that makes my belly budge.
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
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    Hey, I just sent you a friend request because our stats are scary similar. I'm 5'3.5" currently 145. I seem to be having a lot of trouble going down from here. Last time I got down to 142 really slowly, then had a crapton of GI issues and turns out I was lactose intolerant... got up to 150ish with those problems, now I'm back to 145. I haven't hit a complete standstill again, but I'm not ruling out the possibility that it will happen again... Luckily, I'm pretty okay at this weight... I just want to lose a little more so that my tummy is completely flat. Is that so much to ask!? I don't so much care about BMI because my body fat % is healthy, but I would like for it to not be overweight just so that I could punch someone in the face if they called me overweight.

    I do lift heavy and do intermittent fasting. I'm not low carb, but I try to be low added carbs. A made up term to describe that most of my carbs are incidental from veggies... I might have one serving of real carbs like rice or potatoes, a day. This is more for satiety than because I believe carbs are bad. I just feel much more satisfied when I eat more protein and fats.

    I'll let you know if this keeps me moving past my sticking point.
  • mona_patty
    mona_patty Posts: 170
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    Yes, drinking lots of water helps. Also you might try to run more often. I'm 180 lbs and I run 3x a week! it has helped me shed lbs. I usually have 1 long run about 3 miles, another run I try to run a hilly path and the last run I add sprints to it. It's been effective. I also train 2x with a trainer.
  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
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    I'm not sure what active really means either. I average 3 rounds of 90-minute ashtanga yoga sessions a week, and 1x running 3 miles, and 2 classes of pilates.

    My carbs have always been low, as I don't really like bread, and I'd clock in around 150 g a day. The rest is usually vegetables, dairy, eggs, meat, sugar.

    From what that other linked post says, I have to be eating 1800 to lose at this point (!?). I have 105 lbs of lean muscle mass. And you're right, I wasn't really exercising back then. Just walking to/from work and doing a few easier yoga classes a week.

    I was eating 150 carbs, stopped losing. Now same calories but 80-120 carbs and losing good again x
  • cutex0r
    cutex0r Posts: 12 Member
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    Hey--can you help me out a little with this? I'm confused on what my calorie goal should be AFTER I work out.

    - My TDEE is 2017
    - I'm going to do 10% below that since I am close to goal/want to break plateau = 1815

    Should I eat 1815 cals a day when I *don't* work out, and eat more when I do? So for example, if I burn 300 calories working out, should I then have to eat 1815+300 = 2115 calories?

    Or is the idea that I leave 90% of my TDEE as my maximum, and work out, burn as many calories as I can, so long as I don't go below my BMR, which is 1350?

    So if MFP says, "hey, you have 300 calories to go!" even if I have already consumed 1815, I should not listen to it? Should I *not* follow MFP's monitor because I'm following this way of reducing my caloric intake? So, being in the red = good?
  • tcat2012
    tcat2012 Posts: 60 Member
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    If you know that your average TDEE is 2015 (I am assuming that this is including exercise) and you want to have a calorie goal that is 10% less, then I would set MFP to 1815 per day and eat that amount regardless of what exercise you do that day. That way, on days you exercise more, you are netting lower, and on days you exercise less, you're netting higher--so your net intake is actually zig zaging (not because of calories consumed but because of exercise). I think it's also easier to plan meals for the day when you have a fixed target. But pay attention to your macros, especially protein.

    I know that many people do it this way and some do not enter their exercise calories into MFP (just log it in notes so you can keep track).

    Also...if you're not eating near 1800 now, you might want to consider increasing gradually (there's nothing more disheartening than a weight gain) especially when you're close to goal and have been at a plateau for so long. Maybe try 50-100 cals more per week until you get to 1815. Just my 2 cents :)


    Good luck!

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