Month long plateu - suggestions?

mpizzle421
mpizzle421 Posts: 80 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
The first few months of my latest attempt at weight loss went well. I dropped about 20lbs in 3-ish months. From November 3rd. to December 3rd. I'm basically at about the same weight.

I've gone a little down and come back up. I'm not really near my goal weight and I'm still somewhere in the ~30% of body fat - so it's not like I'm just trying to shave off that last ~3% body fat and my body is being stubborn. I would think that at this stage in the game the weight should be melting off rapidly.

I haven't focused on cardio the last month or so, but I'm very consistently lifting and very consistently getting stronger and adding weight / reps. I'm not eating "clean" really, but I'm getting adequate protein/fat. I do have larger calorie days / cheat days - but over the course of the week I'm pretty much on track.

I would love to think that I'm just packing on muscle to go along with the strength gains but I know that's probably unlikely being that I'm eating regularly at a deficit.

I'm 35 , 5'9" , 260.6 lbs, starting weight was 281, and I'm eating net ~2200 calories daily - and this is not my first time at the weight loss rodeo. I've done some yo-yo dieting. Previous attempts have yielded similar results for me (20lbs comes off and then it gets tough).

One thing that I can say based on past experience is that if I stopped lifting (if history repeats itself) I'll gain fat back but will shed at least 10-15lbs. I've experienced this previously. I stop lifting, stop dieting, check the scale a month later and I'm 10lbs lighter.

Replies

  • Jennisin1
    Jennisin1 Posts: 574 Member
    Eat Real Food?

    I have thinking of all the crap in Fast Food and they are allowed to flux calories up to a certain percentage. Not much flux in a grilled chicken breast and steamed veggies. You know 100% what you are eating.
  • mpizzle421
    mpizzle421 Posts: 80 Member
    Yea,

    That's a big one agreed. However, it didn't seem to hold me back the first few months.
  • emirror
    emirror Posts: 842 Member
    Have you re-done your calorie levels to adjust for your weight loss? Every 5 pounds, you should go reset your calorie goals, as MFP does not do that automatically.
  • smokeytex74
    smokeytex74 Posts: 55
    Try adding some variety to your exercise and start the cardio back up. I recently had about a month of not loosing a single pound also. I started climbing the stairs at work to add variety to the walking, jogging in place, squats, & standing push ups (used the counter as leverage as I still have a hard time getting down to and up off the floor). The stair climbing along with cleaner eating gave me the boost I needed to break that plateau. Good Luck
  • jpolinisse
    jpolinisse Posts: 149 Member
    Try and be more consistent with your intake. Consistency is key.

    Also, as you lose weight your calorie needs should be recalculated.

    And how do you know that you gained fat after a 10-15 lbs loss, in the past? Just curious.
  • CM9178
    CM9178 Posts: 1,251 Member
    Try and be more consistent with your intake. Consistency is key.
    What does this even mean? You don't have to consistently eat the same number of calories every day in order to successfuly lose weight. You simply need to eat at a deficit - usually for the week - although not everybody loses weight like that.
    I purposely fluctuate my calories on a daily basis, so I am NEVER consistently eating the same number every day. Otherwise, your body can get "stuck" - fluctuating seems to keep the metabolism guessing a little more.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    How accurately are you tracking? Are you weighing/measuring your portion sizes? Are you using a HRM or MFP/machine estimates for your calorie burn?

    I would make sure you're tracking accurately and probably suggest ditching the cheat day for a few weeks and see if that gets you back on track.
  • hilts1969
    hilts1969 Posts: 465 Member
    The first few months of my latest attempt at weight loss went well. I dropped about 20lbs in 3-ish months. From November 3rd. to December 3rd. I'm basically at about the same weight.

    I've gone a little down and come back up. I'm not really near my goal weight and I'm still somewhere in the ~30% of body fat - so it's not like I'm just trying to shave off that last ~3% body fat and my body is being stubborn. I would think that at this stage in the game the weight should be melting off rapidly.

    I haven't focused on cardio the last month or so, but I'm very consistently lifting and very consistently getting stronger and adding weight / reps. I'm not eating "clean" really, but I'm getting adequate protein/fat. I do have larger calorie days / cheat days - but over the course of the week I'm pretty much on track.

    I would love to think that I'm just packing on muscle to go along with the strength gains but I know that's probably unlikely being that I'm eating regularly at a deficit.

    I'm 35 , 5'9" , 260.6 lbs, starting weight was 281, and I'm eating net ~2200 calories daily - and this is not my first time at the weight loss rodeo. I've done some yo-yo dieting. Previous attempts have yielded similar results for me (20lbs comes off and then it gets tough).

    One thing that I can say based on past experience is that if I stopped lifting (if history repeats itself) I'll gain fat back but will shed at least 10-15lbs. I've experienced this previously. I stop lifting, stop dieting, check the scale a month later and I'm 10lbs lighter.

    I am almost certain from reading the above that you are eating too much, what you are eating isn't particularly good and that you are lacking some cardio work
  • Will_Thrust_For_Candy
    Will_Thrust_For_Candy Posts: 6,109 Member
    How accurately are you tracking? Are you weighing/measuring your portion sizes? Are you using a HRM or MFP/machine estimates for your calorie burn?

    I would make sure you're tracking accurately and probably suggest ditching the cheat day for a few weeks and see if that gets you back on track.

    ^^^^ Agreed.

    And yes, consistency is key. You must consistently run a deficit to lose weight. How you accomplish this deficit, let's say on a weekly basis, is up to each individual. But if one week you are in maintenance or surplus and the next week you are in a deficit and so on and so forth, you will more than likely stay stuck within a few pounds.

    It sounds like it's very likely that you were creating an additional bit of deficit with the cardio you were doing and then when you stopped, that deficit went away.

    Also, like another poster mentioned, if you haven't re-run your numbers since your weight loss then you should take a look at that too. If you aren't losing it's because you're not in a deficit.
  • BenjaminMFP88
    BenjaminMFP88 Posts: 660 Member
    I feel as though there should be a sticky for people who reach plateu's? These are things that I would recommend checking first:

    -Verify accuracy of your caloric allowance
    -Verify the accuracy of the calories you are logging
    -Note that muscles weigh too and if you are gaining muscle praportionally to losing fat, the scale will not move
    -Check body fat if possible or preferably, body measurements
    -If logging workout calories (MFP Style), ensure you are estiming burned calories as acurately as possible

    If your overall goal is body fat loss, then you must mantain a caloric deficit. Exercise is only to be treated as icing on the cake and not so much as a method to shove more food down the ol hatchet. It doesn't necessarily matter so much what you eat, so long as macro nutrients are obtained at least at the minimum levels. I would suggest setting Macro goals and trying to reach them daily, If you don't work out much then High Protein/Fat splits work pretty decently, but if you do work out then I would suggest a more emphasis on Protein/Carbs.

    Just my 2 cents
  • hilts1969
    hilts1969 Posts: 465 Member
    How accurately are you tracking? Are you weighing/measuring your portion sizes? Are you using a HRM or MFP/machine estimates for your calorie burn?

    I would make sure you're tracking accurately and probably suggest ditching the cheat day for a few weeks and see if that gets you back on track.

    I have a feeling that this chap like myself needs cheat days, i am the same, i think he needs to track better certainly, in his postion i would be eating less than 2000 cals a day on average minimum and wouldn't even put exercise calories into the equation
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    How accurately are you tracking? Are you weighing/measuring your portion sizes? Are you using a HRM or MFP/machine estimates for your calorie burn?

    I would make sure you're tracking accurately and probably suggest ditching the cheat day for a few weeks and see if that gets you back on track.

    ^^^^ Agreed.

    And yes, consistency is key. You must consistently run a deficit to lose weight. How you accomplish this deficit, let's say on a weekly basis, is up to each individual. But if one week you are in maintenance or surplus and the next week you are in a deficit and so on and so forth, you will more than likely stay stuck within a few pounds.

    It sounds like it's very likely that you were creating an additional bit of deficit with the cardio you were doing and then when you stopped, that deficit went away.

    Also, like another poster mentioned, if you haven't re-run your numbers since your weight loss then you should take a look at that too. If you aren't losing it's because you're not in a deficit.
    ^Vegas is smart (and sexy). I agree with her. :smile:
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1122891-9-reasons-fat-loss-is-always-slower-than-you-d-like

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1105036-article-on-flexible-dieting-by-armi-legge?page=1#posts-17068746

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1144679-kiss
  • Klem4
    Klem4 Posts: 399 Member
    Agreed on the consistency, and cut some of the crap out of the diet. I did this myself the past 4 weeks, since I was so tired of staying within the same 3-5lbs. I knew it was because I wasn't being consistent and blowing my weekends. And, Voila, I've lost 4.5lbs. You just have to decide that you want to do it, and make it happen.
  • sameena2013
    sameena2013 Posts: 44
    do gm diet i did same and i am back!!
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Your diary shows a lot poorly logged cheat meals and many many days well above the 2200 calorie number you cite.

    IMO the standard advice applies - you are eating more than you think.

    You are for sure not "packing on muscle".
  • BossLadyDSimp
    BossLadyDSimp Posts: 257 Member
    Agreed on the consistency, and cut some of the crap out of the diet. I did this myself the past 4 weeks, since I was so tired of staying within the same 3-5lbs. I knew it was because I wasn't being consistent and blowing my weekends. And, Voila, I've lost 4.5lbs. You just have to decide that you want to do it, and make it happen.

    I agree! When I changed from cheat DAYS to A cheat MEAL I saw a change ... when I skip the cheat meal for the week I see a change.

    I have to do some cardio with my weights ... that is just me. Add a little in there. Some interval training even walking will get work.

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  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    I don't police diaries but just based on your first paragraph (below), I'm thinking it's just your usual, run of the mill plateau. What is "basically about the same" weight? Are you down 1-2 lbs.? That's not bad at all, given how much you lost the months preceding. It's never perfectly linear.

    "The first few months of my latest attempt at weight loss went well. I dropped about 20lbs in 3-ish months. From November 3rd. to December 3rd. I'm basically at about the same weight. "
  • Siansonea
    Siansonea Posts: 917 Member
    Cut 100-200 calories a day.
  • mpizzle421
    mpizzle421 Posts: 80 Member
    I guess the frustration for me is that what I've been doing worked for the first 20lbs.

    Have I been perfect about measuring and logging food? - probably, not. But it worked for me up to this point.

    Have I been perfect about cheat days? - probably not. But it worked for me up to this point.

    This has happened to me in previous attempts at getting fit. I lose weight initially, but have a more difficult time after the initial 2-3 months.

    Thank you for the responses. There are useful bits that I'll incorporate.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Have I been perfect about measuring and logging food? - probably, not. But it worked for me up to this point.

    The less weight there is left to lose, the more attention needs to be paid, because the margin between success and failure shrinks.
  • malyndad
    malyndad Posts: 30 Member
    Thanks! I didn't know this and just updated my goals...it dropped my caloric intake :)

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