MAJOR plateau- nothing works!

irishgal25 wrote: »

Okay so my weight has been a battle most of my life, but I'm happy to say I'm the fittest I've ever been. In the past 5 years, through on and off health kicks I've managed to lose about 6 stone, but I'm still over weight by about 20/30 lbs.

This is a struggle. I lost 15 of those lbs last year only to put it back on within 2 months when work/personal life distracted me from my fitness goals.

I'm now back on the wagon and managed to lose only a mere 1kg after two months of hard 45minute cardio sessions (stationary bike and elliptical interval training) 4/5 days per week, with. Over the week of training I also accumulate about 30mins of strength training.

I keep under my calorie goals everyday and have a cheat day maybe once a month if even.

I decided a long time ago that I wouldn't be a slave to the scales anymore. It's just a number and does not show the full picture. However, if I've had a particularly good few weeks, I'll hop on the scales and expect to show a good loss and nothing. Sometimes I'm even up half a pound. It's driving me crazy and I feel like no matter how hard I work, it won't be good enough. I've considered muscle gains, but realistically is there a possibility that I'm gaining muscle faster than I'm shedding fat? People have commented on my appearance - how my legs are more defined etc, but really, clothes aren't getting much looser. The strangest thing about it, when I lost 15 lbs last year, all I was doing was walking. Nothing as intense as the workouts I'm doing now, and only getting a fraction of the results.

What gives? Any one got any suggestions? I've tried mixing up my work outs, and changing calorie goals from 1,200 to 1,690 and everything in between to try and waken up my metabolism, but nothing!

I love exercising and have kind of got addicted to the gym, so I'm not purely going for weight loss alone. but SOME results would be nice.

Okay, here are a couple thoughts.

Macros

Carbs
You may want to look into your macros and make some adjustments. I know there are people out there that say stuff like "No need to cut carbohydrates. Eating in a caloric deficit is all that is needed for weight loss." -- like that previous poster, but there is evidence out there that HOW you create you deficit can yield dramatically different results.

For example, there was a study done a couple years ago with obese women who were insulin resistant and those who were insulin sensitive. The insulin sensitive women lost nearly twice as much weight with more carbs. It was the exact opposite for the insulin resistant women. They lost nearly twice as much with less carbs. The protein and caloric deficits were the same across all groups -- so same amount of calories proportionally, but how they created their respective deficits yielded dramatically different results. If I could lose nearly twice as much weight by simply adjusting my carbs, I'd definitely want to know about that!

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1038/oby.2005.79/full

Almost half of the US adult population has insulin resistance (at prediabetic or diabetic levels) and the vast majority of them don't know it. That's why it can feel like a magic bullet or a small miracle for people who didn't realize they were insulin resistant and reduce carbs and see dramatically improved results.

So you may want to look at your diet and see how much carbs you're eating. If you're eating something like 60% (like the insulin sensitive women), then you might want to consider dropping it down to something like 20-40%. If you're eating only 20-40% of carbs, then you might consider upping it to more to see if something shifts.

Protein
You might want to consider upping your protein if you're getting less than 1 g per 1 lb LBM (lean body mass). This amount has been shown to preserve muscle mass in a caloric deficit. Also, if you're eating less than this, upping this will likely increase you satiety (as it does so for many people).

Other Ways of Eating

Intermittent Fasting
Some people have found an intermittent fasting regime to yield a better result than just a caloric deficit alone. Some prefer a daily 16:8 or 14:10 regime where you only eat during those 8-10 hours (which usually means you're just skipping breakfast). Some prefer a weekly regime like 5:2 where you fast for two days per week and eat normally the other five. I personally saw no difference with the daily regime, but the 5:2 regime worked really well for me. It's not my favorite thing to do in the world, but it had great results. My weekly caloric deficit was the same, but when I created that deficit with 5:2, I saw much better results and never had a significant plateau. In fact, it was being stuck on a 7 week plateau which inspired me to try it out (because it increases insulin resistance, which I have).

Carb Cycling
Some find that a carb cycling regime really helps. The regime depends on the goal -- whether you're cutting, recomping or bulking. The basic idea is that you have more calories and carbs on lifting days to take advantage of the insulingenic response of carbs -- that helps shuttle nutrients into the cells after lifting so you maximize your recovery (that's where/when muscle is built the most). Then on days that you aren't lifting, you eat less -- both in calorie and carb amount (usually much more carb restricted where you just eat non-starchy veggies primarily).

If you're cutting, you look to create your weekly deficit primarily on your non-lifting days and eat at maintenance or slightly above on lifting days (or if a big cut, at least a much smaller deficit on these days). If you're recomping, your total weekly deficit is nill -- you're eating at maintenance but each day you have a slight surplus on lifting days and make up for that surplus with a deficit on non-lifting days. If you're bulking, you're eating an overall weekly surplus where your surplus is made on lifting days and you're eating at maintenance on non-lifting days.

That's the basic gist with most carb cycle plans -- leangains is a good example. They have calculators out there to set up the cals, macros, etc. depending on your specific circumstances.

Part of the theory on why carb cycling can yield better results is that you aren't keeping a prolonged caloric deficit -- you have all these little mini refeeds on lifting days. The theory is that with these little mini refeeds, you don't get the negative hormonal impact that you might otherwise get with a prolonged caloric deficit (changes in leptin, grehlin, T3, etc.). I don't know if any studies have been done to show if this is actually accurate, but that's the theory.

Lifting
I'd also recommend ditching cardio as your primary mode of exercise and get on a heavy lifting program -- starting strength, stronglifts, 5/3/1, etc. This has been show to maximize the preservation of LMB in a caloric deficit (so you keep as much muscle as possible when you cut/diet).

Now, these are no guarantee that these strategies will work for you, but they are strategies that have worked for many. Good luck!

irishgal25 wrote: »

lindsey1979 wrote: »

irishgal25 wrote: »

Okay so my weight has been a battle most of my life, but I'm happy to say I'm the fittest I've ever been. In the past 5 years, through on and off health kicks I've managed to lose about 6 stone, but I'm still over weight by about 20/30 lbs.

This is a struggle. I lost 15 of those lbs last year only to put it back on within 2 months when work/personal life distracted me from my fitness goals.

I'm now back on the wagon and managed to lose only a mere 1kg after two months of hard 45minute cardio sessions (stationary bike and elliptical interval training) 4/5 days per week, with. Over the week of training I also accumulate about 30mins of strength training.

I keep under my calorie goals everyday and have a cheat day maybe once a month if even.

I decided a long time ago that I wouldn't be a slave to the scales anymore. It's just a number and does not show the full picture. However, if I've had a particularly good few weeks, I'll hop on the scales and expect to show a good loss and nothing. Sometimes I'm even up half a pound. It's driving me crazy and I feel like no matter how hard I work, it won't be good enough. I've considered muscle gains, but realistically is there a possibility that I'm gaining muscle faster than I'm shedding fat? People have commented on my appearance - how my legs are more defined etc, but really, clothes aren't getting much looser. The strangest thing about it, when I lost 15 lbs last year, all I was doing was walking. Nothing as intense as the workouts I'm doing now, and only getting a fraction of the results.

What gives? Any one got any suggestions? I've tried mixing up my work outs, and changing calorie goals from 1,200 to 1,690 and everything in between to try and waken up my metabolism, but nothing!

I love exercising and have kind of got addicted to the gym, so I'm not purely going for weight loss alone. but SOME results would be nice.

Okay, here are a couple thoughts.

Macros

Carbs
You may want to look into your macros and make some adjustments. I know there are people out there that say stuff like "No need to cut carbohydrates. Eating in a caloric deficit is all that is needed for weight loss." -- like that previous poster, but there is evidence out there that HOW you create you deficit can yield dramatically different results.

For example, there was a study done a couple years ago with obese women who were insulin resistant and those who were insulin sensitive. The insulin sensitive women lost nearly twice as much weight with more carbs. It was the exact opposite for the insulin resistant women. They lost nearly twice as much with less carbs. The protein and caloric deficits were the same across all groups -- so same amount of calories proportionally, but how they created their respective deficits yielded dramatically different results. If I could lose nearly twice as much weight by simply adjusting my carbs, I'd definitely want to know about that!

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1038/oby.2005.79/full

Almost half of the US adult population has insulin resistance (at prediabetic or diabetic levels) and the vast majority of them don't know it. That's why it can feel like a magic bullet or a small miracle for people who didn't realize they were insulin resistant and reduce carbs and see dramatically improved results.

So you may want to look at your diet and see how much carbs you're eating. If you're eating something like 60% (like the insulin sensitive women), then you might want to consider dropping it down to something like 20-40%. If you're eating only 20-40% of carbs, then you might consider upping it to more to see if something shifts.

Protein
You might want to consider upping your protein if you're getting less than 1 g per 1 lb LBM (lean body mass). This amount has been shown to preserve muscle mass in a caloric deficit. Also, if you're eating less than this, upping this will likely increase you satiety (as it does so for many people).

Other Ways of Eating

Intermittent Fasting
Some people have found an intermittent fasting regime to yield a better result than just a caloric deficit alone. Some prefer a daily 16:8 or 14:10 regime where you only eat during those 8-10 hours (which usually means you're just skipping breakfast). Some prefer a weekly regime like 5:2 where you fast for two days per week and eat normally the other five. I personally saw no difference with the daily regime, but the 5:2 regime worked really well for me. It's not my favorite thing to do in the world, but it had great results. My weekly caloric deficit was the same, but when I created that deficit with 5:2, I saw much better results and never had a significant plateau. In fact, it was being stuck on a 7 week plateau which inspired me to try it out (because it increases insulin resistance, which I have).

Carb Cycling
Some find that a carb cycling regime really helps. The regime depends on the goal -- whether you're cutting, recomping or bulking. The basic idea is that you have more calories and carbs on lifting days to take advantage of the insulingenic response of carbs -- that helps shuttle nutrients into the cells after lifting so you maximize your recovery (that's where/when muscle is built the most). Then on days that you aren't lifting, you eat less -- both in calorie and carb amount (usually much more carb restricted where you just eat non-starchy veggies primarily).

If you're cutting, you look to create your weekly deficit primarily on your non-lifting days and eat at maintenance or slightly above on lifting days (or if a big cut, at least a much smaller deficit on these days). If you're recomping, your total weekly deficit is nill -- you're eating at maintenance but each day you have a slight surplus on lifting days and make up for that surplus with a deficit on non-lifting days. If you're bulking, you're eating an overall weekly surplus where your surplus is made on lifting days and you're eating at maintenance on non-lifting days.

That's the basic gist with most carb cycle plans -- leangains is a good example. They have calculators out there to set up the cals, macros, etc. depending on your specific circumstances.

Part of the theory on why carb cycling can yield better results is that you aren't keeping a prolonged caloric deficit -- you have all these little mini refeeds on lifting days. The theory is that with these little mini refeeds, you don't get the negative hormonal impact that you might otherwise get with a prolonged caloric deficit (changes in leptin, grehlin, T3, etc.). I don't know if any studies have been done to show if this is actually accurate, but that's the theory.

Lifting
I'd also recommend ditching cardio as your primary mode of exercise and get on a heavy lifting program -- starting strength, stronglifts, 5/3/1, etc. This has been show to maximize the preservation of LMB in a caloric deficit (so you keep as much muscle as possible when you cut/diet).

Now, these are no guarantee that these strategies will work for you, but they are strategies that have worked for many. Good luck!

This is incredibly useful information. Thank you so much! I'll try some of these methods and report back

Glad to help. I've learned about this stuff over the years through a lot of trial and error and others sharing what worked for them. Happy to pass it along. Good luck with your plateau! They can be so frustrating and sometimes just changing things up shifts things.

MFP wiped out your whole diary? That's a very bizarre glitch; I've never heard of that. If I were you I'd contact them ASAP.

Anyway, regardless of that, you're not eating at a deficit plain and simple. Also you cannot gain muscle eating in a deficit so if you truly were eating at a deficit you would not gain weight from muscle growth. My guess is that, since you are seeing progress in your muscle development, you are eating at maintenance.