Seem to be stuck in Plateuville, Need Help & Idea's Please..

I am having the same problem...I am trying zig zagging my calories. I don't know what the guy meant by carb problem a little explanation would help. I imagine he is assuming you are eating too many carbs. I don't know your diet, but I can tell you I am not getting in too many carbs. Try looking up zig zagging your calories and see if it helps you. I am just starting so I can't say. Best of luck to you. I am also seriously considering investing in P90X seems to really work!

Hi there! I read the message boards here quite a bit and have been on & off diets since the 3rd grade so I totally understand! By any chance is it TOM? That, of course, causes all kinds of body weirdness for women. I think the best ideas I've seen to break a plateau is to throw yer body a curve-ball. Zig-zag yer calories for a week or two. By that I mean if (for example) you normally eat around 1400 cals a day, one or two days of the week bump it up to 1650 or so. I know it's weird and sounds totally counter-productive, but it seems to work! Also - what do you do for exercise? Because I've read that your body gets used to a certain type of exercise after a while and you need to change it. So if you've been walking, try doing an aerobic video for a while. If you can afford it - take a class at the Y. Just throw your body a curve-ball and you'll start losing again.

What pyro said!

Muscles are sexy. Grow some. It's important to focus on carb quality as well as quantity. Scale back under 150. Eat less processed foods and more whole ones (especially those with single ingredient lists or no ingredient list at all). If it comes from the earth or has a mama, eat it. If the ingredient list has words you don't recognize or can't pronounce RUN AWAY.

I have to agree with the processed carbs. Cut them out. Not all carbs are evil or created equal. Veggies and fruits are good for you (if you are carb sensitive fruits may need to be limited too). White sugar, flour, corn syrup, things like that...cut them and see what happens.

Your doing great job of being in your calorie limit. I thought I was doing a good job of eating well.

However, what most are saying is you have to "clean it up". I saw this easy explanation: You should be looking at food on the outside isles of the store vs inside. If it is on the inside it is processed usually.

Here is also some facts I received from a food chemist: Frozen Waffles, chocolate of any kind, oj, fruit juices, are out, because of processing and sugars.

Here is what I am trying stuck since (3-5-2011) Last 2 weeks: I have increased my calorie intake, boosted protein and lowered carbs: low sodium turkey ground and bacon, Boars Head low sodium roast beef, chicken (watch sodium), quit using sauces such as ketchup and bbq sauce (high fructose corn syrup HFCS), quanities of fruits (can be lots of hidden sugars/carbs), watching dairy intake.

Frozen Yogurts or ice creams gone.

Granola Bars (TLC) gone. Replaced with Almonds and occasional peanuts (non salted)

Review your calorie levels, and what you have inputed into MFP as far as activity level.

You have to eliminate anything with HFCS. Just bad news for diets and our bodies

What Pyro and DrBork said. I cut my carbs back to 50-100g last week and I feel amazing and the lbs are coming off steady. It won't hurt to try it. :-)

What Pyro, DrBork, and Mocha said

Looking at your food diary, you are eating alot of processed carbs, and your carbs are set way too high!!! but like pyro said, focus on amount and then focus on quality.

It's a carbohydrate issue. Both quantity and type.

I agree.

What are you eating as far as vegetable carbs and starchy or sugary carbs?

If your eating more than 1 or 2 small servings of fruit per day, cut back - add more vegetables in place.

How much processed food are you eating?

Ok well if its a Carb issue then what do u suggest? I tried zigzagging and it didn't help either. I always change up my exercise routine by doing a different exercise type everyday, 1 day treadmill,1 day step areobics,etc etc.

No its not TOM because I had major surgery on Jan 3rd so TOM will never be an issue again

Things like 71g of carb muffins, and 144g of carb bowls of ice cream, and upwards of 300g of carbs a day are not helping your cause. Processed refined carbs on top of it. Try something easy. Cut your carbs to no more than 100g or even start at no more than 150g and keep moving towards 100g. Don't even change the type of carbs right now, but keeping the processed and refined ones out will only help. Keep your carbs fixed 150g for a week, 140g, the next, 120g, 100g, even lower. Use protein and fat(no veggie oils) for the rest of calories. Don't cycle calories or carbs for now. Any strength training? If not, add it if possible, best and needed tool at a calorie deficit. Barring anything medical in the way, your weight should drop. If your diary is complete than there are days you've been under 150g carbs.

You need strength training with that walking. No strength training at a calorie deficit is causing unnecessary muscle loss that is slowing metabolism.

I agree, great suggestions Pyro!!!

That chronic amount of cardio your doing is not going to help either............except for make your body age faster.

I have to agree with Pyro, Grokette and all the others that agree with them. It took my 6 months to lose 10lbs doing it the "normal" way (high carbs and low fat). When I dropped carbs (and cut out flour, sugars, and grains and dairy - milk mainly) and increased my fat intake (through meats and healthy fats) I dropped 4.6lbs of pure body fat (who said it was hard to lose body fat when you are already at a healthy weight!). My muscle mass is intact due to my strength training and my metabolism is still going strong - can tell this by my BodyMedia Fit Armband.

I think that MFP is based on the government's food pyramid, which is heavily carbohydrate based. I think there are a lot more of us out there who are sensitive to grains (refined or unrefined) and sugar (either natural or processed) than we think and just can't handle so much of it. If you are having trouble with a plateau, then what could dropping your carbs hurt?

Looking at the JM whey protien, there is 7 gram of carbs/serving, which isn't bad so I wouldn't worry too much about that. Having fruit smoothies is better than fruit juice because it has fiber, but it also has a lot of natural sugars so be cautious. I would focus on what Pyro said. Make sure you get lots of healthy fats, moderate protein, and reduce your carbs.

I did this, and within a few days I notice I naturally ate less calories, my energy went up, and my stiffness in my joints and muscles went away. As a result of eating this way for a couple months now, my muscle mass has increased, my weight has dropped, and now I have enough energy even for sprinting. Best thing of all...my sugar cravings are almost gone! It is hard at first, but the results definitely make up for it. Best of luck!