Year long plateau and desperate

Girl_Bomb
Girl_Bomb Posts: 195
in Health and Weight Loss
I initially lost 30 lbs eating around 1200 calories and doing lots of cardio, (roughly 2 years ago) I never hit a plateau but i did my research and decided this wasn't a healthy route so upped my calories ever so slightly and got to around 40lbs lost so from fear of gaining my weight back (reading into EM2WL) & wanting to be healthy I did a Metabolic reset where I ate at my TDEE for about a month and added in weight training gaining about 10lbs back,it did not make my nervous as my measurements did not change, following this I ate at a 15% deficit and continued low cardio and heavy weights (no changes besides scale gains)..so lets take my journey a year down the road to approx two months ago. My measurements have not changed in the past year despite my arms getting an inch bigger so I read into paleo, I read wheat belly and having chronic stomach issues (and not liking rice or pasta) i decided it was something that would fit my lifestyle I also realized that despite weight training (including a personal trainer, HIIT, and kickboxing) I was not pushing myself far enough so I joined crossfit. I am two months into paleo and a month into crossfit and i love them both but yep you guessed it, not a single change, if anything I look bigger. I am so lost, it's been over a year, I'm staying motivated and not giving up but it gets really upsetting and I need some suggestions, especially when everyone I know around me is losing weight doing exactly what I did 2 years ago.

Initial starting weight: 196
Lowest weight: 149
Current weight: 161
Height:5'7
Body fat: no idea as one machine told me 22 then another 32 then another 28, I think my calipers said 24 but idn if I used them right.
Measurements: same for god noes how long

I have small hips, muscular legs, broad shoulders, a wide back and a belly full of fat.

Replies

  • vaneguz87
    vaneguz87 Posts: 74 Member
    I know how you feel. Before anything don't forget how far you've come, and how much you've improved. Second, I went through a similar situation and what I had to do was to change my diet. I don't have any cheat meals, or alcohol and if I do I noticed there's no progress. Other thing I did was to reduce significantly my carb intake. Right now my protein is 50% , carbs 25% and fats 25%. You can check out my diary to see what I eat daily. I also noticed that when I add a little bit of cardio (I do weights 4 days a week) body fat drops (a little) faster. By the way I keep track of my muscle mass and it has NOT decreased. But this is what works for me. But really what I noticed the most is that if I stick to my plan and have close to non cheats I do really good.
  • syntaxxor
    syntaxxor Posts: 86
    A response you won't like, but clearly something you're doing, isn't right. It's not working for you.

    Throw everything out the window; start doing fresh research, look for fresh diet ideas, maybe jump on one of the keto/paleo or another type of diet for awhile and see what happens.

    A year long plateau, isn't a plateau; something is just plain wrong. (Or, something is right and you're now properly maintaining)
  • Girl_Bomb
    Girl_Bomb Posts: 195
    Lol you gotta read what I wrote, I did just do a complete redo, two months into paleo & crossfit
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
    A response you won't like, but clearly something you're doing, isn't right. It's not working for you.

    Throw everything out the window; start doing fresh research, look for fresh diet ideas, maybe jump on one of the keto/paleo or another type of diet for awhile and see what happens.

    A year long plateau, isn't a plateau; something is just plain wrong. (Or, something is right and you're now properly maintaining)

    I agree.. there's no point in posting for advice if you are not willing to accept it.

    When I see 1200 cals, I immediately think something is wrong.. you didn't include what you eat TODAY, what your TDEE estimate is.. and I'm close to your current weight.. I eat almost 2000 cals per day and do similar exercises to you. You're not eating enough, that's your problem.
  • Girl_Bomb
    Girl_Bomb Posts: 195
    TDEE is about 2100 which is what I was eating during the reset and then I ate at about 1800-1900 for 5-6 months, then went down to 1700, I now eat between 1500-1700 (some days more or less depending on my workouts) says my BMR is just over 1500 and a 15 deficit is about 1780. I eat paleo so I'm more focused on macros, high fat, low carb. I don't eat wheat or anything processed.

    And Dixiewhiskey, I am willing to except it but he told me to look into paleo etc which I'm already doing, I already no something is wrong
  • dixiewhiskey
    dixiewhiskey Posts: 3,333 Member
    TDEE is about 2100 which is what I was eating during the reset and then I ate at about 1800-1900 for 5-6 months, then went down to 1700, I now eat between 1500-1700 (some days more or less depending on my workouts) says my BMR is just over 1500 and a 15 deficit is about 1780. I eat paleo so I'm more focused on macros, high fat, low carb. I don't eat wheat or anything processed.

    And Dixiewhiskey, I am willing to except it but he told me to look into paleo etc which I'm already doing, I already no something is wrong

    Sorry but your initial response to him came off as cocky at first glance, especially since you are asking for advice.

    Anyway, I suspect that your TDEE is higher than you think or have concluded.. are you netting 1500-1700 or are you just eating 1500-1700? If you are not netting 1500-1700, that's your issue. At 161, you should not be experiencing a stall, let alone a "year long plateau".

    Like I was saying earlier.. I'm about 5 lbs away from you, I net the amounts you posted, eating atleast 2000 per day.
  • Girl_Bomb
    Girl_Bomb Posts: 195
    Bump
  • 88meli88
    88meli88 Posts: 238 Member
    here, i bump it for you. it would be nice to hear other thoughts....and people, play nice or just shut up
  • TubbsMcGee
    TubbsMcGee Posts: 1,058 Member
    I definitely think you're miscalculating your TDEE.

    We're the same age and height, I work a desk job and don't work out as much as I'd like.
    Guess what my TDEE is?
    The same as yours.

    AND YOU CROSSFIT.

    Eat more.

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