Lengthy plateau, can't seem to break it!
betweenthebirds
Posts: 27 Member
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Height: 64''
Current weight: 155.8
Goal weight: 145
Current gross caloric intake: 1500 on average. MFP tells me 1430; I tend to eat slightly more than that. Exercise with a HRM tells me I burn about 400-600 cals per day.
Average Protein intake: 80 grams
Average Carbs intake: 230 grams
Average Fats intake: 30 grams
I just recently bought a food scale, and so far when I measure things they have been accurate as to what I have been guessing. I do track my intake daily and have been for almost all of the 315 days I've been using MFP. As of the last 3 months I have been tracking every single morsel I have put in my mouth. I don't typically take cheat days as they usually affect me pretty greatly. If I have a day where I did eat more due to a social event or whatever I always track everything that I can. The last 3 months I have tried minor alterations to my eating and workout routine. Each alteration I've given 3-4 weeks to take effect with no luck so far. I have tried lowering my caloric intake (dumb, I know, and I realize that now), I have tried upping my caloric intake just SLIGHTLY by like 100 cals/day, I have tried upping my cardio workout intensity with some added weights, I have tried being more active in general. I have been tested for PCOS as well as thyroid problems, and am in the clear.
Here's my whole story/weight loss background information:
So I started my weight loss journey almost 2 years ago now (I was getting married the fall of 2011 and wanted to shed a few lbs prior to the wedding, and then persist to a healthy lifestyle and eventually become more fit once I hit my goal weight). I started with Weight Watchers at ~220 lbs and lost about 35 lbs. Once my wedding got close I maintained my weight for a few weeks, then started gaining again once my wedding/honeymoon was all done & over with. I gained about 7 lbs back. I then decided that I did NOT want to let that happen and tried WW on my own without paying for it with no true luck. So then I joined MFP. My dad had had extremely good success with MFP and he suggested I try it. Starting a little over 300 days ago I was able to follow my caloric intake and lose another 30 lbs and hit a plateau. I struggled getting from 165 to 155 which is where I'm hanging around now, but was able to add those 10 lbs to my weight lost. Last year when the holidays started coming around I decided to use maintenance calories to get through them (in which at one point I happened to get down to 151 lbs). Once New Year's Day came, I literally went IMMEDIATELY back to a low calorie diet, and was definitely not eating as much as I should have been. I think I was averaging like 1000 cals/day. I honestly wasn't even realizing it and I feel like such a moron for admitting I did that. I was also going through an EXTREMELY stressful time at the end of December and into January and part of February. I was pretty badly depressed all the time, and stressed and anxious at some points because I was going through a major change in my life with moving to a new city and getting a brand new job and my husband wasn't with me to help me through it because he was still trying to find a job himself. It was a really bad time emotionally. Regardless my body was in shutdown mode during the beginning of this year. Once I finally realized how bad off I was and how little I was eating I upped my caloric intake around the middle of February and started exercising regularly again. And here I am 4+ months total later and still no budge on the scale. My mood and stress level has improved immensely since my husband moving here and getting a job, but no luck in weight loss. I've been truly trying and following my calories and exercising regularly for a good 2.5 months now and I'm still averaging 155lbs on the scale. I KNOW I have more fat I can lose but it's not budging at all. I could easily be at 135 and still look healthy, but my goal is 145. Other than that one week I got to see a 151 on the scale, I haven't seen much below my 155 average in about 6-7 months total. My measurements are holding steady as well.
I also wanted to mention that up until about 3 weeks ago now I'd pretty much only been doing low-intensity cardio... for like a year and a half. Last summer I did train for a 5k but that ended once summer ended. I'm now running again and I love running, but I'm not sure where to proceed from here.
Thanks for any help! Let me know if there is any other information I failed to provide or you would like to know.
Gender: Female
Height: 64''
Current weight: 155.8
Goal weight: 145
Current gross caloric intake: 1500 on average. MFP tells me 1430; I tend to eat slightly more than that. Exercise with a HRM tells me I burn about 400-600 cals per day.
Average Protein intake: 80 grams
Average Carbs intake: 230 grams
Average Fats intake: 30 grams
I just recently bought a food scale, and so far when I measure things they have been accurate as to what I have been guessing. I do track my intake daily and have been for almost all of the 315 days I've been using MFP. As of the last 3 months I have been tracking every single morsel I have put in my mouth. I don't typically take cheat days as they usually affect me pretty greatly. If I have a day where I did eat more due to a social event or whatever I always track everything that I can. The last 3 months I have tried minor alterations to my eating and workout routine. Each alteration I've given 3-4 weeks to take effect with no luck so far. I have tried lowering my caloric intake (dumb, I know, and I realize that now), I have tried upping my caloric intake just SLIGHTLY by like 100 cals/day, I have tried upping my cardio workout intensity with some added weights, I have tried being more active in general. I have been tested for PCOS as well as thyroid problems, and am in the clear.
Here's my whole story/weight loss background information:
So I started my weight loss journey almost 2 years ago now (I was getting married the fall of 2011 and wanted to shed a few lbs prior to the wedding, and then persist to a healthy lifestyle and eventually become more fit once I hit my goal weight). I started with Weight Watchers at ~220 lbs and lost about 35 lbs. Once my wedding got close I maintained my weight for a few weeks, then started gaining again once my wedding/honeymoon was all done & over with. I gained about 7 lbs back. I then decided that I did NOT want to let that happen and tried WW on my own without paying for it with no true luck. So then I joined MFP. My dad had had extremely good success with MFP and he suggested I try it. Starting a little over 300 days ago I was able to follow my caloric intake and lose another 30 lbs and hit a plateau. I struggled getting from 165 to 155 which is where I'm hanging around now, but was able to add those 10 lbs to my weight lost. Last year when the holidays started coming around I decided to use maintenance calories to get through them (in which at one point I happened to get down to 151 lbs). Once New Year's Day came, I literally went IMMEDIATELY back to a low calorie diet, and was definitely not eating as much as I should have been. I think I was averaging like 1000 cals/day. I honestly wasn't even realizing it and I feel like such a moron for admitting I did that. I was also going through an EXTREMELY stressful time at the end of December and into January and part of February. I was pretty badly depressed all the time, and stressed and anxious at some points because I was going through a major change in my life with moving to a new city and getting a brand new job and my husband wasn't with me to help me through it because he was still trying to find a job himself. It was a really bad time emotionally. Regardless my body was in shutdown mode during the beginning of this year. Once I finally realized how bad off I was and how little I was eating I upped my caloric intake around the middle of February and started exercising regularly again. And here I am 4+ months total later and still no budge on the scale. My mood and stress level has improved immensely since my husband moving here and getting a job, but no luck in weight loss. I've been truly trying and following my calories and exercising regularly for a good 2.5 months now and I'm still averaging 155lbs on the scale. I KNOW I have more fat I can lose but it's not budging at all. I could easily be at 135 and still look healthy, but my goal is 145. Other than that one week I got to see a 151 on the scale, I haven't seen much below my 155 average in about 6-7 months total. My measurements are holding steady as well.
I also wanted to mention that up until about 3 weeks ago now I'd pretty much only been doing low-intensity cardio... for like a year and a half. Last summer I did train for a 5k but that ended once summer ended. I'm now running again and I love running, but I'm not sure where to proceed from here.
Thanks for any help! Let me know if there is any other information I failed to provide or you would like to know.
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Replies
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Hi! Could you open your diary.
Also, could you answer any questions from here, not yet answered: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/910257-the-new-and-improved-asking-questions-about-your-intake
Thanks0 -
Oops! Sorry, thought my diary was public. It should be viewable now. I believe I did answer a of those questions in my initial post. I should add that overall I have lost 65 lbs total in a course of 1.5 years, have been at a plateau for about 6 months after (Trying to lose for a total of 2 years now) and all of my activity changes have been stated in my original post. My job as a licensed vet tech requires 4 days a week f being in my feet for an average of 10 hours daily. Some days are more crazy than others so there's no guarantee that its a standing around versus a running around day. On my days off I typically try to be active and on my feet either cleaning, walking the dog (when not running with her), cooking, etc. I believe that covers everything you require but let me know if over overlooked anything. The rest of the initial post should cover all of the other questions.0
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Thanks. Will get back to you soon.0
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Do you strength train currently?
On looking at your diary, you do not appear to have upped your calories over the holidays but you mention you went on maintenance. Over what period and what was your intake?0 -
Currently I do very intermittent strength training. Once or twice a week of mild training. I've just started to incorporate HIIT into my workout and will probably continue with this once or twice a week as well.
Over the holidays there were times where I did not log completely, or had more bites of something than I logged, so unfortunately I don't think looking just at my diary during November/December can tell you how much I did eat for sure. I believe my aim was for an average of 1800 cals/day. I would say for the most part I probably tried to stay under but I know there were many days where I didn't completely log everything. Once January hit I went back to strictly what MFP was telling me and that's where the plateau really became obvious. But again, getting back to what MFP was telling me was during an extremely stressful time which I know can make weight loss very difficult, but since recuperating the plateau has persisted and I'm still the same weight I was several months ago.0 -
Hi!
So, we are a bit hesitant to drop you down in calories very much until trying to get things a little settled and to suggest that you try to up your activity, both with exercise and with NEAT (non exercise activity, like going for walks, taking the stairs...just moving more in general).
We would also like to get you on a better strength training routine but want to address that after we get your intake sorted out.
On looking at your diary, you averaged a little under 1,600 calories a day. Do you think that you can increase your activity levels while being on 1,500 intake? If so, we could recommend the following macros:
Protein: 110g
Fats: 56g
Both as minimums and the balance to fall wherever you prefer based on preference, energy levels and satiation.
We would like you to try to get to as close to these as possible and check back with us in 2 weeks, or earlier if you want/need to.
If you feel that you will be unable to increase your activity (and we are not suggesting a lot of cardio - just some increases here and there and focusing on increased NEAT) please let us know and we will make an alternative suggestion.0 -
The last 3 weeks I have increased my activity as compared to what I had been doing previously. I have been running and/or using the elliptical/treadmill on an almost daily basis (Mondays are pretty much my only day I'm unable to hit the gym or go for a run; I've been doing a workout video, such as HIIT, or I have done the Jillian Michael's 30-day Shred videos as well, instead prior to work due to my hours). I do typically try to do the non-exercise activity as much as possible. I get pretty antsy if I sit or stand still for too long both at work and at home... so even at work if all I'm doing is standing and waiting around for the next office call to come in I will find something to do so I can move around. And like I had mentioned before at home on my days off I'm typically cleaning the house, grocery shopping, just trying to go out for a walk/hike, etc.
I can for sure follow the 1500 calories and will start that today. I will adjust the calories and macros in my diary to follow your suggested protein & fats intake.0 -
Locking for now so we can keep track of unresolved threads. Please could you PM either myself or SideSteel to unlock the thread when you are ready to give us an update or if you have any questions. Please include a link to this thread in the PM.0
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Unlocked at OPs request0
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So here's an update since the middle of April: Since then, I changed my workout routine and have added more serious strength training. Overall I have actually gained 4 lbs and averaging 159.6 and have been maintaining at this for about a month, but my measurements have dropped just a little. A few weeks ago I decided to up my calorie intake. I've been adding 50 calories per week as a baseline. Some days I've eaten over if I've exercised more. I just felt hungry all the time at 1500 cals and was getting really frustrated with low-calorie eating since I have been at a deficit for over 2 years now. I felt too restricted. Currently I'm eating 1650 cals baseline, aiming for ~100g protein and ~45g fats daily.
As of right now, my workout routine is as follows: 3 days a week I start with a 10 minute warm-up, then follow with 30 minutes of strength (each of those days concentrating on 2 different parts of my body... legs/abs, triceps/chest, biceps/back). Within those 30 minutes I do 5 different exercises, each exercise at maximum weight I can handle for 12-15 reps, 2-3 sets each. After strength I go for 30 minutes of cardio (lately I have been doing intervals - 2 minutes sprinting, 1 minute speed-walking for the total 30 minutes), then finish up with a 10 minute cooldown. I have one rest day a week, and the other 3 days I've been doing distance running (avg 3-5 miles, with one day aiming for 6+ miles). I have also been trying to up my NEAT as well.
I'd like some advice on how many calories you think I should truly be eating. I am aiming to lose weight still (Goal of 145), but not in any rush. I am concentrating more now on toning up my body versus just losing fat. Should I continue to up my calories? Should I alter my workout routine at all?
I also have a question pertaining to using a FitBit. I have a FitBit One, and just wonder if you've got an opinion on how well they work in terms of counting your steps and giving you an accurate calorie burn during the day. Typically it tells me I burn an extra ~300 calories I can eat, especially on days that I work. Again, my job consists of standing/walking for ~10 hours, 4 days a week. The other 3 days I tend to be pretty active, still walking/standing the same amount.0 -
Sorry for the delay. We should respond by tomorrow.0
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Just checking back - it's been a few days since you said I should have a response. No worries if you need a few more days.0
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The increased strength training and running may well have added some glycogen/water weight which can take a while to settle.
Your strength training routine does not seem to be ideal, but for now, I would like you to try to stick at the approx. 1,650 you have been at for another 2 weeks to try to get a good baseline for your current activity without the 'confusion' of added water weight from the increased activity making trends hard to determine.
Also, could you aim to get the original macros suggested - the 110g protein and the 56g fats. Your average for the last 4 weeks was about 85g protein and 48g fats.
FitBits and other similar devices can be accurate for some, but off for others. They use averages as inputs for the algorithms. If you are not similar to those averages, it will not be accurate. They are also not very good at estimating calorie burn for activities such as cardio and lifting much of the time.
If you could report back with your weight in 2 weeks, we can progress from there.0 -
Locking so we can track active threads. Please PM either myself or SideSteel when you are ready to update us and we will unlock so you can. Please also include a link to this thread in the PM.0
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Unlocked at OPs request0
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Two week update: I weighed in two days ago at 158.6. I have been logging 100% honestly for all but the first 2 days of the last two weeks. I stupidly kept aiming for 105g protein for the first week for some reason (I have no freaking clue why, when I knew it was 110), but the last week I have been aiming for 110. On average I was right round there. All exercise outside of my job that I've done has been logged as well. My measurements have gone down - one measurement, my waist, used to be about 31.2 at its lowest, it went up to 32.3 for a while, and is now down to 31.5. I also believe that the scale I was using to measure food was inaccurate. I have since bought a new scale and have been measuring everything.
One thing I thought I'd mention (not sure if this makes any sort of difference) is that I've recently been having trouble with my birth control pill that I'm on. My previous one I had been on for YEARS, started it when I was really heavy. I had some spotting & other ridiculous symptoms you usually get when you HAVE your period... for the 3 weeks that I DIDN'T have my period. This all kept getting worse each month starting around the 55-60 lbs lost mark. Two months ago (which is when I noticed the 4 lb weight gain), I started a new BCP because my gyn. explained that the large weight loss can mess things up, so she wanted me to try a different one with a different combination of hormones. I'm still having spotting with it, but was told to keep going with the third month of the 3-month trial that I have for it to allow my body to adjust completely. Regardless, that 4 lb weight gain pretty much hit me when I started my new BCP. I didn't even make any connection to it until a few days ago... but again, I don't know if that has any relevance or not.
I also was following a 1700 calorie limit as I had already started that by the time you got back to me, but I have stuck with that and aimed for that for the last two weeks.0 -
Still waiting for a reply to my update... and also want to add that my weight the last 3 days has been as follows: 159.8, 163, and 162.8. My TOM starts tomorrow, but again, I'm having issues with my BCP and basically had a regular period two weeks ago in the middle of my BCP month and have been spotting since here & there.0
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Tagging and will review and reply ASAP. Will get to this tomorrow for sure.0
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So it seems as though you are more or less maintaining, but it is hard to tell for sure due to your water weight fluctuations that has caused your recent weight gain.
We would suggest that you stick to our original recommendation of 1,500 calories with the following macros:
Protein: 110g
Fats: 56g
Both as minimums and the balance to fall wherever you prefer based on preference, energy levels and satiation.
Please stick as closely to these recommendations as you can and get back to us in two weeks with an update as to how your weight is doing.0 -
I have a question regarding the 1500 calories with exercise. I exercise pretty much daily... should I be eating back any of my exercise calories? Or strictly stick to 1500 calories regardless of how much exercise I do? I've read your posts about this topic, but I'm not sure what to do in this case. I guess I'm asking... what exactly are you basing the 1500 calories on and does it or does it not include those burned with exercise?
So if I eat 1500 calories, and then burn 500 calories, netting 1000 calories... is that what you'd prefer? Or if I eat 1500 calories and then burn 500, should I eat an extra 300-400 that day? I mean I guess that's basically what I'm doing now...
I apologize - the whole exercise included or not included thing is still confusing to me in some aspects.
I'm also wondering if you have any suggestions regarding a workout routine/program to follow. You mentioned that the routine I'm following now is not ideal.0 -
I have a question regarding the 1500 calories with exercise. I exercise pretty much daily... should I be eating back any of my exercise calories? Or strictly stick to 1500 calories regardless of how much exercise I do? I've read your posts about this topic, but I'm not sure what to do in this case. I guess I'm asking... what exactly are you basing the 1500 calories on and does it or does it not include those burned with exercise?
You do not eat back exercise calories with this model.
We are basing this on the fact that you are not currently losing at your given intake so we are reducing it to attempt to put you in a calorie deficit.I'm also wondering if you have any suggestions regarding a workout routine/program to follow. You mentioned that the routine I'm following now is not ideal.
The big thing we need right now is for you to stick to your current everything (do not change things at all) and track as accurately as you can at the intake we have listed without changing that intake and without changing your activity to the best of your ability. Then, we can look at what happens and make adjustments when you follow up with us in a couple of weeks.
We had requested a two week follow up so that we could monitor your intake on our April 22nd post and two months went by so we really don't have a good timeline of specifics. Since then, your exercise routine has changed as did your caloric intake, so we'd like to get a concrete set of data to work with moving forward. To be clear, I'm not saying this to lay blame on you as much as I'm saying it to encourage you to follow up in two weeks with an update, stick exactly to our recommendations, track accurately, do not change anything if you can help it, and we will then hopefully have something to go from as far as an adjustment goes.0 -
Sounds good. Starting today with the recommendations. You can lock this thread and I will give you an update in 2 weeks. Thanks.0
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Thanks. Locking now. PM one of us when you want to update it.0
This discussion has been closed.