Stuck in a Rut!
CarmenLappe
Posts: 8 Member
Since beginning in August, I have successfully lost 17 of the 20 pounds I am aiming for. However, over the course of the last three weeks, I feel myself slipping into a rut. My weight has remained rather stagnant, even with making more extreme changes in my diet and exercising more.
Any suggestions or advice? Thank you!
Any suggestions or advice? Thank you!
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Replies
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Hi! I'm currently 18, 5'6, and I started 2013 at 149 pounds, on february or so I stopped logging on MFP. After that, I gained weight like crazy, and when I stepped on the scale on september, I was on 166, which means I had gained almost 18 pounds!! I hated myself and my body for getting so fat, and I had so many things to do that I couldn't get back to MFP. It's a great way to keep track of my food and excercise.
I play volleyball at my local club, and we train 3 times a week. I've trained the entire year, so I knew that my problem was the food I had been eating. I managed to get down to 157, before getting back to MFP; now I'm 147,7, which means I'm 1.3 pounds lighter than a year ago.
My goal is to weigh 128 pounds, and I aim to lose 2 pounds per week.
Feel free to add me. I have an open diary and now I'm trying the 5:2 diet, to lose the 18 pounds left.
Good luck!!0 -
Welcome to the group, guys!
I know plateaus can suck, especially so close to your goal! As you get closer and have less to lose, it gets harder. Just keep at it, make sure you're not eating too little, and maybe mix up your exercise routine. Don't get discouraged, you can do it! You lost 17 lbs, you can definitely do 3 more!
MFP is definitely super helpful! I had a bit of a hiatus over the Summer too, but thankfully didn't gain too much back. MFP for life! 2 lbs a week is a pretty aggressive goal. You've got less than 20 lbs to lose, so don't try and force yourself to lose it too fast!
I actually do a bit of intermittent fasting myself, though not the 5:2 method. I have an 8 hour window to eat each day, then I don't eat for 16 hours (8 pm to noon the next day). It's been pretty effective for me!0 -
What is the 5:2 method?0
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It's where you alternate high and low calorie days. I think you're only allowed 500 calories on 2 (non-consecutive) days of the week, then eat a normal amount (1500-ish?) the other days. I don't know too much about it, just read about it briefly. It didn't sound sustainable to me! I'd rather keep the same deficit every day.0
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Thanks for the info!0
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The last few pounds are the toughest. I am pretty much at a good weight but would like to lose another 1-3% bodyfat and it's hard! Sometimes I'm a little jealous of people that have more to lose because they see their progress quicker
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We need a little more information to help. How many calories are you eating a day? How much exercise are you doing? Are you lifting weights at all or just cardio?0 -
My calorie goal is 1,100 per day, but I rarely meet that. Usually, it's more in the 600-900 range. I am doing mostly walking/jogging, yoga, and some other circuit training.0
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You might already know this, but that's very, very low! Especially with exercise on top of it. That might be why it's so difficult to lose those last few pounds, your body doesn't want to let them go! MFP's calculator can get kinda inaccurate for shorter or lighter people. You might want to try plugging your numbers into another calculator, like Scooby's (http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/). I'd try to at least hit your 1,100 mark if you can. And that's net, so if you exercise and burn calories you should eat more so that you even out to 1,100 at the end of the day. 1,100 is probably still pretty low. Unless you're extremely short, your BMR (calories it takes to keep your body functioning healthily) is probably somewhere between 1200 to 1400. It's not really recommended to go below that.0
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I usually only exercise (cardio and circuit training) twice a week. I could easily consume the 1,100 calories per day, but it seems like if I do, then my fat and sugar is off the charts! Once I started watching those so closely, I noticed a huge difference in my weight, so I've been a little paranoid to allow myself more. Thanks for the advice, though! I know works that way with water - if you don't drink enough, your body stores what it DOES have to avoid dehydration.0
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I had the same issue with carbs. I've tried to really focus on getting more protein, and fiber in the carbs I do eat. I'm not a huge fan of meat so it's a challenge! Though even cutting my carbs to about 75% of what they were I feel so, so much better.
Exercising twice a week means your calorie goal could be even higher! Did you set yourself to sedentary when you signed up? You might need to change to lightly active at the very least. I might be getting ahead of myself here, though, haha. Slowly increasing to 1,100-1,200 will be a good start!0 -
I did set it to sedentary since I'm not the most motivated person when it comes to exercising, and I have a desk job. Thanks for all the advice - hopefully a few changes here and there will help me get to my goal. Only about two more pounds to go! But I am soo not patient so the last month has been killing me! 0
