HELP! I think I may have hit a Plateau

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carmieg3
carmieg3 Posts: 36
in Health and Weight Loss
So I began calorie counting December 3, 2012. When I began I was eating 1200 calories/ day, and only excersising 2 times a week doing Wii "Just Dance 4" for 25 mins a time. I began to loose weight immediately, so I kept doing what I was doing. I took one week off in January ( 20th-27th) as I was on vacation. But when I came back, I kept at it, 1200 cals a day, 20-25 mins dance type excersise 2-3 times a week. I lost steadily 2 lbs a week.

In February I decided to up my calories to 1420. My excersise stayed the same.
At the end of March I began to work out in the gym in my condo, using the elliptical, for 25 mins a session 2 times a week. Still my weight loss remained steady.

The past two weeks I am still eating 1420 calories, but upped excersise to 3 times a week, each session includes 20-25 mins elliptical, 10-15 mins stationary rower and some lifting as well!

I lost nothing last week so I was really expecting a drop today.. and nope, still the same.

I know plateau's are a normal part of this whole weight loss process, but it sucks!!!
Anyone have any suggestions of what I can do/ change to get this going again??? More excersise?? Less calories??

My diary is open, I know I dont eat super healthy foods all the time, but my diary is VERY accurate, I weigh, measure etc.. everthing I eat, I log any alcoholic beverages I drink, so I know there are no hidden calorie being consumed.

Replies

  • JessHealthKick
    JessHealthKick Posts: 800 Member
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    hey, I will look at your diary but my immediate reaction is - you aren't eating enough! I am set to 1400 but eat back all my exercise calories. Take a look at my diary today, it's probably my best day ever actually so is a great example :D don't let eating more discourage you. I bet on the days you exercise you're hungry, right?

    p.s. your diary isn't open actually :ohwell:
  • nivenjl
    nivenjl Posts: 5 Member
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    Don't despair. You may not have lost weight but rather gained muscle because you are increasing your exercise. According to my scales I have lost nothing in the past 6 weeks but my wardrobe begs to differ. I have gone from a size 18 (UK) to a 14 in those 6 weeks and that provides a much greater morale booster than the scales.
    Don't rely solely on your scales, get a tape measure and you will see a big difference.
  • DianeRD
    DianeRD Posts: 2
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    Confused about exercise on My Fitness Pal...I increased my calories according to the exercise done per MFP recommendation. Problem is I don't lose weight doing this! Are others increasing the cals or ignoring the recommendation to increase??
  • sexymuffintop
    sexymuffintop Posts: 636
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    Don't despair. You may not have lost weight but rather gained muscle because you are increasing your exercise. According to my scales I have lost nothing in the past 6 weeks but my wardrobe begs to differ. I have gone from a size 18 (UK) to a 14 in those 6 weeks and that provides a much greater morale booster than the scales.
    Don't rely solely on your scales, get a tape measure and you will see a big difference.

    Do you know what is actually involved in building new muscle? No....I thought not. OP it's nothing to do with building new muscle. You won't be doing that on a calorie deficit, without a good solid lifting programme and adequate protein intake. If you have started lifting recently it is most likely that your muscles are holding onto water, it's very common when you start lifting. Success is not always measured by a scale. In fact it should rarely be measured by a scale! It's a sucky indicator of progress. Measure, look in the mirror, take pictures. Just keep at it, but don't pay so much attention to the scale. I would look into eating slightly below your TDEE as well personally.
  • MysticRealm
    MysticRealm Posts: 1,264 Member
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    If 1420 is you base number you should be eating back at least some exercise cals.
  • Insanity2bSane
    Insanity2bSane Posts: 204 Member
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    hey, I will look at your diary but my immediate reaction is - you aren't eating enough! I am set to 1400 but eat back all my exercise calories. Take a look at my diary today, it's probably my best day ever actually so is a great example :D don't let eating more discourage you. I bet on the days you exercise you're hungry, right?

    p.s. your diary isn't open actually :ohwell:
    ^^^^This. You mentioned that you increased your exercise but your calories remained the same. I think you should increase your calories as well.
  • pbblacknsexy
    pbblacknsexy Posts: 19 Member
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    Do not worry yourself....Just start measuring yourself....the scale stand still sometimes but you can be losing a ton of inches....The number have not moved on the scale for me for 2 full months but my clothes and they way my body is shaping tells a big difference....When people see me they can tell the difference but the scale have not moved in 2 months....so keep up the exercising and monitoring your food intake you will get to your goal.....Do not fret you are not alone the scale stand still for some of us out here to.........
  • carmieg3
    carmieg3 Posts: 36
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    hey, I will look at your diary but my immediate reaction is - you aren't eating enough! I am set to 1400 but eat back all my exercise calories. Take a look at my diary today, it's probably my best day ever actually so is a great example :D don't let eating more discourage you. I bet on the days you exercise you're hungry, right?

    p.s. your diary isn't open actually :ohwell:

    Sorry, I thought it was open.. gonna open it now :P

    And YES, been getting much more hungry latley...
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I'd add 150 calories on the days you workout to start. Give it a couple weeks and you should start losing I think.
  • JessHealthKick
    JessHealthKick Posts: 800 Member
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    hey, I will look at your diary but my immediate reaction is - you aren't eating enough! I am set to 1400 but eat back all my exercise calories. Take a look at my diary today, it's probably my best day ever actually so is a great example :D don't let eating more discourage you. I bet on the days you exercise you're hungry, right?

    p.s. your diary isn't open actually :ohwell:
    ^^^^This. You mentioned that you increased your exercise but your calories remained the same. I think you should increase your calories as well.

    I eat about 2000 a day these days (I struggle to). I used to have net 1200 a day, upped by 200 a day to net 1400. I have hyporthyroid so can get away with eating a lot less haha

    EDIT: totally misread your comment - now I look like an *kitten*. My bad! YES OP needs to eat more!

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