3 month long plateau!?! Grr!!

EdieEd
EdieEd Posts: 17 Member
in Motivation and Support
I'm beyond frustrated being stuck in the same weight +/- 1kg since mid August. I had lost over 18 Kg in 8 months, but gained back 7 kg over the summer (vacations, birthdays, beer :( ) since then I've been at it. 10K steps a day plus strength training, cardio, HIIT, six days a week alternatively. I started with 1500 calories for about 3 weeks and that did nothing but made me gain weight. so I dropped to 1200 as per MFP suggested but after 2 weeks of nothing, went to 1400 for three weeks and nothing. So I increased to 1750 and lost 1 Kg in a week so kept at it for the last month and now I gained back that kg!! I am now hopeless! Any suggestions?!

Replies

  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
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  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    Follow the flowchart - It works. But additionally, you need to work out a way of fitting vacations, birthdays, and beer into your life. This may mean (in the case of a holiday) not logging during a period but still considering portion control or (in the case of a birthday celebration) working out what you need to do earlier in the day or the day after to allow you to have a couple of beers and some cake.
  • EdieEd
    EdieEd Posts: 17 Member
    According to the flowchart, it could be my new workout routine I started last week. I used to do kettlebell training for about a year, so I thought perhaps I needed to change it up. Last week I lost 1 kg and today at the scale I gained it back. My only concern is the calorie in take estimated by MFP. It says I should be at 1200 but I find that to be too low for all the calories I burn through out the day. If I did do the 1200 my net calories would be below 900. I don't know if that is safe which is why I do 1700 so I can have a net of 1200. or am I totally off base here?
  • TeaCurls
    TeaCurls Posts: 32 Member
    Umm seem to me you are eating the calories u r burning... I lose the best then I do the 1200 calories and do not up my intake when I exercise. Additionally I lose the most when I eat low carbs and stop eating at 6 pm.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    The way that MFP is set up is that after you enter your details and daily activity levels it gives you a daily calorie target (a). If you exercise and log that exercise, MFP gives you more calories, which they recommend you eat so that you still net (a).

    But, many people find that the calories allocated to exercise are too high and so rather than eating all the exercise calories eat back about half.

    In your case I would suggest that you:
    • Ignore the 10k steps - although it is a solid step count I would class it as background activity (keep doing it though!)
    • Don't log your strength work - MFP does not allocate any additional calories for strength training. Again - keep doing it though.
    • Log cardio and HIIT work outs and eat back half of the calories yo gain form these w/os. You can eat them back on the day or later in the week, the timing doesn't matter.
    • Weigh and measure your food and log as accurately as you can for 2 -3 weeks. if you're not losing at a sensible rate, drop the cals by 100 and monitor again. If you're losing too fast, add in 100 cals and continue to monitor.

    Of course, all this assumes that your weight loss target is realistic in the first place.


    Personally I recommend weight and measurements (for women, bust, waist, and hips would seem sensible) to track fat loss.
  • JenSchimanski
    JenSchimanski Posts: 77 Member
    I had about the same length of plateau and never changed my calorie intake, as I average 1300. I started walking for 1 hour every day and the weight started falling off again. its hard to stay motivated but persistence pays. keep at it.
  • EdieEd
    EdieEd Posts: 17 Member
    Thanks for the feedback! @StealthHealth you've been very helpful! I agree persistance pays and I won't quit but sometimes I get tested. haha.

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