I think I’ve reached my Plateau?

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tashafrzn
tashafrzn Posts: 12 Member
in Motivation and Support
I lost 30 pounds from April to now doing the same routine and now it feels like I can’t make any progress. I burn 600 calories on the elliptical everyday + rotate b/w upper body, core and legs following a routine.

I got this app two days ago so I think tracking might help but I’m still hoping I can lose 10 more before Christmas :( how did you guys break your plateau?
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  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,523 Member
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    How are you determining you're burning 600 calories on the elliptical? Are you working out over 2 hours on it a day?

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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  • Buff_Man
    Buff_Man Posts: 622 Member
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    Now you're on here, work out the required calorie deficit to lose 10lbs. To be honest it's not a lot of weight. I would start by just tracking your food intake and workouts and seeing if more weight comes off. Then if it doesn't use the app to workout required calories deficit and stick to it.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    tashafrzn wrote: »
    I lost 30 pounds from April to now doing the same routine and now it feels like I can’t make any progress. I burn 600 calories on the elliptical everyday + rotate b/w upper body, core and legs following a routine.

    I got this app two days ago so I think tracking might help but I’m still hoping I can lose 10 more before Christmas :( how did you guys break your plateau?

    If you are maintaining your weight for a few weeks without a loss, that means that you are eating at maintenance. So if your body maintains its current weight at 2,000 and you're burning 200 on the elliptical (which is more realistic, fyi, you're not likely burning 600), that means that you are currently eating 2,200 calories. You're working off the surplus with exercise, but you need to be in a deficit to lose. I made up those numbers. Track your calories using myfitnesspal and set it to lose .5 lbs/week.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    tashafrzn wrote: »
    I lost 30 pounds from April to now doing the same routine and now it feels like I can’t make any progress. I burn 600 calories on the elliptical everyday + rotate b/w upper body, core and legs following a routine.

    I got this app two days ago so I think tracking might help but I’m still hoping I can lose 10 more before Christmas :( how did you guys break your plateau?

    Tracking will absolutely help if you’re accurate with it. Because it’s about ensuring you eat less than you burn. I’m assuming you weren’t counting calories before?
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    tiffaninghs wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    How are you determining you're burning 600 calories on the elliptical? Are you working out over 2 hours on it a day?

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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    is there a reason why u think she would have to do 2 hours on the elliptical? i burn 600 calories when i do 60 minutes of working out aslong as im putting forth all the effort necessary
    Because burning 600 calories ISN'T easy for non athletic people to burn in an hour even if they think they are training hard. That's a consistent burn of 10 calories a minute for 60 minutes.
    Just to put it into perspective, Michael Phelps burns 14 calories a minute racing FULL SPEED (100% effort) doing the butterfly. I truly doubt anyone is burning the same rate on an elliptical. The average person MAY do 85% effort and that's not going to get a 600 calorie burn unless possibly they are really really heavy (over 200+lbs)

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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    A more reasonable estimate is around half of that 600... or maybe even less.

    For a 200lb+ person at high resistance and high speed that 600 is possible, but unlikely at best especially maintaining that intensity.

    At 240 lbs, I generally estimate 250 calories for 30 minutes if I'm doing hill/random drills at 75% resistance and a high speed. But I can't maintain that for 60 minutes...
  • tashafrzn
    tashafrzn Posts: 12 Member
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    600 in 60 mins is very possible. It’s 10 calories per minute. It’s just about being consistent with pace. My incline is usually 15 and recline is at 8.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    tashafrzn wrote: »
    600 in 60 mins is very possible. It’s 10 calories per minute. It’s just about being consistent with pace. My incline is usually 15 and recline is at 8.

    Not unless you're well over 200 lbs
  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
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    tashafrzn wrote: »
    600 in 60 mins is very possible. It’s 10 calories per minute. It’s just about being consistent with pace. My incline is usually 15 and recline is at 8.

    However exercise machine calorie estimates are typically unreliable.
    https://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/articles/2015-12-23/do-exercise-machines-lie-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-feedback-you-get
  • tashafrzn
    tashafrzn Posts: 12 Member
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    I’m not sure why you’re giving out false advice. I weigh 170 lbs and burning 600+ is totally doable lol. If I pushed more I’m sure I could hit 700. 60 minutes is a long time period :)
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    tashafrzn wrote: »
    I’m not sure why you’re giving out false advice. I weigh 170 lbs and burning 600+ is totally doable lol. If I pushed more I’m sure I could hit 700. 60 minutes is a long time period :)

    NO it's not.

    You're burning at most 350 and probably closer to 250.

    But by all means, look for other things to blame for your alleged plateau than your overestimation of CO.
  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
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    When was the last time you changed your calorie goal?
  • wmd1979
    wmd1979 Posts: 469 Member
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    tashafrzn wrote: »
    I’m not sure why you’re giving out false advice. I weigh 170 lbs and burning 600+ is totally doable lol. If I pushed more I’m sure I could hit 700. 60 minutes is a long time period :)

    Keep in mind that you came here asking for advice and the advice you have gotten is completely accurate. You can argue about your calorie burn over 60 minutes but the scale is obviously telling a different story. You aren't burning more calories than you are taking in, so you need to either eat less, or move more to increase your calories out. Log everything you eat and drink and make sure you measure with a scale so you are accurate. Set your calorie deficit goal and don't be fooled by what the calorie burn on the machine tells you. I wouldn't eat back more than half of your exercise calories just to be safe, and depending on what the scale says you may need to adjust that. You can choose to ignore the advice given to you and stay at your current weight, or you could listen to the advice given to you and continue towards your goal. The people commenting here(especially in this thread) are extremely knowledgeable and are simply trying to help so don't take their disagreement with you as a personal attack.
  • tashafrzn
    tashafrzn Posts: 12 Member
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    Okay.
  • BZAH10
    BZAH10 Posts: 5,709 Member
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    In my experience, calorie burn numbers on the elliptical are WAY off, much more than the treadmill. I just did the elliptical for 65 min. Monday night, 20 incline (highest it will go) and moderate resistance and it said I burned 720 cals! Ha! Not even close. I probably burned maybe 1/3 of that.

    So yes, don't rely on the read out of the machine. Tracking your calorie intake here is most important.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,523 Member
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    tashafrzn wrote: »
    I’m not sure why you’re giving out false advice. I weigh 170 lbs and burning 600+ is totally doable lol. If I pushed more I’m sure I could hit 700. 60 minutes is a long time period :)
    Did you read what I said about Phelps? Do you believe you equal the the output of an Olympian swimmer in 1 minute?

    That said, if you aren't losing, then why would you think that you're out exercising what you're consuming?



    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,523 Member
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    tashafrzn wrote: »
    Okay.
    So is that okay as in "eyeroll you don't know what you're talking about" or "okay, maybe I'm overestimating my calorie burn?"

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

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