Hello Plateau!

BeyondApril
BeyondApril Posts: 133 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I am STUCK at my current weight. It may go up or down by 1/2 pound, but after a week of REALLY logging consistently and keeping up with my 30+ minutes of movement every day and drinking my 8 cups of water...well, I want to see loss, dammit! UGH. And my stomach is constantly growling. Feel like I MUST be doing something wrong.

Has anyone cut out dairy and seen scale movement?

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    edited November 2015
    Plateaus are a month of no movement. Give it a few more weeks.

    Also, if you are hungry, you probably need to adjust the foods you eat... more protein and fiber and/or lower your deficit.

    Can you open your food diary and do you use a food scale?
  • MarcyKirkton
    MarcyKirkton Posts: 507 Member
    I went through about 3 weeks of that. I had just hit normal BMI weight, and boom.....scale seemed stuck. I googled around and found some suggestions. Zig-zagging calories didn't work for me, anyway....but I tried the following with success.

    1. Reduce your calories by just a little.
    2. Drink more water
    3. Intensify your workouts.

    I'm not entirely sure which of the 3 worked for me, but something did. I found the zone again and am dropping the weight fast now.

    I suspect it's just a simple matter of eating the same amount that worked at a heavier rate doesn't work at a lighter weight. With what you posted, I would say.....add 15 minutes more to workout. I remember when I was in WW, I got to a weight where I didn't even get extra points for exercise until I'd hit 75 minutes.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    It's only been a week? That's not even close to being a plateau. It's normal daily fluctuations. Be patient and if it doesn't drop in another 3-4 weeks, then it's time to reevaluate your logging.
  • BeyondApril
    BeyondApril Posts: 133 Member
    Perhaps I should clarify. It's been stuck well over a month, but in the past week I have cut WAY back on my intake AND increased my exercise. I try to stick to 1300/less even when I've "earned" extra calories by working out - sometimes I can, sometimes I can't.

    I do not use a food scale - I use the visual of 3 oz protein = deck of cards, etc. I don't put butter on my veggies, my veggies usually are 1/2 my plate. I avoid white foods like white bread, rice, pasta. I have started eating an egg in the morning with a piece of fruit for breakfast - before I was eating steel cut oatmeal with no added sugar, just maybe a handful of blueberries and a few walnuts.

    I went to a clean eating seminar a few months back, the the speaker encouraged us to eat clean, and NOT exercise! Said that your body won't drop any weight if you are using up too much energy. I dismissed that idea.

    Patience is not my strong suit, lol. But I'll try sticking to this for another couple weeks and see what happens. I just miss the days of "Oh, I'll stop drinking OJ in the morning" and BOOM - 5 pounds just drop off. Ah metabolism!
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    nnnaq5rggu08.jpg
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    BeyondApril wrote: »
    Perhaps I should clarify. It's been stuck well over a month, but in the past week I have cut WAY back on my intake AND increased my exercise. I try to stick to 1300/less even when I've "earned" extra calories by working out - sometimes I can, sometimes I can't.

    I do not use a food scale - I use the visual of 3 oz protein = deck of cards, etc. I don't put butter on my veggies, my veggies usually are 1/2 my plate. I avoid white foods like white bread, rice, pasta. I have started eating an egg in the morning with a piece of fruit for breakfast - before I was eating steel cut oatmeal with no added sugar, just maybe a handful of blueberries and a few walnuts.

    I went to a clean eating seminar a few months back, the the speaker encouraged us to eat clean, and NOT exercise! Said that your body won't drop any weight if you are using up too much energy. I dismissed that idea.

    Patience is not my strong suit, lol. But I'll try sticking to this for another couple weeks and see what happens. I just miss the days of "Oh, I'll stop drinking OJ in the morning" and BOOM - 5 pounds just drop off. Ah metabolism!

    Get a food scale. You will be amazed by the differences in calories. And considering the average professional under reports calories by almost 400 calories a day, that is where you will find the issue. In fact, on this site, the two biggest issues are logging accuracy and consistency.

    Side note, you dont need to cut any of those foods you mentioned. All can be a part of a solid diet. B
  • BeyondApril
    BeyondApril Posts: 133 Member
    Ok, food scale it is! I typically try to overestimate my food portions, and I underestimate my calorie burns (I wore a HRM at my boot camp class to get an average #).

    Thanks for the chart! It's really helpful!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    BeyondApril wrote: »
    Ok, food scale it is! I typically try to overestimate my food portions, and I underestimate my calorie burns (I wore a HRM at my boot camp class to get an average #).

    Thanks for the chart! It's really helpful!

    Be careful with HRM with anything other than steady state cardio as they are not designed really to do anything else.
  • BeyondApril
    BeyondApril Posts: 133 Member
    Yes, I noticed it was inconsistent. I try to just get in the ballpark lol
  • BeyondApril
    BeyondApril Posts: 133 Member
    psulemon wrote: »
    BeyondApril wrote: »
    Ok, food scale it is! I typically try to overestimate my food portions, and I underestimate my calorie burns (I wore a HRM at my boot camp class to get an average #).

    Thanks for the chart! It's really helpful!

    Be careful with HRM with anything other than steady state cardio as they are not designed really to do anything else.

    Started measuring, upped my water to 8+ per day, and BOOM - just dropped 1/2 pound! Bye bye plateau! :-)
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    BeyondApril wrote: »
    psulemon wrote: »
    BeyondApril wrote: »
    Ok, food scale it is! I typically try to overestimate my food portions, and I underestimate my calorie burns (I wore a HRM at my boot camp class to get an average #).

    Thanks for the chart! It's really helpful!

    Be careful with HRM with anything other than steady state cardio as they are not designed really to do anything else.

    Started measuring, upped my water to 8+ per day, and BOOM - just dropped 1/2 pound! Bye bye plateau! :-)

    That is some great feedback. It's always good to see members who are willing to take the advice of others and then succeed.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories