More plateau advice

No I mean the barcode reader through the MFP app on my phone - I know its not perfect, but it gives me a good idea as to whether or not I can afford the calories on my budget.

carnivalnights wrote: »

ivylyon wrote: »

Firstly, it must be very frustrating so well done on sticking with it and don't give up.
I read this recently and found it very interesting (link below).A study on Biggest Loser contestants found that their metabolism after losing weight is significantly lower than might be expected even years after losing weight, which means to maintain they need less calories than usual for someone their size.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss.html

It may be that for you what MFP sets as a deficit is actually your maintenance level.
Maybe try setting your goal to be maintenance for a few weeks if you start to gain then you'll know that your levels of maintenance/ deficit are lower than MFP calculates (sorry)

I'd also suggest that you take a break from rigid dieting (I'm not saying give up) but maybe set yourself some non-diet goals, like C25K/ 10k/ half marathon or whatever your exercise of choice and make that the focus rather than weight. Keep eating well, and don't go crazy but maybe give yourself (body and mind) some time off from focusing on the scales and set some goals in other areas.
Anyway, hope some of this helps!

That makes really good sense. Just a slight change of focus. Thanks.

I'd also have to agree about your metabolism slowing. The only way I kept from having really long term plateaus was to change the way I eat not only in respect to what or how many calories but in respect to when I eat. I never ate breakfast before, I'd simply get up, go to work, and eat mid-morning or not at all until lunch. At lunch I'd gorge myself because I was starving. I was never a morning eater at all before. Now I make sure after my workout and before work that I eat a good breakfast full of complex carbs and fiber (IE: Bran Cereal with Almond Milk). I add fruit if I have it, and keep my breakfast at or under 500 cals. Then mid-morning I eat a protein bar, one with low calories and high protein. Then at lunch I eat a sensible lunch also with high protein. Mid-afternoon I would also sometimes eat another protein bar (we're talking snack size, not the large ones for mid-afternoon) or just wait until dinner. Then at dinner I would eat half vegetables half protein and as little carbs as I could get away with. I went at that for several months then realized that eating more often (not more, just more often) really increased my metabolism. Now at maintenance I eat over 2500 calories most days, still work out six days a week, and I certainly am not gaining weight. I am a voracious eater, and I eat six times a day. Breakfast, Mid-Morning Snack, Lunch, Mid-Afternoon Snack, Dinner, and sometimes a late snack if there are calories left. When I was on a deficit I skipped the afternoon snack a lot of times and went for a larger dinner and no late snack unless there were extra calories. I ate back 50% of my exercise calories assuming that they were over estimated. I weigh everything, even something I scanned with a bar code to make sure it weighs what the package says it does.

Keep up the fight, you'll find something that works. Try eating less at a sitting and more times per day if possible and increase the exercise. Force your metabolism to increase and the pounds will start to drop again.

The only mistake I can think of I made early on, was not logging oils like olive oil or canola oil that I was using to cook with. It was adding a couple hundred calories to my food that I wasn't logging. I figured it out early on though and switched to cooking sprays whenever possible but still added calories in for those even though they say 0 calories.