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melissasue0317
melissasue0317 Posts: 338 Member
I have been maintaining the same weight for several weeks now. Increased exercised and still eating about 1600-1700 calories a day (as suggested on here). Any suggestions on how to break this and start trending down again?

I have increased fiber and water intake as well.

Replies

  • tishtash77
    tishtash77 Posts: 430 Member
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    The only two things I can offer hun are a) don't let it stop you, Keep going and push through the dissapointing weigh ins. b) have you tried changing things, so for example I know one person who had a long plateau and she swapped her main meal from evening to lunch time and things got moving again. Another friend of mine on WW board makes sure she eats a different amount of cals each day, some days she eats light and low, and other days she eats more (usually on days her exercise is more intense). Is there somewhere that has gotten into a groove that can be shaken up?
  • blondageh
    blondageh Posts: 923 Member
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    I have too, but I know exactly why. I upped my cals from 1400 to 1470. I was rarely even hitting the 1400 and I went from that to going right up to 1470. I also started going way over my sodium and eating too much of the wrong foods. I have dropped my cals as of today back down to 1400. I am also not going to eat back my exercise calories. Something I wasn't doing before, but have allotted for it after a week of over-indulgence. I have begun exercising too, but like I said, I have been socializing too much with said exercise. Celebrating your workout with margaritas does not a good workout make.

    My advice, and this is totally going to go against the mainstreamer's on MFP...drop your cals again. I am not sure on your weight stas, but I would go to 1500 and stick to it for a week. Drink your water, eat clean, don't eat back your exercise cals. Do it for a week and see if it moves.
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,104 Member
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    You just need to "shake" your body up...switch the time of the day you workout. If you're doing cardio now, try some weights. If you walking, do some videos. Eat breakfast for dinner and dinner for lunch...up your calories by 300 or so for a two weeks. Eat some exotic fat burning foods you haven't already had. Make more intimate time with your hubby. Drink a stupid amount more water. Reduce sodium from your foods. Add foods you don't normally eat. Switch up your macros. Pick one or two things to change at a time. Give each item about 2 weeks to see if you notice changes. But above all, you've essentially just got to jolt your system somehow... Good luck!
  • KarenZen
    KarenZen Posts: 1,430 Member
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    If you're eating back your exercise calories, you may need to re-calculate. MFP's calculations for exercise are notoriously high. Even Fitbit has issues (a lot of recent news stories about people GAINING weight by using their Fitbits!). My nutritionist suggested not eating my exercise back, but I workout a lot and can lose 8-10 pounds in a week--and then wind up starving, overeating, and gaining it all right back. So as a compromise, I try not to eat back more than half, and now I'm getting a slower, steadier, more sustainable loss.
  • melissasue0317
    melissasue0317 Posts: 338 Member
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    I do a variety of cardio exercises mostly 2-3x/week. Maybe that's why, I need to up my exercise lol. I don't eat my exercise calories and rarely go under/over. Stay consistent.
  • CBell223
    CBell223 Posts: 36 Member
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    I don't know how long you've been at this, but I've just decided to slowly raise my calories to TDEE and stay there for at least a month or two. Just to give my body a break. I've been at this for 1 1/2 years now. I think my metabolism and the rest of me can use it. When you have a lot to lose, it's just going to take a while, particularly if you want it to stay off. That's been my main goal from the beginning. So I can't just keep lowering my calories or raising my exercise to shake things up when I plateau. If I did, I'll end up having to live on 800/day by the time I'm done.
    So that's what I've decided to do. I've done a lot of reading on the idea though and it seems scientifically sound. Add 100 calories to you plan every week until you get to TDEE, then stay there until your weight stabilizes. (You should expect to gain a little weight during this process but it's just temporary. Over the last 6 weeks I'm up 500/day so far with 300 more to go and so far I've gained 3 lbs which is a lot less than I'd expected.). Then, once you are at TDEE and your weight is stable, that means your metabolism has recovered and you can cut 15%. With that cut, you should start losing as quickly as you did at the beginning. They also say to lift weights but I'm having shoulder surgery Monday, so that will just have to wait.
    Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Be kind to yourself and be patient with yourself. Think long term and overall health. It's not about the number on the scale.
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,104 Member
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    cbell223 - where did you find your research? I'd love to read more!!
  • CBell223
    CBell223 Posts: 36 Member
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    Wow. I have gotten bits and pieces of this plan from all kinds of places. There were several podcasts that I listened to. I think most of them were posted from people in the "Eat, Train, Progress" group but some podcasts and papers just came from some of my MFP friends. (I know that doesn't help you much but I'll look back through my history and see if I can find any of it.) Probably the initial kernel of the idea came from the "Eat more to weigh less" group. (There were other resources that I'm struggling to remember but I'll sure let you know if I do.)
    In summary, this is what I believe is true.
    As you lose weight, your metabolism slows. Metabolism moves (up or down) much slower than a person is capable of losing or gaining weight. Particularly if you are eating at a large deficit (or surplus). So initially you can lose (or gain) weight pretty easily because your metabolism is still set for your previous body weight and calorie level. But slowly it catches up and weight change stalls. So when someone plateaus and drops calories and/or increases exercise even more, they are basically doing the same thing again but starting at a lower point. So, yes, for a while they will lose more weight but eventually their metabolism will catch up and it will stall again. The big key for me is that when we get discouraged/quit/binge (which I know we all say we won't do but history and statistics show are likely to happen) your metabolism is so low that it doesn't take nearly as many calories to pack back on the pounds. And again your metabolism lags way behind. It is slower adjusting to the changes than we can put back on the weight, so that's why it's so easy to put back everything, plus more.
    It's the cycle. We've all done it. From what I've read, it seems the best way to beat it (and even turn it to your advantage) is first, to stop it with the extremes, at both ends. Stop cutting calories too dramatically (15% -20% max). And occasionally, when weight loss seem to stall out (or in my opinion even if it hasn't but you are feeling that deprivation pressure building) very very slowly, start to raise your calories to your new TDEE (which is basically the calories you need to maintain your new lower weight, at your current activity level). If you raise calories to that level very slowly, you're giving your metabolism time to keep up and you will put on little to no weight as you go up. BTW, I weighed this morning and I'd lost 3.5 lbs. So after 6 weeks of slowly raising my calories, I'm actually down .5 lb. That's not much but it's cool that I'm eating 500 more/day than I was (completely stalled) and still either stalled or maybe a tich down.
    This way (being patient enough to cycle your calories up and down) when you hit goal, several wonderful things have happened.
    1. You are at your goal weight with a higher calorie allowance, which will help you keep it off.
    2. You have already "practiced" maintenance several times.
    3. You've gone slow enough to let yourself mentally adjust to a new body and your new lifestyle which will also help you keep it off.
    4. You have taken the time to release the "deprivation pressure valve" without the big explosion we've all experienced after a diet. I've found as I'm increasing my calories that I've mostly missed bread and chocolate. So, now that I have enough calories to fit them into my day, I'm feeding that craving in a reasonable, mindful way rather than the usual "holding on for dear life" and then eventually losing my grip and going crazy on a binge.
    5. I've heard that if you go slowly, your skin may have a better time recovering.

    All that said, I'm not an expert. But it does make sense to me and so far, it seems to be working. The only thing I have been more committed to during this process than actually losing the weight, is that I don't want to put anything I've lost back on. Ever. I'm so tired of the roller coaster. But I've lost 114 lbs. and I'm very calm. I seem to be losing my craziness around food, I think because I'm going slow and not restricting myself too much. This time is very different and that gives me a lot of hope.
  • blondageh
    blondageh Posts: 923 Member
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    Wow. Makes totally sense. I have absolutely NO patience tho. I will see how well Ibdo in August and if all my hard work doesnt pay off...this sounds like an awesome plan. Lost 50 April-July. July-August: 1. ???? 1 pound.
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,104 Member
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    OMG, that makes SOOOOOOO much sense.... Why is it that we have such a hard time making things make sense to our brains? I had a friend who underwent bypass or some other weight loss surgery, and her consulting doctor said something that resonated so strongly with me...it's been a while, so I know I'm going to butcher it a bit, but this is the gist...

    "When someone has been overweight their whole life, has never been a healthy weight, you really have no context or frame of reference to use as the fuel of your motivation for weight loss. Any healthy weight goal you set is such a foreign concept or seeming fantasy that is practically impossible for you to achieve a goal that you don't truly understand. If you know exactly what you are fighting for, what you lost along the way, your goal is tangible. Achievable. Real. But if you don't know and understand exactly what you are aiming for, how can you aim that direction? How can you achieve that goal? How do you know when you get there? And when your motivation and determination fails you in even the smallest of ways, how can you get that drive back without a true appreciation for your goal? You might as well aim for becoming a fairy or changing your sex. You don't know how either of those things would truly be either. So, from the beginning, your body was set up to fail. We are changing that by training your brain, but until you begin to achieve successes in weight loss, it is extremely difficult for your brain to give your mind enough fuel to get you to where you need to go. But to achieve any success, you need to have the determination already. So, for someone like you, who has always been somewhat overweight, you are in an endless cycle unless you take an outside step, some level of intervention, to help bolster you through this process... Will you let me help you?"

    I remember reading that info when she sent it to me. I literally almost started crying. It suddenly made sense to me why I couldn't stick with determination on a goal that didn't fit...how can I aim for something when I don't know what that something is? I think that was around the time I started making some big changes and dropped a ton of weight.... I don't know about you, but I needed that reminder... I think that is going to help push me again...

    CBell, can I snag your explanation and post it on my blog? Thanks in advance!!
  • CBell223
    CBell223 Posts: 36 Member
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    I figure that we are all here to share what we've learned, so you're more than welcome to re-post anything I put out there (and I'm really glad to hear that it's helped you). This "patients and moderation" thing has been a huge discovery to me and it's made all the difference in the world.
    As for what that doctor said, as I read it my first thought was "baby steps". Focusing on the final goal may seem like a fantasy but we can all imagine getting down one pant size or being able to walk farther than we could a month ago or that booth at the restaurant not being quite such a tight squeeze.
    I say, be kind to yourself. Even if it makes your mind feel good, it's not kind to your body to starve yourself. Feed it. And move it. Not to the point of exhaustion or hurting but enough to feel alive and move forward with your baby step goals.
    Here is something I heard years ago that is just now starting to really make sense to me:
    Once, the wind and the sun were having an argument about which of them was more powerful. Since they couldn't agree, they decided that the one who could get the coat off that man walking down the street below would be the winner. The wind went first and blew a powerful gust of wind that nearly ripped the coat right off the man. But the man grabbed on, wrapped his coat tighter around his body and continued walking. The harder the wind blew, the harder the man held on until the wind gave up. Then the sun took his turn. He slowly, gently raised the temperature until the man loosened his grip and then eventually took off his coat and threw it over his shoulder.
    If we (all of us in this group) only had 10-15 pounds to lose, we probably could be successful with just the brute force of powering through a crazy diet. But with a lot to lose, we need to be in it for the long haul. We need to find what we can do and enjoy long term and stop focusing on that finish line. It's a long way away.
    Sorry. Lecture over. But I do feel pretty strongly about this stuff. We are all way too mean to ourselves and too defeated. We may have a long way to go but it can be an enjoyable journey if you just breathe and stop fighting yourself.
  • KnitOrMiss
    KnitOrMiss Posts: 10,104 Member
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    Woman, your insight is amazing. My skin literally tingled with understanding...and I kept nodding along as I was reading... Wow. Just wow. Thank you so very much. Once I get this blog up, I'm so excited with all it will help me work through. Thank you for being so selfless about sharing what you've learned.

    I think that is one of my favorite things about MFP, and specifically about this group, that we are all a team together. We don't compete. We may playfully compete for challenges, but it is all in good supportive fun. We all congratulate the winner. We might be bummed we didn't win, but we don't undermine, sabotage, or destroy others to make our own way. We have realized we are all stronger together, not matter what step or stage we are on/in.

    Carly, feeling truly uplifted in Oklahoma!!
  • carostad
    carostad Posts: 161
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    There have been a few studies published in the past year about "establishing your set weight" and taking a break from losing for a while. I've followed it with great interest. I stepped off the downward trend for about a year (much longer than I'd planned, due to some life complications) I did gain back about 15-20 pounds, depending on the scale, but I'd started at 60 pounds down, so I didn't gain everything back. I definitely gave myself more leeway than I'd intended, but it was really nice to not feel like I was dieting for a long time. I did maintain for about 3 months, which was my original goal, but then we moved, I was facing foot surgery (which I avoided by laying on my couch for 6 months...) and now I'm back on the downward trend.

    I wish there was another word for diet! I so hate that word! It brings up images of rice cakes and skim milk to me, and I want real food, thank you very much.

    Anyway, I like this thinking very much. You can take control of being "stalled" and take the opportunity to establish a new set weight and start again. It's not yo-yo dieting, it's renewing your persistence.

    Good luck getting through this. You'll pull through!