Need advice I have plateaued

mrsram05
mrsram05 Posts: 14 Member
edited October 2015 in Introduce Yourself
I lost 66 lbs in 11 months and Stuck .. :-(

Replies

  • mrjosh23
    mrjosh23 Posts: 135 Member
    Hmmm, what have been your eating habits/exercise routines to this point?
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member

    Setting your diary to public or giving us some more details might help get you more specific advice. Until then, these are my really general tips. Maybe something will help you out.

    1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so since you last saw a drop on the scale, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.

    2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

    3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

    4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.

    5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

    6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

    7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

    8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

    9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.
  • mrsram05
    mrsram05 Posts: 14 Member
    Thank you all very useful
  • CoffeeNCardio
    CoffeeNCardio Posts: 1,847 Member
    How long has it been since you lost scale weight? Most people don't consider it a plateau unless it's been a 1.5-2 months it seems like. And have you noticed other changes in the meantime? Could be you have gained some muscle at the same rate (in poundage gained) as losing fat for a little while now, which would appear like you weren't losing on the scale, but is still progress in reality.
  • mrjosh23
    mrjosh23 Posts: 135 Member
    Good point from poster above. Have you been taking measurements or notice different clothes fit? It could be that you are gaining muscle while losing some fat therefore staying the same weight, but changing body composition
  • mrsram05
    mrsram05 Posts: 14 Member
    edited October 2015
    Yea def gaining muscles it's not flabby anymore and my biceps and triceps are nice and tone
  • mrsram05
    mrsram05 Posts: 14 Member
    mrsram05 wrote: »
    Yea def gaining muscles it's not flabby anymore and my biceps and triceps are nice and tone