I think I've plateaued
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may try choosing a new routine and swap it up. example would be instead of tricep pull downs. switch it up to skull crushers. keep squats but change the weight up 20 percent and do less reps and then add in lunges in place of leg extensions. .. basically switch excercises where you can and where you can't change the rep counts.
oh and throw in a very slow finish like when you drop the weight,. drop it very slow on your final rep. slow as you can even.
Studies show and have confirmed that lowering the weight is just as important as lifting the weight. Lowering the weight causes just as much muscle-cell damage as lifting the weight does.0 -
Steady loss then suddenly nothing. Huge spikes after as I raised my calories after getting some advice to take a diet break. The trend seem pretty darn straight until it stopped.
Sure, the trend is downward (until it's not) but it's not linear. There are little ups and downs, exactly what people have been saying.
So if what you've been doing isn't working now, then it's time to do something different, right? Not just get frustrated and snarky about the process. If you're still doing the same exercises you have been, your body gets more efficient at doing the same thing. Up the intensity or try a different exercise and you'll burn more calories. You've also lost 20 pounds. You aren't going to burn as many calories every day as you were 20 pounds ago, so your calorie goal needs to go down to compensate.
If you truly believe it's not CICO, then do something different. No one is forcing you to stick to a specific way of eating. I had a similar issue a few years ago when I stalled out for two months. I switched to low carb and the weight started dropping again. Personally, I believe that low carb works for me because I don't eat as much junk and I'm more careful with my logging rather than that there's some magic in eating less carbs that lets me lose weight... but it does work for me.
The TDEE different between 250lbs and 230lbs is about 100 calories. So that's 700 for a week. It seems like that would produce a slower loss but yet not a stoppage all together.
And that's all you got out of what I posted?
It seems to me like you're not really looking for ways to break a plateau, you're just looking for reasons why CICO doesn't work for you when it does for nearly everyone else. Again, if you don't think it works, try something different. There are plenty of people who swear by low carb, paleo, intermittent fasting, etc. Give one of those options a try and perhaps you'll start making progress again. But for your own sake, don't just sit there spinning your metaphorical wheels while blaming the process as the reason you can't lose weight.0 -
I'm not saying you're eating much - it's just that you could be eating at maintenance. Since you don't have a scale, how can you know for sure that you're not, especially since at 130 with only 10 pounds to your goal, there wouldn't be much of a margin in-between? I know there isn't much to be done about this in your current situation, but unfortunately without the knowledge you need to know if you truly are in a deficit, it may mean that it'll come off a lot slower than you would like.marinabreeze wrote: »
130 puts you at a healthy BMI for your height. You already seem to be living a pretty healthy lifestyle anyway. Going from 130 to 120 doesn't mean you'll become more healthy anyway. And comparing your current body to your HS freshman body as you did in a different reply does you no favors. Even if you get to 120, you're not going to get that body back because you're no longer 14 and you're presumably a fully grown adult. Not trying to be snarky, just being realistic.
It's actually because I care about my body enough to want to feel healthy and by the time I'm 30 trying to get rid of it then when its easier for me to lose weight now and maintain. I'm trying to be responsible about my body and make changes now.midwesterner85 wrote: »Why did you change your goal from 130 to 120?
I'll field this one. Probably because she's 20ish and needs to fit in a smaller bikini for Chad's awesome pool party.
It seems you're pretty hard on yourself in terms of being anxious about gaining weight, but remember you are in an adult body, not a teenage body, and you've are already putting in the work to be at a healthy weight.
If you want to have a more sculpted body, weights and strength training help. If you're just trying to look more slender - realistically without a scale you're not going to know how much you're truly eating, so it is possible you're eating more than you think in general - not overeating per se, just eating at maintenance. Being so close to goal with not much to lose, there's not much margin for error.
I want to look leaner and more sculpted. I definitely don't think im eating maintenance because I know that I don't put much into my body at all, even without a scale. Chartwells-the system used for our school- is teamed up with mfp and i don't really eat much.
I understand I am no longer a teenager but I also get extremely disappointed at the gym. I see people my age have much nicer bodies than I do and it just upsets me because I work very hard. I really shouldn't compare myself but I do.
I know it's really hard to compare yourself to other people. I try to say I'm beyond it myself, but after watching my sister and brother lose a lot of weight in the past year or so, I admit that one of my motivations to lose is to not be the "fat sibling" anymore. At the same time, try to remember that you have one body, it's the only body you'll ever have, and it's best to both care for it (which you're clearly already doing) and love it for what it is - not for what you wish it was.-1 -
Personally, I think my scale(s) have brains and are just f'ing with me! LOL, j/k. I am sure it's a variety of factors and I do believe that, over time, it trends downward if the person is truly in a deficit. I'm gonna guess that water retention is the biggest culprit for different reasons (e.g., TOM for females, sodium, retention due to exercising, BM's etc.). Another thought I have is that it may be some sort of "balancing out" after larger losses. It'll drive you insane, if you let it. My common sense tells me it will start moving again (even if it's a little slower since I'm smaller). I'm doing all the "right" things in terms of keeping myself at a deficit and this isn't my first rodeo, unfortunately.
OP, I agree with the comments you've gotten from others. Relax and stop stressing. Going from 171 to low 130s is amazing. I suspect the body of your dreams will be achieved by strength training vs. losing some static amount of pounds. Looking at your workouts, I think you might be doing too many reps. Try lifting heavier and less reps. I also think if you're doing all those at one time, you are overtraining. I know that if I have too many sets/reps/body parts, something will suffer. I think it's better to work a body part once a week to fatigue than to plough through dozens of sets and multiple bodyparts in one day for more than one day a week. I think that's an inefficient use of your time. In this case, less is more. At least that is what worked for me. I used to do a full body workout plus cardio 3-4 times a week when I first started working out years ago. I was in the gym for like 4 hours at a time. I didn't understand how other people spent so little time there (relatively speaking) and looked great. Then I started reading and asking questions. I would guess that I wound up doing half the effort for more than twice the result after my little education.
Good luck and congrats on your success so far...0 -
There's nothing "clear" about what you just posted. Survival mode and starvation mode are real. It doesn't mean your body magically finds calories where there are none, but our bodies are adaptive machines. When it doesn't get enough food for a sustained period of time, it absolutely tries to save energy wherever it can: it feels more sluggish, metabolism slows down, and you burn energy at a lower rate during regular activities (measured exercise notwithstanding). Someone at peak metabolism burns more calories standing, walking, sitting and sleeping than someone in starvation mode.Here's the solution to your plateu: EAT MORE. It will reset your body's metabolism. One reason you may be "plateuing" is that your body has slowed down your metabolism, gone into survival mode, and is storing everything it can.
I really don't know why people keep posting this advice. It's clearly not true.
"Survival mode" is a myth. You're not starving yourself unless you are REALLY starving. Not a term to use lightly when you look around the world and see people who are actually starving.
"Resetting your metabolism" is a myth. There's no ctrl-alt-del reboot switch on a body's metabolism.
As for resetting metabolism, that's real too. No it's not like restarting your laptop. It's more like slowly readjusting and retraining the body to expect more food - hence it takes two weeks of maintenance level eating and not one binge session.
That posting by Segacs is very clear, and spot on.
Starvation mode is a myth as to the common dieter. To be in starvation mode, you must be emaciated and have lost a certain percentage of body fat and muscle. People who are fat or overweight, of normal weight, don't get starvation mode. Have you studied the Minnesota Starvation Experiment?
In the normal world of dieting, people telling others to stop starving themselves simply means to eat more. It in no way relates to starvation mode.
Resetting metabolism is a myth too. If your metabolism stops, you're dead. If it slows down, there is a medical issue that needs attention. However, it does not need to be "reset".
The only requirement to lose weight is to eat less calories than you burn. That's it. Everything else, such as diet type, food restriction, exercise, drinking tea teas, standing on your head while eating jelly beans, is preference only.0 -
I think there is something evil in these last 10 pounds
I am fighting just like you, from 130 to 120 for a pretty long time and it's going nowhere. That's why I joined MFP.
I don't think is what we eat (I've been keeping track of my food here and even blindly I have been doing good) and I don't think it's the exercise either (cause I am doing good on that too), I think it's the stress.
You are stressed and so am I. This alone screws with these last 10 pounds. You need to find your balance, your happy place and maybe try something different in terms of working out. Go join a Hip-hop dance club, or join a swimming club or a martial arts club. You need to stop thinking at these last ten pounds as if they are your prize and think more on life style.0 -
LucyAndKay wrote: »You need to stop thinking at these last ten pounds as if they are your prize and think more on life style.
So much this!
The reality is, 10 pounds isn't that much in the grand scheme of things. If you're not happy and confident with yourself today, you won't be happy and confident weighing 10 pounds less. That's just not enough weight to make that big a difference.
Find ways to be happy and healthy and confident at your current weight and size, and then focus on losing the last few.0 -
Thank you girl!Personally, I think my scale(s) have brains and are just f'ing with me! LOL, j/k. I am sure it's a variety of factors and I do believe that, over time, it trends downward if the person is truly in a deficit. I'm gonna guess that water retention is the biggest culprit for different reasons (e.g., TOM for females, sodium, retention due to exercising, BM's etc.). Another thought I have is that it may be some sort of "balancing out" after larger losses. It'll drive you insane, if you let it. My common sense tells me it will start moving again (even if it's a little slower since I'm smaller). I'm doing all the "right" things in terms of keeping myself at a deficit and this isn't my first rodeo, unfortunately.
OP, I agree with the comments you've gotten from others. Relax and stop stressing. Going from 171 to low 130s is amazing. I suspect the body of your dreams will be achieved by strength training vs. losing some static amount of pounds. Looking at your workouts, I think you might be doing too many reps. Try lifting heavier and less reps. I also think if you're doing all those at one time, you are overtraining. I know that if I have too many sets/reps/body parts, something will suffer. I think it's better to work a body part once a week to fatigue than to plough through dozens of sets and multiple bodyparts in one day for more than one day a week. I think that's an inefficient use of your time. In this case, less is more. At least that is what worked for me. I used to do a full body workout plus cardio 3-4 times a week when I first started working out years ago. I was in the gym for like 4 hours at a time. I didn't understand how other people spent so little time there (relatively speaking) and looked great. Then I started reading and asking questions. I would guess that I wound up doing half the effort for more than twice the result after my little education.
Good luck and congrats on your success so far...
Im trying to switch things up at the gym but a lot of the machines confuse me tbh. I guess I just need to educate myself more.
I havent ate since breakfast but im about to cook some chicken and im still way under my calorie goal so im unsure what to do. Im just not hungry after yesterday. And I need to go to the gym tonight. Knowing me I'll probably burn all those calories. I'm generally in an extreme cal deficit by the end of the week. I walk everywhere and have to go up this huge
Flight of stairs anytime i do anything. Then with my two workouts a day i usually burn the calories i eat.
All these people keep fighting over starvation mode but im pretty sure thats a myth. Why is my body holding onto this weight still?
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marinabreeze wrote: »
I'm not saying you're eating much - it's just that you could be eating at maintenance. Since you don't have a scale, how can you know for sure that you're not, especially since at 130 with only 10 pounds to your goal, there wouldn't be much of a margin in-between? I know there isn't much to be done about this in your current situation, but unfortunately without the knowledge you need to know if you truly are in a deficit, it may mean that it'll come off a lot slower than you would like.marinabreeze wrote: »
130 puts you at a healthy BMI for your height. You already seem to be living a pretty healthy lifestyle anyway. Going from 130 to 120 doesn't mean you'll become more healthy anyway. And comparing your current body to your HS freshman body as you did in a different reply does you no favors. Even if you get to 120, you're not going to get that body back because you're no longer 14 and you're presumably a fully grown adult. Not trying to be snarky, just being realistic.
It's actually because I care about my body enough to want to feel healthy and by the time I'm 30 trying to get rid of it then when its easier for me to lose weight now and maintain. I'm trying to be responsible about my body and make changes now.midwesterner85 wrote: »Why did you change your goal from 130 to 120?
I'll field this one. Probably because she's 20ish and needs to fit in a smaller bikini for Chad's awesome pool party.
It seems you're pretty hard on yourself in terms of being anxious about gaining weight, but remember you are in an adult body, not a teenage body, and you've are already putting in the work to be at a healthy weight.
If you want to have a more sculpted body, weights and strength training help. If you're just trying to look more slender - realistically without a scale you're not going to know how much you're truly eating, so it is possible you're eating more than you think in general - not overeating per se, just eating at maintenance. Being so close to goal with not much to lose, there's not much margin for error.
I want to look leaner and more sculpted. I definitely don't think im eating maintenance because I know that I don't put much into my body at all, even without a scale. Chartwells-the system used for our school- is teamed up with mfp and i don't really eat much.
I understand I am no longer a teenager but I also get extremely disappointed at the gym. I see people my age have much nicer bodies than I do and it just upsets me because I work very hard. I really shouldn't compare myself but I do.
I know it's really hard to compare yourself to other people. I try to say I'm beyond it myself, but after watching my sister and brother lose a lot of weight in the past year or so, I admit that one of my motivations to lose is to not be the "fat sibling" anymore. At the same time, try to remember that you have one body, it's the only body you'll ever have, and it's best to both care for it (which you're clearly already doing) and love it for what it is - not for what you wish it was.
Scale as in measuring out my food. I weigh myself every morning. And its accurate because the scale at the doctors office was the same.
I'm trying to love my body which is why im trying to take care of it now instead of later. I definitely compare myself to skinnier girls though which I know is wrong to do.
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So does metabolism not slow down? I am confused.
There's nothing "clear" about what you just posted. Survival mode and starvation mode are real. It doesn't mean your body magically finds calories where there are none, but our bodies are adaptive machines. When it doesn't get enough food for a sustained period of time, it absolutely tries to save energy wherever it can: it feels more sluggish, metabolism slows down, and you burn energy at a lower rate during regular activities (measured exercise notwithstanding). Someone at peak metabolism burns more calories standing, walking, sitting and sleeping than someone in starvation mode.Here's the solution to your plateu: EAT MORE. It will reset your body's metabolism. One reason you may be "plateuing" is that your body has slowed down your metabolism, gone into survival mode, and is storing everything it can.
I really don't know why people keep posting this advice. It's clearly not true.
"Survival mode" is a myth. You're not starving yourself unless you are REALLY starving. Not a term to use lightly when you look around the world and see people who are actually starving.
"Resetting your metabolism" is a myth. There's no ctrl-alt-del reboot switch on a body's metabolism.
As for resetting metabolism, that's real too. No it's not like restarting your laptop. It's more like slowly readjusting and retraining the body to expect more food - hence it takes two weeks of maintenance level eating and not one binge session.
That posting by Segacs is very clear, and spot on.
Starvation mode is a myth as to the common dieter. To be in starvation mode, you must be emaciated and have lost a certain percentage of body fat and muscle. People who are fat or overweight, of normal weight, don't get starvation mode. Have you studied the Minnesota Starvation Experiment?
In the normal world of dieting, people telling others to stop starving themselves simply means to eat more. It in no way relates to starvation mode.
Resetting metabolism is a myth too. If your metabolism stops, you're dead. If it slows down, there is a medical issue that needs attention. However, it does not need to be "reset".
The only requirement to lose weight is to eat less calories than you burn. That's it. Everything else, such as diet type, food restriction, exercise, drinking tea teas, standing on your head while eating jelly beans, is preference only.
I eat very few calories and burn a billion and im unsure why I cant lose weight.
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RavenLibra wrote: »excellent answer Stacimarie... kudos...
Agreed!0 -
LucyAndKay wrote: »I think there is something evil in these last 10 pounds I am fighting just like you, from 130 to 120 for a pretty long time and it's going nowhere. That's why I joined MFP.
I don't think is what we eat (I've been keeping track of my food here and even blindly I have been doing good) and I don't think it's the exercise either (cause I am doing good on that too), I think it's the stress.
You are stressed and so am I. This alone screws with these last 10 pounds. You need to find your balance, your happy place and maybe try something different in terms of working out. Go join a Hip-hop dance club, or join a swimming club or a martial arts club. You need to stop thinking at these last ten pounds as if they are your prize and think more on life style.
If its about stress i'll never lose them
lol jk
But yes, I'm definitely trying to find something to do that I would enjoy that is a physical activity. I'm already so active and finding another outlet would be fantastic. At home we had this giant trampoline emporium and it was very fun, and quite the workout. But I need something at college and I can't wait till it gets warm so I can go swimming again. We have an indoor pool but the idea of going back outside in the cold after doesn't sound like the best time to me. lol
I was thinking about yoga but I'm not very flexible. I just need to find something fun.
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I'm still at my 195 calorie mark for the day because I've been busy in labs and such. I'm about to eat a 210 calorie chicken breast that has spinach and a little bit of cheese in it.
So that will get me to 395 for the day.
I've walked quite a bit today and did my morning strength workout. I still have to do my cardio today and I am not going to give up my workouts. I love to and it relaxes me.
So what do I do? I burn probably 3x the amount i eat half the time.0 -
I'm still at my 195 calorie mark for the day because I've been busy in labs and such. I'm about to eat a 210 calorie chicken breast that has spinach and a little bit of cheese in it.
So that will get me to 395 for the day.
I've walked quite a bit today and did my morning strength workout. I still have to do my cardio today and I am not going to give up my workouts. I love to and it relaxes me.
So what do I do? I burn probably 3x the amount i eat half the time.
Guys?0 -
I'm still at my 195 calorie mark for the day because I've been busy in labs and such. I'm about to eat a 210 calorie chicken breast that has spinach and a little bit of cheese in it.
So that will get me to 395 for the day.
I've walked quite a bit today and did my morning strength workout. I still have to do my cardio today and I am not going to give up my workouts. I love to and it relaxes me.
So what do I do? I burn probably 3x the amount i eat half the time.
Guys?
395 calories for the day isn't enough.0 -
I have a question about your strength workout: is this the order that you do the exercises? And, if so, is there a reason why you leg press before you squat? A squat is a better exercise on all levels than a leg press; it demands much more energy from your body (ie burns more calories during* and after the exercise), activates more muscles in the body, will build a nicer set of legs, glutes, and hams, and should not be secondary to the leg press. A leg press is a good accessory exercise, but you're pre-exhausting your legs and kind of robbing yourself of the benefits of a squat if you ask me.0
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Which has A LOT to do with your metabolism. Your metabolism doesn't have to "stop" in order for it to slow down. Your metabolism adapts to the input your body is getting as well the output you're performing. Yes, metabolism does slow down when the body doesn't get enough fuel. You can call that a medical issue, and if it is, it is caused by not eating enough.
There's nothing "clear" about what you just posted. Survival mode and starvation mode are real. It doesn't mean your body magically finds calories where there are none, but our bodies are adaptive machines. When it doesn't get enough food for a sustained period of time, it absolutely tries to save energy wherever it can: it feels more sluggish, metabolism slows down, and you burn energy at a lower rate during regular activities (measured exercise notwithstanding). Someone at peak metabolism burns more calories standing, walking, sitting and sleeping than someone in starvation mode.Here's the solution to your plateu: EAT MORE. It will reset your body's metabolism. One reason you may be "plateuing" is that your body has slowed down your metabolism, gone into survival mode, and is storing everything it can.
I really don't know why people keep posting this advice. It's clearly not true.
"Survival mode" is a myth. You're not starving yourself unless you are REALLY starving. Not a term to use lightly when you look around the world and see people who are actually starving.
"Resetting your metabolism" is a myth. There's no ctrl-alt-del reboot switch on a body's metabolism.
As for resetting metabolism, that's real too. No it's not like restarting your laptop. It's more like slowly readjusting and retraining the body to expect more food - hence it takes two weeks of maintenance level eating and not one binge session.
That posting by Segacs is very clear, and spot on.
Starvation mode is a myth as to the common dieter. To be in starvation mode, you must be emaciated and have lost a certain percentage of body fat and muscle. People who are fat or overweight, of normal weight, don't get starvation mode. Have you studied the Minnesota Starvation Experiment?
In the normal world of dieting, people telling others to stop starving themselves simply means to eat more. It in no way relates to starvation mode.
Resetting metabolism is a myth too. If your metabolism stops, you're dead. If it slows down, there is a medical issue that needs attention. However, it does not need to be "reset".
The only requirement to lose weight is to eat less calories than you burn. That's it. Everything else, such as diet type, food restriction, exercise, drinking tea teas, standing on your head while eating jelly beans, is preference only.
As for starvation mode, it's absolutely real, including in fat people. We're not talking about famine-type starvation. We're talking about a big enough slowdown in metabolism that you begin to see a diminished effect on weight loss from dieting.
Again, that's not because things now suddenly take fewer calories to perform than they did before, but there's a rule of physics (since everyone here thinks they are a science expert and I actually DID study physics) that input energy is ALWAYS greater than output energy. That's because of energy loss. I can exert 100 calories to do something that only requires 60 calories to do. There's a 40 calorie loss. But that "loss" is a gain when you're trying to lose weight. I may be able to exert only 80 calories and still do that work (let's say it's opening 10 cans of jars) since it only takes 60 calories to do, but I just lost out on using that extra 20 calories.
Another way metabolism slowdown reduces energy expenditure is by making one feel lethargic and simply doing less. It may not always be noticeable in your day-to-day life but it's still happening.0 -
I had no idea about that! I'll keep that in mind at the gym tomorrowricardo510diaz wrote: »I have a question about your strength workout: is this the order that you do the exercises? And, if so, is there a reason why you leg press before you squat? A squat is a better exercise on all levels than a leg press; it demands much more energy from your body (ie burns more calories during* and after the exercise), activates more muscles in the body, will build a nicer set of legs, glutes, and hams, and should not be secondary to the leg press. A leg press is a good accessory exercise, but you're pre-exhausting your legs and kind of robbing yourself of the benefits of a squat if you ask me.
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