Getting over a plateau?

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  • Kfrase83
    Kfrase83 Posts: 42 Member
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    Re: Guessing would be as dumb as leaving it off: After doing this a while, I typically know *about* how many calories are in things. If I went to a restaurant and got the lasagna? Then I go to "Add Food", search lasagna, look at the first few choices, and see which one is likely what I ate. My brain won't let me leave it blank, I need an approximate. :)

    For the OP, my scale hasn't moved much in the last 3 weeks, so I am feeling your pain. How long have you been at this? I would suggest sticking with the plan as is, if you're following the calorie counting closely. Your body may just be catching up to the changes: if you're early in, this is normal; if you're further in your journey, perhaps some workouts could be changed? Just a suggestion. :)
  • katieca123
    katieca123 Posts: 70 Member
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    Thanks for everybody's suggestions! For the past few months I've been eating 1600 calories a day. Someone recommended that I eat my macros at 40/40/20, but I don't eat a lot of meat so I rarely make it there.

    I've been using my time off to reevaluate my diet and I think a lot of it has to do with the holidays and end of semester stress at school. I think I'm going to try switching things up a bit with my exercise routine and I think that should help a lot. I also think that I'm going to give myself one cheat day per week (I am in college which involves drinking)

    Thanks again and keep them coming!
  • drepublic
    drepublic Posts: 180 Member
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    As you lose weight...the amount of calories you burn per day just walking around and even exercising can drop as you now weigh less...and are doing less work. Not sure of your current weight or activity level so it is hard to say for sure...but I have experienced this before and see it happen all the time. You may want to re-run your numbers and also track (measure/weigh out) your foods to make sure you are hitting your targets.
  • Marianna93637
    Marianna93637 Posts: 230 Member
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    amymrls wrote: »
    I have been at this a long time and lost over 100lbs, I have found that when I am plateauing I am glossing inches. So take measurements and keep at it, it will start up again. It takes some time for your body to catch up.

    I think that's true. I've only been doing this for a month, so I can't say much, but I lost 8 lbs in 3 weeks and then only .5 lbs in the last 9 days, but I feel slimmer. I haven't measured myself, but I'm sure it would show in inches. So I try not to get discouraged, just keep going as before.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    claygirl1518 wrote: »
    katieca123 wrote: »
    I'm slowly working on getting over a plateau. How can I prevent that from happening in the future? I read somewhere that eating 1000 calories over your goal for one day every week helps. Is that a myth or does that actually help?

    The best way I've found to get over a plateau is to mix up your routine. Eat different foods, start a different workout routine, cut something new out if your diet... etc. A couple months ago I was at a stall and I cut out fake sugars, just going to plain water or sparkling water, and that helped mix things up for me as well as a new workout. Your body is probably used to the routine you have going right now, it needs a new surprise! Sometimes eating a few more calories can help, but I would be very careful with that because you could end up stalling your weight loss even more. Try it, but if it doesn't help just reevaluate and try something different!

    The bottom line is you created a calorie deficit. Cutting out fake sugar and mixing things up were coincidental.

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    katieca123 wrote: »
    Thanks for everybody's suggestions! For the past few months I've been eating 1600 calories a day. Someone recommended that I eat my macros at 40/40/20, but I don't eat a lot of meat so I rarely make it there.

    I've been using my time off to reevaluate my diet and I think a lot of it has to do with the holidays and end of semester stress at school. I think I'm going to try switching things up a bit with my exercise routine and I think that should help a lot. I also think that I'm going to give myself one cheat day per week (I am in college which involves drinking)

    Thanks again and keep them coming!
    That's probably over kill on a protein macro. General consensus suggest .8 to 1g of protein per lb of lean body mass. For the most part people get that with 25% to 30%. Personally, 40/30/30 works well.

    The biggest thing is just work on accuracy and consistency; so log daily and use a food scale often. After that give it time.

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