Plateau

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Hemis_mom
Hemis_mom Posts: 193 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Any quick ideas on how to get over/through a plateau!! I am stuck and have been for two weeks!! Your help is much appreciated!

Replies

  • Atlantique
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
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    Two weeks is not a 'plateau', it's a normal part of dieting. Just keep doing what you're doing.
  • gumby101ca
    gumby101ca Posts: 539 Member
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    what Atlanique said !!!
  • sandman27959
    sandman27959 Posts: 32
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    Just make sure you're sticking to the number of allowed calories, working out, and drinking water. Make sure you're not eating too FEW calories. That puts my body into starvation mode and brings my loss to a screeching halt.

    Try not to concentrate on the scale. Think about how good your clothes are fitting and see this as a long-term lifestyle change. It'll kick in again. Trust the process.
  • Coyla
    Coyla Posts: 444 Member
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    Here is a great article about plateauing. Try implementing these ideas if your 2 week stall turns into 2 months:

    http://www.answerfitness.com/208/weight-loss-plateau-tactics-overcoming-weight-loss-plateau/
  • Hemis_mom
    Hemis_mom Posts: 193 Member
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    Just make sure you're sticking to the number of allowed calories, working out, and drinking water. Make sure you're not eating too FEW calories. That puts my body into starvation mode and brings my loss to a screeching halt.

    Try not to concentrate on the scale. Think about how good your clothes are fitting and see this as a long-term lifestyle change. It'll kick in again. Trust the process.

    I think this actually might be the problem!! I think I need to eat more (which feels very counterintuitive)
  • sandman27959
    sandman27959 Posts: 32
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    It IS very counterintuitive, but a real factor. I've been a yo-yo dieter most of my life, so my starvation reflex is very finely tuned. If my body senses that I'm trying to starve it, my metabolism slows to the point where my body temperature actually goes down to conserve energy. Kooky.
  • lisapickering
    lisapickering Posts: 374
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    Eating more is probably a good idea... yes counter intuitive but it works! You can also try doing something new in your workouts.
  • roxiedo
    roxiedo Posts: 154
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    Make sure you take your measurements every 1 to 2 weeks sometimes you loose inches not pounds. Maybe change up the type of workouts some. Maybe even a day or two of increasing calories and then drop back down again may shake up the metabolism
  • funkyspunky871
    funkyspunky871 Posts: 1,675 Member
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    Eat more. Bump your calories up by 100-200.

    Or try calorie shifting/zigzagging. You can google it, but basically... Let's say if you want an average intake of 1400ish calories a day, you could try eating 1250 on Mon., 1400 on Tues., then 1250, 1600, 1250, 1800, 1500 on Sunday.

    Or just take a cheat day. Don't log calories one day. Eat all the junk that you don't normally eat, but crave. Go out and have a cheeseburger with french fries if you want. Maybe share a dessert too.

    I've had quite a few plateaus... Ones lasting longer than two weeks. I've tried each of the ideas above, and they always work.

    EDIT: Oops, I forgot. If you're not already eating your exercise calories, you might want to try that too. It'd be essentially the same thing as upping your caloric intake any other way. :) You can get more information about that at www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com
  • bizco
    bizco Posts: 1,949 Member
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    I broke through a sustained plateau (5 weeks) by upping my NET calories from 1200 to 1300 daily. Good luck.
  • leomom72
    leomom72 Posts: 1,797 Member
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    up your cals a little..i know it sounds scary, but it has worked for me so far..best of luck
  • BillyC96
    BillyC96 Posts: 7,560 Member
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    Excellent article. Thank you for posting it. I have been stuck for nearly 5 months, in spite of increasing my exercise. I think I need to change my cardio!
  • Lotuser
    Lotuser Posts: 9
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    How does upping your calories help u loose weight? I'm interested...
  • sandman27959
    sandman27959 Posts: 32
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    How does upping your calories help u loose weight? I'm interested...

    If you eat too few calories, your body goes into an instinctive starvation mode where it slows your metabolism, and your weight loss slows or stops altogether. By changing your calorie intake (usually going a bit over what you've been eating to "starve" yourself) you can trigger a normal metabolism and you'll start losing weight again. I don't think myself or anyone else is recommending that you go over your calories on a regular basis - only a day or two. It's just another thing to try in your bag of tricks when you appear to be stuck.

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