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

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lisafirebelle
lisafirebelle Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
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

  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
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    From what I understand there is no conclusive evidence and an awful lot of myths, hyperbole and variation. However, it seems unlikely that your plateau would be due to a calorie deficit (i.e. either ingesting too few calories and/or expanding too many).

    Also from what I have read recently, the most likely reason is that you are under-estimating what you are eating and/or over estimating how much you expand via exercise.

    Would you consider opening your diary?
  • evangelene12
    evangelene12 Posts: 196 Member
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    Speaking for myself, I find that calorie cycling works for me when I hit a plateau. I eat significantly more than my calorie goal for a couple of days and then drop significantly less for the rest of the days while more or less maintaining the calories for the week. This seems to give me the push to get losing again.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    I doubt you need to eat more. You've gotten smaller so now you need even less net calories to maintain/lose weight = more exercise or less food

    If you want specifics in your case you'll need to make your diary public
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    a plateau is 6-8 weeks...

    if you are in a plateau you are in maitenance

    check your logging

    If it hasn't been 6-8 weeks be patient weight loss is not linear
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    a plateau is 6-8 weeks...

    if you are in a plateau you are in maitenance

    check your logging

    If it hasn't been 6-8 weeks be patient weight loss is not linear

    This.
  • nosebag1212
    nosebag1212 Posts: 621 Member
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    you cannot plateau due to "under reating", it literally goes against physics, your weight may stay the same but that will be due to water retention, you will still be losing fat
  • PHATmommy68
    PHATmommy68 Posts: 112
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    So frustrating...I am at the same weight give or take .2 of a pound for two weeks. I exercise 6 days a week and never eat more than 1600 calories a day. I don't just do cardio, I do circuit training, yoga, box fit training and power walking. HELP!!
  • dopeysmelly
    dopeysmelly Posts: 1,390 Member
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    Unless you weigh your food and log carefully you won't know what you're actually consuming, so it's all a guess. Maybe just try that for a week or two and see what happens?

    Stalls on weight loss are very common. I typically get 2 stalls a month, but I had one 3-4 week period where my weight stayed exactly the same. It was just after I'd started exercising more frequently. Don't worry about it. It's perfectly normal.
  • dopeysmelly
    dopeysmelly Posts: 1,390 Member
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    So frustrating...I am at the same weight give or take .2 of a pound for two weeks. I exercise 6 days a week and never eat more than 1600 calories a day. I don't just do cardio, I do circuit training, yoga, box fit training and power walking. HELP!!

    It is frustrating. That's why I started measuring myself with a tape measure every 2 weeks so I could see progress in other ways.
  • baileyang33
    baileyang33 Posts: 131 Member
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    Stay your course and it evens out in the end.
  • MBrothers22
    MBrothers22 Posts: 323 Member
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    I know this isn't really part of the question but 6 pints of pure water is a lot. 96 oz. The recommended intake is 91 oz of water from ALL fluids. Food and other liquid you ingest. I don't know if that could be the problem but you might want to scale back on the actual water. You do get a lot of water intake from other sources.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    Have you adjusted your calories down as you've lost weight? MyFitnessPal does not automatically adjust your calories as you lose weight. Have it recalculate your calories and see what it says.

    Have you been weighing your cereal/other foods that are not individually packaged? You may be consuming more calories than you realize. You may not actually be eating at a deficit.

    A plateau is over a month without the scale or tape measure budging. If you haven't been stuck for more than a month, give it more time.

    You do not need to eat more. That much is true. You're probably eating more than you realize and need to lower your intake to match your actual calorie goals.
  • fougamou
    fougamou Posts: 200 Member
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    Agree on the weighing everything


    Also, I always found mixing things up in regards to what I am eating and how I am exercising to be really important.
  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
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    No such thing as a plateau. You arent eating at a calorie deficit. Either that or you are starving yourself.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    So frustrating...I am at the same weight give or take .2 of a pound for two weeks. I exercise 6 days a week and never eat more than 1600 calories a day. I don't just do cardio, I do circuit training, yoga, box fit training and power walking. HELP!!

    Haha it always seems like a ripoff to me when a diary appears open, then, BAM! Password required!

    Anyhow, my weight easily goes up by 2-4 pounds in a day and then levels out or even increases over the course of a week or two. Then another critical week passes and the weight goes down and I see my typical 2 lb per month loss. It really messed with my confidence at first and challenged my resolve because I couldn't see a straight downward trend. More of stepping on the scale and seeing zig zag patterns. But be assured , if you're weighing your food and eating back reasonable exercise calories, and have created a sustainable energy deficit, your weight will go down.

    Hang in there

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