Plateau!! HELP!!

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sshervanian
sshervanian Posts: 6 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I need some drastic help!!! I've been at this plateau for quite sometime. I lose 1 pound and then gain 2+ or lose 2 pounds and gain 1+. Very frustrating. I have been exercising in the morning before I go to work for between 30 and 40 minutes per day 5 days a week. I work out from home as going to the gym is a bit expensive for me. Suggestions as to what else I can do would be greatly appreciated!

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  • foot56
    foot56 Posts: 44
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    What is your workout? Please be detailed as possible.
  • collingmommy
    collingmommy Posts: 456 Member
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    how many calories are you taking in?
  • ncmedic201
    ncmedic201 Posts: 540 Member
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    Try changing up your exercise routine or bump up your calories a little.
  • wallaceansari
    wallaceansari Posts: 12 Member
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    Agree with Foot56, what is your workout like? Your body may be used to the workout and you may need to increase what you are doing. Also, what are your meals like? Not many people know it but 3500 calories is equal to a pound of weight.
  • sshervanian
    sshervanian Posts: 6 Member
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    1200+ calories. It all depends on how many calories I burn from my work out. Pretty much I am doing mostly cardio using an elliptical type machine. I also do abdominal crunches and reversed crunches.
  • sshervanian
    sshervanian Posts: 6 Member
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    I was consuming 1500 calories and then I decided to reduce it a bit. The thing is I am getting full so sometimes I am not consuming all of my calories and I know that's wrong, but what am I supposed to do? I am full! lol :)
  • foot56
    foot56 Posts: 44
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    1200+ calories. It all depends on how many calories I burn from my work out. Pretty much I am doing mostly cardio using an elliptical type machine. I also do abdominal crunches and reversed crunches.

    If you are doing the same workouts, you need to mix it up. One, start by working out a different time, or day. Two, the type of exercises you’re doing. Also, make you sure you log ever, and have a lot of water intake. If you are eating a lot of salt, or eating more calories you are counting, you will stay at the same weight.
  • foot56
    foot56 Posts: 44
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    I was consuming 1500 calories and then I decided to reduce it a bit. The thing is I am getting full so sometimes I am not consuming all of my calories and I know that's wrong, but what am I supposed to do? I am full! lol :)

    The thing is you don’t want to send your body or metabolism into “starvation” mode. I know this sounds crazy but I would eat more.
  • sshervanian
    sshervanian Posts: 6 Member
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    I am consuming a lot of water through out the day. Probably about 10 cups a day... Should I consume a protein shake? What are some good workouts I can do at home? Is there a particular program on youtube or hulu that any one recommends. I think I will change my work out times as well... Oh, and should I eat something before I work out in the morning? Will that make a difference, because I usually don't eat something till 3-4 hours after I work out, but I do consume water...
  • morgan_pope
    morgan_pope Posts: 30 Member
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    I agree. Try fiddling with your calories a bit. You don't want to go too low and, depending on your workout, you may actually need to increase your calories to avoid starvation-mode. With me, 100 calories made the difference between plateauing and suddenly losing weight again. I generally shoot to eat around 1500 calories a day - my MFP target is 1200, plus I earn roughly 300-400 calories in the gym. When I was a bit heavier, I was eating 1600 calories/day (same MFP target and exercise) and losing weight at a steady pace....and then suddenly stopped. Gained/lost the same couple of pounds for a few weeks and then tried knocking off 100 calories. Voila! Starting moving along again.

    Mixing up your exercise route could definitely help too. From what I've read, "muscle memory" can effect our workouts because our body remembers certain exercise/movements and become more efficient at doing them (i.e, we don't burn as many calories). Changing your route to "confuse" your body could help.

    I would do one or the other to start, so that you can tell what works or not.

    Just a thought, I am not sure how frequently you eat (3 meal, or 5-6 smaller meals), but you might try to spread your meals out more throughout the day (if you aren't already). Again, from what I've read, this is supposed to help speed your metabolism. Also, eating smaller meals, I never feel hungry per se, but I also never feel over-full....or full really - just satisfied and no longer "hungry".

    Hope this helps!!! :smile:
  • luckydays27
    luckydays27 Posts: 552 Member
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    open your food diary so we can see what you are eating. They say that 75% of dieting is your food so lets see the food.

    My gut says that you are not eating enough. Determine what you TDEE is and eat 20% less than that and you should be able to lose.
  • sshervanian
    sshervanian Posts: 6 Member
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    I've opened up my food diary so you can see what I am eating... I did see that you can add "snacks" in between breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I may try to do that as well! Thank you! :happy:

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