Plateau

lovemitch125
lovemitch125 Posts: 257 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So, I've hit plateaus before this, but now it's getting quite frustrating.

I am 5'2 and started at 170 lbs. I am currently fluctuating between 143 and 140 for the past 2 weeks or so. Every once in a while I will cheat (usually with alcohol) but this should not affect me for weeks at a time. I net around 1200-1300 calories a day and exercise a couple times a week. Mostly cardio. The first 15 lbs fell off like nothing, the next 15 lbs were hard but doable (plateaued about 3 times, but nothing that lasted long) and now I am at my last 15 lbs and I just can't get past this 3-4 lb fluctuation. Breakfast either consists of 3 egg substitutes, a cup of broccoli and a slice of whole wheat bread with butter or a bowl of cereal with a little bit of skim milk and a banana with a granola bar. Lunch is usually either a big salad and a roll, tuna with no mayo and wheat thins, a salad and half of a sandwich or a meal replacement protein shake and herbal tea. Dinner varies, but I try not to have too much then because it's later at night. Then at night I usually snack on a 100 calorie popcorn bag, a skinny cow ice cream or a serving of goldfish. I have no been doing anything different except maybe upping my exercise a bit.

I did recently try and up my calories to 1450 from 1200 to see if I could break the plateau, but I haven't seen a difference.

MY DIARY IS OPEN! Any criticism, opinions or suggestions are welcome! THANK YOU! :)

Replies

  • mink63
    mink63 Posts: 35
    Have you tried clean eating? Preservatives mess with my blood sugars and tend to make me gain weight. Also cutting out unnatural sugar and all white flour has really helped me. You eat a lot of cereal and granola bars and those tend to stall my weight loss when I consume those types of foods.
  • cpk44
    cpk44 Posts: 33 Member
    The last couple of pounds are the hardest. Now that you've lost so much, it's going to be harder to get off more than it was at the beginning. Keep working at it and eventually you will see improvement.
  • blott1987
    blott1987 Posts: 21 Member
    I've lost about the same amount of weight as you have. I've been at a plateau for three weeks now and its really upsetting. Last time I was at a plateau I drank tons and tons of water and it got me past it. I think I will try that again. I think my pounds fall off in chunks. I don't lose pounds every week. Just keep at it. Try to wait a while before weighing again. That is my problem.
  • a_hood89
    a_hood89 Posts: 8 Member
    We have lost almost the same amount of weight and are similar in height... I am actually currently going through something similar. I've looked it up and a lot of people just seem to say that you should up your intake, which you did, and kind of "calorie cycle" to shake up your metabolism a little bit.

    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm#

    This site has a good tool for calculating a calorie cycle. You'd be taking in the same amount of weekly calories, but it would be in the form of 1200 one day, 1450 the next, 1100 the next, so on. You might need to try doing this for a little longer than one day to see any results. :/ I know it's hard when you're dedicated to purposefully eat more calories, but when your body gets used to running on so little I think it becomes a necessary evil. I was in a pretty bad plateau for a while (when I started I was easily losing 1.5 - 2 lbs a week.) Now it's very gradual, like .5 lbs a week if I'm lucky. Although I should count my blessings because at least it's something :p

    Anyway, good luck and keep us updated
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,963 Member
    I plateaued for 3 months. My first 12 kg (26 lbs) melted away in my first 3 months of MFP. Then it took me another 3 months to lose 3 kg.

    Finally broke it by taking a full diet break for 3 weeks, I think. Ate at just under TDEE. Set MFP goals to half a pound a week and also ate back most of my exercise calories. Tried not to eat them all back because I don't wear a HRM and don't entirely trust the burn rates the cardio machines at the gym give. Didn't gain weight during the diet break.

    It's early days yet, but the scale did move after I restricted back to around 1350 again. I think that restricting calories for so long (getting onto 7 months now) had slowed down my metabolism. Hoping the diet break has re-set it back to normal. It's early days yet but happy that the scale last week.

    Next time I plateau I won't be so reluctant to try a diet break. If I am not losing at 1350+exercise, I might as well eat 1900+exercise and not lose.
  • lovemitch125
    lovemitch125 Posts: 257 Member
    We have lost almost the same amount of weight and are similar in height... I am actually currently going through something similar. I've looked it up and a lot of people just seem to say that you should up your intake, which you did, and kind of "calorie cycle" to shake up your metabolism a little bit.

    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm#

    This site has a good tool for calculating a calorie cycle. You'd be taking in the same amount of weekly calories, but it would be in the form of 1200 one day, 1450 the next, 1100 the next, so on. You might need to try doing this for a little longer than one day to see any results. :/ I know it's hard when you're dedicated to purposefully eat more calories, but when your body gets used to running on so little I think it becomes a necessary evil. I was in a pretty bad plateau for a while (when I started I was easily losing 1.5 - 2 lbs a week.) Now it's very gradual, like .5 lbs a week if I'm lucky. Although I should count my blessings because at least it's something :p

    Anyway, good luck and keep us updated

    Thanks, I have been trying to do something like this, a bit unstructured. It worked before, but it's a lot harder now. Maybe the website will help :)
  • seena511
    seena511 Posts: 685 Member
    you probably should eat a little more. as you have less weight to lose, you shouldn't be aiming for more than 1/2 - 1 lb a week.

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