plateau :-(

Over the last two months I've made really excellent progress just after christmas I was 19st 13lbs and started MFP on the 6th of January, Since then I've lost quite a lot of weight, but now I've plateaued at 17st 1lb, I know what you all are going to say that it hasnt been that long and weight loss goes up and down, but my weight has been coming off consistently every week and now its stopped, do I need to up my game if there anything Im doing wrong, I'm religious with my logging and log everything

Just looking for a bit of advice please all

Replies

  • EvanKeel
    EvanKeel Posts: 1,904 Member
    I'm religious with my logging and log everything

    Oh? On some days this week, you're netting a very low number. I hope for the sake of your general health that you're actually consuming more than you log...unless you're incredibly short.
  • vixter93
    vixter93 Posts: 2
    I plateau'd at around 13stone 2 and sadly, it was just keeping going. Exercised, ate well still, and slowly my progress has started again after about 2 weeks!
    Its horrible, and you have my sympathy, but it cold just be your body catching up with itself, or gaining muscle mass?

    Hope you get around it soon, the worst feeling!

    And youve done so well! Congrats!!!
  • gary5661
    gary5661 Posts: 18 Member
    i log everything as accurately as it can be
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    How long have you been at this weight?
    Have you changed anything recently?
    It's not unusual to find weight sticking a bit due to water.

    While the opposite, this is a good example of the difference 'water weight' can make - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2507184/I-lost-nearly-2-stone-24-HOURS-Sport-scientist-proves-rapid-weight-loss-IS-possible-youre-prepared-exercise-wearing-bin-bags-eat-carbs-drink-nothing.html
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    I've gone 4 weeks without losing after consistently losing as well...then lost...then went another 4 weeks Christmas happened...gained weight...then after the new year Wooosh...3lbs gone in 2 weeks..

    Patience, weighing my food, logging and just a bit more moving got it all going again...and by a bit more moving I mean 14 more mins 2 days a week...
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
    weight loss isnt linear.
  • alexanderzamani
    alexanderzamani Posts: 25 Member
    Looking at your food intake, you're eating way to little and the food you are eating is also not healthy at all. I doubt you're getting adequate nutrition.

    When you eat too little, your body goes into starvation mode and will hold onto fat more.

    I would suggest eating more and better quality foods. Yes, the site's about calorie counting but come on, your diet is nasty.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member

    When you eat too little, your body goes into starvation mode and will hold onto fat more.
    Citation please.
    Also, please define 'starvation mode'.
  • gary5661
    gary5661 Posts: 18 Member
    My diet isn't nasty thank you. I do drink a lot of coffee but it is shown to help weight loss, also it's my vice.
    I have a slim fast shake for lunch, while I'm losing weight, and then for dinner I try and eat veg and something rather than potato or rice or pasta as carbs put weight on me, also I don't eat fruit and I love apples but they were stopping me losing weight, did start eating almonds first thing but they also hindered weight loss for me, I can eat a plate of chips and put on 2lbs.
  • Coffee is fine. I have on average about two cups a day.

    Alexanderzama has said that you don't eat enough and I totally agree. You CANNOT consistenly eat under what is your caloric daily goal. I'm sure MFP has already got you on a deficit. You are constantly going under THAT by 1000 calories and sometimes even more than that.

    Starvation mode can happen in one of two ways. You don't eat anything for approx 60-72 hours and your body will go into starvation mode and start to conserve fat and eat at muscle. The other way is to eat so little calories for a period of time. This is half your BMR.

    http://caloriecount.about.com/forums/weight-loss/truth-starvation-mode
    http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html <-- I do Leangains

    I'm not sure how tall and what your weight is, but your diary says eat 2300. Mine says eat 1650, yet I've seen days where you eat only 800 calories and on this same day, you did 800 calories worth of exercise as well.

    Weight loss is slow, don't rush it.
  • Dewymorning
    Dewymorning Posts: 762 Member
    weight loss isnt linear.

    THis.

    I have been at this game for one year, and I have the same game over and over again, I lose consistently for a while and then have a week or two no movement, and then I suddenly lose a lot of weight in one week, steady loss, no loss, cycle and repeat.
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    Note that a lot of people find that carbs lead to water retention.

    That doesn't mean they harm weight loss, just that the figure on the scales may be a bit different.

    It SEEMS you shoot up if you have more carbs, then it goes down when you stop. In reality, you've just got a bit more water around your body.
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
    Note that a lot of people find that carbs lead to water retention.

    That doesn't mean they harm weight loss, just that the figure on the scales may be a bit different.

    It SEEMS you shoot up if you have more carbs, then it goes down when you stop. In reality, you've just got a bit more water around your body.

    very true, but, other things can happen as well.... its easier to just chalk it up as nonlinear or we may see people cutting carb intake and then saying that they must cut more cals since weight isnt coming off... hormone levels are constantly in flux and they can have a pretty big impact on things.

    ETA: at only 173# I can cause 10# swings with massive carb intake followed by a day of drinking..... way up.. way down... without drying out with alcohol it would take days for it to level out if not over a week
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    Sorry; to clarify the carbs was mentioned in relation to his comments about avoiding them, rather than this particular incidence.
    Ie, just because the scales jump up if you eat carbs, it doesn't mean you've suddenly put on a couple of pounds of fat :).
  • sunshinelively
    sunshinelively Posts: 249 Member
    no advice but i can relate. haven't lost anything since early February of this year. frustrating. i've been weight training though, and i think converting fat to muscle. my overall body fat percentage went down 2.5% over the last 6 weeks. lost 1 3/4 inches off my waist. they say look at inches not pounds. it's hard though when at first the scale keeps going down - very reinforcing - but then it stops and you feel like you're working your *kitten* off. i will say this: weight training makes me ravenous and i think my logging may be not as accurate as before which i will try to work on. i never imagined it would be so hard. but over the long haul it's better to have more muscle on your body especially as you age. if you convert fat to muscle you're not going to be losing weight, but will lose inches. so, theory is if you really build up muscular strength i bet eventually you reach a max point and start to lost weight again.

    hopefully.
  • yewbic
    yewbic Posts: 37
    i agree with the others saying that you're eating way too little calories (on some days)...

    i know you can open up a can of worms by just mentioning the term "starvation mode" but the way i define it is: when you eat so little food (over an undetermined period of time) that you dont have enough energy to properly support all of your bodily functions at a healthy state, where then your metabolism decides to temporarily re-adjust itself to slow down a bit in order to compensate for the lack of energy available, and thus hindering your weight loss efforts.

    dont be afraid to try this... for 3 days in a row eat all the way up to your maintenance calories.. or better yet eat like anywhere between 100 and 400 calories below your maintenance... so if right now your eating at a 1000 calorie deficit, for those 3 days only cut like 300 calories worth of a deficit

    on those 3 days of eating all those calories make sure you eat something around every 3 hours or so...those 3 days of consistent intake are gonna help re-assure your metabolism that you're not starving, and hopefully will reset it back to a normal healthy state.

    on the 4th day start cutting calories and exercising again. but dont go below 1200, or within a few weeks you'll probably stall out again. that "3 day spike" method has always helped me break through plateaus


    edit: just looking through your diary.... you should always eat back the calories you burn from exercise... on quite a few days you're not leaving your body with enough energy.... on some days you're burning more than you're eating :(
  • littleburgy
    littleburgy Posts: 570 Member
    Is it even a plateau? How long has the loss actually stopped for?

    You've lot a ton of weight, but the more you lose, it's going to start to slow down.
  • CampbellTony
    CampbellTony Posts: 38 Member
    Although this wouldn't make you very healthy, you can eat any food item you like as long as you are eating a calorie deficit. I'd recommend that you get some better nutrition than you have in your food diary though. I wouldn't bother with the shakes either, but thats just me. I'd eat something more substantial, just because I like to eat. The whole starvation thing will start a big argument, but the science and basic facts say its a load of bull (at least in the way that most people comprehend it). If you are weighing each and every gram that goes in your mouth and eat below your maintenance calories i.e a deficit, you WILL lose weight. Eat healthy, eat your calories and the weight will come off. Good luck to you mate. :happy:
  • yulmartha
    yulmartha Posts: 3 Member
    I'm experiencing the same plateau the past couple of weeks. But I'm sometimes erratic with eating... lose track of time/get booking in meeting and miss lunch, or get home late a miss dinner. Sounds like I need to force myself to be consistent.
  • PamL68
    PamL68 Posts: 4 Member
    Hi
    I think there is a problem with some of the food you are eating. The calorie/fat/sodium counts are way off. For example, a happy meal at McDonald's shows no sodium at all. And another entry shows 50 calories for a sandwich, even a small sandwich has more than 50 calories.
    The quality of the food you are eating is not very good either. Try lean protein and fresh vegetables. Even if you are eating lo-cal your body needs good fuel, not McDonald's to function.
    Also, are you exercising? Even a brisk 20 minute walk a day will help. If you already have an exercise routine try changing it up a bit, add some new things.
    Good luck.
  • loubidy
    loubidy Posts: 440 Member
    If your food log is correct then you need to eat more!
  • LosingItForGood13
    LosingItForGood13 Posts: 182 Member
    try switching up your exercise routines
  • ratchet2
    ratchet2 Posts: 87 Member
    I don't really have any advice, I just wanted you to know that I can empathize with you. I have plateaued for the past 9 months. Eat the required calories, maybe increase the intensity of your workout, and stick with it. The positive is that you haven't gained. Remember muscles burn more calories than fat.
  • gary5661
    gary5661 Posts: 18 Member
    Thanks all for advice, I'd just like to add a few things. Im 6ft tall and have been weight training for the last 4 years with no cardio. Always been big but wanted to be toned and thought I could weightlift myself into shape, tried to loose weight by eating fresh salad every day and a proper dinner, but just kept stalling out at 19stone(266lbs) then I went on to the bodybuilding forum and myfitness pal was recommended to me so on the 6th of january this year I made the descision I want to be able to see the fruits of my work I have done in the gym over the last 4 years. so I dusted the bicycle off and started pedaling the 5mile to and 5mile from work everyday and logged it through mapmyride to get accurate calories, So now I'm cycling 50 miles per week and the weather has been terrible in south wales over the last 2 months. still go to the gym and lift heavy 4 days a week 1hour per time I try and do. Then my diet.
    Luckily my wife has been very supportive towards this she would like to loose a few pounds as well we do eat a lot of veg now and I know there is alternatives to slim fast shake but it is a balanced meal. as for eating back my excercise calories Ive read a lot about this and some people do and some people dont, my take on this is why excercise and use those calories then eat them back again ???
    and I know Im not eating a lot of calories at the moment but I just want to get the weight off
  • gary5661
    gary5661 Posts: 18 Member
    thanks
  • geebusuk
    geebusuk Posts: 3,348 Member
    y take on this is why excercise and use those calories then eat them back again ???
    First off - a good reason NOT to exceed a specific deficit is that it can lead to excess catabolism - losing weight from muscle as well as fat.

    So, there's two ways to approach this to my mind. Have a smaller deficit and if you do some exercise, accept that day you'll have a bigger deficit.
    Or look to have the same deficit everyday, but eat back the calories you are burning. With this method, which I use, I accept that exercising is done both to allow more eating AND to improve cardio fitness.

    In the end, if you want a bigger deficit you CAN just eat less.
    There's other negatives to regularly being at big deficit - you may find your body burns less calories generally, lethargy and so on.
  • dholno
    dholno Posts: 14
    ....., my take on this is why excercise and use those calories then eat them back again ???
    and I know Im not eating a lot of calories at the moment but I just want to get the weight off
    I saw your dairy. Don't get me wrong but it looks you are making the usual "Triple U" diet mistake: Unbalance, Unhealthy and Under eating

    1. You may want to check those calories measurements. It doesn't sounds right a chip chop chips under 400 calories? KFC under 300?
    2. McDonald for breakfast? A Chinese takeaway without Trans?' Frozen food (check those nutrition fact in most of the v. cheap supermarkets products ...you are eating everything but the meal in the label and Takeaways as main meals?
    3. Under 600 calories in some days for a 32yr old male? ...something is not right there...

    My 2 cents, check those U's and replace them with the "big B": balance diet ....

    DH