Starvation mode? Plateau? Please help!

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  • heather62803
    heather62803 Posts: 266 Member
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    If you have only been stuck for a few weeks I wouldn't consider it a plateau, however I do agree with the other post that said your burn value for the shred seems very high. I was usually around 225 - 250 (as an exercise beginner!) when I did the shred, MFP is really not very accurate with the estimated calories burned. That being said, I would suggest lowering your calories burned from the shred to maybe 250. I also try to eat back most of my exercise calories, at least half. I have also found that tracking my sodium levels was a big deal for me. I was doing fine calorie/fat wise but I was still struggling to lose until I started tracking my sodium and realized that I had been going over by almost 1000 every day. Keeping that in check and really increasing the water intake was what it took me to break through my first plateau. Good Luck to you - the scale will get moving again soon I'm sure, you just have to make a few tweaks and you will be losing like crazy!
  • twinwolf
    twinwolf Posts: 165 Member
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    I think that if you are trying to lose weight, you should take all your calories you burn in a day including exercise, subtract 10-20% at most, and eat that. Every once in a while, eat all the calories you burn just to change it up.


    I agree with this and the fact that 1200 isn't the magic number. What i will say is this, if you do anything long enough, your body will get used to it. What i would do in your shoes is this. Gets your water consumption up to half you weight (pounds) in ounces a day. Then, I would make sure that every 4-5 days I scheduled a "spike" day in regards to my calories. Next I would make sure that I am found out how many cals I burned at rest in a day. Take that number and subtract 500-750, max 1000. If the remaining calories goes below 1400, use 1400 a day to start. This 1400 needs to be NET calories...

    Just my two cents.. Hope you find something that helps!

    Matt
  • bentobee
    bentobee Posts: 321 Member
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    I agree with 99% of what you said, except that 1200 is not the magic number for everyone. If you are heavier (like well over 200 pounds) likely your bare minimum for breathing etc is around 1600 not 1200.
    I agree with the net calories. I have been wearing a Body Media for a few weeks and although it is fascinating what I burn when I exercise, it is even more fascinating what I burn on an average day.

    Like I said above, I told MFP that I wanted to lose 1lb per week and that I did no exercise. That gave me a daily goal of 1900 calories. On a slow day with no exercise, my Body Media says I burn 2550... so yep that is right on.

    Huh. That's a clever way to do it.
    I also wear BodyMedia (just about two weeks now) and am still figuring out how to balance that info with MFP. I've found I burn way more calories each day than I would have ever guessed (and way more that MFP was giving me credit for)(to the tune of 2600-2700 a day)... and then also trying to sort out some zig-zag/calorie cycling... and it gets confusing!!
  • LG61820
    LG61820 Posts: 372 Member
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    I was recently stuck and changed up a few things and had some success. I started really looking at the amount of sodium I was getting in a day. I made a general plan to try to cut it from 2500 to 1200. I don't always succeed, but I think it's helping me.

    I cut Splenda from my life. I'm not condemning Splenda and you may not use it, but there's likely a food that you suspect is a problem for you. Cut it for a week and see what happens.

    Vary up your calorie intake. I read a very interesting post on here about zig zagging calorie intake. I am not intentionally doing that, but I have committed to Eat Stop Eat for the month of March which kinda does that automatically at least twice a week.

    Increase your exercise, at least for a week. I love the Shred and lost an inch on my midriff in the 30 days, but I never had the calorie burn you're getting. Try a brisk walk for 30-40 minutes every day for a week in addition to what you're already doing and see if the scale moves.
  • swanfam4
    swanfam4 Posts: 41 Member
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    Thanks everyone for the tips. The reason my calories burned are so high is because I was logging Shred as "circuit training, general." For 25 minutes, MFP calculated that I was burning 370 cals. Anyway, I will adjust that down to 250 or so and see what that does for me. Just a little discouraged since I had been losing 2-3 # a week and now nothing for awhile. I appreciate everyone's help!

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