Plateau - Need Help
_JPunky
Posts: 508 Member
Ok, I think I got all the rules down for this. Let me know if I'm doing anything wrong! 
Just a quick note: I DO have Lyme Disease which I know can mess with my metabolism, but I've had that for 12 years so I really can't figure out why I would now be having such a hard time at *almost* the same calories I was eating last year when I was losing one-two pounds per week at this same weight. (I say almost because it was actually about 1,500 calories at that point...nothing that should have made me start maintaining).
Provide your stats (height/weight/age/bodyfat% if you know it/etc)
- Height = 5'2"
- Weight = 129
- Age = 35
- Body Fat - I don't honestly know. My trainer did my measurements again the other day, but quite honestly she doesn't seem to have any idea what she's doing and I think they were way off. (For instance, I wear between a size 2 and I size 4, but she's telling me my waist is 30 inches....) From what I can tell, it seems to be somwhere between 22-25%.
What's your current gross intake of calories, on average? 1,600 calories per day.
What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams? (GRAMS, not percent!)
Since Beginning of June averages are:
Carbs - 171 g
Fat - 47 g
Protein - 128 g
Do you use a food scale and measure everything? Yes. I have one at home AND on my desk at work.
Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?) Yes. Well, everything except the 5 calories for my preworkout supplement. I'm *fairly* certain that's not what's causing the plateau...lol
Do you take cheat days or days off? I did up until about 6 weeks ago. About once a month or so. Since then I have had cheat meals, but I always log them and 99% of the time I'm still within my calorie goal. I'm neurotic about red numbers.
How much weight have you lost so far and over what time period? I've lost 57 pounds in the last year and a half. It WAS 65 pounds in a year, but beginning in January I started having stomach problems and started gaining for what appeared to be no reason (I was at a mainenance intake of 1,800 calories at that time). I've dropped my calories back down to a deficit (1,600 calories) since February and have stopped the gain, but I still can not seem to lose ANYTHING.
Describe your activity (exercise and non exercise) and did you change that activity withing the last couple of months? I'm a very active single mom. I work full time in a desk job, but I'm up running around quite often. (When I wore a fitbit, I had NO problem hitting 10,000 steps in a normal day even without exercise). I do long hikes at least once or twice a month. I lift 4-5 days per week. On those days I also do about 15-20 minutes of elliptical or running. I also walk to/from the gym on workout days (1 mile each way) When it's not monstrously hot outside (it has been for the last two weeks) I also walk on my lunch break - about 3 1/2 miles (1 hour). On evenings and weekends when I need to go to the store (about a mile away) I typically walk instead of driving. I'm also starting to run three mornings a week for 20-30 minutes because I'm training for a savage race. That just started this week, though.
How long have you been stalled and if it is not a complete stall please be very specific as to how much you have lost over the stalled period. I gained about 8 pounds from January - February/March? (Again, for no real reason that I could ascertain). Since then I have managed to stop the gain, but I have been unable to budge from the range of 128-132 pounds.
Are you breastfeeding? No
Do you have thyroid issues/risks or PCOS? No. My thyroid was just tested because the doctor is trying to help me figure out what's going on, too. I do have an appointment with a GI doctor in July, but it definitely shouldn't be thyroid. I have very little idea what PCOS is, but I have never been told I have it.
Just a quick note: I DO have Lyme Disease which I know can mess with my metabolism, but I've had that for 12 years so I really can't figure out why I would now be having such a hard time at *almost* the same calories I was eating last year when I was losing one-two pounds per week at this same weight. (I say almost because it was actually about 1,500 calories at that point...nothing that should have made me start maintaining).
Provide your stats (height/weight/age/bodyfat% if you know it/etc)
- Height = 5'2"
- Weight = 129
- Age = 35
- Body Fat - I don't honestly know. My trainer did my measurements again the other day, but quite honestly she doesn't seem to have any idea what she's doing and I think they were way off. (For instance, I wear between a size 2 and I size 4, but she's telling me my waist is 30 inches....) From what I can tell, it seems to be somwhere between 22-25%.
What's your current gross intake of calories, on average? 1,600 calories per day.
What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams? (GRAMS, not percent!)
Since Beginning of June averages are:
Carbs - 171 g
Fat - 47 g
Protein - 128 g
Do you use a food scale and measure everything? Yes. I have one at home AND on my desk at work.
Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?) Yes. Well, everything except the 5 calories for my preworkout supplement. I'm *fairly* certain that's not what's causing the plateau...lol
Do you take cheat days or days off? I did up until about 6 weeks ago. About once a month or so. Since then I have had cheat meals, but I always log them and 99% of the time I'm still within my calorie goal. I'm neurotic about red numbers.
How much weight have you lost so far and over what time period? I've lost 57 pounds in the last year and a half. It WAS 65 pounds in a year, but beginning in January I started having stomach problems and started gaining for what appeared to be no reason (I was at a mainenance intake of 1,800 calories at that time). I've dropped my calories back down to a deficit (1,600 calories) since February and have stopped the gain, but I still can not seem to lose ANYTHING.
Describe your activity (exercise and non exercise) and did you change that activity withing the last couple of months? I'm a very active single mom. I work full time in a desk job, but I'm up running around quite often. (When I wore a fitbit, I had NO problem hitting 10,000 steps in a normal day even without exercise). I do long hikes at least once or twice a month. I lift 4-5 days per week. On those days I also do about 15-20 minutes of elliptical or running. I also walk to/from the gym on workout days (1 mile each way) When it's not monstrously hot outside (it has been for the last two weeks) I also walk on my lunch break - about 3 1/2 miles (1 hour). On evenings and weekends when I need to go to the store (about a mile away) I typically walk instead of driving. I'm also starting to run three mornings a week for 20-30 minutes because I'm training for a savage race. That just started this week, though.
How long have you been stalled and if it is not a complete stall please be very specific as to how much you have lost over the stalled period. I gained about 8 pounds from January - February/March? (Again, for no real reason that I could ascertain). Since then I have managed to stop the gain, but I have been unable to budge from the range of 128-132 pounds.
Are you breastfeeding? No
Do you have thyroid issues/risks or PCOS? No. My thyroid was just tested because the doctor is trying to help me figure out what's going on, too. I do have an appointment with a GI doctor in July, but it definitely shouldn't be thyroid. I have very little idea what PCOS is, but I have never been told I have it.
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I'm not an expert, and it looks like your post has already been tagged by someone who knows more than me. But until SideSteel responds, I'll throw in my two cents.
At first glance, it looks like you may be overdoing it on the slow cardio. There are quite a few articles that talk about long cardio shutting down the production of the T3 hormone and having very negative effects on metabolism. I know that the amount you walk at work can't be helped, but it may be worth taking it easy on your lunch breaks, driving (or biking) to the gym, using that extra energy to lift that much heavier and then going for shorter (and much more intense) cardio workouts (see HIIT workouts if you are unfamiliar).
I hope you start seeing changes again, and congratulations on how far you've come.0 -
I'm not an expert, and it looks like your post has already been tagged by someone who knows more than me. But until SideSteel responds, I'll throw in my two cents.
At first glance, it looks like you may be overdoing it on the slow cardio. There are quite a few articles that talk about long cardio shutting down the production of the T3 hormone and having very negative effects on metabolism. I know that the amount you walk at work can't be helped, but it may be worth taking it easy on your lunch breaks, driving (or biking) to the gym, using that extra energy to lift that much heavier and then going for shorter (and much more intense) cardio workouts (see HIIT workouts if you are unfamiliar).
I hope you start seeing changes again, and congratulations on how far you've come.
^ I appreciate your intent to help especially under circumstances where we fall behind.
That being said, we do ask that people do not reply to plateau related threads:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/861596-please-read
Thank you!0 -
Ok, I think I got all the rules down for this. Let me know if I'm doing anything wrong!
Please set your food diary to "open" or "public" and reply here when you've done that.
Thanks!0 -
Oops. Didn't realize it wasn't in the main forum.0
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Oops. Didn't realize it wasn't in the main forum.
No worries, thanks for understanding.0 -
Done! Sorry, I forgot I even had it set to friends only. 0
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bump just to make sure it doesn't get lost in the mix. 0
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Thanks for your patience.
So there's a few things to note when I look at your data.
First, you're pretty accurate as far as what you claim your averages to be, so that's a good thing.
However, when I look at your macronutrient intake and check the math the averages add up to a higher calorie amount. This normally happens in small amounts due to user entered data in the system or due to some entries subtracting fiber from the carbohydate total which can throw off the math. In short, your macronutrients add up to about 1650 calories where you calorie intake is listed around 1550 give or take.
Having said all that there's a few things I would do if I were in your position.
I would check your entries to see that the macronutrients total to the calorie amount.
Protein and Carbs have 4kcal/g
Fat has 9kcal/g
I would then consider making a small reduction in caloric intake. If we ignore the math issue above and assume that you're eating 1650 calories, that's about 13 kcals/lb. If we assume you're eating 1550 calories that's about 12kcals/lb.
As a very rough (and I mean very) general figure, most people will be at a reasonable energy deficit when they sit somewhere in a range on 10 to 12 calories per lb. If you can reliably lose fat eating above 12kcals/lb you're in a really good spot and fortunate. If you have to go below 10kcals/lb (and some people do) then that's unfortunate but it could be necessary in some folks. And maybe around the 8kcal/lb mark one might start to look for potential problems that could be causing it, or massive errors in tracking methods/etc.
Taking all of this into consideration I would consider making a reduction in calorie intake pulling it from carbohydrate.
If I were in your position I would drop carbohydrates by about 20g and leave protein and fat the same, and I would give this another two weeks to monitor any potential changes while leaving your activity levels roughly the same.
I would also consider wearing the fitbit again and tracking your steps daily, and use this as a surrogate for total activity level.
The reduction would put you at:
155 carbohydrate
50 fat
130 protein
Now when we add that up in the traditional sense we get 1590 calories which appears to be MORE than you are currently eating, however your current diary and macronutrients actually add up to 1660 cals.
It is likely that you will need to reduce further, but I think there's merit in starting with a mild reduction to see if it's enough to get fat loss to occur again, leaving plenty of room in the tank to make further reductions.
Let me know if you have questions, and the above is to be taken at your own risk. I am simply telling you what I would do if I were in your place.
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