Plateau!

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ladymare
ladymare Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
I began all of my diet and exercise stuff about a month and a half ago. i initially lost 8lbs and now I'm stuck! I started out walk/jogging/interval training a mile (now built up to 1.5), lifting weights, and the myfitnesspal app has me set around 1550 on caloric intake. I have slim fast for breakfast (time constraints), and pretty much just salads or roasted turkey sandwhiches with miracle whip for lunch. Snacks, I keep almonds by my desk in case I get hungry. And for dinner, we eat really sensibly. My husband is about to join the Marines and needs to lose a few extra pounds before he goes so his Sgt. put him on a really strict diet for dinner and I've been following it. 2 weeks now I haven't budged a pound and I've been coming it at 1300 calories daily.

I'm becoming VERY frustrated as you can imagine. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong while I watch my husband just melt away doing the SAME thing.

Replies

  • morganadk2_deleted
    morganadk2_deleted Posts: 1,696 Member
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    Are you eating to enough?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficit


    This is just a part of it! please read the link above


    Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
    With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
    With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
    With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
    and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle tone, and reducing fat. This means is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode)


    Also this might be helpful http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/00trayn/view/how-to-bust-a-3-month-plateau-87677



    Good luck on your journey
  • Hotbottom
    Hotbottom Posts: 168 Member
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    Could be a pile of things... you could try calorie cycling to put the body in shock: look it up on the internet. It has worked for me and lots of girls I know.
    You could try dropping some of the carbs and eating more veg.
    Or, could be your body needs to clean out a bit and time to eat heaps more fruit and veg: if nothing else your pooop out the weight...
    Tips: don't eat close to going to bed as the calories will just sit there. Sumo wrestlers eat super healthy food, but then sleep after ... and look how fat they get. Maybe have dinner with Hubby then go for a romantic evening stroll.
  • JulieBoBoo
    JulieBoBoo Posts: 642
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    This was me last week. I started calorie cycling (I change my weight loss goal every day so Sunday it'll be .5lbs, Monday 1.5lbs, Tuesday 1lb, Wednesday 2lbs, Thursday 1.5 lbs, Friday 1 lbs and Saturday .5lbs) and it's really working for me. The other thing I did was to change my activity level from sedentary to lightly active. Fact is, I'm not sedentary any more so I wasn't eating enough. Sounds strange I know but the scale is moving again so I'm going to go with it. Good luck!
  • christadoud
    christadoud Posts: 41 Member
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    Try not to use Slim Fast, it is full of sugar. Up your exercise a little bit , and do some strength training types of exercises.

    Thanks to your family for your service to our country :)
  • serabee5
    serabee5 Posts: 89
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    this may help:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/229634-it-s-working-i-m-unstuck
  • jenniferg83
    jenniferg83 Posts: 278 Member
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    bump bump bump
  • sabl3
    sabl3 Posts: 39
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    Don't forget your hormones come into play!!! I have the same problem but I have learned if I keep at it, all of the sudden several lbs will come off. It's one of those annoying things about being a woman and retaining fluids. Just keep at it!!!!!!
  • BECav0602
    BECav0602 Posts: 200 Member
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    I am calorie cycling this week. Heard a lot of good things about it. This website will tell you the recommended calories to eat each day on a zig-zag diet. If it works it may be something I do once a month to prevent plateaus in the future. http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
  • Amberbertsch
    Amberbertsch Posts: 4 Member
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    I agree with Chris. Skip the slimfast. Plain Greek yogurt is fast. Packs LOTZ of protein and is great for your digestive track. I'm a girl who lost weight alongside her husband as well. Its super frustrating!!! However, I've realized that SODIUM really jacks me up. So you may want to monitor that as well. 1 tsp of sodium = 2 lbs of water retention. Don't give up. Keep moving. Also, you may want to look into the HCG diet? To restart your metabolism?
  • ladymare
    ladymare Posts: 4
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    Wow! Thank you everyone for your awesome responses. I will look into calorie cycling for sure! Amberbertsch, I've done HCG but gained it all right back afterward. Plus being that my husband and I are "not trying to try but not-not trying" for our first (basically if it happens awesome, if not ok) I don't want to mess with my HCG levels and give myself a false positive. :)

    I'll work on Greek yogurt instead of Slimfast and workout harder.

    Thanks everyone!
  • SMarie10
    SMarie10 Posts: 956 Member
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    You might want to open up your food diary and ask for some advice - you can ignore it or take it. That helped me. I also go out and peek at other's diaries and have really learned how to clean up my eating and go for more non-processed, low glycemic food choices. I adhere to the 80 / 20 rule and try to be a good eater 80% of the time, and have room to play with the other 20%. Good luck - you're welcome to friend me if you need some encouragement.

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