At a plateau and need advice from someone who's been there

wchull · July 2018

I started my weight loss journey in December and I hit a minor plateau in February and was told it really wasn't a plateau and after 10 days I started losing weight again and lost 53 pounds. Unfortunately I think I have really reached a real plateau this time. It's been 8 weeks now and over a week's time I will gain and lose around 5 pounds and my average weight is about 233 pounds. I'm still going to the gym and I do cardo on the elliptical for about 40 minutes or more. I eat about 300-400 calories for breakfast, typically have a lighter lunch and my calories at the end of the day are at or close to the 1500 calories MFP says I should be burning to lose weight but I'm stuck at around 233. Doc wants me to be down to 200 by mid November. How do I jump start my system to start losing again?

bikecheryl · July 2018

I'll start with the obvious questions -
How accurate is your logging?
Are you weighing and measuring all your food?
Are you eating back all or a portion of your exercise calories?

I was in the exact spot your in.... thought I'd plateaued too.

In actuality I just needed to tighten up my logging..... because I was lighter than when I started, I didn't have as big of a room for error. There isn't a lot of difference between my maintenance calories and a deficit now.

It took a couple of weeks but the weight started to come off again.... slower than before but then I have less to lose.

I'm still trying to reconcile the fact that I now need to eat even less and work even harder to lose weight.

88olds · July 2018

Well, just speaking for myself, my plateau lasted way longer than yours has. I eventually had to face the fact that I was eating too much. If weight loss could be done in the gym, I would have been at goal a lot sooner.

And I agree with everything bikecheryl says. Until I started weighing everything except liquids, I was undercounting some things by as much as 30%.

PloddingTurtle · July 2018

Because this was something I didn't think to do:

have you updated your MFP profile goals to revise your daily calories/macros now that you've lost weight? If you haven't, you could be eating much closer to maintenance level calories for your new weight.

middlehaitch · July 2018

Have you recalculated your calories since you started?
The less you weigh the less calories your body needs to function.

This is the same for exercise. You will burn fewer calories than 53lbs ago.

(If you are using MFP it adjusts the calorie burn to your last entered weight. Not sure how devices like fit bit handle it as I don't own any)

And, I agree with the comments above. Review and tighten your logging practices.

Honestly, for fresh veg, fruit, and meat, I used whatever came up on the data base.
When I reviewed and revised using the USDA entries my logging got a lot more accurate.

Cheers, h.

colors_fade · July 2018

bikecheryl wrote: »

actuality I just needed to tighten up my logging..... because I was lighter than when I started

This is an important fact that cannot be overlooked. As your body gets lighter you're going to use less energy during the day to maintain function. Your TDEE is going to go down. You've lost 53 lbs., which is not insignificant (way to go, btw).

When you're not losing for an extended period of time, inaccurate logging is the cause. You need to really assess; are you cheating at all?

We all do it from time to time, and a small slip because a routine habit. You just have to be honest with yourself.

MrSmooth2017 · July 2018

Unfortunately if you stick to the same cardio excercise, your body gets used to it so you get more efficient at it. I was at a plateau for around 6 weeks until I changed to a mix of different cardio and weights. Then it kick started again. Try the rowing machine, bike, walking as fast as you can, anything to get you with a sweat on. Be honest, is the excercise you are doing as hard as when you started? If not then you need to push a bit more which is where cardio is hard work as you either need to do it for longer, or up the intensity. By adding weights in your plan (and I’m not talking heavy) you can basically go heavier when you need to. Change your excercise as you have nothing to lose apart from more weight. Also don’t forget water intake. Whatever you drink now, drink more. Don’t give up.

diannethegeek · July 2018

These are the things I wish someone had told me when I stalled for 8 weeks:

1. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

2. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

3. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.

4. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

5. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

6. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

7. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs. You might also be sure your scale is working and doesn't need new batteries or anything.

8. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.

emmamcgarity · August 2018

That’s a long time to be on a diet. Have you taken any planned maintenance breaks?

wchull · August 2018

Thanks everyone for the replies. When I first started I was heavier and I got more calories but when I got to my first goal weight and set a revised goal my calories were cut. Although I frequently used all of my workout calories to offset some food intake calories it seemed easier to loose the weight earlier in my journey. I have not been weighing my food as I assumed that my estimates were fairly accurate since I was losing the weight. I have not varied my gym routine so that may be the reason. Another factor may be the accuracy of the calories I'm counting for my cardio as when I go to log the exercise I enter my time and MFP shows what it believes the calories burned should be which is always much less than what the elipical says I've burned so I've been going with what the machine says not what MFP shows initially. If MFP is more accurate on the calories burned in a given timeframe then I'm sure that I'm going over on the calories I'm logging each day. Another factor probably the types of food I've been eating over the summer vs winter and spring as I've been consuming more beef than chicken as we've been grilling outside as opposed to inside cooking. I'm concerned about fluids and would like some feedback on drink. To be honest I'm not much into plain water so I typically drink diet soda or tea. At home I make tea with stevia but if were eating out I'll use another artificial sweetener. MFP says these drinks are zero but are some or all of them having an impact on my ability to lose weight? I'll be taking some of your suggestions into account and see if I can't jump start my system again but any new suggestions you all may have based on my added information will be appreciated.

pinuplove · August 2018

Nothing wrong with diet soda or tea or artificial sweeteners. They will not affect your progress one way or the other. If they help you stay hydrated all the better!

It was easier to lose weight in the beginning because your margin of error was greater. Most of us find we really have to dial in our accuracy for food logging and activity calories to lose the last bit. Beef vs chicken doesn't matter. Calories matter. If the beef you're eating is higher in calories than the chicken you were eating, you either need to cut calories elsewhere or eat smaller portions.

Calorie counting and activity calories are all just best guesses. Your body will tell you what you need to know by your rate of loss (or not, as the case may be). Not losing for an extended period (multiple weeks, not days) means you are eating at maintenance for your activity. Adjust from there.

At a plateau and need advice from someone who's been there

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