I am so plateeaud. Help!

I don't know what to do. I've been bouncing around the same weight for 3.5 months, now.

I am not losing weight. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

I'm 5'9"
I started at 307lb (oy)
I am stuck around 290.
I'm 41 (and female)
I have my settings @ 2,260/ day. I said lighlty active, but I try to work out 5/week, cardio and circuit training.
I've tried lowering my calories, eating back my calories, not eating back my calories.
I'm currently a SAHM, I'm on my feet a lot.

On the Fat to Fit calculator:
Based on this formula, your current BMR is 2048 calories.

Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1988
Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 2278

Any advice?

Replies

  • Lunarbeanie
    Lunarbeanie Posts: 107 Member
    I should add- I've quit the diet coke, I drink a ton of water.
  • james6998
    james6998 Posts: 743 Member
    My I ask how much protein you are eating in a day? Too low can result in no weight loss. Personally i would check the road you were following when you first dropped the weight and see if anything has changed. Go from there, lots of things that might bring you off track.
  • Lunarbeanie
    Lunarbeanie Posts: 107 Member
    Thanks, I'm not sure what I changed. I quit the Coke Zero in there, but I don't think that would change anything except increase my water.

    I do need more protein and I struggle with that. I've been trying, eating more nuts and stuff, and I've added some more meat in my diet (a tough one, since I don't like meat - I try to eat mostly vegetarian, but now I've added a bit more for protein)
  • strongmindstrongbody
    strongmindstrongbody Posts: 315 Member
    If you don't like meat, there are vegetarian sources of protein. On days when I eat tofu and greek yogurt, my protein intake jumps to over 150 grams. I'm not much of a meat lover either, though I do eat it sometimes just because I don't feel like cooking myself a separate meal from my family.
  • firstsip
    firstsip Posts: 8,399 Member
    1. Are you taking measurements? How do your clothes feel? Sometimes people get so focused on the number on the scale that they don't notice other changes in their body from working out/watching what they eat. Add in a cloth measuring tape to gauge changes in inches on the body (ex: waist, biceps, thighs, hips, neck, etc.)

    2. Are you weighing/measuring what you eat? "Estimating" doesn't always mean accuracy, and a "tablespoon" of peanut butter can turn into the equivalent of two if things aren't gauged correctly.

    3. Would you be willing to open your diary so we can take a look at your macros/average eating?
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    I'm not sure lightly active matches your actual workouts.

    Are you accurately weighing your food? Guessing? Something is wrong with one side or the other of the equation, and most times.. that's it.

    this is what you need:
    L9ldZqJ.png
    those.

    get those. Use them accurately. log everything.
    rest, get plenty of water. log everything.

    go back and update your intake/goals on here. go from there.

    give it 4 - 6 weeks. If there's no change, adjust from there. 4 to 6 solid weeks of accurate logging.

    No fads, no "cleanses" no detox diets, no programs or products. Just count what you eat.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    Do you think that when you lost that amount of weight you were then maybe supposed to adjust your cal intake? because you're smaller now?
  • agent99design
    agent99design Posts: 11 Member
    When you say you workout 5 days a week are you doing weights? I find the more weights I do the better weight loss I achieve - almost like the muscle eating the fat stores.
  • RHSheetz
    RHSheetz Posts: 268 Member
    When you ask questions like this, you need to have your food diary open. Can't really give you any advice until we see what you are eating and in what quantities.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    When you are obese the calculators don't work. They use averages for "normal" sized people and you don't need extra calories to feed the fat. You need to feed your lean body mass and maintain it. You can safely choose the 2/lb per week setting on MFP and then judiciously eat back your exercise calories if you want.
  • nicoleashley_24
    nicoleashley_24 Posts: 144 Member
    When you say you workout 5 days a week are you doing weights? I find the more weights I do the better weight loss I achieve - almost like the muscle eating the fat stores.

    This. I plateaued for a couple years when my focus went to cardio instead of strength training. And if this is the case and you are interested in starting lifting, know that when people say to lift "heavy" it means heavy for you... which will change as you get stronger :)
  • roobe18
    roobe18 Posts: 45 Member
    Wow... that calorie goal seems awful high. I would think 1600-1800 would seem more appropriate. I understand that may be what is being calculated, but the proof is in the pudding. If you're not losing weight then your deficit needs to be greater. How are you carbs?
    I try to shoot for less than 100 carbs and get at least 60-80 grams of protein in per day. For me, lowering carbs is the key to successfull weight loss. I'm not saying to eliminate them completely, but drastically reducing always makes a big difference for me.
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    1. Are you taking measurements? How do your clothes feel? Sometimes people get so focused on the number on the scale that they don't notice other changes in their body from working out/watching what they eat. Add in a cloth measuring tape to gauge changes in inches on the body (ex: waist, biceps, thighs, hips, neck, etc.)

    2. Are you weighing/measuring what you eat? "Estimating" doesn't always mean accuracy, and a "tablespoon" of peanut butter can turn into the equivalent of two if things aren't gauged correctly.

    3. Would you be willing to open your diary so we can take a look at your macros/average eating?

    ^ This. Very much this.
  • happieharpie
    happieharpie Posts: 229 Member
    I believe that egg whites are my best friend. Heavy duty nutrition in a low calorie package. Egg whites and high quality unsalted nuts are my major source of protein. Every three or so weeks I have a meat meal, or sometimes not.

    I am very happy with monotonous, highly structured eating, and that has proven to be my weight loss friend as well. Whether I have lost according to the scale or not, I know my body is MUCH happier with what I'm doing now, and this is the first time EVER in my long, fat life that I have NO cravings!

    You can buy egg whites in packages, pasteurized, at many stores, so they can be consumed cooked or uncooked straight from the box in smoothies or fruit desserts.

    So here's a happy "Cluck-Cluck" to you! Give them a try!
  • Lunarbeanie
    Lunarbeanie Posts: 107 Member
    sorry, thought my diary was open. Open now.
  • Lunarbeanie
    Lunarbeanie Posts: 107 Member
    I re-calculated my numbers with my current weight. They are above.
  • Lunarbeanie
    Lunarbeanie Posts: 107 Member
    yup, doing weights in the circuit training.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    sorry, thought my diary was open. Open now.

    some days aren't logged, some stuff is quick added, your not hitting protein goals. etc.
    some days that you work out, you eat less than your daily goal. Keep in mind, the number the MFP gives you is already at a deficit for loss.
    are you weighing your food or estimating?

    ETA: some "homemade" entries in there... if you don't know exactly what's in it, there's no way of accurately recording intake.
  • Lunarbeanie
    Lunarbeanie Posts: 107 Member
    Thanks, Trogalicious. There were a few days where I ate out and had no clue, so just guestimated. When I'm home, I measure. I cook almost all of our food.
    I have been measuring, esp things like nuts, and pasta. I'll do it with the others as well.
  • Lunarbeanie
    Lunarbeanie Posts: 107 Member
    Thanks, I'll try the egg whites.
    I do eat greek yogurt, and tofu, too.
  • roobe18
    roobe18 Posts: 45 Member
    sorry, thought my diary was open. Open now.

    TOO MUCH SUGAR. You've got to cut that crap out.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    sorry, thought my diary was open. Open now.

    TOO MUCH SUGAR. You've got to cut that crap out.

    going over on sugar =/= weight gain.
    going over on caloric intake consistently = weight gain.

    cutting out sugar isn't going to necessarily do any good if the OP isn't sure of what they're eating to start with.
  • roobe18
    roobe18 Posts: 45 Member
    sorry, thought my diary was open. Open now.

    TOO MUCH SUGAR. You've got to cut that crap out.

    going over on sugar =/= weight gain.
    going over on caloric intake consistently = weight gain.

    cutting out sugar isn't going to necessarily do any good if the OP isn't sure of what they're eating to start with.

    I don't disagree with you. You're earlier post about how there's inconsitencies in how she's tracking is certainly valid. I'm just suggesting that the quality of her choices may also lead to her inability to lose weight, even if she's on track with her calories. As an obese person (I'm sorry if that sounds harsh OP.. it's not intended to) her body is very likely insulin resistant, or at least has a lower sensitivity to insulin. Given that her dieting food diary consists of lots of starches, carbs, sugars and fat, it's reasonable to assume that her diet was even higher in these foods prior to dieting, so again that leads me to suspect that she likely has some kind of insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome. So, all the sugar and carbs that she's eating will up her insulin levels and basically insulin = fat and weight gain. To someone who is at a healthy weight, a cookie is only equal to extra calories. To someone who is obese and likely insulin resistant, a cookie is extra calories plus a surge of insulin which makes shedding fat virtually impossible.

    I may be way off base here OP, and if I am, I appoligize. I'm only trying to give advice based on my own experiences and research. I've been insulin resistant for years and the only way I've been able to lose weight is buy cutting WAY down on carbs, especially simple ones. Looking at your diet, you are pretty heavy on the carbs and sugar and lacking on protein. If you truely are on target for your calories and still not losing weight, this is somthing to seriously consider and research. I personally have done a diet simiar to what you're doing now and had the same results. While at it's core dieting should just be calories in vs calories out, that's not always the case and hormones (which is what insulin is) can play a HUGE part in your success.
  • happieharpie
    happieharpie Posts: 229 Member
    I believe that egg whites are my best friend. Heavy duty nutrition in a low calorie package. Egg whites and high quality unsalted nuts are my major source of protein. Every three or so weeks I have a meat meal, or sometimes not.

    I am very happy with monotonous, highly structured eating, and that has proven to be my weight loss friend as well. Whether I have lost according to the scale or not, I know my body is MUCH happier with what I'm doing now, and this is the first time EVER in my long, fat life that I have NO cravings!

    You can buy egg whites in packages, pasteurized, at many stores, so they can be consumed cooked or uncooked straight from the box in smoothies or fruit desserts.

    So here's a happy "Cluck-Cluck" to you! Give them a try!
  • smn76237
    smn76237 Posts: 318 Member
    With your calorie goal set where it's at, you're probably not losing weight because of 1) underestimating your intake and/or 2) overestimating your calorie burn or 3) a medical condition.

    For problem 1):
    How do you measure your food? Measuring cups? Those are inaccurate for anything other than liquids. Your diary doesn't seem particularly accurate. How does a fruit smoothie have no carbs, fat, or protein and only 97 calories? How do you measure 0.3 of a baked potato? If you don't have a food scale, get one and weigh everything, even things you deem inconsequential (like vegetables). It will also help to be as accurate as possible if you need to bring your diary to a dietitian or doctor.

    For problem 2)
    Because you still have over 100 pounds to lose, you can withstand a much larger cut from your TDEE than if you were closer to your goal weight, without sacrificing loss of lean body mass. I'd consider going with TDEE-30% from a lightly active setting. Don't eat back exercise calories.

    For problem 3)
    If you haven't been to a doctor, go get some blood work done to see if you are hypothyroid/insulin resistant/diabetic/have PCOS/some other medical condition that could be inhibiting your weight loss.

    Finally, I'm not saying do a low carb fad diet, but I would switch the percentage of your macros so that you are eating more fat and protein, and less carbs.
  • maybeazure
    maybeazure Posts: 301 Member
    I think your calories are too high. If you aren't tracking all of them, you may be over estimating too. When you said that you lowered your calories, how low did you go and for how long?
  • Lunarbeanie
    Lunarbeanie Posts: 107 Member
    Thank you, I'll look more at it.