How to break this plateau?!

erinsnyder357
erinsnyder357 Posts: 43
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok --- here I am again asking for help - about 6 weeks ago I was eating too few calories (not eating my workout cals) and put my body into starvation mode... so I followed your advice and started eating all my cals and was able to lose 4 pounds... well - I have since gained back 2 of those pounds and havent been able to shake it --- even thought I am still doing the same thing...

I made my food diary public so you could see and would love to know your thoughts. I have been working out at least 5 of 7 days (sometimes all 7) and try to do 5 days of cardio (30-45 mins on the eliptical with a burn of 350-500 cals) and 3 days of strength (Jillians 30 day Shred - 20 mins with a burn of 200 cals)...

Any help would be greatly appreciated... I had hoped to be down to my goal by vacation which is in 6 weeks but now I have 10 pounds to lose...

Replies

  • Grimmerick
    Grimmerick Posts: 3,342 Member
    Calorie cycling worked for me, I upped my calories from 1200 to 1416 and then started cycling them, My plateau broke after 2 days and the scale is moving again.
  • sharidiane
    sharidiane Posts: 212 Member
    Since I just posted this on another board, I still had it in my clipboard. This is a great blog about how to break a plateau:

    http://fitnesswithnatalie.blogspot.com/2011/05/most-dreaded-word-in-weight-loss.html
  • SongbirdLandy
    SongbirdLandy Posts: 188 Member
    Have you tried calorie cycling?

    http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
  • rosied915
    rosied915 Posts: 799 Member
    I'm no expert, but I DID check out your food diary~ 1st impression: WOW on the SODIUM!

    Those deli meat lunches and "sausage" dinners are extremely high in Sodium which contibutes to water retention and a host of other health issues.

    I would suggest cutting them out for a week and see how you do.

    I also agree with calorie cycling that is being suggested but watch that sodium content in the products you're choosing!

    Good Luck with this......I had to "check myself" on sodium a few months ago and my first trip to the supermarket took me 2 hours with all the "label reading" I had to do!

    Try it and see what happens......what have you got to lose? (those 10 pounds!)
  • spinaddict4life
    spinaddict4life Posts: 93 Member
    In looking at your diary, I see a lot of processed foods. A lot of sodium and sugar, not much water or fruits and veggies. I would ditch the reduced fat peanut butter and buy natural peanut butter, it is so much better for you. Try making your own waffles time to time with bob red mills 10 whole grain mix. Have you tried eating less processed with more fruits and veggies, switch to frozen yogurt or light ice cream. And no enriched breads, and whole wheat bread? You can still have treats and all but that is what I see. a lot of your carbs are from processed foods and not whole grains, or vegetables.
  • erinsnyder357
    erinsnyder357 Posts: 43
    With the Cal Cycling... do you account for your workouts or just go based on the table with the "5xper week" exercise selected?? There are some days I burn 500 cals on the eliptical and others I only burn 200 doing circuit training.
  • spinaddict4life
    spinaddict4life Posts: 93 Member
    You can make those your lowerdays. Google it and many will give you a plan to do it

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