Need help: plateau for 2 weeks now

Jojan_neke · February 2013

Hey guys,

I need some friendly support.
I am 1.78 m and 75 kg. I know this is a healthy weight, but I want to lose at least 7 kg's. In the last 8 weeks I lost 5 kg's.

The last couple of weeks I am not losing a thing. No kg's, pounds or centimeters. I know I wasn't eating enough. It's an enormous struggle to eat enough and keep my macro's in check. I workout regularly and I simply do not manage to eat them back. Is that the problem why I am not losing weight?
In the past I have been struggling with an eating disorder, so please don't be nasty and tell me I just have to eat. It's not that simple. Maybe some suggestions?

Thanks :flowerforyou:

roguex_1979 · February 2013

Hi! Sorry to see that you're struggling. And I don't know what eating disorder you have suffered from before so can't give you any specific advice, but the only thing I can say (because I have this trouble too) is that if you're trying to keep everything green and not eating enough, then you're not eating the right type of foods.

I frequently eat my calorie goal sometimes over, but my sugars/fat/carbs go into the red. I am still losing weight on average 1lb a week.

I am sure other people will be able to give you some other advice that may be of much better help.

Good luck!

Justjamie0418 · February 2013

maybe try to sneak in some peanut butter for extra calories to a smoothie? Whole Milk?

I know switching up calorie intake for me really helped. If I stalled Id up my calories for a week or two and bring them back down.

roguex_1979 · February 2013

@Justjamie0418 I just have to say well done for your amazing weight loss. Your profile picture shows that of a beautiful and healthy young woman.

KarenJanine · February 2013

Well done on your loss so far.

It cannot really be classed as a platteau unless you've been stuck at the same weight for 6 weeks. It's normal for loss to slow down, especially as you get closer to your goal. Keep going and you will get there.

I would also advise eating back your exercise calories to net your goal, which looking at the past few days of your diary you do not seem ot have been doing.

leahrule7 · February 2013

There are quite a few books out there partiicularly Michelle Bridges & Jillian Michaels which are about losing the last 5kg. This is a completely different approaching to losing the bulk of your weight. Check them out. In regards to plateaus most people tend to suggest that you might need to mix up your training to stress your body back into action and get it out of its comfort zone. Also they sometimes suggest altering your calories from day to day to keep your body on its toes e.g 1 day have 1400 calories and the next day have 1200, with the net of the week being in your healthy range. Check out Jillian Michaels show which has free podcasts through itunes as she talks about all of these things regularly and is great to keep you motivated. Look after yourself.

adam211 · February 2013

My guess would be that you're not eating quite enough. On your daily intakes you have a pretty substantial amount of calories remaining. This could be the cause of your stall. The body is highly adaptive with all of its functions and has most likely gotten use to functioning on the amount you're eating. I would recommend to try and hit your daily goal each day so your body doesn't assume to go into "starvation" mode. Try and eat some more meals, but in the end look at your weekly average.
Hope this helped!

Jojan_neke · February 2013

Thanks for your kind reactions. I was affraid I would get bashed.

In total I would love to get to 65 kg. So that's 10kg from now on. I do really try to eat more, but I am just not succesful. It is a struggle to eat my 1460 daily calories (I have managed to almost do that the last 2 days) and when I exercise (on average 600 cal. per day) I totally panic. When I add something to my menu, oftentimes the macro's don't add up anymore. If I eat more fruit, I am over my sugar, if I eat more bread I am over my carbs, if I eat avocado I am over my fat. What to do about those macro's??

@leahrule: I love Jillian, I am doing her shred and am planning to do all her programs. I will look into her books.

BeccaBollons · February 2013

It is easy to get caught up in all the numbers when trying to eat healthier. You're doing so well, you have lost a good amount already. As you're already within a "healthy" weight range, your loss may well slow down. This is completely normal. We all want each other to succeed on here, so don't give in to your inclinations to eat less. As someone else suggested, just try to choose higher calorie foods, that way, you're not putting more bulk in your mouth, but adding to you're fuel supply. Its hard I know to actually CHOOSE more calorie rich foods, but you'll get used to the taste of them and you'll feel better if your numbers add up at the end of the day (as this is what seems to be stressing you out)
Hope you feel better as the days go on. You CAN do this!

babydiego87 · February 2013

id also like to know if it's OK to go over your macros slightly to get to your calorie target.

lunnay · February 2013

Two weeks isn't a plateau.

I weight every day and my body has steadily lost but with drops only once a month or so. This is normal, don't worry.

Push through it, don't give up! If you're eating enough for a healthy weight loss (if you're not moody and hungry all the time you should be OK) just keep doing it. It will come off!

lunnay · February 2013

babydiego87:
You don't have to hit your macros perfectly. If you go over on carbs one day, just go under the next day. You're not going to have any ill effects from one day because you ate a lot of carbs vs. protein, or a lot of fat vs. the others. Think of your macro goals as more guidelines, you don't have to hit them exactly, just try to keep close to them.
With MFP's default goals it is better to be under on carbs and over on protein if you're losing weight. Don't skip fats either. But one day isn't going to do any harm - I frequently had days where I ate a lot of carbs and weight keeps dropping.

If your calorie goal is too restrictive (if you feel hungry, have headaches, feel tired, etc) you may want to consider upping it, and never stay under it (consider it a minimum). In this case it'd be better to overeat a bunch of carbs (have an extra two cookies, for example!) than to keep a huge unsustainable deficit.

:flowerforyou:

SorchaRavenlock · February 2013

Also, don't worry to much about natural sugar. It's only the processed stuff that's bad for you, the sugar in fruit and veg isn't bad for you at all. As a matter of fact, unless you have a medical reason for tracking it, you might simply want to stop tracking it at all for that reason, since MFP doesn't differentiate between sugars.

There could be plenty of reasons why you aren't seeing a loss that aren't related to your diet as well, which might be worth noting. TOM can cause you to retain water. So can exercise, your body will hold water for muscle repair.

Don't worry about your macros, see them as guidelines more then anything else. If you go over on carbs one day, protein the next, it's all good. It all balances out

babydiego87 · February 2013

babydiego87:
You don't have to hit your macros perfectly. If you go over on carbs one day, just go under the next day. You're not going to have any ill effects from one day because you ate a lot of carbs vs. protein, or a lot of fat vs. the others. Think of your macro goals as more guidelines, you don't have to hit them exactly, just try to keep close to them.
With MFP's default goals it is better to be under on carbs and over on protein if you're losing weight. Don't skip fats either. But one day isn't going to do any harm - I frequently had days where I ate a lot of carbs and weight keeps dropping.

If your calorie goal is too restrictive (if you feel hungry, have headaches, feel tired, etc) you may want to consider upping it, and never stay under it (consider it a minimum). In this case it'd be better to overeat a bunch of carbs (have an extra two cookies, for example!) than to keep a huge unsustainable deficit.

:flowerforyou:

Thanks for this, makes sense

Yooperm35 · February 2013

Looking at your food log, you have a lot of calories left to eat at the end of the day. Try eating a little more and I'm sure you'll see he scale moving again

sijomial · February 2013

Although I'm struggling to translate some of the foods there are some that appear to be "diet" or "lite".
If you find it difficult to increase the quantity of food then swapping some of these "diet" foods for their whole-food equivalent is an easy way to get some more calories.

A few healthy but higher calorie snacks might be an idea - nuts, fruit, yoghurts for example.

Try not to get disheartened that you have slowed down, two weeks isn't really long enough to call it a plateau. Keep on doing the right things and you will get there.

lildee55 · February 2013

There are quite a few books out there partiicularly Michelle Bridges & Jillian Michaels which are about losing the last 5kg. This is a completely different approaching to losing the bulk of your weight. Check them out. In regards to plateaus most people tend to suggest that you might need to mix up your training to stress your body back into action and get it out of its comfort zone. Also they sometimes suggest altering your calories from day to day to keep your body on its toes e.g 1 day have 1400 calories and the next day have 1200, with the net of the week being in your healthy range. Check out Jillian Michaels show which has free podcasts through itunes as she talks about all of these things regularly and is great to keep you motivated. Look after yourself.

^this my friend ^ we can and will do this!

Need help: plateau for 2 weeks now

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