How to get off this plateau? :(

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nespinosa3
nespinosa3 Posts: 116
in Health and Weight Loss
Well, I think I finally hit the dreaded plateau...it's almost 2 months on the same weight. I'm looking for guidance or people who have gone through something similar and how to jump over this obstacle and keep moving.
Goal weight: 145 lb (need to lose 5-6 lbs), I'm female and 5'5
Diet: 1500 calories daily (weighing/measuring everything). 40-45% from protein, 30-35% from carbs, 20-25% from fat
It's pretty much lean meats (chicken, turkey), for carbs I have sweet potatoes or regular potatoes, if I eat bread it's a thin-sliced whole wheat one (about 22g carbs for a bun), and fats mostly from almonds or peanut butter
Workouts: 6x/week! From these, 2x/week is with a personal trainer where we do mostly strength training. I try to also do a 3rd day of strength training. The other 3 days is either 45minute group classes or 45-60 mins of cardio in fat-burn zone (walking fast or on the Stairmaster)
RMR: 1598 calories
So pretty much, I never know if I am eating too little or too much? But at the same time I'm eating less than my BMR so shouldn't be that I'm eating too much. Am I doing too many workouts or not enough cardio? :S Any ideas anyone? I really just want to keep moving forward and lose these final 5 pounds.

Replies

  • blue696
    blue696 Posts: 94 Member
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    Try changing up your workouts. If you challenge your body, and maybe do something different like spin, Insanity, or a maybe a class or two if your gym offers them, it could change the way you feel and how you work. Also maybe add an extra half hour or so on certain days which is another way to change your workout. It seems that your workouts are all similar so hopefully that will help.

    The last few pounds is always the hardest so don't get discouraged. You can do it!
  • dnhames
    dnhames Posts: 12 Member
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    try some high nutrient detox foods like cilantro, steamed kale and parsley. also drink lots of water. espon salt bath to detox.
  • chani8
    chani8 Posts: 946 Member
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    It's all about calories.

    When you get down to that last 5, it gets tricky. It's so easy to slack on calorie counting because you're almost there, but if you want to lose that last little bit, you've got to tighten up on the calorie counting. Make sure you're not erring by eating too much. Measure and weigh your food.

    Your exercise sounds great. Your diet sounds nice and healthy. :)
  • terbusha
    terbusha Posts: 1,483 Member
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    Sounds like you've got a great plan going. I would suggest to eat more for a week. Try bumping up to 1600-1700 cal/day. As you get more fit, your body requires more energy. This happened to me. I lost a ton of weight at 1800 cal/day with 50/30/20. I got to a point where I was getting close to my goal and my weight loss slowed way down. I ended up bumping to 2000 cal/day at 40/40/20 and it picked right back up. Now I'm at 2100-2200 cal/day at 40/40/20 and I'm still making progress.

    Have you just been tracking your weight, or are you also looking at other measures of progress (getting stronger, reduction in body measurements, reduction in body fat, increased endurance, etc)? I've been "stuck" at 171-174 for 3 months. In that time, I've gone from 9.5% to 7.7% body fat. Progress can still be made when the weight loss stops.

    Allan
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Do you log everything? Do you weigh your food? You might be eating more than you think.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
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    try some high nutrient detox foods like cilantro, steamed kale and parsley. also drink lots of water. espon salt bath to detox.
    Errr What?
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    switching up exercise is going to cause water retention...which looks like weight gain.

    eating more for a week will do the same....

    detoxes are not required that is what your kidneys and liver are for.

    If you are stressing that can cause water retention as well....

    If you are weighing/measuring all your food are you choosing the correct entries? Your diary is closed so it's hard to give advice.

    How are you estimating your burns from exercise? do you eat them back? and if so how many?
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    try some high nutrient detox foods like cilantro, steamed kale and parsley. also drink lots of water. espon salt bath to detox.
    Errr What?

    Yeah, lolwut????

    And OP...ignore that post above. Makes no sense. Plus, no to a detox. Your pee and poo detox you. So unless you're not doing either of those, don't need a detox, and if you aren't doing those then I think you need a doctor more than a detox.
  • Bernadette60614
    Bernadette60614 Posts: 707 Member
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    What works for me:

    Increase the intensity of your cardio wth high intensity interval training

    Drink more water!
  • nespinosa3
    nespinosa3 Posts: 116
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    How are you estimating your burns from exercise? do you eat them back? and if so how many?

    I don't estimate them, I just eat 1450-1500 calories daily. The days where I don't work out I try to keep it at 1400
  • nespinosa3
    nespinosa3 Posts: 116
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    Have you just been tracking your weight, or are you also looking at other measures of progress (getting stronger, reduction in body measurements, reduction in body fat, increased endurance, etc)? I've been "stuck" at 171-174 for 3 months. In that time, I've gone from 9.5% to 7.7% body fat. Progress can still be made when the weight loss stops.

    Yes, thankfully I do measure my body fat% every 3 months. Everything goes down 1-3 millimeters so that's good. But overall I just lose like 2% every 3 months, which is okay. But yes, making some progress in that front :)
  • bexiesbruv
    bexiesbruv Posts: 14
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    I found the two major changes for me were
    1. Cutting out wheat.
    I went from 168 to around 155 with no exercise at all and no change to what volume I ate of other things.
    2. Intermittent fasting (IF)
    When I reached 155 I could go no further. I work fairly hard and can run an easy 10k in 57 minutes (thats my guide for fitness, when I cannot do 10k in under an hour, I run a bit)
    So then I read about IF and becoming "fat adapted". I listened to some audio by a Guy called Brad Pilon. It made sense to me so I gave it a try starting in April. I am now at 144, rarely feel hungry and usually eat my calories as snacks and a late afternoon or early evening meal.
    I did a 20k bike time trial yesterday, my first exercise (again) in a long time and managed 40 minutes just a couple of bananas an hour or so before doing it.
    Some have said that IF can have negative (hormonal) effects on Women, certainly my wife doesnt want to try it but then she is training for an iron distance triathlon and needs all the calories she can get.
    So my advice is this:
    If its appeals to you, do the research and jump in. Dr. Michael Mosely has pioneered it recently in the UK and has a wealth of information available.
    Good luck.

    Bex
    PS EDIT: My body fat % according to my caliper this weekend has me officially on the "lean" section of the graph, so 16% which is down from 25% when I initially gave up wheat last year.
  • Rainboots80
    Rainboots80 Posts: 218 Member
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    When I plateau I find changing up my calories helps. Do a day at 1200 and then go back to 1400-1500 and see if that gets the scale moving agai .

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