Plateau since November

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cinfaro
cinfaro Posts: 131 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So as some of you know since November I have pretty much been at a plateau. My weight fluctuates a few pounds up and down but for the most part i have maintained the same weight. I am stressed to the max because I thought that by the summer I would be at my goal weight but since the scale has not moved since November that makes it near impossible!!!! I have tried almost every plateau breaker out there! I started running and changed my exercise and intensity and have tried so many other things....BUT ONE! everyone recommends I increase my calories that I am eating. I workout on average 5-6 times a week. I as a rule never exceed 1280 for calories unless there is a special event or a cheat day. Almost everyone I speak to thinks that eating more will break this HORRIBLE plateau but i AM SCARED TO DEATH TO INCREASE!!!! I worked so hard to get here and do not want to go backwards! Any words of wisdom or support to push me to this would be very helpful! hahaha!
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Replies

  • deevatude
    deevatude Posts: 322 Member
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    u need to eat more than 1280. just increase ur calories for a week, im sure u will probably see up to a 4 pound loss
  • feelinhappymomma
    feelinhappymomma Posts: 4 Member
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    I'm so thrilled to see I'm not alone!!! I'm down -86 and have a goal to lose 100 and have been in the same five lb weight bracket since the first of november!!!! Will NOT go below 164 no matter what I do!!! 5'3 and started at 250+. I'm frustrated as well. Anxious to see what suggestions you're given because I need advice as well!!!! :)
  • cinfaro
    cinfaro Posts: 131 Member
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    So I have to say...I have increased my calories this week and my scale has moved!!!! I can't believe it!!!! eat more and loose?! Everything I have known about weight loss for the last year just went out the window! hahaha I also ate a few foods I would NEVER eat because I was in a situation where I had to and the next day I still lost!!!! WOW that is all I have to say! I am so confused!!! hahaha
  • cinfaro
    cinfaro Posts: 131 Member
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    I'm so thrilled to see I'm not alone!!! I'm down -86 and have a goal to lose 100 and have been in the same five lb weight bracket since the first of november!!!! Will NOT go below 164 no matter what I do!!! 5'3 and started at 250+. I'm frustrated as well. Anxious to see what suggestions you're given because I need advice as well!!!! :)

    Sounds like we are pretty much the exact same! I started 248 and my current weight is 166.6 and i could not get below that. My goal is 145. I have gone from a size 18 to a size 8 (sometimes 10) depending on the company. But over the winter I bought a size 6 dress! WHAT! just craaaaaazyyyyyyy My goal is to be a solid 6 and then I am done. Oh and to wear a bikini with no flabber hahahaha
  • ajfc1971
    ajfc1971 Posts: 258 Member
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    I'm so thrilled to see I'm not alone!!! I'm down -86 and have a goal to lose 100 and have been in the same five lb weight bracket since the first of november!!!! Will NOT go below 164 no matter what I do!!! 5'3 and started at 250+. I'm frustrated as well. Anxious to see what suggestions you're given because I need advice as well!!!! :)

    Same here girls.... I have dropped my exercise for 3 wks and roughly stuck to 1500 the weight has stayed the same but as from today I have started with the exercise again and back to 1200 plus my exercise cals back and see what happens with that....
    Just sticking with it and waiting to see what happens.
    Good luck you guys
  • cinfaro
    cinfaro Posts: 131 Member
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    I have tried cutting my exercise down a bit and changing what I have been doing. I was a hardcore Jillian Michaels video girl and lately I have started running and doing a coach to 5K program. That might have helped too. It is so confusing. I thought I mastered my body but I guess I was wrong hahaha good luck to you too!!!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    So I have to say...I have increased my calories this week and my scale has moved!!!! I can't believe it!!!! eat more and loose?! Everything I have known about weight loss for the last year just went out the window! hahaha I also ate a few foods I would NEVER eat because I was in a situation where I had to and the next day I still lost!!!! WOW that is all I have to say! I am so confused!!! hahaha

    shocker....
  • nannybubbles
    nannybubbles Posts: 55
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    I'm so thrilled to see I'm not alone!!! I'm down -86 and have a goal to lose 100 and have been in the same five lb weight bracket since the first of november!!!! Will NOT go below 164 no matter what I do!!! 5'3 and started at 250+. I'm frustrated as well. Anxious to see what suggestions you're given because I need advice as well!!!! :)

    Same here girls.... I have dropped my exercise for 3 wks and roughly stuck to 1500 the weight has stayed the same but as from today I have started with the exercise again and back to 1200 plus my exercise cals back and see what happens with that....
    Just sticking with it and waiting to see what happens.
    Good luck you guys

    i just posted this to answer some one else, but it ties in with what u are all saying... i started at 314 and at only 5' 3" i looked like a bowling ball... now i'm 205, looking like a slightly smaller bowling ball! ) with ONEderland my next goal... but being stuck, tired and a little frustrated, this is how it started again....

    hi.. so sorry to hear you're not feeling your best... i am no expert, but i am very old!! so i have been there .. done that and got so many T shirts you wouldn't believe and i am happy to tell you how i feel about it.... i do agree with previous comments too about low calories not always doing the trick...

    i found just before i went away on holiday that i felt as if i was running out of steam ... one evening, at 7.15 i just HAD to go and lie on my bed and close my eyes for an hour ... and when i woke up it was 8.50... the next morning... not like me at all... the weight didn't seem to be doing much either... i went and bought some multi vitamins but forgot to take them...ooops

    i was very lucky to be able to go away, but my hol was anything but quiet... i allowed myself a break.... i didn't do my daily walk , even though i had intended to, but texas is a big place compared to the isle of wight, where i live and i have absolutely no sense of direction... i ate when i was hungry and drank when i was dry ... i ate out... anything i wanted but found i didn't WANT to stuff myself as I used to ... a friend made me my first ever marguerita ... and my second and.... I drank rounds of shots!!! and totally misbehaved and i forgot the scales for just over two weeks... when i returned i had put on ( i think it was) 4lbs? and i didn't give a hoot..... i set myself the tuesday after easter to get back on track

    i started again 9 or 10 days ago, with a renewed vigour, lost the 4lbs and another 2 as well... which i barely believe myself but i checked and double checked...

    i'm not trying to brag, just that i am a believer in listening to your body and what it is telling you it needs…. I may be told off for this, but it is said with sincerity…. I would “bank” 15 of the 20lbs you have lost…. Don’t let the scales or calories rule your life for a week? Two weeks?... set an exact date to resume… accept that your weight loss is 15lbs (you may be pleasantly surprised) face the scales if you want to… if not just start really healthy eating again ... i think you could do with more that 1200,… and relax …. The equation works, but sometimes, in my opinion, science needs a little TLC… hope you discover a way that suits you…. End of lecture, sorry!!
  • JessHealthKick
    JessHealthKick Posts: 800 Member
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    eat back your exercise calories woman! I did the same as you and I never lost, only when I ate more did I lose.

    YOU MUST EAT MORE! SO SUCK IT UP AND DO IT!

    If you work out 500 cals and eat 1200, you are giving your body 700 for everything else. Breathing, cooking, ****ting, sleeping... repairing your body... pumping your heart. That isn't enough. So your insulin levels go out of wack and your body holds on to all it can out of fear of starving. If you were eating say 900 cals and exercising then yes, you would be starving your body. And you would destroy your functional organs in the process...

    SO EAT
  • brit_ks_89
    brit_ks_89 Posts: 433 Member
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    PLEASE EAT YOUR CALORIES BACK , PLEASE - DO YOUR BODY A FAVOR AND CHANGE YOUR RULES!
  • gatorginger
    gatorginger Posts: 947 Member
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    What I did was increase my calories only by a 100 more a day and I would stay at that level for at least 2 weeks and every time I increased I would lose until I got to what is now my maintenance level. So give it a shot take baby steps you don't have to increase big try just increasing a 100 more a day and see how it works for you
  • terem00
    terem00 Posts: 176 Member
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    I was stuck at a plateau for 2.5 months so I upped my calories by 250 and increased the intensity of my workouts.
    I weighed myself at the beginning of March and then on the 3rd week of March I was down 5lbs and the weight is still coming off.
    I have also lost a total of 5 inches (mostly in the hips and rear) and I am finally a size Small for shirts :)
    It has taken over 3 months to lose 8lbs and it has been frustrating at times but now I only have 15 more to go.
  • yksdoris
    yksdoris Posts: 327 Member
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    PLEASE EAT YOUR CALORIES BACK , PLEASE - DO YOUR BODY A FAVOR AND CHANGE YOUR RULES!

    RELAX!!!!1!!!11

    to the OP: I'm glad you've broken your plateau! You say you tried everything - did you try magnificantly increasing calories for a week, then going back to "normal"? I'm talking a real eat-fest of 3500 to 5000 kcal net per day compared to your current 1280. This could be an option in case you're worried about a permanent change in your routine; a permanent massive increase in calories. Though I suggest you have a long think about how you'll manage maintenance, because when you're no longer trying ot lose the weight you'll have to increase your calories to be healthy. it's a demon as hard to fight - if not harder - than the demon of excess weight.

    How about changing all of your cardio to weights? Because both of those got my sputtering progress going again (um. in 2 separate cases, though mine wasn't really a plateau, it just slowed down to a crawl)
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    Research cortisol-induced plateaus. You have put your body under too much stress and it is responding by working more effeciently. You have to shake this feeling that increasing your calories is going to cause you to gain because that stress alone will keep you from breaking through your plateau. My advice, take a break. Eat what you want for week. Allow yourself to gain. Enjoy your food and do not stress. Then start eating at 80% of your TDEE and if you don't already, lift weights.
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
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    I'm just going to drop this link here - there's some good information.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/952996-level-obstacles-lose-weight-target-fat-easy

    But yeah, sometimes your body wants to hold on to whatever it's got if you're not eating enough to fuel your workouts.
  • tomcornhole
    tomcornhole Posts: 1,084 Member
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    What I did was increase my calories only by a 100 more a day and I would stay at that level for at least 2 weeks and every time I increased I would lose until I got to what is now my maintenance level. So give it a shot take baby steps you don't have to increase big try just increasing a 100 more a day and see how it works for you

    ^^this

    I was stuck at 50 lbs lost for over 6 months. Increased my daily intake by 200 calories. Nothing change for a month weight wise. Now I can't stop losing weight. Down 13 lbs in 10 weeks and the better part: it was all fat so my BF% dropped over 5% and my lean body mass stayed the same. I am now a firm believer in eating more to bust a stall.
  • palmerar
    palmerar Posts: 489 Member
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    Look into TDEE - 20%, the scale was not moving for me I started using TDEE-20% and logging every single day and I have lost 8 lbs in as many weeks. I weigh in once a month so I am hoping for another 3-4 lbs in April...the most important thing you can do is not stress about it, if you are truly giving it your best effort and doing so in a healthy way and listening to your body the weight will come off. Patience truly is a virtue but I can totally understand the frustration of plateauing since November.
  • cinfaro
    cinfaro Posts: 131 Member
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    Thank you everyone for the pep talk and advice! It gets tricky in the end hahaa
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    If it makes you feel better, every women I know that is exercising 5-6 days a week is losing at 1700-2100 calories. Maybe I missed your stats,but if you post them we can look at how many calories you should be eating. Also, look into a program that does weight training. WT will provide greater results over cardio. And yes, most of JM programs are all cardio based.
  • hupsii
    hupsii Posts: 258 Member
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    Well, I am glad you guys have figured out your body... I am 51 and still have not. I was always chubby and when I was younger and dumber ;-) I have tried out any possible diet there is. I usually lost some weight but always gained it back with a bit of interest.... I have discovered this site in November and started exercising and calorie counting but here we are in April and I have still not lost any weight (actually 4 lbs only) and only about 1 inch... so my fitness has increased a lot but at 208 pounds and at 5.8 I should drop at least 20 pounds to be in the healthy range. I guess my body is like a very economical car and runs on very little fuel because someone told me since I did not lose anything, I ate at maintenance. What do you think ?

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