Plateau....HELP!

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I hit a plateau and have been there for about 2-3 weeks. Any suggestions moving past it?

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  • tommygirl15
    tommygirl15 Posts: 1,012 Member
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    I could be wrong but I think you are either suppose to lower your daily calories a bit or exercise more/harder (or both). I'm dreading the 'plateau', I know it will hit me sooner or later.
  • kimberly428
    kimberly428 Posts: 237
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    Zig zagging your calories? That seems to be the suggestion I see around here.
  • DeeJayTJ
    DeeJayTJ Posts: 355 Member
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    i wish i had advice, i lost 30 lbs before i hit my plateau, i am now stuck at 175 and been at this weight for a month!!!!

    i have recently increased my calorie intake by 200 more calories and continue my daily cardio and weight training exercises.

    even though i am not losing weight, i have lost inches. do you take measurements and check to see if maybe your losing inches?
  • ruggie
    ruggie Posts: 26
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    Sometimes after we have been "dieting" we get comfortable with what we have learned to do differently. Sometimes a plateau can simply be ourselves becoming a little "lax" in following our plan. I am not suggesting that this is your situation-just one worth thinking about as you go through this journey and hit another plateau. I have lost 80 pounds and usually when I hit a plateau I reevaluate what I am doing. Sometimes I get "portion distortion" I think I know what a cup looks like-so I stop measuring. I take a small bite of something-and not write it down. These little things can add up to lots of calories. The trick is to try not and let the plateau derail you. Just keep doing what you know is right and the scale will move again. If you give in to the frustrations of a plateau the scale will begin to move again as well..... just not in the direction that you want! :) Good luck and stay strong! You can do this!
  • Holton
    Holton Posts: 1,018
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    Sometimes after we have been "dieting" we get comfortable with what we have learned to do differently. Sometimes a plateau can simply be ourselves becoming a little "lax" in following our plan. I am not suggesting that this is your situation-just one worth thinking about as you go through this journey and hit another plateau. I have lost 80 pounds and usually when I hit a plateau I reevaluate what I am doing. Sometimes I get "portion distortion" I think I know what a cup looks like-so I stop measuring. I take a small bite of something-and not write it down. These little things can add up to lots of calories. The trick is to try not and let the plateau derail you. Just keep doing what you know is right and the scale will move again. If you give in to the frustrations of a plateau the scale will begin to move again as well..... just not in the direction that you want! :) Good luck and stay strong! You can do this!

    I so needed to read this this morning!!! Being in maintenance phase, the ounces can start creeping back on because of becoming a little more lax in portions and logging, and I know that I could be headed that way! I need to continue to measure and log faithfully, and not justify that "one bite" or "extra scoop" of anything!
  • sheyna1983
    sheyna1983 Posts: 137
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    Are you following any sort of diet plan? I lost about 30 pounds just being reasonably healthy and exercising once in awhile (over the span of about 3 years) - then I hit a plateau....then gained 14 pounds back over another year so I started this Paleo diet and have lost 8 in the past 7 days. It's pretty restrictive but maybe you just need a super high protein, restrictive diet like this for a couple weeks to get your metabolism going?? Just a thought....
  • kwardklinck
    kwardklinck Posts: 1,601
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    Change up your food and your exercise for a couple of weeks. When I got within 5 pounds of my original goal I stalled. So, I changed my settings from losing 1 pound a week to losing 1/2 a pound a week. It gave me about 150 extra calories per day and I started losing again at a rate of 1 pound a week. I also went from doing aerobics 3 times a week to walking/running (couch to 5 k) 3 times a week. We have to switch it up every now and then to keep our body guessing.
  • peck113
    peck113 Posts: 19
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    I took a few mins to look over you food and exercise diaries. My opinion from what I saw is that 1 thing for sure you need to do is more weight training. Unless the circuit training you are listing is weight training, I'm not seeing much and if it is there still not a lot. Remember the more lean muscle you put on the more calories you burn each day. For each 1lb of mucsle that 50 more calories at rest that you burn.

    In your food diary there was 2 things that noticed was missing, one is whole grains and the other is your MUFAS (monounsaturated fatty acids). Both are proven to help you lose weight. Other than the whole grains that are in the breads you are eating I'm not seeing any. Girl you need to start eating some true whole grains, such as Oat Meal (old fashion or steel cut, none of that fast cooking stuff), brown or wild rice and barley.. The list goes on but those are the staples in my diet.

    As far as the Mufas, well I know most people just looks at the high calories for them as just decides that there not worth it but that is far from the truth. It's proven that mufas will help you lose weight and help shed belly fat. Try adding some nuts, all natural peanut butter or almond butter (which is my favorite), avacados, olives, seeds, wild salmon and of course use olive oil when cooking as much as possible. I'm sure there's more but that's just a few.

    I hope these few tips help. Keep up the good work.
  • klmix08
    klmix08 Posts: 14
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    Thanks everyone for the input. I'm going to try switching up my workouts. I do include weight training but I don't think it is enough. As for mufa's, I have some almonds and walnuts in my cupboard that I will incorporate, also I use a flaxseed oil supplement but it's not included in my diary. I'm going to inlcude more whole grains as well, in fact I brought some granola with me to work :smile: I have Kashi cereal and whole grain bread, but will also eat the oatmeal that I have in my cupboard.