Breaking the Plateau - to eat more or not to eat more?

lisafirebelle
lisafirebelle Posts: 3
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all - after a lot of research I think I can attribute my weight loss plateau to under eating or over exercising but I have to say that I don't feel I'm under or over doing either.

I'm 5'8 and currently 10st 3.6 and have been for the last few weeks - my goal weight is closer to 9st 3.

My diet is as follows:

Breakfast: bowl of high fibre cereal

Mid morning: yoghurt

Lunch: whole meal bagel with thin layer of light cream cheese and a sprinkle of finely chopped red pepper and spring onion

Afternoon snack: half of a large tun of soup (tomato based)

Dinner: chicken/fish with salad/veg

Exercise I am doing 40 mins of interval cardio work and 20 mins of weights and stretching/ab work 5 times per week

I also try and drink 5-6 pints of water a day!!

Don't know why I have plateau'd so all advice would be great - bit apprehensive of eating more and putting weight back on!

Replies

  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,321 Member
    How long have you plateaued for?

    My thoughts are that if it is for a short time, say, a few weeks, just continue on the calories you have - weight loss doesn't happen consistently every week anyway.

    If it is a bit longer, have you adjusted your calories downward as you are supposed to do after certain amount of weight loss, I think it is every 10 pounds.

    Cant see how increasing calories would help, that goes against the grain of losing by calorie deficit.
  • dxpxh
    dxpxh Posts: 8
    The only thing that worked for me was to have a really awesome day(s) of eating everything I wanted - so I would definitely be over my calorie goal for that day (sometimes 2 days). I'd go back to regular eating habits after that and before you know it the scale went down.

    I get that you might not like this method, per se, but it works for me. Just make sure you don't weigh yourself right after that "cheat" day
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    How are you portioning your servings? The cereal alone could be hundreds more than you think if you aren't portioning it out.

    Upping your calories might give you a bit of a whoosh from water, but if you're not losing weight, it's not likely that the cause is undereating.

    Are you eating the same foods every day? How's your protein? (I ask those for questions of health, not weight loss.)
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    It's against the rules to post duplicates, by the way.

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