4 1/2 Months Plateau....help me

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sarahmower1fitness
sarahmower1fitness Posts: 4 Member
in Motivation and Support
I am a 40 yr old female, 5'9", currently weighing 195.
I started my weight loss journey in April 2017, and lost 50 pounds over the first 7 months, through restricted calorie intake, and faithful food tracking in the My Fitness Pay App.

In the beginning of November 2017 I started to PLATEAU. After 2 months of no weigh change, I had read enough and decided that I needed to start strength training also.

So in late December I started doing HIIT cardio with weights, for 30-45 min, 5-6 days per week. I was still restricting my calories to 1400-1600 per day.
And again, in early Feb 2018, still having no weight change, and seeing minimal muscle toning, I decided to start doing Carb Cycling with increased calories, to 1950-2050 calories per day, tracking faithfully, in addition to my Strength Training, lifting as much as I can, and I'm up to 10 pound weights in each hand, but I can't do higher at this time.

So for 1 1/2 months I've been doing:
SUN, WED - no carb days, low fat, no workout
MON, THURS, FRI - 37% protein, 37% carb, 25% fat, with a regular HIIT cardio workout with weights
TUES, SAT - 50% carb, 25% carb, 25% fat, with a strenuous HIIT workout with weights.
And the PLATEAU continues!!! I'm so frustrated. I haven't seen the weight come off, the scale go down, or the muscle tone happen (admittedly, a little, but not much). And I'm at my wits end. What is wrong? What am I doing wrong? and most importantly....
WHAT CAN I DO??

Note:
I carry weight mostly in my stomach, then arms, with my butt and thighs least fatty.
I went to the doctor in early Feb, to have my blood testing, thyroid levels, hormone levels, etc. Everything was perfect and healthy levels.

Replies

  • KeithWhiteJr
    KeithWhiteJr Posts: 233 Member
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    How many calories are you eating?
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    How are you measuring your calorie intake?
  • sarahmower1fitness
    sarahmower1fitness Posts: 4 Member
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    I'm currently eating 1950-2050 calories per day.
    Measuring it by logging everything! I eat in the app diary, and using a scale to weigh portions if needed.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    What do you mean by "if needed"? You should be weighing everything.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    HIIT with weights is cardio. You probably should not go above 10lbs. weights for that, as the movements tend to be too quick to control heavy weights. Look into a strength training program that involves focusing on form, rather than heart rate.

    Have you tried going back to 1600 calories now that you have tried other things?
  • sarahmower1fitness
    sarahmower1fitness Posts: 4 Member
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    Yes @malibu927 I agree, I just meant if it's like a string cheese, or something already in a serving size package.

    @concordancia Good to know about the weight level. I wondered if I shouldn't go any higher.
    I haven't tried lowering calories again. But you suggest maintaining the exercise still and lowering calories again? Will it be enough calories to sustain my muscle building/cutting that in theory I'm doing?
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
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    sarahmower1fitness wrote: »
    Yes @malibu927 I agree, I just meant if it's like a string cheese, or something already in a serving size package.

    @concordancia Good to know about the weight level. I wondered if I shouldn't go any higher.
    I haven't tried lowering calories again. But you suggest maintaining the exercise still and lowering calories again? Will it be enough calories to sustain my muscle building/cutting that in theory I'm doing?

    Actually, I suggested changing the exercise - lifting the weights slowly and carefully won't burn as many calories as your current workout. You might start by keeping one or two days of HIIT (without weights) and two to three days of strength/resistance.

    As you get stronger, you may or may not build new muscle, depending on your current fitness level, genetics, protein intake, actual deficit...but you will keep (more of) the muscle you have, rather than losing it along with the fat.
  • sarahmower1fitness
    sarahmower1fitness Posts: 4 Member
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    @concordancia good idea, I could definitely try that, and change up the routine a bit
  • david95d
    david95d Posts: 3 Member
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    Try doing weekly measurements as well, the scale doesn’t tell all :)
  • KeithWhiteJr
    KeithWhiteJr Posts: 233 Member
    edited March 2018
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    sarahmower1fitness wrote: »
    Yes @malibu927 I agree, I just meant if it's like a string cheese, or something already in a serving size package.

    @concordancia Good to know about the weight level. I wondered if I shouldn't go any higher.
    I haven't tried lowering calories again. But you suggest maintaining the exercise still and lowering calories again? Will it be enough calories to sustain my muscle building/cutting that in theory I'm doing?

    You should even weigh the stuff like string cheese. A good example is a gluten free bagel I had this morning. The "serving size" is 99g but my bagel actually weighted 123g!! It made for a huge difference in calories.

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