Hit a weight loss plateau

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powven
powven Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
For the last few weeks, since Nov 13, I've been hovering around the same weight 278. I've been dieting on and off since 2012, but really got serious in May 2014. I came from 365. In efforts to drop pounds, I usually do about 40 - 60 mins of cardio a day (treadmill between 4.0 & 4.4 speed, 12-15 incline) and about 10-15 minutes of weights. I'm logging my calories and coming under most of the time, but now it seems as if I'm at a stand still. Does anyone have any suggestions? Any feedback is appreciated! Thanks in advance!

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  • astrose00
    astrose00 Posts: 754 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Have you lowered your calorie allotment in light of your smaller size? Make sure you are accurately logging and measuring your food. Anything solid should be weighed, not measured in a cup.

    10-15 minutes of weight training seem slike a little bit to me. Be honest, are you really pushing yourself with the weights you are lifting or is it "easy". I've read that you should be doing weights that allow anywhere from 6-15 repetitions before failure. If you can do more than that in one set, the weight is not heavy enough. Maybe switch your workout around. If time is an issue, do less cardio and more weights. It could be that you've lost a lot of muscle and your metabolism isn't as efficient.

    How much protein do you eat? Try boosting it in addition to increased weight training.

    I've found that when I do something completely different the weight loss will start to move again. Maybe do a totally different cardio machine for a while. Try a rower or spinning class if you go to the gym. Or head outside for hiking. Your body may just be getting used to the same thing day after day. Shock it by doing different movements. Try high intensity interval training (HIIT). Google it if you don't know what it is. Do this instead of steady state cardio sometimes (or completely replace). It will give you more time to do strength training. Work out at different times of the day.

    I don't think I've had a real plateau but I read a lot of about it and these are a compilation of things I have read. I've probably missed some stuff but I am sure others will chime in.

    Good luck.
  • esjones12
    esjones12 Posts: 1,363 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Congrats on the progress you've made!!!!

    Double check your numbers in MFP, measure and weigh everything, and then just keep pushing forward.

    Make sure you aren't "tasting" some stuff here and there without logging it. Give it another few weeks and if there is still no movement and you have been very diligent in logging you may need to look at it again. A few week stall is pretty normal.

    I also agree with shaking up your exercise routine. As you get more fit you need to do more to get your heart rate at the same level.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Most likely you're eating more than you think. Do you log every singe thing you eat/drink? Do you weigh/measure your food? Do you eat all of your exercise calories back? There's probably a disconnect in there somewhere.
  • astrose00
    astrose00 Posts: 754 Member
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    One thing I just thought about. Are you working out every single day? Add in some rest days where you don't do anything but relax and make sure you're getting enough sleep. I always see the scale move after my rest days and when I get a good night's sleep. Bottom line is to tighten up your logging and measuring and make sure your workouts are intense and challenging and not monotonous. Check back and let us know how it goes.
  • hamoncan
    hamoncan Posts: 148 Member
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    Do you eat a lot of the same foods? - for some reason mixing things up seems to have helped me a few times - eating closer to maintenance calories with higher fat foods for a few days broke the plateau for me a few times now - I know its all about the numbers, but there you are FWIW
  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member
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    You may have just discovered your maintenance calorie level. Tighten up your logging of food for a week (weights of any non-liquid food, not guesstimates) so that you can see what it is. Then trim some of the calories.
  • wkwebby
    wkwebby Posts: 807 Member
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    You could try changing up your workout routine all together as well. If your workout schedule is too monotonous, your body can be getting use to it all and stalling. Just like another poster had said, maybe you can also check your Heart Rate levels to see that your body is indeed working as hard as it should after your hour long run (translates into a higher or lower calorie burn). This would affect your eating back calories. So if you think you're burning more than you are, than again, it looks to be that you are actually not eating at a deficit.
  • katherine_startrek_fan
    katherine_startrek_fan Posts: 425 Member
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    I would definitely say that it may be time to mix up your workout. I find that my body tends to adjust to a workout style by the three month mark. However, if I change it up, usually my weight starts to come off again.

    If you use a gym, you might want to try taking classes. Similarily, if you work out at home, you might want to try a work out video.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    Most likely you're eating more than you think. Do you log every singe thing you eat/drink? Do you weigh/measure your food? Do you eat all of your exercise calories back? There's probably a disconnect in there somewhere.
    This is almost always the answer. I'd guess more then 90% of the time this is the answer.

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