Officially reached a Plateau

Hey guys, so i lift weights 5-6 times a week and i do cardio 3-4 times a week. I eat pretty clean and i was seeing major results and muscle gain/definition, but now the results have slowed and the scale is creeping back up.
I’m trying to play around with my macros. I’m doing a cut right now, so I am in a caloric deficit and low carb, but i don’t want to increase my fat too high. I’m not necessarily following a keto diet, but i also don’t want to consume too much protein and block any ketones and all that fun stuff.
Any suggestions or tips on what my next move should be??
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Replies

  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    hcarb001 wrote: »
    Any suggestions or tips on what my next move should be??

    How are you measuring your calorie intake?

    How long have you been stalled?

    What are your stats (height/weight/goal weight, etc.).

  • hcarb001
    hcarb001 Posts: 28 Member
    It’s been about 3 weeks of stalling.
    I’m 22, female, 5’4, and 141lbs with a GW of 127-130. I’m athletic/petite build. Definitely bottom heavy lol
  • netitheyeti
    netitheyeti Posts: 539 Member
    maybe try and weigh your food again for a while? see if maybe your portions have gradually increased without you noticing?
  • Bowsa
    Bowsa Posts: 30 Member
    Definitely agree, weighing out again would be the place to start
  • gamerbabe14
    gamerbabe14 Posts: 876 Member
    The advice is the same...tighten up the logging.
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    hcarb001 wrote: »
    I’m definitelyyyy in a caloric deficit. I’m supposed to be eating over 2000cals for maintenance, and I’m eating 1650. So another concern is maybe I’m not eating enough which can also cause weight gain

    But how do you know? You're not weighing and measuring what you eat. It's not that hard to accidentally eat 350 more calories if you're not weighing your food.
  • hcarb001
    hcarb001 Posts: 28 Member
    edited April 2018
    hcarb001 wrote: »
    I’m definitelyyyy in a caloric deficit. I’m supposed to be eating over 2000cals for maintenance, and I’m eating 1650. So another concern is maybe I’m not eating enough which can also cause weight gain

    But how do you know? You're not weighing and measuring what you eat. It's not that hard to accidentally eat 350 more calories if you're not weighing your food.
    I weigh certain foods, like my dairy products, avocados, and meats. I don’t weigh my vegetables or rice (for rice, i use a measuring cup), or the teaspoon of jelly i eat in the morning.
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    hcarb001 wrote: »
    hcarb001 wrote: »
    I’m definitelyyyy in a caloric deficit. I’m supposed to be eating over 2000cals for maintenance, and I’m eating 1650. So another concern is maybe I’m not eating enough which can also cause weight gain

    Nah. Your weight can fluctuate due to all sorts of things, but it is scientifically impossible to gain fat because of "not eating enough". Certainly weight loss can slow for any number of reasons (the chart above lists many of the usual culprits), but you can be confident that you won't gain fat by eating too little.
    But by under eating, you can starve your muscle, which in turn will lower the amount of calories your body naturally burns. I’m eating at an extreme deficit and lifting heavier weights each week. There’s a thin line with cutting/starving the body and i think i might be teetering

    You think 1650 calories a day on a TDEE of 2000 is an "extreme" deficit?

    That's not even 20 percent.

    Can you lose muscle mass at a high deficit? Sure can. 17 percent isn't a high deficit. Can you develop hormonal adaptations that make water weight more likely to stay on? Yup. After prolonged situations at a high deficit. But you're not at a high deficit.

    Is there a reason you're opposed to weighing and measuring, and tightening up your logging before jumping to the "I must be starving myself!" bogus claim?
  • hcarb001
    hcarb001 Posts: 28 Member
    Bowsa wrote: »
    hcarb001 wrote: »
    hcarb001 wrote: »
    hcarb001 wrote: »
    I’m definitelyyyy in a caloric deficit. I’m supposed to be eating over 2000cals for maintenance, and I’m eating 1650. So another concern is maybe I’m not eating enough which can also cause weight gain

    Nah. Your weight can fluctuate due to all sorts of things, but it is scientifically impossible to gain fat because of "not eating enough". Certainly weight loss can slow for any number of reasons (the chart above lists many of the usual culprits), but you can be confident that you won't gain fat by eating too little.
    But by under eating, you can starve your muscle, which in turn will lower the amount of calories your body naturally burns. I’m eating at an extreme deficit and lifting heavier weights each week. There’s a thin line with cutting/starving the body and i think i might be teetering

    You think 1650 calories a day on a TDEE of 2000 is an "extreme" deficit?

    That's not even 20 percent.

    Can you lose muscle mass at a high deficit? Sure can. 17 percent isn't a high deficit. Can you develop hormonal adaptations that make water weight more likely to stay on? Yup. After prolonged situations at a high deficit. But you're not at a high deficit.

    Is there a reason you're opposed to weighing and measuring, and tightening up your logging before jumping to the "I must be starving myself!" bogus claim?

    Honestly, the tone of your post is extremely uncalled for. This is a community chat board for people seeking helpful advice. Not belittlement or ridicule. So....in words on your level of respect, be polite or get off my thread.

    I'm neither belittling you nor ridiculing you. I am asking questions to get you to try to understand why you aren't losing. I don't sugar coat.

    And you also don't get to dictate who chats on a thread or not.


    I don’t think the point of their post was to belittle you - though you’ve had the bulk of advice saying the first and best place to start would be to begin stringently tracking your macros / calories.....you seem adverse to doing this, and with no reason as to why?

    Everyone has their own back story. I used to eat less than 800-900 calories a day from an eating disorder. I used to hard core weigh every single thing i used in cooking and eating, but i noticed my eating disorder symptoms resurfacing. Like i said before, i weighed my foods for so long that i know correct estimations, and i DO still weigh some foods. On the foods that i don’t weigh, i make the estimations and then take a little away just to lower rates of inaccuracies.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Have you recently (in the past few weeks) changed or increased your workout program or suddenly added extra volume or training days, in particular to your weight training? Also, how is your workout performance feeling? Are you at least maintaining your strength and stamina in the gym?

    If you don't want to track 100% of your food because of your past, you need to cut a portion down or snack out, in particular a calorie dense one. Try removing a snack or something from your day and see if it helps keeping all other things in your diet the same (as much as you can). It will be trial and error and could take a while but it could help.

    And if you feel like any of your past ED feelings start to resurface at any time, definitely reach out to your doctor.