Advice/Tips on Overcoming a Weightloss plateau?

kadybug97 · July 2016

Hi! So I have lost 25 pounds since mid-January, but have not been able to lose a single pound in the last 3.5 weeks. Well I lose one pound and gained it back. I was consistently losing 1 lb per week, but now that my weight is healthy for my height/age/etc, I'm having a hard time and my weightloss has slowed tremendously. I would like to however lose an additional 10 lbs - my BMI is about 23.5, so I can definitely do better than what I'm at right now. I tried lowering my carbs and increasing cardio, but if I go any lower than even 120g of carbs, I feel tired and unmotivated to workout, but I still push through them. I enjoy cardio and lifting, should I increase my carbs? And somehow that will excite my body to lose that extra 10 lbs I would like off? LOL - help!

I've also tried increasing my protein, but I feel nauseous after drinking protein shakes and it takes a lot of dairy (processed cheese) to get me to reach my daily protein goals. Although that HAS worked up until now! (Giving you guys this extra info in case maybe I've been doing something "wrong" this whole time)

I know everyone goes through a plataeu at some point. How did you overcome it? Thanks in advance!

diannethegeek · July 2016

These are the things I wish someone had told me when I plateaued for two months:

1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, 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.

arditarose · July 2016

I overcame my first plateau by tightening up my logging, weighing everything out I brought for lunch, no more salad bar, etc.

If you don't like going below 120g of carbs, you don't need to.

Why so much dairy for protein? Are you veg?

vrojapu · July 2016

OMAD helped me break through my most recent plateau

kadybug97 · July 2016

@arditarose I eat a lot of cheese because I do not enjoy meat all that much. If I eat a lot of it, I start feeling nauseous. I try to eat as much as possible, but if I want my body weight in grams of protein, I need 138 g of protein and no matter how hard I try, I cannot get myself to eat that much meat on a daily basis. I can barely reach that goal even with cheese added to the picture. I also have a food scale and weigh literally everything from shredded cheese to blueberries to chicken.

kadybug97 · July 2016

@diannethegeek thank you Dianne for your words of wisdom! I appreciate you taking the time to type out all those suggestions

capaul42 · July 2016

You don't need that much protein. I am 143 currently and aim for 100g daily and I am doing a heavy lifting program during my weight loss (only 8lbs left) then I'll be transitioning directly into recomposition. I'll probably up my protein then but 100g works just fine for now.

Cesnoddon · July 2016

It is a good idea to change your work out routine every 4-8 weeks. Doing the same workout every day can cause a plateau as well

Christine_72 · July 2016

Veldan wrote: »

It is a good idea to change your work out routine every 4-8 weeks. Doing the same workout every day can cause a plateau as well

Well there's me gone then.. I do the same exercise every day, 7 days a week.

peanutchele · July 2016

I'm vegan and get most of my protein through nutritional yeast, Hommous, hemp seeds and tofu. Maybe some options if you're sick of meat ?

CharlieBeansmomTracey · July 2016

Veldan wrote: »

It is a good idea to change your work out routine every 4-8 weeks. Doing the same workout every day can cause a plateau as well

not really. you will burn less calories due to either weight loss or your body becomes adapted to the workouts so you dont have to work as hard,therefore less calories will be burned.but if you are in a deficit you should still lose weight. how you get there is up to you whether its more exercise or less food.

al142005 · July 2016

Like capaul42 said, you don't need that much protein. The recommended amount for an average person: 0.8g/kg/day while athletes looking to improve strength or speed: 1.2-1.7 g/kg/day and endurance: 1.2-1.4 g/kg/day. If you eat much more per day or in greater than 25g boluses, your body can't absorb and utilize the protein and it will be stored as fat or excreted in your urine.
Notice the formulas are per kilogram. Maybe you calculated your original using pounds instead of kilograms. (just take your current weight in pounds and divide it by 2.2 to get your weight in kilograms).

Advice/Tips on Overcoming a Weightloss plateau?

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