Breaking the Plateau Blues

Meshellee · May 2013

I am in my early 30's and have been stuck in a plateau. I lost 30 lbs 3 years ago and kept it off by portion control only. Last summer I lost 5 more lbs, but over the holidays I gained 10! About Feb I started Biking and managed to lose about 5 of iit, however I still feel my hips and thighs are carrying more weight than they used to. I decided to ramp it up and actually start exercising. I started crossfit with a 1200 calorie diet 8 weeks ago and have seen zero results. According to the scale I have lost zero pounds, and according to my measurements I've lost zero inches. Everyone else in the class has lost 6-15 lbs. talk about a motivation killer.
I eat very healthy, do crossfit twice a week, and cardio on the other days with one day off. It's very frustrating not seeing progress, especially since I am so close to my goal. Any suggestions?

vorgas · May 2013

Well your diary isn't open, so take this as you will:

If you are only eating 1200 calories and you are doing that exercise, you are starving yourself. Your metabolism is shutting down.

Try gradually increasing your calorie intake every week until you are at a more sane number. During the first two weeks expect to gain weight. It WILL happen. Expect it. Accept it. Your metabolism is gone and will take time to adjust. Give the effin scale to a friend of yours and tell 'em to hold on to it for a month.

You need fuel to change your body. If you starve a fire it dies down and smolders. If you give it lots of fuel it ignites and burns like mad. Your body is the same.

jljshoe1979 · May 2013

Well your diary isn't open, so take this as you will:

If you are only eating 1200 calories and you are doing that exercise, you are starving yourself. Your metabolism is shutting down.

Try gradually increasing your calorie intake every week until you are at a more sane number. During the first two weeks expect to gain weight. It WILL happen. Expect it. Accept it. Your metabolism is gone and will take time to adjust. Give the effin scale to a friend of yours and tell 'em to hold on to it for a month.

You need fuel to change your body. If you starve a fire it dies down and smolders. If you give it lots of fuel it ignites and burns like mad. Your body is the same.

^^This

jzammetti · May 2013

Well your diary isn't open, so take this as you will:

If you are only eating 1200 calories and you are doing that exercise, you are starving yourself. Your metabolism is shutting down.

Try gradually increasing your calorie intake every week until you are at a more sane number. During the first two weeks expect to gain weight. It WILL happen. Expect it. Accept it. Your metabolism is gone and will take time to adjust. Give the effin scale to a friend of yours and tell 'em to hold on to it for a month.

You need fuel to change your body. If you starve a fire it dies down and smolders. If you give it lots of fuel it ignites and burns like mad. Your body is the same.

^^This

Yup. :flowerforyou:

Meshellee · May 2013

Sorry, I didn't realize my diary was closed.

Thank you for the advice. I had read that I wasn't supposed to replace those calories, then I read I was. It's so dang confusing. I just want to be able to eat healthy, have an active lifestyle and be at my goal weight. I will give a higher calorie goal a try and see where it takes me, hopefully forward and not backwards.

pcastagner · May 2013

Any symptoms other than not losing? Starvation mode would not be something you don't notice otherwise.

I doubt you are are actually eating so little yet maintaining weight all while doing CrossFit. How do you measure food?

denise032 · May 2013

Has your caloric intake been the same? Is your workout intensity the same as it was when you started and are you doing the same workout? If you answered yes to all those, change your workout routine and/or intensity. You're body has most likely adapted causing the #s on the scale to stall. You might also want to up your caloric intake (1700-2000 calories) for a few days and then go back down to what you were eating. Also, don't eat your exercise calories back, but don't eat less than 1200 total calories a day. You should start seeing a decline w/in a few weeks.

clareyoung80 · May 2013

The only way I broke my plateau was upping my calories to around 20% below my TDEE - there's a thread somewhere that explains it but I can't seem to find it (anyone help me out?)

I also tried zig zag'ing my calories (having a TDEE -20% goal for the week, then on some days eating more and then a few days of eating less. But always so that my total calories for the week hit my TDEE -20% goal)

Doing that, plus changing up my exercise routine to be more intensive, got me out of a 3-4 month plateau!

jacksonpt · May 2013

My bet is that you aren't really eating 1200 cals. Either you aren't tracking everything honestly, or your portion/estimates are off.

xstarxdustx · May 2013

bump.

Meshellee · May 2013

I actually do get 1200 calories. I measure my food as a dietician showed me, I prepare my food myself so I know what I am eating and how much. I also do track honestly, I wouldn't be doing myself any favors if I don't.
I am upping my calories for a bit, replacing my exercise calories until I hit 1500, but not totally replacing my exercise calories. Hopefully that will help. Today I feel as though I have more energy than usual, so that is a plus. My trainer told me to stop looking at the scale because Iam building muscle as I am burning fat. We did a BMI check today and there is significant change to support her scolding.

Thank you everyone for the comments.

Breaking the Plateau Blues

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