Another "help, I've hit a plateau" thread...

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Okapi42
Okapi42 Posts: 495 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
When I started here, I was losing weight steadily, but it's slowed now, and I've not lost anything for a good six weeks. Nothing at all - my last registered loss was a temporary fluke.

I've been reading similar things here and it seems the usual advice is "eat more", but I'm not sure that would help here... I tried going over my goals slightly for a week, rather than trying to stay at a hard limit of about 1800 total calories, and that didn't help at all.

I currently have MFP set to "sedentary" and losing 1/2lb/week, and it's giving me 1490 net cals. I'm very active and burn an average of over 4,500 cals/week, so that would have me eating over 2100/day! The Road Map thingie gives similar results.

I'm reluctant to trust that, though, because it seems counterintuitive. Since I do a lot of exercise, that means there's also a huge margin for error in the calories burned estimate.

I have no interest in buying a HRM, and I never exercise in a gym. Most outdoor activities are logged using MapMyRun's stats - hiking, biking, and horse riding - and I use a pedometer for walking/cycle computer for biking. I also do Historic European Martial Arts twice a week, so I conservatively estimate the time spent actually doing stuff (rather than standing around, watching) and use a similar martial art from the database for the burn.

I'm not going properly low-carb, but since my blood sugar can be wonky, I try to stay under the MFP limit there (aiming for 200g or less per day), and often go over on fat instead.

At the moment, I'm about 5 lbs / 2.5 kg overweight according to the BMI charts, and trying to lose another 10-15 lbs / 5-7 kg and then re-evaluate.

Any ideas?

Replies

  • kganc001
    kganc001 Posts: 317
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    Not to sound like a jerk, but just suck it up and buy a cheap HRM. And weigh your food. You're most likely overestimating calories burned and underestimating calories eaten. MFP always DRASTICALLY overestimates my calorie burns compared to my HRM. I stopped losing weight when my old HRM went on the fritz and bought a new one and i went back to clicking right along.

    Otherwise, change your workouts up. If you're burning as many calories as you say you are, you should be eating back exercise calories. 1490 isn't enough with 600+, high calorie burns. Try 1600 cals or something moderate. And give it more than a week. Your body wouldn't respond to a workout routine in a week, why would it respond that quickly to changing your eating? You may gain a teeny bit at first, then it'll come off. Give it a few weeks. Not 7 days.
  • kellijauch
    kellijauch Posts: 379 Member
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    If you are going over on fat, that could be the issue. Try to keep ALL of your goals in the green. This can be very tricky, but it's possible. I tend to pre-plan my day. I'll put in what I plan on eating for the next day, see what it looks like, then adjust accordingly. Good luck!
  • ShrinkingLauren88
    ShrinkingLauren88 Posts: 197 Member
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    Not to sound like a jerk, but just suck it up and buy a cheap HRM. And weigh your food. You're most likely overestimating calories burned and underestimating calories eaten. MFP always DRASTICALLY overestimates my calorie burns compared to my HRM. I stopped losing weight when my old HRM went on the fritz and bought a new one and i went back to clicking right along.

    Otherwise, change your workouts up. If you're burning as many calories as you say you are, you should be eating back exercise calories. 1490 isn't enough with 600+, high calorie burns. Try 1600 cals or something moderate. And give it more than a week. Your body wouldn't respond to a workout routine in a week, why would it respond that quickly to changing your eating? You may gain a teeny bit at first, then it'll come off. Give it a few weeks. Not 7 days.

    I agree here, try changing up your workout routine. Sometimes your body gets used to what you're doing. When I start cruising into a plateau, I throw some plyometrics in with my routines. You need to shock your body so it responds with "woah! what's going on?!" and works harder. Also, are you doing any weight training? When I started training for my first 5k, I stopped doing strength training and focused on cardio...and ended up in a nasty plateau. As soon as I added in weights again, the pounds started coming off again. Muscle burns fat!! Like kganc001 said, you might gain a bit at first (esp since your building muscle) but then it will start coming off.

    Just be patient. You have to find out what works for your body.
    Good luck! :)
  • Bekahmardis
    Bekahmardis Posts: 602 Member
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    Net at least your BMR. http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/ You can find it at that website and it will also help you find your TDEE. Don't set it at "sedentary" if you're burning an additional 600 calories a day - that's actually considered "Very Active." So I'm going to say what you say you've already tried, but didn't give enough time for it to work: eat more.

    And yes, while I realize eating more appears counterintuitive, you HAVE to give it at least a month for your body to accept it again. With only 5 - 10 pounds to lose, you'll be okay gaining a pound or two while your body readjusts its metabolism back to where its supposed to be. It has to learn to trust you again.

    How do I know this? Because I was there....it took 6 weeks for my body to believe that it was truly going to get all the calories it needed and then those last pounds just fell off. Poof! One month later they were GONE.

    Trust the process and have patience to believe in it.
  • grumpadon
    grumpadon Posts: 24
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    if your very active and burning that many calories, your body needs fuel just like a car. it will go into starvation mode and slow your metabolism way down. I hit a plateau for three months. I was at 1500 calories. I upped mine to 2000. but...I track my macros rather than the calories. I eat four to five small meals a day. what ever I want. I still come in under the 2000 and i'm thru the plateau. 4 pounds in the first week. I also drink a lot of water everyday. my proteins are at 125g. carbs are 225g. and fat is 67 g. I am 50 years old. 6' 1" and was stuck at 290. i'm at 286 now.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    my last registered loss was a temporary fluke.
    A loss is a loss! And weight fluctuates daily due to many things. Also, are you taking measurements or just weighing? Often the tape measure will show progress in lost inches while the scale is busy messing with your head. :tongue:
    I've been reading similar things here and it seems the usual advice is "eat more", but I'm not sure that would help here... I tried going over my goals slightly for a week, rather than trying to stay at a hard limit of about 1800 total calories, and that didn't help at all.
    Giving a change only a week isn't going to tell you whether or not it's working - it can take 4-6 weeks for the body to adjust and show changes one way or the other.
    I currently have MFP set to "sedentary" and losing 1/2lb/week, and it's giving me 1490 net cals. I'm very active and burn an average of over 4,500 cals/week...
    :huh: Set at sedentary, but you're very active. Does not compute! You need to be honest and realistic with how you set things up at MFP. Food is fuel - gotta feed that furnace if you want it to burn. Eat too little for too long, especially with hard workouts, and you're not giving your body any reason to burn fat, but to store it.

    You'll find countless people here (both in this topic and all over the boards) who had the exact same issues you're having, and were also scared to try eating more, or did it for a week and said it didn't work. And you'll also find those who did it and stuck it out, and after a few weeks, even as many as six weeks, they saw results, amazing results, losing the fat and inches while maintaining the lean muscle.

    Best thread I ever read: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13 Been eating according to the info and tools there for over a year and half - no plateaus, no frustration, no problems - just steady fat loss, and a way to eat that I can do for the rest of my life. :drinker:
  • LisaGirlfriend
    LisaGirlfriend Posts: 493 Member
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    All I have to say is listen to everyone above me. They are all absolutely right! Good luck.
  • PhattiPhat
    PhattiPhat Posts: 349 Member
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    OP, you have to give your body 3-4 weeks to adjust to your new caloric intake. Like everything with our body processes, it takes time and patience to see whether your steady gaining, or going back down. When I up my calories I give it 4 weeks. I will see an initial gain of a few lbs, then it will start going back down. I'm currently at 2000k up from 1200 and still losing (slowly but surely).
  • Okapi42
    Okapi42 Posts: 495 Member
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    Thanks for the responses, everyone!
    Not to sound like a jerk, but just suck it up and buy a cheap HRM. And weigh your food. You're most likely overestimating calories burned and underestimating calories eaten. [...] If you're burning as many calories as you say you are, you should be eating back exercise calories. 1490 isn't enough with 600+, high calorie burns.

    I might have been unclear, sorry - the 1490 is net, not total. I usually eat an average - sometimes higher, sometimes lower - of 1800 cals. The dietitian told me to stay under 1700, but that seems *way* too little. I do weigh everything that doesn't come as an individual unit on my kitchen scale.

    I'm not getting a HRM - anything to do with hearts totally squicks me out. The sound of a heartbeat is like fingernails on a chalkboard, and when I take my pulse manually, it actually makes me feel a little sick. No idea why. But a HRM is not an option. It would also be rather uncomfortable under armour / a body protector.
    As soon as I added in weights again, the pounds started coming off again. Muscle burns fat!! Like kganc001 said, you might gain a bit at first (esp since your building muscle) but then it will start coming off.

    Sadly, weight lifting isn't an option, beyond my physio exercises (which I don't log) - I have nerve damage in my shoulder, so even lifting 30 lbs overhead would be the equivalent of bench-pressing 200! I do cycle in higher gears for resistance training and have been developing my leg muscles nicely, though. And part of my work involves what are essentially curls with a 40-lb weight.
    Set at sedentary, but you're very active. Does not compute! You need to be honest and realistic with how you set things up at MFP. Food is fuel - gotta feed that furnace if you want it to burn. Eat too little for too long, especially with hard workouts, and you're not giving your body any reason to burn fat, but to store it.

    Just do reiterate, I do eat back *some* exercise cals. But I set it at sedentary and then log my exercise, because it varies by day. That way, I have more of an incentive to keep it up. Perhaps "lightly active" would be better, to cover all the other activities I don't log.
  • Okapi42
    Okapi42 Posts: 495 Member
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    Hmmm, my BMR is 1530, apparently, so if I *net* that, I'd be losing less than 1/2 lb per week!
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    I'm not getting a HRM - anything to do with hearts totally squicks me out. The sound of a heartbeat is like fingernails on a chalkboard, and when I take my pulse manually, it actually makes me feel a little sick. No idea why. But a HRM is not an option. It would also be rather uncomfortable under armour / a body protector.


    A HRM doesn't make any noise. It's a watch and a band around your chest. It reads your HR but there's no heartbeat thumping noise or anything to gross you out. Not saying you should get one or need one, just info on how they actually work.
  • aquinoz
    aquinoz Posts: 182 Member
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    Some methods:

    -Decrease calories
    -Refeed
    -Increase activity
    -Diet break

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