Ever get stuck at a certain weight??

paynesmom
paynesmom Posts: 9
in Motivation and Support
I started this journey at 168 lbs on Aug 25th of this year. So, about 7 weeks ago. I lost 4 lbs immediately like the first week and it was SUCH a rush! Then my body slowed down losing the weight. I honestly haven't slacked! I have completely changed my diet. 1200-1400 cal a day, depending on how much I exercise. And I exercise (Jillian's 30 Day Shred or riding my stationary bike 6 days a week). Honest folks, I haven't been a slacker. This is the longest time I have ever dedicated to losing weight. The most I've ever exercised. And the FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE I have counted calories and/or watched what I ate. My motto used to be "I watch what I eat, I watch it as its entering my mouth"......SO, I have plateaued again. I am stuck at 161. I haven't changed a thing. Except my attitude. I am starting to get frustrated. The only 2 things that keep me going are: I have come this far, don't give up now. And I have muscles in my arms and shoulders. When I do my hair in the morning, I can see my shoulder and bicep muscles and it is the coolest thing I've ever seen on myself! I have NEVER had muscles. Ever. So, to see that, makes me proud of myself.

I guess some background might help. I'm 33. I have 3 kids. Ages 13, 9 and 3. With my first pregnancy I got diastasis, that's when your stomach muscles separate and whenever you flex they go up to a point like a pyramid. With my 3 yr old I developed a hernia in my belly button, mainly from the diastasis, there was nothing holding my guts in basically. I had surgery in March of this year to repair the hernia and pull my stomach muscles back together. They sewed my muscles back together and put a mesh over the entire front of my stomach to hold it all in. I thought it would pull my stomach in, but instead it just made it bulgy. Like a corset pulled over a bunch of fat. So, I think that has a big part in why it has been so difficult to get rid of my tummy.

I am just wondering if someone has some ideas? Some words of motivation? My sister and I are on this journey together (4 states away from each other) and she tries to lift me up and encourage, but she is my sister, she will always tell me I'm beautiful and going great. :)

Just wondering if anyone else plateaus? Is working out at 05:40 every morning not the right thing to do? What am I doing wrong? OR is losing, essentially, a pound a week normal?

Please help! Thanks! :)

Replies

  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    A couple of thoughts:

    Your body needs rest days. Maybe take 2 a week? I find that I lose more when I incorporate rest into my routine.

    Maybe you're not eating enough. You're a busy mom and you're exercising. 1200-1400 calories might not be enough for you. Read this link and figure out your BMR & TDEE (use a moderately active setting):

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    You should be aiming for 0.5lbs a week since you only have 15lbs to your goal. It will take you a little longer to get there, but it will be worth it when you do.

    Congrats on your committment so far! You're doing great & it's going to pay off for you :)
  • sarahisme18
    sarahisme18 Posts: 574 Member
    A couple of thoughts:

    Your body needs rest days. Maybe take 2 a week? I find that I lose more when I incorporate rest into my routine.

    Maybe you're not eating enough. You're a busy mom and you're exercising. 1200-1400 calories might not be enough for you. Read this link and figure out your BMR & TDEE (use a moderately active setting):

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    You should be aiming for 0.5lbs a week since you only have 15lbs to your goal. It will take you a little longer to get there, but it will be worth it when you do.

    Congrats on your committment so far! You're doing great & it's going to pay off for you :)

    Thank you for this!!!
  • Kendi_Alyssa
    Kendi_Alyssa Posts: 12
    I hit the same plateau THREE DIFFERENT TIMES!!!! It's kind of a long story :3 Pretty much my own fault for yo-yo dieting and being a quitter, but just let me explain....

    Basically almost a year ago was the first time I decided to "get serious" about my health and lose weight. I bought a scale, exercised a few times, sorta counted calories, mostly did the math in my head and guestimated, and I got down from around 198-ish to around 190 in a few weeks. I was so excited!.... Until that 190 NEVER went away! So being the natural quitter that I am, I gave up after about a week, then gained almost all that weight back. I did this a second time just a few months ago, I tried even harder than before though. The number 190 soon became my sworn enemy, and I just sort of faded out of my healthy eating back into my old, unhealthy habits of eating a bajillion calories a day.

    Fast forward to NOW: I started of MFP in September, and a lot has changed. I have a lot more encouragement, it's easier to keep counting calories because I can buy my own food and not rely on my parents as much (not only do they eat horrible foods but they keep pestering me to "splurge" on my diet more often), and I've been more diligent this time around in logging my meals. I log EVERYTHING. I was happy to be down to the 190s range as of a couple weeks ago since I'd jumped right back up to 200, but I was nervous when once again, the number lingered on the scale. It consumed my thoughts every day. I called it the 190 curse. For about a week or two I'd convinced myself that I was physically incapable of getting past the weight of 190. My boyfriend and my friends were all very supportive, so this time I really kept at it instead of quitting the minute I saw that horrible number. A did calorie cycling, kept exercising, though I did give myself break on it for a few days, and I took the scale to my boyfriend's house so I'd only weigh myself when I go over there on the weekends and not obsess over it all week. After nearly three weeks of living with the 190 curse (it felt like an eternity) I weighed myself one weekend and saw what was at the time the most beautiful number in the world, 189! I'm now at around 186 or 187-ish so even though my story was really long it was basically just to say that the LAST thing you can do when you hit a plateau is give up, so just keep at it! I promise you're not the only person who has experienced that type of frustration!

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