Help... Weight loss plateau

Sri26
Sri26 Posts: 8 Member
edited November 16 in Introduce Yourself
Hello all,

I am Sri from Cleveland, Ohio. So this is my second my time in my weight loss journey am encountering the plateau at the same weight i.e. 170 lbs. Previously I was at 190 lbs and my goal was to lose 40 lbs. I used to do p90x, insanity regularly and lost 20 lbs. But plateau demotivated me in a big way and result was am back to 180 lbs.

So this time seriously I want to reach my goal at any cost. I have joined gym 3 weeks ago and lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks ( yeah... i burn 1000 calories a day and eat 1000 calories ;) ). But since a week am again stuck at 170 lbs. This week am trying to break the plateau by changing my diet and working out with several new cardio workouts.

So guys please help me in achieving my goal and breaking this plateau... let me know your experience on how you broke the plateau if you had one... Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrsssssss.....

Replies

  • annamontalvo920
    annamontalvo920 Posts: 18 Member
    Don't let your body get comfortable! I do meal prep but unlike most people who eat the same thing everyday, I eat something different!
    Make sure to always change your workouts. It's amazing how fast the body can become accustom to things. Also make sure to rest - that's when your body is going to do a lot of the changes.
    You might not be eating enough. If your burning exactly what your eating your body might not have enough fuel to re-cooperate. When that happens your body goes into "survival mode" and tries to hold on to what it can = plateau!
    I'm 4'11" at 115lb (5lb left to reach my goal
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Why are you burning 1000 calories and eating only 1000 calories? How long have you been stalled? How are you estimating your calories burned?
  • Sri26
    Sri26 Posts: 8 Member
    @annamontalvo920 hi anna... i think you are right... i might not be eating enough. but actually am used to it now... can't even go beyond my calorie goal of 1500 daily... i just feel full right away when i eat something. any suggestions on how should I increase my intake?

    @arditarose hi rose... why am burning 1000 calories... hmmmm tough question haha.. well i got used to burning calories. its the way my mind is set now. i just want to push myself and am loving it. I do elliptical for about 45 mins and burn like 700 calories, then rowing and arc for 10 mins each burning 300 calories. and i have been stalled since a week. scale just hangs around 170 and 171.. :(
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Sri26 wrote: »
    @annamontalvo920 hi anna... i think you are right... i might not be eating enough. but actually am used to it now... can't even go beyond my calorie goal of 1500 daily... i just feel full right away when i eat something. any suggestions on how should I increase my intake?

    @arditarose hi rose... why am burning 1000 calories... hmmmm tough question haha.. well i got used to burning calories. its the way my mind is set now. i just want to push myself and am loving it. I do elliptical for about 45 mins and burn like 700 calories, then rowing and arc for 10 mins each burning 300 calories. and i have been stalled since a week. scale just hangs around 170 and 171.. :(

    You do not burn 700 calories on the elliptical for 45 minutes. MFP's exercise estimates are very high, if that's what you're using. In 45 minutes you'd be lucky to burn 400
  • Sri26
    Sri26 Posts: 8 Member
    @arditarose welllll the numbers I gave you were from the machines itself. MFP says 520 in 45 mins. But I have no idea how they are calculating them. I think that burning calories depends on level of resistance and speed at which we do. My avg resistance level is 11 and avg speed is 60 rpm... :)
  • urloved33
    urloved33 Posts: 3,323 Member
    annamontalvo920 wrote: »
    Don't let your body get comfortable! I do meal prep but unlike most people who eat the same thing everyday, I eat something different!
    Make sure to always change your workouts. It's amazing how fast the body can become accustom to things. Also make sure to rest - that's when your body is going to do a lot of the changes.
    You might not be eating enough. If your burning exactly what your eating your body might not have enough fuel to re-cooperate. When that happens your body goes into "survival mode" and tries to hold on to what it can = plateau!
    I'm 4'11" at 115lb (5lb left to reach my goal

    She is right.

  • tacastan
    tacastan Posts: 55 Member
    been at this for two months looking for friends.
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    urloved33 wrote: »
    annamontalvo920 wrote: »
    Don't let your body get comfortable! I do meal prep but unlike most people who eat the same thing everyday, I eat something different!
    Make sure to always change your workouts. It's amazing how fast the body can become accustom to things. Also make sure to rest - that's when your body is going to do a lot of the changes.
    You might not be eating enough. If your burning exactly what your eating your body might not have enough fuel to re-cooperate. When that happens your body goes into "survival mode" and tries to hold on to what it can = plateau!
    I'm 4'11" at 115lb (5lb left to reach my goal

    She is right.

    Actually, no, on neither count. You don’t have to keep changing what you eat or the exercises you do to burn calories, though as you get more fit you do burn fewer calories doing any exercise in general. Also, there is no such thing as “survival mode” - research has debunked this particular myth.

    @arditarose is correct about calorie burns: they’re overestimated by both the machines and MFP. This is why most people only eat back about half their calories. Calorie burns ultimately depend on your heart rate, and machines and MFP simply provide estimates based on your heigh/weight/gender, while knowing your level of exertion (i.e. resistance, speed).
  • jenncornelsen
    jenncornelsen Posts: 969 Member
    1500 cals is how much i eat as a short woman. 1000 and i would be starving. u are not doing yourself any favors by eating so low. u will be losing muscle along with fat. be kind to your body. who cares if u dont lose it all in a week? remember healthy please
  • sakibihabibi
    sakibihabibi Posts: 23 Member
    Yo stop doing so much cardio. It's a waste of time. You need to lift weights. Create a workout regiment that revolves around the deadlift, bench press, squat and military press. Lift HEAVY. Low reps. You do 2-3 high intensity cardio sessions a week. I do biking/running. I do 5 weightlifting sessions and 2 cardio sessions a week.
    The more muscle your body has, the more calories your body burns a day.

    For eating to lose weight, stay at a caloric deficit and eat around 160-180 grams of protein a day. I do 1gran of protein for pound of body weight. Keeping protein high is key for building muscle.
  • Sri26
    Sri26 Posts: 8 Member
    @jenncornelsen hey jenn... my big problem is that am not feeling hungry at all. And I don't even feel fatigue or tired. Am not trying to lose weight in a week or so lol just I got used to eat fewer calories and burn more. And I feel healthy that way. Don't know what's wrong with my body... (:

    @sakibihabibi yo bro... great tips... will try to follow them.. thanks :)

  • Sri26
    Sri26 Posts: 8 Member
    Emilia777 wrote: »
    urloved33 wrote: »
    annamontalvo920 wrote: »
    Don't let your body get comfortable! I do meal prep but unlike most people who eat the same thing everyday, I eat something different!
    Make sure to always change your workouts. It's amazing how fast the body can become accustom to things. Also make sure to rest - that's when your body is going to do a lot of the changes.
    You might not be eating enough. If your burning exactly what your eating your body might not have enough fuel to re-cooperate. When that happens your body goes into "survival mode" and tries to hold on to what it can = plateau!
    I'm 4'11" at 115lb (5lb left to reach my goal

    She is right.

    Actually, no, on neither count. You don’t have to keep changing what you eat or the exercises you do to burn calories, though as you get more fit you do burn fewer calories doing any exercise in general. Also, there is no such thing as “survival mode” - research has debunked this particular myth.

    @arditarose is correct about calorie burns: they’re overestimated by both the machines and MFP. This is why most people only eat back about half their calories. Calorie burns ultimately depend on your heart rate, and machines and MFP simply provide estimates based on your heigh/weight/gender, while knowing your level of exertion (i.e. resistance, speed).

    @Emilia777 hey emilia... i think she is partially right too about changing diet & workouts and what you said about burning calories is exactly right. my avg heart rate is 160. At intense times I go to 190 too... And I do feel great after working out with dripping t shirt :smiley:
  • rontafoya
    rontafoya Posts: 365 Member
    You need to replace cardio with weightlifting. Heavy, compound movements. Keep your calories at (or slightly below) maintenance. Get enough protein. Gaining lean body mass will increase your testosterone which will melt the fat off you. Your low calorie, high cardio routine is plummeting your testosterone, increasing your cortisol, which causes your body to hold onto weight. Check out anabolicmen.com or leangains.com , this is what I have been doing and it works great for men.
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    Well, maybe I'm boring, but the only changes I make in my workouts is adding more weight to my lifts :p . At the end of the day, whatever works for you OP. I would definitely consider the excellent advice to eat more and lift weights though. I do the Starting Strength lifting program and I pretty much love it. If you're not hungry, it would be that you're underestimating how much you're eating. 1000 calories is just way too little for just about anyone, except under a doctor's supervision.

    Anyway, best of luck.
  • annamontalvo920
    annamontalvo920 Posts: 18 Member
    I shared what has worked for me and my friends (including males!) when I say change your workouts around I mean add a day of lifting. When you lift you burn fat faster than just cardio alone. My husband lost 30lb in about 40 days and it wasn't a crash diet. My diary is open if you want to see what I eat. I had to a costume my body to get used to eating so much because I would go all day and eat nothing because I just wasn't hungry - that made me hit my plateau. Once I increased my calorie intake, drinker more water and started lifting the weight just came off. I'm 5' 113lb 17% body fat. I feel great!
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