How to break a plateau... EAT MORE!!! Scary, I know...

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  • AJCM
    AJCM Posts: 2,169 Member
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    Thanks Mireille! I still don't believe it - I'm a natural "chubster" so it's just so exciting!
    :flowerforyou:
    [/quote]
    you dont look chubby at all girl! you look great!
    [/quote]

    Thanks! You're kind. :flowerforyou:
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
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    I love MFP! I was at plateau but not worried because I am in this for EVER for healthy life.

    Went to the beach last week for July 4th celebration. I continued to exercise, but not my normal Elip machine. Swam, walked on the beach at sunset (poor me!) but ate more calories than I had been.

    I am not sure if it was adding the calories, or shocking my body with new type of exercise but the scale finally moved. WOO HOO!

    I havent been 156lbs in 10 years. More than that my 22 yr old son picked up on my healthy changes and HE LOST 20 lbs ...I am happy to be alive. Healthy. And feeling young. ( my neice actually said I look younger!)
  • AJCM
    AJCM Posts: 2,169 Member
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    Tam - I rarely only ate 1200 cals, as I also ate my exercise cals, but eating more is agreeing with me for sure! :flowerforyou:

    Diva - thanks! You are doing great - keep at it! :flowerforyou:

    Laywalkalot - I compltely agree! When I decided I was happy at this weight, the weight started to move again. I just want to be healthy; I'll never be a supermodel. :flowerforyou:

    Travis - yes! I think I was in starvation mode, so thanks for posting that note. I was at the point where I would eat 1200 cals, and not be hungry at all. I wouldn't even feel like eating. I think my body had sort of shut down into "stand by". :smile:

    Mamared - thanks, and congrats on your success! :flowerforyou:

    Kimber - thanks girl! :flowerforyou: I'll never see the kind of numbers you see on the scale, but I can dare to dream! :wink:

    Arewethereyet - CONGRATS! You must feel awesome! :flowerforyou:
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
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    what's your deficit now AJ? I know you are close to your goal, and you look great from your pictures, from what I can see if you are eating more then 300 below maintenance, then I could see you hitting a plateau easilly.

    BANKS!!! Your advice paid off! :flowerforyou:

    So, at the cottage, I EASILY ate over 2000 a day (BMR + active lifestyle = 1700 + 500 extra exercise calories average = 2200 burned daily). I guess I pretty much ate my maintenace calories, and lost a pound. Thoughts?

    So what do you think I should be eating now? Still creating a 500 cal deficit? I was creating a 1000 cal daily deficit and not losing anything! I basically never felt full, but never stopped eating!

    1000 cals is crazy IMHO. You have what...3 - 6 lbs to lose at most? 200 to 300 cal deficit would be where I would be. It will take 2 or 3 months to lose the rest, but really, considering you only have a few to lose, why rush it. You will be the only one who notices 3 lbs. Trust me. As a matter of fact, that's where I am now, i've lost 1 lb in about the last month, and happy to do it, cuz I am just about at maintenance and I don't really care whether I lose any more or not, I just want to ripple up the ole stomach.

    Thanks for the info and support! I'm with you - anything that comes off now is gravy, but I would be happy to stay here. I will never be skinny, but I don't think that interests me anymore anyway!

    Good luck on rippin' your abs - your probably more ripped than you think...
    :smile:

    Don't kid youself AJ, your lookin pretty good IMO! :bigsmile:
  • AJCM
    AJCM Posts: 2,169 Member
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    what's your deficit now AJ? I know you are close to your goal, and you look great from your pictures, from what I can see if you are eating more then 300 below maintenance, then I could see you hitting a plateau easilly.

    BANKS!!! Your advice paid off! :flowerforyou:

    So, at the cottage, I EASILY ate over 2000 a day (BMR + active lifestyle = 1700 + 500 extra exercise calories average = 2200 burned daily). I guess I pretty much ate my maintenace calories, and lost a pound. Thoughts?

    So what do you think I should be eating now? Still creating a 500 cal deficit? I was creating a 1000 cal daily deficit and not losing anything! I basically never felt full, but never stopped eating!

    1000 cals is crazy IMHO. You have what...3 - 6 lbs to lose at most? 200 to 300 cal deficit would be where I would be. It will take 2 or 3 months to lose the rest, but really, considering you only have a few to lose, why rush it. You will be the only one who notices 3 lbs. Trust me. As a matter of fact, that's where I am now, i've lost 1 lb in about the last month, and happy to do it, cuz I am just about at maintenance and I don't really care whether I lose any more or not, I just want to ripple up the ole stomach.

    Thanks for the info and support! I'm with you - anything that comes off now is gravy, but I would be happy to stay here. I will never be skinny, but I don't think that interests me anymore anyway!

    Good luck on rippin' your abs - your probably more ripped than you think...
    :smile:

    Don't kid youself AJ, your lookin pretty good IMO! :bigsmile:

    Thanks Banks :smile:
  • AlbertSchwartz
    AlbertSchwartz Posts: 810
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    what's your deficit now AJ? I know you are close to your goal, and you look great from your pictures, from what I can see if you are eating more then 300 below maintenance, then I could see you hitting a plateau easilly.


    Sorry if this is repetative but I have no clue what you mean by this banks. Can you explain?

    Hi shelly, the deficit is the differance between the amount your body needs to stay as it is (maintain) and the reduced amount we eat to lose weight. If you have a long way to go the deficit can be faily large, 500 cals a day say. but as you get closer and closer to your target weight you body can't handle as big a differance in calories between what it needs and what it gets, so you close the gap slightly, to say 200 or 300 cals. Hope that answers you :smile:

    Al
  • northernmama705
    northernmama705 Posts: 47
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    thanks for starting this post AJCM. I have been at a standstill for weeks now. So after reading this thread I went back to my goals and saw that I had 2lbs per week as a goal. I changed it to a more realistic (for me) goal of 1 lb per week and noticed I went from 1200 calories ot 1550!! Hopefully eating more will help break my plateau. I am only half way to my goal. I'll keep you posted.

    Thanks to all for the comments on this topic, very helpful:flowerforyou:
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
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    Sorry if this is repetative but I have no clue what you mean by this banks. Can you explain?

    Hi shelly, the deficit is the differance between the amount your body needs to stay as it is (maintain) and the reduced amount we eat to lose weight. If you have a long way to go the deficit can be faily large, 500 cals a day say. but as you get closer and closer to your target weight you body can't handle as big a differance in calories between what it needs and what it gets, so you close the gap slightly, to say 200 or 300 cals. Hope that answers you :smile:

    Al

    Good explaination Al, this one is always so hard for me to describe, I'm a left brain, so for me, numbers are always easy. It's hard, sometimes, for me to translate my geek brain into normal human explainations. Thank guy!
  • PrincessLaundry
    PrincessLaundry Posts: 2,758 Member
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    Exactly... chow it girlie!

    dre0267l.jpg
  • sindyb9
    sindyb9 Posts: 1,248 Member
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    I am in a plateau now almost 4 weeks no weight loss or gain. I was told to eat more as well and I am hoping this works. But not sure how much to eat? I exercise everyday and burn 350 weekdays and 425 on week ends. I think my bmr is 1550 with a 740 cal dificit. What do you think?
  • shellyws
    shellyws Posts: 33 Member
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    Thanks Al and Banks! I was getting confused because I have hit that plateau for 2 months now and just not sure how to break it. I have kept with my plan but.... I keep losing the same 2 pounds over and over! :grumble:

    I lost about 1/2 what I need to so I guess maybe I will go back and switch to 1 lb a week as well for a little while and see what that does. I did notice that when I switched from working out every day to every other that helped so I at least lost the 2 pounds!
  • sassytml81
    sassytml81 Posts: 8
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    This is some good advice. Thx!! :smile:
  • skinnydreams
    skinnydreams Posts: 1,178 Member
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    You are amazing!!! I'm so proud of you for sticking to this and trying new ways of breaking plateaus!!! Congrats and keep on truckin'!!!
  • AJCM
    AJCM Posts: 2,169 Member
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    You are amazing!!! I'm so proud of you for sticking to this and trying new ways of breaking plateaus!!! Congrats and keep on truckin'!!!

    Thanks Skinny!!! And look at that pic of you - you ARE skinny, you've reached your dream!!! CONGRATS to you!
    :flowerforyou:
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
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    mega bumpers
  • AJCM
    AJCM Posts: 2,169 Member
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    mega bumpers

    Thanks Banks!!!
    :flowerforyou:
  • tyeshaljohnson
    tyeshaljohnson Posts: 22
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    Yep when you come to a stand still a drastic change in eating habits for a day does make you loose weight!!!! Like something very high in calories, like burger and fries, chocolate, etc.....it sends your body into shock or something, and you can get the scale moving again in the right directions. PEACE LOVE AND HAIR GREASE!!!!:laugh: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
  • tamrajd
    tamrajd Posts: 86
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    i totally agree i haven't been on for a week or so because i got so bored and sick of not losing. i still exerise with out fail everyday and be careful of what i eat but not logging and treating myself somewhat. and low and behold i lost 3 lbs.. yeah
  • pmkelly409
    pmkelly409 Posts: 1,653 Member
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    Okay here it is, truth hurts....I increased my calories to a number I used to think of as scary...and i lost another lb this week after a 6 week plateau. 6 weeks lost due to my own stubborn, pig-headed, inablity to put more calories in my mouth. I talked the nutritionist last week and she gave me some suggestions, and BAM! I lost a lb.

    I increased my breakfast calories to 300, added more protein to lunch and added an higher calorie mid-morning snack (yogurt or almonds). I also am trying a protein bar immediately after workout and then eating a high protein/good carb/ balanced dinner.
  • AJCM
    AJCM Posts: 2,169 Member
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    Okay here it is, truth hurts....I increased my calories to a number I used to think of as scary...and i lost another lb this week after a 6 week plateau. 6 weeks lost due to my own stubborn, pig-headed, inablity to put more calories in my mouth. I talked the nutritionist last week and she gave me some suggestions, and BAM! I lost a lb.

    I increased my breakfast calories to 300, added more protein to lunch and added an higher calorie mid-morning snack (yogurt or almonds). I also am trying a protein bar immediately after workout and then eating a high protein/good carb/ balanced dinner.

    AWESOME!!!!! I know it's hard to do, but man it works!!!!! You are looking AMAZING by the way (that is you running, right?).
    :flowerforyou:

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