Lets discuss Plateaus

fitnesia
fitnesia Posts: 21
edited April 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone,

I'm a 5'7 female, 166 lbs and I've been losing weight since December 1/2014 and I've lost 25 lbs so far. Through the 25 lb loss I have not logged my food and lost the weight without counting calories, but now that I hit a weight loss plateau, I need to start tracking the numbers and understand more about this.

For the past week, I've been eating 1300 calories a day and completing a 60 minute workout each day, but I haven't weighed myself yet.

For the few weeks before that, my weight has been the same. My main question is, how much should I be eating? I can eat less, that won't be a problem for me. And I can exercise more as well, but I don't want to take chances.

Thank you.

PS: I made this account just last week so my diary does not have much to help with this.


OH.... And...

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Replies

  • 3JinItaly
    3JinItaly Posts: 27 Member
    I had a 9 week plateau after losing 22lbs and it turned out, I wasn't eating enough. I stuck with 1200 calories religiously and it worked for a while but as my body got stronger and I started exercising and lifting harder, I needed more fuel. The only thing that broke the plateau for me was finally fueling my body!
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    There's honestly no reason to eat less. In fact, at 5'7" you probably should eat a little more. What does MFP say you should be eating at 5'7" and losing .5 pound per week (which should be your current goal)?

    How long was the plateau before you decided to make the change to 1300 calories? My advice would be to weigh yourself and validate your efforts so far before trying to determine if you need to make further adjustments.
  • DaniCanadian
    DaniCanadian Posts: 261 Member
    Seeing as you're getting close to your goal, you'll probably have to start being more accurate. Do you weigh your food? You are more than likely eating more than 1300 cals per day. If you want you can check my diary, I'm at 1500-1600 and I weigh out my food portions. The closer you get to your goal, the less room for error there is.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    plateau's are when you are off on the CICO calculation...it's that simple.

    To lose weight you have to eat less calories than you burn through regular living and exercise.

    To ensure the calculation is correct you need to log accurately and consistently which means logging all solid food by weight and liquids by measure and having accurate calorie counts for exercise.

    The first part is easy...get a food scale, choose correct entries and log.

    the 2nd part can be more difficult esp if you don't have a HRM with a chest strap doing steady state cardio but you can get good estimates from other sources.

    MFP has some estimates but are often regarded as high so the suggestion is to eat back half and if you are losing appropriately stick with it...losing too fast eat 75%....still too fast 100% of MFP recommended calories for exercise.

    Plateaus last longer than 4-6 weeks and if you hit one check your logging and if you are sure it's good there go to exercise calories.
  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
    SueInAz wrote: »
    There's honestly no reason to eat less. In fact, at 5'7" you probably should eat a little more. What does MFP say you should be eating at 5'7" and losing .5 pound per week (which should be your current goal)?

    How long was the plateau before you decided to make the change to 1300 calories? My advice would be to weigh yourself and validate your efforts so far before trying to determine if you need to make further adjustments.

    Agree. Start by setting up MFP correctly, with a modest goal. (People closer to goal weight, say, 50 lbs or less, should be choosing 0.5 lb or maybe 1 lb.) Choose a setting for lifestyle to reflect your movement outside of exercise. Log your workouts.

    Eat what MFP says to, including say, 50% of your exercise calories (it will add them on for you, but may overestimate, so many people start by leaving a buffer). Do this for 4-6 weeks and see how you get on. Adjust if you're losing too quickly or too slowly.

    At 1300 + working out and not eating back, you're likely eating too little for long term health, especially at your height. (It won't hinder weight loss but it won't be good for you either.)
  • fitnesia
    fitnesia Posts: 21
    SueInAz wrote: »
    There's honestly no reason to eat less. In fact, at 5'7" you probably should eat a little more. What does MFP say you should be eating at 5'7" and losing .5 pound per week (which should be your current goal)?

    How long was the plateau before you decided to make the change to 1300 calories? My advice would be to weigh yourself and validate your efforts so far before trying to determine if you need to make further adjustments.

    The plateau went on for about 3 weeks before I decided to make the change.
  • fitnesia
    fitnesia Posts: 21
    Seeing as you're getting close to your goal, you'll probably have to start being more accurate. Do you weigh your food? You are more than likely eating more than 1300 cals per day. If you want you can check my diary, I'm at 1500-1600 and I weigh out my food portions. The closer you get to your goal, the less room for error there is.

    I agree. I'll pay attention to that!
  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,082 Member
    Plateaus are just a nice way for nice people to say they are not eating at a deficit
  • fitnesia
    fitnesia Posts: 21
    edited April 2015
    SueInAz wrote: »
    There's honestly no reason to eat less. In fact, at 5'7" you probably should eat a little more. What does MFP say you should be eating at 5'7" and losing .5 pound per week (which should be your current goal)?

    How long was the plateau before you decided to make the change to 1300 calories? My advice would be to weigh yourself and validate your efforts so far before trying to determine if you need to make further adjustments.

    Agree. Start by setting up MFP correctly, with a modest goal. (People closer to goal weight, say, 50 lbs or less, should be choosing 0.5 lb or maybe 1 lb.) Choose a setting for lifestyle to reflect your movement outside of exercise. Log your workouts.

    Eat what MFP says to, including say, 50% of your exercise calories (it will add them on for you, but may overestimate, so many people start by leaving a buffer). Do this for 4-6 weeks and see how you get on. Adjust if you're losing too quickly or too slowly.

    At 1300 + working out and not eating back, you're likely eating too little for long term health, especially at your height. (It won't hinder weight loss but it won't be good for you either.)

    This was helpful, thank you! I did some calculations and if I want to lose 1 lb per week, I have to eat 1600 calories and complete 300 minutes a week (60/5 a week)...

    I feel kind of hesitant! I can barely eat 1400 a day and I'm normally under :(
    But as for the exercise I'm pretty good with that...
  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
    fitnesia wrote: »
    SueInAz wrote: »
    There's honestly no reason to eat less. In fact, at 5'7" you probably should eat a little more. What does MFP say you should be eating at 5'7" and losing .5 pound per week (which should be your current goal)?

    How long was the plateau before you decided to make the change to 1300 calories? My advice would be to weigh yourself and validate your efforts so far before trying to determine if you need to make further adjustments.

    Agree. Start by setting up MFP correctly, with a modest goal. (People closer to goal weight, say, 50 lbs or less, should be choosing 0.5 lb or maybe 1 lb.) Choose a setting for lifestyle to reflect your movement outside of exercise. Log your workouts.

    Eat what MFP says to, including say, 50% of your exercise calories (it will add them on for you, but may overestimate, so many people start by leaving a buffer). Do this for 4-6 weeks and see how you get on. Adjust if you're losing too quickly or too slowly.

    At 1300 + working out and not eating back, you're likely eating too little for long term health, especially at your height. (It won't hinder weight loss but it won't be good for you either.)

    This was helpful, thank you! I did some calculations and if I want to lose 1 lb per week, I have to eat 1600 calories and complete 300 minutes a week (60/5 a week)...

    I feel kind of hesitant! I can barely eat 1400 a day and I'm normally under :(
    But as for the exercise I'm pretty good with that...

    Eat more calorie dense foods to fuel yourself without feeling like you're eating MORE food (as in, greater volume). For example, peanut butter, a serving of nuts, olive oil for cooking, full fat dairy instead of fat free, etc. (Remember that you need plenty of fat and protein to be healthy, so don't limit it.) One tbls of olive oil to cook some meat and veggies, alone, would bump you up 120 cals. And you won't feel like you're eating more, but your body will have more fuel for your workouts.

    I would also second the food scale recommendation. If you were not counting before, stopped losing, suddenly started counting and the number came in at 1300? You'd've been losing. You may be eating more calories than you think (it's super easy to do, especially with calorie dense foods -- in studies, even dieticians often underestimate calories). And scrutinize even your packaged food. Yes, I know, your bread says 140 calories for 2 slices or whatever, but 2 slices really may not weigh what the package says it weighs. I find this a lot, so test your packaged foods a few times when you get a scale to see what you can trust and what you should be weighing!
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited April 2015
    fitnesia wrote: »
    SueInAz wrote: »
    There's honestly no reason to eat less. In fact, at 5'7" you probably should eat a little more. What does MFP say you should be eating at 5'7" and losing .5 pound per week (which should be your current goal)?

    How long was the plateau before you decided to make the change to 1300 calories? My advice would be to weigh yourself and validate your efforts so far before trying to determine if you need to make further adjustments.

    Agree. Start by setting up MFP correctly, with a modest goal. (People closer to goal weight, say, 50 lbs or less, should be choosing 0.5 lb or maybe 1 lb.) Choose a setting for lifestyle to reflect your movement outside of exercise. Log your workouts.

    Eat what MFP says to, including say, 50% of your exercise calories (it will add them on for you, but may overestimate, so many people start by leaving a buffer). Do this for 4-6 weeks and see how you get on. Adjust if you're losing too quickly or too slowly.

    At 1300 + working out and not eating back, you're likely eating too little for long term health, especially at your height. (It won't hinder weight loss but it won't be good for you either.)

    This was helpful, thank you! I did some calculations and if I want to lose 1 lb per week, I have to eat 1600 calories and complete 300 minutes a week (60/5 a week)...

    I feel kind of hesitant! I can barely eat 1400 a day and I'm normally under :(
    But as for the exercise I'm pretty good with that...

    Eat more calorie dense foods to fuel yourself without feeling like you're eating MORE food (as in, greater volume). For example, peanut butter, a serving of nuts, olive oil for cooking, full fat dairy instead of fat free, etc. (Remember that you need plenty of fat and protein to be healthy, so don't limit it.) One tbls of olive oil to cook some meat and veggies, alone, would bump you up 120 cals. And you won't feel like you're eating more, but your body will have more fuel for your workouts.

    I would also second the food scale recommendation. If you were not counting before, stopped losing, suddenly started counting and the number came in at 1300? You'd've been losing. You may be eating more calories than you think (it's super easy to do, especially with calorie dense foods -- in studies, even dieticians often underestimate calories). And scrutinize even your packaged food. Yes, I know, your bread says 140 calories for 2 slices or whatever, but 2 slices really may not weigh what the package says it weighs. I find this a lot, so test your packaged foods a few times when you get a scale to see what you can trust and what you should be weighing!

    Agree and agree.

    Avoid low-fat and non-fat foods which are usually just substituting fat with sugar. Fat is good for you and it'll help you make up the extra calories easily.

    A kitchen scale is the most valuable tool for people trying to lose weight. A heart rate monitor is the second-most valuable. You'll be surprised how often what you think something weighs and what it does weigh are different and how many packaged foods don't weigh what the package says. Since the calorie counts are based on the serving weight, it can be off by quite a bit.

    If you weren't losing weight when you were logging 1300 calories I'd wager that you were really eating more than 1300. There's no need to eat more food, just be more accurate with the logging of what you are eating and you should be able to manage it from there.
  • fitnesia
    fitnesia Posts: 21
    SueInAz wrote: »
    fitnesia wrote: »
    SueInAz wrote: »
    There's honestly no reason to eat less. In fact, at 5'7" you probably should eat a little more. What does MFP say you should be eating at 5'7" and losing .5 pound per week (which should be your current goal)?

    How long was the plateau before you decided to make the change to 1300 calories? My advice would be to weigh yourself and validate your efforts so far before trying to determine if you need to make further adjustments.

    Agree. Start by setting up MFP correctly, with a modest goal. (People closer to goal weight, say, 50 lbs or less, should be choosing 0.5 lb or maybe 1 lb.) Choose a setting for lifestyle to reflect your movement outside of exercise. Log your workouts.

    Eat what MFP says to, including say, 50% of your exercise calories (it will add them on for you, but may overestimate, so many people start by leaving a buffer). Do this for 4-6 weeks and see how you get on. Adjust if you're losing too quickly or too slowly.

    At 1300 + working out and not eating back, you're likely eating too little for long term health, especially at your height. (It won't hinder weight loss but it won't be good for you either.)

    This was helpful, thank you! I did some calculations and if I want to lose 1 lb per week, I have to eat 1600 calories and complete 300 minutes a week (60/5 a week)...

    I feel kind of hesitant! I can barely eat 1400 a day and I'm normally under :(
    But as for the exercise I'm pretty good with that...

    Eat more calorie dense foods to fuel yourself without feeling like you're eating MORE food (as in, greater volume). For example, peanut butter, a serving of nuts, olive oil for cooking, full fat dairy instead of fat free, etc. (Remember that you need plenty of fat and protein to be healthy, so don't limit it.) One tbls of olive oil to cook some meat and veggies, alone, would bump you up 120 cals. And you won't feel like you're eating more, but your body will have more fuel for your workouts.

    I would also second the food scale recommendation. If you were not counting before, stopped losing, suddenly started counting and the number came in at 1300? You'd've been losing. You may be eating more calories than you think (it's super easy to do, especially with calorie dense foods -- in studies, even dieticians often underestimate calories). And scrutinize even your packaged food. Yes, I know, your bread says 140 calories for 2 slices or whatever, but 2 slices really may not weigh what the package says it weighs. I find this a lot, so test your packaged foods a few times when you get a scale to see what you can trust and what you should be weighing!

    Agree and agree.

    Avoid low-fat and non-fat foods which are usually just substituting fat with sugar. Fat is good for you and it'll help you make up the extra calories easily.

    A kitchen scale is the most valuable tool for people trying to lose weight. A heart rate monitor is the second-most valuable. You'll be surprised how often what you think something weighs and what it does weigh are different and how many packaged foods don't weigh what the package says. Since the calorie counts are based on the serving weight, it can be off by quite a bit.

    If you weren't losing weight when you were logging 1300 calories I'd wager that you were really eating more than 1300. There's no need to eat more food, just be more accurate with the logging of what you are eating and you should be able to manage it from there.
    Thanks everyone, I'll be hopefully buying a food scale soon and a heart rate monitor as well.