Upping/lowering Calories to break Plateau....Need Help!!!

MrsNgounda
MrsNgounda Posts: 49
edited January 23 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello All,


When trying to break a plateau, I heard that you should up your calories and/or increase the intensity of your workouts. Is it both or one or the other? Now....when upping the calories, what types of foods should you add to increase your caloric intake? Once you are successful in breaking the plateau, will you ever come to another plateau? If so, do you up the calories again or do you lower them?

Any tips on how to successfully break a plateau will be wonderful, weather it's the calories or the workout intensity. I'll take all advice and put it in my notes for future reference.

Replies

  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    It all depends on what you have been doing...care to share you calorie targets, height, weight, and age?

    I have been stuck for a while (several months) running back and forth about 5 pounds either way. I just decided to eat at maintenance for a month and am hoping it will work.
  • MrsNgounda
    MrsNgounda Posts: 49
    I'm 32yrs old and weigh 191 right now, my height is "5.0". But haven't hit a plateau yet, just wondering for the future. Not sure what you mean by calorie target.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    My plateaus have only lasted 2-3 weeks so far, and I didn't really change anything.. I guess I started eating a bit more for the first one, but didn't change a thing for the second one. Basically I plateau for a while then lose 6-10lbs in less than 2 weeks.

    Honestly if you're doing everything right, sticking to a 500 calorie deficit, measuring correctly, eating your accurate exercise calories back, you shouldn't hit a long plateau at all. From what I've seen most people who hit a plateau were eating too little or not measuring properly (or overestimating exercise calories or something).
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
    I'm 32yrs old and weigh 191 right now, my height is "5.0". But haven't hit a plateau yet, just wondering for the future. Not sure what you mean by calorie target.

    How many calories do you aim for each day? And, do you use MFP standards or have you calculated your BMR/TDEE?
  • kirstyfairhead
    kirstyfairhead Posts: 220 Member
    It really does depend on what you have been doing up to now but sometimes if you have been dieting for a long time it's a good idea just to give your body a break. Go to maintenance calories for 2 - 3 weeks and then go back to what was working for you before.

    This has helped me when I have got 'stuck' but bear in mind that it is not unusual to stay at a weight for a couple of weeks here and there. This is not necessarily a plateau and the weight is likely to start moving again fairly soon if you just persist with your plan.

    If your plateau is persistent then I would still advise that you take a 2-3 week break and then re-focus, look at all your stats and your diet plan again, re-calculate your TDEE at your current weight, take off the 20%, make sure you log accurately, look at mixing up your exercise routines, starting a new one, adding some strength training etc. It's almost like starting your diet all over again but from your new weight.

    Good Luck!!
  • Ed98043
    Ed98043 Posts: 1,333 Member
    I wouldn't call it a "plateau" but when I'm stuck going up, down, up, down at the same 2 lbs for a couple of weeks I eat something high in fat and the scale will finally drop the next morning. Last time it was two avocados (45 grams of fat). Other times it might be a pint of ice cream (52 grams of fat). Obviously I can't do that too often, but doing it once in a while seems to keep things moving.
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