Another "Plateau thread"

_jayciemarie_
_jayciemarie_ Posts: 574 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am starting to feel frustrated. I have been dancing around the same weight since Christmas. My eating has changed a but I did that because I wanted to shock my body. I feel eating more or eating less gives me the same results. I am going to the grocery store tomorrow and plan to shock my body again by cutting carbs and upping protein. I just don't know if I can handle another month coming to an end with no results. Feeling a bit crushed. Any advice?

Replies

  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Do you weigh all your food?
  • fast_eddie_72
    fast_eddie_72 Posts: 719 Member
    I don't know if it was a "shock my body" thing or what. But I got stuck for a week, so cut waaay back two days last week. Just two days. And it got things going double time, at least it seems. I mean, weight loss isn't linear, or so they say, so maybe I'd have lost some weight this week regardless. But it sure seemed to make a difference. Dropped three pounds this week. YMMV.
  • littleburgy
    littleburgy Posts: 570 Member
    I don't know much about the efficacy of "shocking" the body, but I do know that in many cases with stalled weight loss, we are eating more than we think and overestimating what we burn when we exercise.

    I would advise having as much accuracy as possible with everything. Weigh food (it's more accurate than measuring cups when applicable), log absolutely everything, keep in mind that MFP isn't always accurate with their exercise numbers.

    I recently discovered some hidden calories in my estimates that were sabotaging my progress this month. It wasn't noticeable when I was heavier but given that it's harder to lose when we are near our goal, accuracy matters. Once I tightened up with accuracy, I started losing again.

    Personally I plan on getting a heart rate monitor and a better food scale (a nice digital one) when I'm maintaining. Good luck to you!
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Do you weigh all your food?

    ^^This. If you're not weighing your food, then trying different calorie levels is pretty moot.
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
    A calorie deficit is all that is needed to lose weight. If you are not losing weight, there is a miscalculation. No shocking of body required.
  • navyrigger46
    navyrigger46 Posts: 1,301 Member
    I only went back ten days in your diary, but you were over your calorie goal on six out of ten days, and by a significant amount on a couple of them. I only saw one day with any logged exercise. Assuming you log accurately my next question is, do you weigh all your food? If not, you are likely over by even more than the numbers indicate.

    Also, unless you're wiring a car battery to bare skin, your body doesn't really respond to "shock" It's not going to care if you cut out carbs, other than you'll be low on energy.

    Advice, use a food scale, stick to your calorie goal, and exercise a little more and you'll be fine. This isn't a plateau, it's a lapse in discipline.

    Rigger
  • psych101
    psych101 Posts: 1,842 Member
    Are you logging consistently? Are you weighing your food?

    Your body doesn't need to be shocked into anything, you don't need to cut out entire food groups - your body is not against you. Weight loss is calories in vs calories out

    Xx
  • _jayciemarie_
    _jayciemarie_ Posts: 574 Member
    I do weigh all my food. I have Polar watch for my cardio. All of this worked to get me down 45lbs. Since Christmas I keep fluctuation up/down anywhere between 179 and 183. I log everything. Even when I go over. The sad thing is when I started this I thought my goal would be 175. I was losing between 10-15lbs for a few months and thought "I am changing my goal to 155". Then it just stalled. I don't have a clue what to do. I bought Quest bars and plan to eat more protein. I don't know what else to do.

    I was actually sick for over a week. I was coughing up gunk for a little over two weeks. If you look back further in my diary you will see I typically exercise 4-5x a week---running on a treadmill at 5mph.
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    Okay, so I took a look at your diary... I went all the way back through January. You had 6 days over the course of the month that you were over your calorie goal by ALOT. Like 600+ calories. Some were well over 1,000 calories. You're basically blowing your calorie deficit with those days. Having an over day every once in a while is fine, but too often and it stands to reason that you're not going to lose weight.
  • _jayciemarie_
    _jayciemarie_ Posts: 574 Member
    I am probably in denial. I know since the start of the year I have too many days where I have been over. Although I try to look at my calories in weekly basis and my calories average at a good number every week.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    I feel eating more or eating less gives me the same results.

    Over the past 8 days or so, you've average about 1900 calories/day. That's...not insubstantial.

    Sounds like you're eating at maintenance. The solution to that is to either get more active, or eat less.

    The good news is, you know how to do that, because you've already done it! :smile:

    Good luck!
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
    Dancing around the same weight? Like Zumba dancing or like that Sean T martial art hip hop style dancing?
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    This eating to much I'm afraid it's that simple
  • kempt_ken
    kempt_ken Posts: 96 Member
    Just a thought ....You've had some good progress so far so have you revisited your profile?

    As we loose weight our BRM drops so we need to periodically update our profile and MFP will adjust the daily calorie target to reflect that as we loose weight our BMR falls as well.
  • _jayciemarie_
    _jayciemarie_ Posts: 574 Member
    I have been at this weight for so long. I have looked at every calculator out there. Unfortunately if I don't work out my tdee is around 1900 and my bmr is around 1550. Not really much room unless I eat below my bmr or exercise and don't eat back the calories. I just can't believe that I still have 30lbs to lose before I move from "overweight" to "healthy" and I am struggling.
  • SugaryLynx
    SugaryLynx Posts: 2,640 Member
    Dancing around the same weight? Like Zumba dancing or like that Sean T martial art hip hop style dancing?

    *snort*

    Perhaps a special weight loss chant form of dancing. Like a rain dance.

    OP, the only thing people could possibly suggest to you is to watch your intake. It truly is that simple. Diligence, logging consistency, and staying within your calorie limits are super important. :/
  • mayflowermn
    mayflowermn Posts: 52 Member
    Have you gone out to this link: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

    I know you said you used a number of different calculators but wasn't sure if this was one of them. The calculations from it have been working for me and eliminates all the confusion with the whole eating back exercise calories.

    I sorta feel like you as well since I haven't been too successful with getting rid of those last 10 lbs but then if I'm honest with myself, I have also had some real good (aka bad!) cheat days!!! And believe me....this girl knows how to EAT! lol

    Plus I haven't been to consistent on getting to the gym. You mention that you are working out, what are you typically doing for exercise? Personally I hate cardio but I use the treadmill 4x a day for 35 minutes along with an hour of lifting. Fortunately my job is pretty physical so I am moving around quite a bit during the day but should be getting a bit more cardio in I suppose to burn the fat.

    Anyhows....sometimes the weight just plateaus for a while and then decides to shift downwards again. I know there was a thread that someone posted about how "weight loss is not linear" and using their weight loss as an example, was able to point out the true plateaus that had occurred. As always, I wish it was as easy to take of that weight as it seems to put it on! :)

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