Plateau! Now what? Help!!

2pSquared
2pSquared Posts: 8
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,

I am hoping to get a little help on this plateau issue. On Feb 5, I decided to begin working towards a healthy lifestyle and so far have lost about 50lbs. I have been doing high protein low carb/fat meals and I started working with a personal trainer two times a week for about 7 weeks now. I started at 319lbs and down to around 266 or so. The problem is that for the past several weeks I have begun to plateau. I have tried dropping my calls and adding more carbs. I am not sure if I should go to maintenance cals for a while and then drop back or what to do. Any suggestions would be so greatly appreciated.

About me:
44 yo
Male
5' 10.5"
2000 calorie goal at the moment
275g of protein

Notes:
1 I weigh all foods and liquids on a digital scale
2 try to do 6 meals
3 I do 30 to 45 minutes of weight lifting with my trainer
4 I walk several miles a day

Thank you

Replies

  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    Hi Peter, I have had a similar experience. I think that I was shocked and disappointed when my 2lb or 2.5lb weekly weight loss suddenly dropped to an absolute crawl. This coincided with me starting weight lifting. I have the same thoughts of going to maintenance, or even surplus and bulking for a bit.

    However, with tonnes of support from my friends list I am holding my nerve and not changing anything for 4 weeks. As a result, I've noticed that I am still losing weight, only just 1lb per week. So it's not a plateau as I feared.

    So, no real advice, I have the same problem.
  • SixteenthOfJuly
    SixteenthOfJuly Posts: 11
    To shake a plateau, eat 2300-2700 calories one day and don't exercise
    Make sure to drink water and poop (I know but hear me out).
    OR
    just workout a lot and drink lots of tea and water one or two days
    The next day, go back to normal
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
    It is natural for your weight loss to crawl or stop for a few weeks. Despite doing everything correctly, your weekly results will be different due to hormones, water, sodium, bowels, etc. In addition, your body needs less energy now then it did at your heavier weight. If you added new exercises such as weight training then it is perfectly natural that your body is retaining water for muscle protection. Since it has only been a few weeks, keep with your same routine. If this continues for about six weeks, you should reassess your TDEE to make sure you aren't eating too much because the less you weigh the less calories your body needs.
  • serindipte
    serindipte Posts: 1,557 Member
    When I've been stuck for a few weeks, I have one or two days that I eat near maintenance and then go back to my normal deficit and, within two days, I drop 3-4 lbs.
  • 2pSquared
    2pSquared Posts: 8
    I was also disappointed and getting a little discouraged, but after having some time to gather myself and see what I have accomplished so far I was able to kick myself back into gear and keep pushing along. The plateau may or my not continue for long, but I can't go back. No it's not that I can't, it's that I WON'T go back to what I was doing.

    I decided that I would drop my protein a little and up my carbs a little.

    Thank you to all.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    I've had a quick peak at your diary and you are either not logging everything or you ate just over 2k calories in 2 days...

    885 on Friday is logged and 1243 is logged on Sat

    as well your entries do not always reflect weighing...choosing correct entries is important as well.

    Plateaus are a word for eating at maitenance....and they are longer than a couple weeks.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    1 I weigh all foods and liquids on a digital scale
    2 try to do 6 meals
    3 I do 30 to 45 minutes of weight lifting with my trainer
    4 I walk several miles a day

    1 Ensure that you are using the correct entries. Your diary looks pretty spotty.

    2 Meal frequency has nothing to do with weight loss, but I often also eat around six meals a day because it helps me with my energy levels and keeps me satiated.

    3 I see form an entry in your diary that you use a heart rate monitor to calculate calories, which is always best for steady state cardio. I personally would not calculate weight lifting calories (I just put a "1" in my diary for weight lifting so it's logged for my benefit) and then count calories for running (my only cardio). I don't even count calories for my walking warm ups/cool downs and stretches with running because it's not steady state cardio.

    4 What do you mean when you say you walk several times a day? Is this for your job? Or, you walk on your lunch hour? Walk from the car to the office? I ask this because these are also calories that would be included in daily activity and not counted as extra burns.
  • 2pSquared
    2pSquared Posts: 8
    That's is correct. I had under 2000 calories in this two days. I did that on purpose trying to kick start this thing.

    Not sure what you mean by it doesnt reflect weighing. Since I weigh my foods, I use the foods from MFP and adjust the servings to equal the servings based on the weight. If you could be more specific I would appreciate it.
  • 2pSquared
    2pSquared Posts: 8
    1 I weigh all foods and liquids on a digital scale
    2 try to do 6 meals
    3 I do 30 to 45 minutes of weight lifting with my trainer
    4 I walk several miles a day

    1 Ensure that you are using the correct entries. Your diary looks pretty spotty.

    2 Meal frequency has nothing to do with weight loss, but I often also eat around six meals a day because it helps me with my energy levels and keeps me satiated.

    3 I see form an entry in your diary that you use a heart rate monitor to calculate calories, which is always best for steady state cardio. I personally would not calculate weight lifting calories (I just put a "1" in my diary for weight lifting so it's logged for my benefit) and then count calories for running (my only cardio). I don't even count calories for my walking warm ups/cool downs and stretches with running because it's not steady state cardio.

    4 What do you mean when you say you walk several times a day? Is this for your job? Or, you walk on your lunch hour? Walk from the car to the office? I ask this because these are also calories that would be included in daily activity and not counted as extra burns.

    1. I am not sure what you mean by use the correct entries. I thought I was and didn't think my logging was spotty. If it appears that I ate less than 2000 calories in a day it's because i did. Could you give me an idea what you meant so that I can do a better job at logging.

    2. I understand meal frequency has nothing to do its weight loss. It was simply mentioned for information purposes.

    3. I use a Polar FT 60 to log my cardio workouts which are typically 60 minutes. I sometimes log a 10 minute warmup for my informational purpose only and not to eat that many more calories. I do not log my strength training nor track the calories that I may or may not burn because I don't know that I would be able to do this accurately.

    4. I think you misread my post. I walk several MILES a day though that would make it several times of day I guess lol. I walk a mile to work, a mile at break 1, a mile at break 2, and then a mile back home after work.

    Thank you all for your posts.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    That's is correct. I had under 2000 calories in this two days. I did that on purpose trying to kick start this thing.

    Not sure what you mean by it doesnt reflect weighing. Since I weigh my foods, I use the foods from MFP and adjust the servings to equal the servings based on the weight. If you could be more specific I would appreciate it.

    2 scoops of protien powder does not reflect weighing it...
    1 slice of cheese
    Bread 2 slices - my entry for bread is Whole Wheat 0.82 (which reflects 100g @ 0.82) so my bread slice x2 today was 82grams...tomorrow it could be 88....next day for 1 slice 0.42...never 1 slice.
    Strawberries 5 med
    Rice 2 cups cooked

    That (except the protien powder) was from yesterday...

    I suspect most of these are prepackaged items except the fruit and rice...but even those I weigh as the lables can be off by up to 20%...then I look for the USDA entry for what I am eating...whole wheat bread, Chicken breast raw etc. and use those entries or I create my own based on weight of 100g so makes logging easier.

    As for entries there are a lot of entries entered by users that are incorrect...I saw one for a 6 oz steak with 95g of protien...or 5 chicken wings with 328 calories and 52 g of protien...

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide?hl=Logging+accurately&page=3#posts-19337078

    ETA: I see your daily goal is 1800 and you eat exercise calories back...that could present an issue too as calories burned are often over estimated as well or Under estimated...Weight lifting...a lot of us who do lift heavy use the TDEE method that way we are eating the same calories every day regardless of our exercise (as long as exercise is consistent).

    I like IIFYM.com for this calculation as it is the only one that gets close to my actually TDEE calculated using my own data...you could try that...
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    1 I weigh all foods and liquids on a digital scale
    2 try to do 6 meals
    3 I do 30 to 45 minutes of weight lifting with my trainer
    4 I walk several miles a day

    1 Ensure that you are using the correct entries. Your diary looks pretty spotty.

    2 Meal frequency has nothing to do with weight loss, but I often also eat around six meals a day because it helps me with my energy levels and keeps me satiated.

    3 I see form an entry in your diary that you use a heart rate monitor to calculate calories, which is always best for steady state cardio. I personally would not calculate weight lifting calories (I just put a "1" in my diary for weight lifting so it's logged for my benefit) and then count calories for running (my only cardio). I don't even count calories for my walking warm ups/cool downs and stretches with running because it's not steady state cardio.

    4 What do you mean when you say you walk several times a day? Is this for your job? Or, you walk on your lunch hour? Walk from the car to the office? I ask this because these are also calories that would be included in daily activity and not counted as extra burns.

    1. I am not sure what you mean by use the correct entries. I thought I was and didn't think my logging was spotty. If it appears that I ate less than 2000 calories in a day it's because i did. Could you give me an idea what you meant so that I can do a better job at logging.

    2. I understand meal frequency has nothing to do its weight loss. It was simply mentioned for information purposes.

    3. I use a Polar FT 60 to log my cardio workouts which are typically 60 minutes. I sometimes log a 10 minute warmup for my informational purpose only and not to eat that many more calories. I do not log my strength training nor track the calories that I may or may not burn because I don't know that I would be able to do this accurately.

    4. I think you misread my post. I walk several MILES a day though that would make it several times of day I guess lol. I walk a mile to work, a mile at break 1, a mile at break 2, and then a mile back home after work.

    Thank you all for your posts.
    1. I noticed the days where you logged very low calories ,but I believe you said in a latter post that you ate low calories those days for a purpose. However, in looking back further, I do see a lot of generic entries as well-packets, slices, etc. To ensure accurate logging, go to the link Stef provided below.

    2. Excellent on the meal frequency tidbit. What works for me is a bigger breakfast, a medium lunch, and a smaller dinner with snacks in between. It really keep my energy going, though I know this does not work for everyone.

    3. It sounds like you have exercise logging down.

    4. Well, your posting didn't specify how much you actually walked, hence my asking for clarification. :bigsmile: That is quite a bit of walking.

    Just curious- what do you have your activity setting at? I wonder if it's too high?

    Also, in the ten pound intervals that you've lost weight have you allowed MFP to reset your calorie limit? As we get smaller we need less calories.

    Also, how long have you been not losing? Weight loss is not linear.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    You've lost a lot of weight. Have you re-defined your goals in MFP yet? It is recommended that you do so every 10 pounds or so.

    I'd say going for 1.0 or 1.5 pounds a week would be adequate for your weight loss.

    "Slowing to a plateau" is not a plateau. What exactly is going on? Is weight loss just slowing down? Or has it stopped? What are the numbers looking like? What is your deficit? How much are you losing per week roughly?

    Honestly it is difficult to really tell you any specific advice without firm numbers and details.

    And yes, weighing food, even things like "slice" into grams will make a massive difference.

    ...

    I need to buy a battery for my food scale now that I think about it. ><
  • 2pSquared
    2pSquared Posts: 8
    That's is correct. I had under 2000 calories in this two days. I did that on purpose trying to kick start this thing.

    Not sure what you mean by it doesnt reflect weighing. Since I weigh my foods, I use the foods from MFP and adjust the servings to equal the servings based on the weight. If you could be more specific I would appreciate it.

    2 scoops of protien powder does not reflect weighing it...
    1 slice of cheese
    Bread 2 slices - my entry for bread is Whole Wheat 0.82 (which reflects 100g @ 0.82) so my bread slice x2 today was 82grams...tomorrow it could be 88....next day for 1 slice 0.42...never 1 slice.
    Strawberries 5 med
    Rice 2 cups cooked

    That (except the protien powder) was from yesterday...

    I suspect most of these are prepackaged items except the fruit and rice...but even those I weigh as the lables can be off by up to 20%...then I look for the USDA entry for what I am eating...whole wheat bread, Chicken breast raw etc. and use those entries or I create my own based on weight of 100g so makes logging easier.

    As for entries there are a lot of entries entered by users that are incorrect...I saw one for a 6 oz steak with 95g of protien...or 5 chicken wings with 328 calories and 52 g of protien...

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide?hl=Logging+accurately&page=3#posts-19337078

    ETA: I see your daily goal is 1800 and you eat exercise calories back...that could present an issue too as calories burned are often over estimated as well or Under estimated...Weight lifting...a lot of us who do lift heavy use the TDEE method that way we are eating the same calories every day regardless of our exercise (as long as exercise is consistent).

    I like IIFYM.com for this calculation as it is the only one that gets close to my actually TDEE calculated using my own data...you could try that...

    Thanks SS. I have to say that when I say I weigh everything i didn't even think about the things that are on a per serving basis. Some of these items are prepackaged and therefore I just assumed that 2 slices meant just that but I never gave it a second thought that the nutrition is being based on 2 slices but that's 2 slices of. Certain weight.

    Thank you for pointing out the different locations that I can turn to in order to get accurate counts.

    Btw, I don't usually add in the exercise calories. I had it set to 2000cal and dropped it to 1800 yesterday which explains the extra 200 you saw.

    Thank you again
  • 2pSquared
    2pSquared Posts: 8
    1 I weigh all foods and liquids on a digital scale
    2 try to do 6 meals
    3 I do 30 to 45 minutes of weight lifting with my trainer
    4 I walk several miles a day

    1 Ensure that you are using the correct entries. Your diary looks pretty spotty.

    2 Meal frequency has nothing to do with weight loss, but I often also eat around six meals a day because it helps me with my energy levels and keeps me satiated.

    3 I see form an entry in your diary that you use a heart rate monitor to calculate calories, which is always best for steady state cardio. I personally would not calculate weight lifting calories (I just put a "1" in my diary for weight lifting so it's logged for my benefit) and then count calories for running (my only cardio). I don't even count calories for my walking warm ups/cool downs and stretches with running because it's not steady state cardio.

    4 What do you mean when you say you walk several times a day? Is this for your job? Or, you walk on your lunch hour? Walk from the car to the office? I ask this because these are also calories that would be included in daily activity and not counted as extra burns.

    1. I am not sure what you mean by use the correct entries. I thought I was and didn't think my logging was spotty. If it appears that I ate less than 2000 calories in a day it's because i did. Could you give me an idea what you meant so that I can do a better job at logging.

    2. I understand meal frequency has nothing to do its weight loss. It was simply mentioned for information purposes.

    3. I use a Polar FT 60 to log my cardio workouts which are typically 60 minutes. I sometimes log a 10 minute warmup for my informational purpose only and not to eat that many more calories. I do not log my strength training nor track the calories that I may or may not burn because I don't know that I would be able to do this accurately.

    4. I think you misread my post. I walk several MILES a day though that would make it several times of day I guess lol. I walk a mile to work, a mile at break 1, a mile at break 2, and then a mile back home after work.

    Thank you all for your posts.
    1. I noticed the days where you logged very low calories ,but I believe you said in a latter post that you ate low calories those days for a purpose. However, in looking back further, I do see a lot of generic entries as well-packets, slices, etc. To ensure accurate logging, go to the link Stef provided below.

    2. Excellent on the meal frequency tidbit. What works for me is a bigger breakfast, a medium lunch, and a smaller dinner with snacks in between. It really keep my energy going, though I know this does not work for everyone.

    3. It sounds like you have exercise logging down.

    4. Well, your posting didn't specify how much you actually walked, hence my asking for clarification. :bigsmile: That is quite a bit of walking.

    Just curious- what do you have your activity setting at? I wonder if it's too high?

    Also, in the ten pound intervals that you've lost weight have you allowed MFP to reset your calorie limit? As we get smaller we need less calories.

    Also, how long have you been not losing? Weight loss is not linear.

    Thank you. I will def be looking at the the links SS provided. She provided some great insights and I greatly appreciate it.

    Yeah I realized I left many questions unanswered in my original posts about my walking. Thinks a great place to live, work, and do most everything.

    On my activity setting I have it on the lowest sedentary setting as I have an office job and figured I would be safe.

    I had not let MFP reset my calorie limit but I tried that yesterday and it set it at 1970 cal. I dropped it a little to 1800 to account for any counting mistake I may make.

    It has been about 3 maybe 4 weeks that I have not been losing. I get that this may not really be a plateau. I had just been doing so good and then stopped that I got frustrated. After a few days I realize that I need to chill, learn from the more experienced MFP'rs.

    Thank you all for your comments, suggestions, and support.

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