A 2-year plateau

j99li
j99li Posts: 421 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi Everyone,

I started on MFP a few years ago, and within 8-9 months, I was able to lose almost 40lbs. I was really happy with that and thought I was well on my way to my goal. I also thought it was fairly consistent with what I've seen here as I have seen some people lose so much weight in a very short amount of time.

After that 40lb weight loss, I kept working out but I saw no changes to my weight or my body size/shape. I realized I had probably plateau'd. I read here that I should change up my workout routine to jolt my system so I decided to get a personal trainer to change up my routine. She started me on weights as well as cardio and did that for 5 months....STILL no result! During all of this time, I have tried to keep my eating clean as much as possible (though I admit there were the occasional days of slacking).

When school started this past september, I stopped working out due to my crazy school schedule and during the stress, I gained 10lbs back. You can probably imagine my feelings about that.

Now I have started working out again. I go to the gym 5 days a week. On Mon and Fri, I cycle for 1hr. Tues and Thurs, I go to an aquatic boot camp class for 45 min. And on Wed I take a group Power class which is a weight lifting class.

MY WEIGHT IS NOT MOVING!

Can you guys please help me figure this out? I am getting so discouraged cuz my weight is just not moving at all. I want to get out of this plateau!!!!
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Replies

  • j99li
    j99li Posts: 421 Member
    help please :)
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    What have you tried (and for how long) as far as calories? Do you eat back your exercise calories?

    Have you tried the road map method?
  • j99li
    j99li Posts: 421 Member
    What have you tried (and for how long) as far as calories? Do you eat back your exercise calories?

    Have you tried the road map method?


    I have tried so many various calories methods:

    First, I did the basic 1200 calories and that worked until I realized how hungry I was! So then I upped it to 1300. During these times I would eat back my exercise calories.

    My current calories goal is my TDEE -20% and I dont eat back my exercise calories. But I feel like it's not working either :S
  • lawtechie
    lawtechie Posts: 708 Member
    Looked at your diary. I see 1 day of exercise logged in the past week and overall <1200 calories/day average. I'd say you're not eating enough. Is your goal 1800 calories to lose 1 lb/week?

    Focus on meeting MFP goals and logging everything so you get a true-er picture of what you're eating. Give it a month or two and re-evaluate.
  • PHr34k0wt
    PHr34k0wt Posts: 218 Member
    How much more are you trying to lose?
  • j99li
    j99li Posts: 421 Member
    Looked at your diary. I see 1 day of exercise logged in the past week and overall <1200 calories/day average. I'd say you're not eating enough. Is your goal 1800 calories to lose 1 lb/week?

    Focus on meeting MFP goals and logging everything so you get a true-er picture of what you're eating. Give it a month or two and re-evaluate.


    I usually work out Mon-Fri. My current goal is to eat the 1800 but not eat back my exercise calories. So should I eat my 1800 + exercise calories if I'm doing the TDEE-20% method (factoring exercise in already)?
  • j99li
    j99li Posts: 421 Member
    How much more are you trying to lose?

    I want to lose another 50 lbs!
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    If I were you, I'd take a long diet break. Sustaining a deficit for more than two years would be pretty taxing on the endocrine system and its hormones.
  • Lift_hard_eat_big
    Lift_hard_eat_big Posts: 2,278 Member
    If I were you, I'd take a long diet break. Sustaining a deficit for more than two years would be pretty taxing on the endocrine system and its hormones.

    This^^^

    Most likely estrogen and leptin are out of whack.
  • LeggyAmericanGirl
    LeggyAmericanGirl Posts: 285 Member
    I just got over a 7 month plateau. I was on my plan and working out and never would lose more than 0.4lbs a month although my body was changing inch wise.

    I drastically changed my workouts from cardio only to P90x and my diet to lower carbs and higher protein. I have lost bout 5.5lbs in the first 3 weeks.

    I would say whatever you are doing, do the opposite. I think a structured program and joining a group helped me.
  • TLCEsq
    TLCEsq Posts: 413 Member
    I think you probably have adrenal gland issues at this point, or the beginning of an imbalance. I lost 50 lbs during law school and gained 30 back during the three months I studied for and took the Bar exam. Turned out in the long run I had low cortisol and low DHEA, which doesn't mix with low-calorie diets and lots of exercise.
  • danasings
    danasings Posts: 8,218 Member
    Have you seen a doctor to rule out thyroid issues?
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    How accurately do you weigh, measure and log your food?
  • misskerouac
    misskerouac Posts: 2,242 Member
    Looked at your diary. I see 1 day of exercise logged in the past week and overall <1200 calories/day average. I'd say you're not eating enough. Is your goal 1800 calories to lose 1 lb/week?

    Focus on meeting MFP goals and logging everything so you get a true-er picture of what you're eating. Give it a month or two and re-evaluate.


    I usually work out Mon-Fri. My current goal is to eat the 1800 but not eat back my exercise calories. So should I eat my 1800 + exercise calories if I'm doing the TDEE-20% method (factoring exercise in already)?

    no, if you are eating at your TDEE -20% don't eat your exercise calories, but the point she was making is that by looking at your diary it seems most days you aren't even coming close to 1800. You are eating 1000, 1100, 1200 and then exercising as well. So you either aren't logging the rest of your food or you aren't eating enough
  • Sublog
    Sublog Posts: 1,296 Member
    Eat less calories.

    Buy and use a food scale, weigh everything that you eat. Don't eat it if you can't tell how it was prepared and how to log it.
  • j99li
    j99li Posts: 421 Member
    Thanks everyone! I don't always log my food as accurately as I should so I will try harder at that. I guess I need to eat a bit more but I am so scared of doing that, I'm not sure why I am (except for the fear of gaining weight).

    As to the mention of not logging for a while, I was on hiatus for a bit because at one point, I was almost obsessed with counting calories and my dietician said that it was not very healthy (both mentally and physically)

    Currently, I just weightlift and cycle. What should I encorporate into my routine? Running is not an option as my knees cannot handle high impact.
  • j99li
    j99li Posts: 421 Member
    Eat less calories.

    Buy and use a food scale, weigh everything that you eat. Don't eat it if you can't tell how it was prepared and how to log it.


    So you're saying I should eat less than I do now?
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Log your food. Measure and weigh everything. Assess after a month - without accurate data, no-one can give you very good advice.
  • kuger4119
    kuger4119 Posts: 213 Member
    Everyone is different, but it looks like you aren't eating enough. You are often netting well under 1200 calories per day. For me, if I eat 200-300 calories above my normal deficit for a couple days, it will show up on the scale, but when I'm a good kid and hit my calorie goals for the next 5 days, I shed weight like crazy.

    If I just stay right on my net all the time, I feel like I get stuck every once in a while. Again, everyone is different. BTW, there is nothing wrong with gaining a few lbs if it shakes things up and gets you back on track overall.
  • Sublog
    Sublog Posts: 1,296 Member
    Eat less calories.

    Buy and use a food scale, weigh everything that you eat. Don't eat it if you can't tell how it was prepared and how to log it.


    So you're saying I should eat less than I do now?
    Yes, I am. If your not losing weight and you don't have some underlying metabolic condition, then the ONLY explanation for a 2 year "plateau" is you are eating too many calories to lose weight.
  • j99li
    j99li Posts: 421 Member
    I would like some clarification. Is it healthy to eat less than what I eat now?
  • misskerouac
    misskerouac Posts: 2,242 Member
    I would like some clarification. Is it healthy to eat less than what I eat now?

    No.
    Don't.

    Follow the advice of the majority here.
    Log EVERYTHING, accurately, for a month. Then assess what could be the problem. Right now without you logging everything, it's really hard to say. You could be eating more than you think, you could be eating less than you think.
  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
    Your not eating enough, thats why you are enjoying a nice plateau your body has adjusted to your eating habits.

    Eat TDEE - 20% (moderately active I am guessing) and don't eat exercise calories, eat that number everyday and make sure you eat it.. so if you got 1800 calories, EAT 1800... I am looking at your diary and you have it set for high calories, but still eating only 1400 or way less..
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    I would like some clarification. Is it healthy to eat less than what I eat now?

    How accurately are you logging? Do you log everything? Weigh dry foods? Measure wet foods?
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
    What are you eating?

    I lost 50lbs very easily when i started off at 1200. Then a year with no weight loss, it started creeping back and I lost track.

    I raised my calories using the TDEE method and eat a minimum of 2000 calories a day. I am doing MUCH better now!
  • Jaulen
    Jaulen Posts: 468 Member
    Your not eating enough, thats why you are enjoying a nice plateau your body has adjusted to your eating habits.

    Eat TDEE - 20% (moderately active I am guessing) and don't eat exercise calories, eat that number everyday and make sure you eat it.. so if you got 1800 calories, EAT 1800... I am looking at your diary and you have it set for high calories, but still eating only 1400 or way less..

    ^This
  • lynn1982
    lynn1982 Posts: 1,439 Member
    How accurately are you logging everything you eat? Are you weighing everything? Assuming you are, then before changing how you are eating, I'd get checked to make sure you don't have some sort of metabolic disorder if you haven't already done so.

    As a side note, when I started doing Power, I actually gained weight because I was doing it instead of my regular cardio class. (At the time, I was doing cardio 7 days/week, and started doing power twice per week.) It took me a couple weeks to tweak my diet for that (especially with the weight lifting, I found I was even hungrier). But, if you've been doing this for 2 years and still haven't lost anything, I'd check to make sure everything's ok before doing anything else. People sometimes don't realize how hormones and things can affect weight loss/gain.
  • reklawn
    reklawn Posts: 112 Member
    What is your height and weight? If you workout a lot, the more muscle you gain, the more you need to eat or your body will go into starvation mode and make it difficult to lose weight.
  • xomumof3xo
    xomumof3xo Posts: 1 Member
    Try upping ur cal intake..maybe ur not eating enough cals for the amount of working out ur doing. As well try lifting weights more than ur cardio. Take ur current weight and muliply it by 12 and thats how many cals u should eat for lose!!!
  • foleyshirley
    foleyshirley Posts: 1,043 Member
    Eat less calories.

    Buy and use a food scale, weigh everything that you eat. Don't eat it if you can't tell how it was prepared and how to log it.


    So you're saying I should eat less than I do now?
    Yes, I am. If your not losing weight and you don't have some underlying metabolic condition, then the ONLY explanation for a 2 year "plateau" is you are eating too many calories to lose weight.

    This is not true. You should not eat less than what you are eating now.

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