have I hit a plateau?

eranganm8 · May 2014

Hi guys...
I'm new here and hope this question wouldn't sound crazy. :)I am 26yrs and 5' 1'' female and was 172lbs weight when I 1st decided to change my life style.
I started my fitness goals from June 2013 and just buy cutting down my carbs and extra sugar I lost around 20lbs w/in 2 months and then I started going to gym every other day (around 2 hrs/day) and still hanged on to my diet.and I lost another 8lbs in August.but even though I was doing my diet and gym routine now my weight seems to fluctuate just w/in 145-141lbs. I'm beginning to get little worried and tired right now. nowadays I'm on 1200kcal diet (but I'm very worried that if I exceed it I would gain again and I cannot actually eat much.my stomach seems to be shrunken and most of the times I end up eating just 800-1000kcals/ day)

I'm on a busy schedule with my studies , due to that I don't get to go to gym everyday. So I do it every other day.lately I kind of organized my routine. I walk(6.5km/h) + run(10km/h) on tredmill (40mins) + do cycling (15mins) + strength training. usually it takes about 4hrs at gym to finish my routines.I do ab exercises on ever gym day and either arm/chest exercises or leg/thigh exercises on alternative gym days.

however despite my all efforts my weight hasn't been changed much.I'm bit relieved that it's at least in a steady phase...

have I hit a plateau? am I overdoing my gym routines? am I eating less? plz plz... help...

DanaDark · May 2014

Your body is attempting to adjust to your situation. You're packing on the stress and your body knows it cannot survive this way, so it is fighting you.

1200 calories a day while eating back half your exercise calories should be just fine.

You will need to buy a food scale and accurate weight everything you eat. An example, almost EVERY cereal box I have says a serving is X cups and Y grams. I went by the cup measurement. But when I weighed it, I found it was actually 1.5 servings! So, yeah, WEIGH instead.

Ninkyou · May 2014

It would probably help to open your diary.

However, 800-1000 calories isn't healthy for one. 1200 calories is the bare minimum you should be eating without exercise.

Since you exercise, you should be eating at least a portion of your exercise calories back.

Also, invest in a food scale if you haven't already and weigh your food. Log everyday, as accurately as possible.

eranganm8 · May 2014

I already bought a kitchen scale and started measuring sizes of the servings and quite on a pattern diet whole week..
usually I eat 2 brown bread slices with ricotta cheese spread
10 am an apple or pear
if I'm going to the gym a banana
lunch 150g chicken breast baked / skinless/ without oil + 100g buckwheat boiled + salads usually made of cherry tomatos , cucumber, half a red apple, chinese cabbage

at dinner I usually eat fruits (a large mango or averaged size avocado or a banana (if I'm too hungry I eat another brown bread slice with ricotta

I'm having bit of a hard time deciding the exact number of calories since different sites suggests differents values of the same size of the food..so that I usually use the highest number to be safe..

if I'm going out with friends or if I have a high carb serving party (since I'm an asian..our dishes are filled with carbs..

) I try to save my calories throughout the day..

but whenever I go above my cal value I feel so bad about myself..

and too scared to eat my workout calories back... :O

Ninkyou · May 2014

but whenever I go above my cal value I feel so bad about myself.. and too scared to eat my workout calories back... :O

Then you need to re-evaluate your relationship with food. Food is fuel, and you're not giving your body the proper amount of fuel that it needs.

Eat more caloric dense foods. It doesn't all have to be about quantity. Cook with oils. Have some ice cream for dessert... do whatever it takes, but you need to give your body an appropriate amount of calories, and 800-1200 calories with no exercise calories eaten back isn't going to give you anything worth having.

stferris · May 2014

Since you are only eating 800-1000 calories a day and doing quite a bit of exercise you may be losing fat but gaining muscle and muscle weighs more than fat so you are at a "stand still". Once your body adjusts you should start losing again,

eranganm8 · May 2014

I will try to improve my diet and see... thanks all... it's nice to have bunch of friends around with the same goal :drinker:

lindsey1979 · May 2014

A couple questions:

(1) Why does it take you 4 hours at the gym? Is that a typo? I see a good hour of cardio there and then weigh training. A good weight training program shouldn't take you more than 45-60 mins max. I'd recommend checking out Starting Strength.

(2) How much protein are you getting? From what you listed, it doesn't look like much. Getting sufficient protein is one of the things that's been shown to help maintain as much lean body mass while in a caloric deficit (the other is heavy lifting -- like Starting Strength or Stronglifts). I find 0.7 g per lb bodyweight to be a good amount of protein, though some will recommend higher.

(3) Have you considered cutting back on carbs? Some find that it helps with weight loss to restrict carbs. I personally keep mind under 100g per day for this reason. For others, it's all about sheer calorie total. But, if you're struggling, this may be something to consider.

Your calorie totals just don't make a bunch of sense -- to have stalled for that long (since August) on so little calories, especially with how much you're exercising. So, my guess is that you're either off on your calorie totals and eating more than you think you are (gotta weigh/measure everything to be sure) or there is something off with you medically (thyroid condition, insulin resistance, etc.).

Do you have any other symptoms of hypothyroidism --- you said tired already and fatigue is a common symptom -- but how about these others: cold (especially in hands and feet), dry hair/skin, brittle nails, constipation, difficulty sleeping, etc?

Your BMR should be over 1400 and your TDEE should be closer to 1700-1800. If you're really confident in your calorie counting, then I'd recommend going to the doctor to try and figure out what is going on because you should be losing weight on such a low calorie intake over such a long period of time.

diannethegeek · May 2014

Since you are only eating 800-1000 calories a day and doing quite a bit of exercise you may be losing fat but gaining muscle and muscle weighs more than fat so you are at a "stand still". Once your body adjusts you should start losing again,

The OP is likely to be losing muscle on 1000 calories a day, not gaining it.

eranganm8 · May 2014

1. I'm doing around 10 exercises on abs and either legs or arms.. and each I do 15 reps 3 sets.. so it takes time.since I'm doing my workouts every other day I work hard when I have the time. however I'm not at all tired of doing exercises or the Diet plan.. I'm bit sad because the results are not rewarding..

but I'm far less tired even to think about throwing out my goals

3.I eat chicken and fish.and egg whites. and some proteins from ricotta also. those are my main sources of protein.

3.and yah I considered low carbs in my diet.. is that too much to eat around 2 pieces of brown bread and 100g of buck wheat ?? I'm not much fond of sweets anyways. and I do not drink sweet tea, or any other bottle buying beverages. always going with water or fresh juice.

when I said I was tired I meant about the outcomes of the workout and diet.. And physically I'm feel normal. and I'm not hypothyriditic.but unfortunately yes... I have a medical condition. I was diagnosed with PCOS from the age of 19. and doctors asked me to loss some weight and put me on metformin. however metformin never worked well for me.and with some weight lost my cycles dropped in to normal and they stopped medication.however I know there's no cure. and my body is still insulin resistant.

lindsey1979 · May 2014

If you're insulin resistant, you really need to cut back on carbs -- or that has been what a lot of us have found to help (I'm insulin resistant too). I keep my carbs under 100 g/day, but I know some that find a lower number works for them (40-50) whereas others can tolerate more (120-140). But, at the very least, you need to track it so you know how much you're eating, so see if reducing would help.

With just the bread, buckwheat and juice, you could be eating a TON of carbs. 2 slice of wheat bread has about 24 g carbs, 100g of buckwheat has over 70 g carbs and juice has tons of carbs (1 cup of orange juice has about 26 g carbs and 1 cup of apple has 28 grams of carbs). Plus, when you throw in the other stuff you mentioned eating -- like the mango, apple or pear (35, 25, 27 -- depending on the size), cherry tomatoes, etc. You're probably easily over 200 g of carbs per day -- and if you're insulin resistant, you'll really struggle with weight loss even when your overall calories are low because of the way your body processes carbs -- it turns a disproportionate amount of them into fat rather than use them as fuel.

I'd highly recommend you really starting to track your foods -- weigh and measure everything -- so you know how much you're actually eating. I'd bet that you're eating a lot more than you realize as the size of the fruits vary a lot (which is why you should weigh them). And reduce your carbs! Check out the groups/threads for those with PCOS and you'll see a lot of people have to restrict their carbs to lose weight (and feel better by keeping the insulin response in check).

have I hit a plateau?

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