Stuck at 130....

SToast
SToast Posts: 255 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been loosing weight steadily until I hit 130lbs. Now I seem to be stuck there. I upped my calories from 1200 to 1300 about a month ago... should I up to 1400? I'm still doing a workout video at least 4 days a week and I mix it up between 5 different ones so I'm not always doing the same one.

Take a look at my diary and let me know if you think it's my diet. I'm totally at a loss here...

Replies

  • MrsElyshaGunn
    MrsElyshaGunn Posts: 6
    Have you been doing the same exercise routine and sticking to generally the same foods?
  • poundis
    poundis Posts: 93 Member
    I am curious to hear the replies because I too am stuck in a rut.
  • all4my3boyz
    all4my3boyz Posts: 94 Member
    Your diary is closed.
  • HIITMe
    HIITMe Posts: 921 Member
    Oh what I would do to be stuck at 130 lbs...
  • MemphisKitten
    MemphisKitten Posts: 878 Member
    I was stuck at 130 FOREVER!!! I started zig zagging calories and mixing up my workouts and that helped a lot!
  • RedHotRunner
    RedHotRunner Posts: 850 Member
    How tall are you?
  • KristyHumphrey
    KristyHumphrey Posts: 248 Member
    130?? what's that? Haven't seen that since my early teen years-LOL

    GOOD FOR YOU!

    Anywho - Here is a good calculator to figure out how many cals you need..

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
  • SToast
    SToast Posts: 255 Member
    My workout and diet changes from day to day. Is that my problem? I have been doing 30DS along with 3 other Jillian videos and 2 cardio videos as well as throwing in some soccer with my husband. My food is all over the board. I'm pretty sure my carbs have been up and protein down lately. Could that be it? So frustrating cuz I'm 5 lbs away from my goal. Sigh...

    I'm 5'6"

    Ahhh....sorry I opened my diary. Thought it was, oops :)
  • janeite1990
    janeite1990 Posts: 671 Member
    Do you do strength training apart from the videos? I do JM videos, which have great body-weight exercises, but I get better results with some actual weights in there, too. Also, I've needed more exercise than I thought. I figured 30 minutes of JM 4-5 days a week should do it. It didn't. To lose, I need to exercise every day, and on most of those days I need to go for 45-60 minutes, sometimes more. At first it was hard to fit in, but it got easier.

    Good luck! You'll get there!
  • flying_inside
    flying_inside Posts: 67 Member
    I feel like this answer may be simplistic, but being very familiar w/water weight, I'd recommend lowering your sodium intake & see what happens. If this isn't the cause, it's still something that's good for the body. Best of luck to you as you figure out the culprit & congrats on making it to 130!
  • Sparksfly
    Sparksfly Posts: 470 Member
    I'm at 5'4 and when I hit 130 I upped my calories to 1500 NET. So 1500, and ate all of my exercise calories back ( i have a polar HRM). That's how I shifted my plateau and entered the 120's.
  • janeite1990
    janeite1990 Posts: 671 Member
    I just looked at your diary, too. I'd say try to cut out the processed stuff. You are really careful with your calories. Cutting out processed stuff really helped me. I won't say I don't fall of the wagon, cuz I love junk. BUT the cleaner I eat, the better results I get and the better I feel. I try to ask myself, "Would a cave man know this is food?" If the answer is yes, it is probably good. If the answer is no, it probably isn't. Try to get most of your calories from un-processed, clean foods.
  • RedHotRunner
    RedHotRunner Posts: 850 Member
    "I'm 5'6"

    Ahhh....sorry I opened my diary. Thought it was, oops :)"
    [/quote]

    You're weight is pretty low for your height as is. There's a chance that your body likes being 130. But you might want to consider eating more. Your TDEE with minimal activity is 1630.

    If you do that though, don't be surprised if you initially gain a pound or two, as your metabolism is probably a bit slow due to the lack of calories. It'll catch up though.
  • juliedozier
    juliedozier Posts: 184 Member
    Tons of water!
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    Add in a new exercise (if you only do cardio, start lifting and vice versa) and adjust your macros (more protein, less carbs/fat). If that still doesn't work, adjust your calories and exercise more.
  • SToast
    SToast Posts: 255 Member
    Yeah, my sodium intake has sucked lately. I'll watch that closer. Also I don't strength train right now. We only have one gym in town and I can't afford it. Hubby did pick up a used bowflex but we don't have anywhere to set it up yet. Any suggestions for strength training at home?

    Maybe I'll also try upping my calories by another 100. I have my activity level at the lowest setting but with a toddler, dogs, and horses to take care of along with all the "household" chores I'm prob actually in the "light" activity level.

    Thanks for the congrats on the 130. It is a really good feeling to see that number again. I feel a lot better about myself and have a lot more energy.
  • avakathryn
    avakathryn Posts: 22
    You need to "shock" your body. Maybe try doing two "protein only" days per week since you mentioned that you are high on carbs right now. This really worked for me before my wedding last summer and I found it easy to maintain. I would eat as much lean protein as I wanted (egg whites, chicken, fish, low-fat dairy) with green veggies as well (spinach, kale, brocolli, that kind of thing) for two consecutive days every week, while maintaining a "clean" diet for the rest of the week. Anything that your body isn't used to will kick start it past your plateau. I also agree your calorie intake is too low. You probably need to be up at 1500 at least but of clean, unprocessed foods.
  • NJL13500
    NJL13500 Posts: 433 Member
    I was stuck at 134 for a bit and then got down to 128. I always ate 1500-1600 calories though. I bought a Bodymedia armband and saw what I was actually burning and upped my calories to 1800. I've also added heavy (for me) weight training. I went back up to 132 for about a month, but kept up with my changes and had some faith. The water weight from the increased training went away and I'm back down to 129.

    Everyone is different, but I think my body just needed a change. Strength training has been great for me and I've learned to somewhat let go of the number on the scale and focus and the number that I can now lift. :-)

    Good luck to you!

    BTW I'm also 5'6" and waaaay older than you.
  • JCM1969
    JCM1969 Posts: 141 Member
    How long have you been at 130? I have found that I tend to get stuck at a certain weight for as long as 2 weeks. It is maddening... but Ive learned if I stay the course, my weight will suddenly drop 2 - 3 pounds. I feel your pain... Im within a few pounds of my goal as well.
    The only other advice I have is less sugar.... I love a bit of candy every now and then too but try some cheese sticks, turkey or some fruit for sweet tooth and less sugar cereal and cookies!
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    You would have to be pretty short for that to be a problem.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    Your goal may be set at 1300 but from what I see in the last week, you leave 100-300 calories uneaten most days so when you do bump up your goal, make sure you try to get as close to it as you can most days. for those days when your'e not really hungry but could use a little calorie bump, have some nutritious calorie dense snacks on hand - nuts, seeds, popcorn, eggs, fruit, etc.

    There are plenty of body weight exercises you can do at home without weights! Push-ups, sit-ups, tricep dips, leg lifts, planks, squats, lunges, etc (google for more ideas). If you do want to have weighted exercises like bicep curls and shoulder presses, take gallon jugs and fill them with water. A fully filled gallon weighs about 8 pounds. If that's a bit too much for you at first, just fill them halfway. You can get handweights at WalMart fairly cheaply too when you're ready for higher weights.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    Some home workouts that don't require equipment:

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/17/advanced-body-weight-workout-warning-this-will-kick-your-*kitten*/

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/12/20/the-20-minute-hotel-workout/

    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/03/13/the-300-workout/ (if you're feeling crazy)
  • lacharp
    lacharp Posts: 66
    Maybe take a look at your current carb/protein balance and tweak it a little? When I hit a plateau my nutritionist reined in my carbs a bit so I was doing a 2:1 ratio (2 g carbs for every 1 g protein), and that totally did the trick.
  • Modern_athena
    Modern_athena Posts: 81 Member
    You probably reached a plateau. You can try intermittent fasting. It showed promising results on many individuals (and rats :P )
  • DrMAvDPhD
    DrMAvDPhD Posts: 2,097 Member
    What's so magical about weighing 125? 130 is a great weight for your height. If you aren't happy with how you look, now might be a good time to start concentrating on BF% instead of obsessing about numbers on scales. I recommend eating at maintenance (I'm guessing around 1800 cal or more) for a while and adding more strength workouts into the mix. If you are still not happy in a few months, subtract 200 calories or so from your eating plan and you might see weight come off again after your body has had time to get used to being fed again.
  • stonel94
    stonel94 Posts: 550 Member
    So I took a look, and i saw that you are often over on fat, which is probably the worst one to be over on, so maybe downsize your fat. You also eat a lot of processed and/or unhealthy food like waffles, sugary cereal, chips, chicken and dumplings, these things are not going to help you lose weight even if you are under on calories. Also you might want to check the foods you're logging for sugar, because it seems like you eat a lot of sugary foods, and you might be going over on sugar which can contriubte to more weight gain. Also you have a lot of cereal logged, like I said, but no milk, if you eat this with milk log the milk too, log condiments, everything, because those things have sugar, fat, sodium, even if it only has 15 calories it can have significant amounts of other things.
    So I'd say watch sugar, fat, processed foods, try having like your treat as your cereal for example, but then don't have it again as breakfast, ya know? have what you want but not all the time, that might help. I didn't see a whole lot of veg, so might want to change that, also look at the total nutrition facts of what you log because I was seeing that you're watching sodium and are usually under, but i've found a lot of foods added here don't actually have the sodium, and sugar logged in, if it says N/A in that space (not 0) then it just wasn't inputted, it doesn't necesiarly have 0 grams of that, so look around and find one that has the real complete facts, or add it yourself from the box you have.

    :D
  • SToast
    SToast Posts: 255 Member
    Thanks for the tips guys. Yeah my sugar has gone up since mid Dec. I was doing really good then all the Christmas goodies rolled in and I got back into the habit. Gotta kick that. I've been trying to do the cereal as my "treat" when I'm craving something sweet. I eat it dry so that's why there is no milk logged.

    All in all sounds like I need to up my calories but clean up what I'm eating. Veggies have always been hard for me so that is a huge one for me to focus on.

    I know that they are just numbers and that 130 isn't fat or anything but 125 is where I set my goal. Everyone on here has a goal and we are all just trying to reach them.
  • stonel94
    stonel94 Posts: 550 Member
    Yeah, my sodium intake has sucked lately. I'll watch that closer. Also I don't strength train right now. We only have one gym in town and I can't afford it. Hubby did pick up a used bowflex but we don't have anywhere to set it up yet. Any suggestions for strength training at home?

    Maybe I'll also try upping my calories by another 100. I have my activity level at the lowest setting but with a toddler, dogs, and horses to take care of along with all the "household" chores I'm prob actually in the "light" activity level.

    Thanks for the congrats on the 130. It is a really good feeling to see that number again. I feel a lot better about myself and have a lot more energy.

    free weights, just buy some of different sizes and different weights and train with those

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