This plateau is very maddening

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ditchdoc94
ditchdoc94 Posts: 24 Member
in Motivation and Support
Been around same weight for past month and a half(since sep 10) I've increased my workoutsand have stayed well below my calorie goal for the day, like 700 or more below. Honestly I dont know how Icould hit my goal with out going to our garbage food. I've tried changing up my routine with adding weight training to crossfit on off days. Very, very frustrated bout ready to throw in the towel andjust live at the weight im at!

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  • AdvAakanksha
    AdvAakanksha Posts: 3 Member
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    Yeah plateau sucks! Whenevr this happens I double my calorie intake for few days n then again cut down my calories.
    But I think 700 is too low.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    ditchdoc94 wrote: »
    Been around same weight for past month and a half(since sep 10) I've increased my workoutsand have stayed well below my calorie goal for the day, like 700 or more below. Honestly I dont know how Icould hit my goal with out going to our garbage food. I've tried changing up my routine with adding weight training to crossfit on off days. Very, very frustrated bout ready to throw in the towel andjust live at the weight im at!

    I went 11 weeks over the summer without the scales moving...

    As long as you know you're in a deficit the scales will move eventually.

    Otherwise tighten up your logging and look at whether your exercise calorie burn is accurate.

    That being said, why are you 700 cals under goal? Under eating is no more healthy than over eating. Do you weigh your food?
  • joinn68
    joinn68 Posts: 480 Member
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    How much are you set to lose per week? If you are set to lose like 0.5 lbs per week, your loss could well be hidden in the normal day to day weight variations. When you say your weight has been "around the same" it means not exactly the same… Do you use a trend app? Is it trending down even by just a little bit?
  • drsarilou
    drsarilou Posts: 1 Member
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    I have been where you are and 700 calories is too low and your body may be storing extra. I would eat at the calorie level or maybe 100 below. You can make plenty of healthy snacks without going to junk. Maybe add a pre and post workout snack?
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    Do you use a food scale, weighing and logging everything, no skipping, cheating, or forgetting?

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1
  • ditchdoc94
    ditchdoc94 Posts: 24 Member
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    TavistockToad wrote: »
    ditchdoc94 wrote: »
    Been around same weight for past month and a half(since sep 10) I've increased my workoutsand have stayed well below my calorie goal for the day, like 700 or more below. Honestly I dont know how Icould hit my goal with out going to our garbage food. I've tried changing up my routine with adding weight training to crossfit on off days. Very, very frustrated bout ready to throw in the towel andjust live at the weight im at!

    I went 11 weeks over the summer without the scales moving...

    As long as you know you're in a deficit the scales will move eventually.

    Otherwise tighten up your logging and look at whether your exercise calorie burn is accurate.

    That being said, why are you 700 cals under goal? Under eating is no more healthy than over eating. Do you weigh your food?

    I eat till I'm full. Usually fall between 2000 and 2600 per day with spikes every now and then. I honestly dont think I can do the 3700 set by mfp. I am weighing most of my food, exceptions being salads and like the slice of bread or bun or something like that. My goal was set at 1 lb per week. I changed that last night to 2lb per week which dropped my cal goal to 31somerhing. I am tracking my activities on fitbit.
  • beaperkins
    beaperkins Posts: 5 Member
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    Are you measuring yourself? The scale can be deceptive. You may be tightening up, but the weight can remain the same if you're building muscle. You can track your measurements, hips, thighs, calves, waist, and you may see that you are actually getting "smaller" though the scale is telling you otherwise.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Sadly muscle can never be built at the rate at which fat can be lost, and that's for best scenario of young male doing heavy lifting for max potential muscle build.

    Anyone with less potential than that, well, even harder to build muscle.

    Now - you can do a recomposition - eating at maintenance while doing heavy lifting - and while slow you are dropping fat while gaining muscle.

    But measuring is a great idea - water weight can be gained for many reasons, sadly stress from undereating being one of them, and could completely mask fat loss on the scale, but not in measurements in many spots.

    @ditchdoc94 - have you checked your Fitbit 24 hr charts for spikes of calorie burn or steps that don't match with reality?
    And ever confirmed Fitbit sees the distance you walk at average daily pace (not grocery store shuffle, not exercise level pace) correctly when you do a known distance?

    If you have a lot of steps - that can be impactful to accuracy estimates.
  • kkcuzz
    kkcuzz Posts: 2 Member
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    I'm going through the same issue. I have plateaued for months. 300 to 306 no matter what I do. Even went vegetarian. And the scale won't budge. It really sux but what keeps me motivated is knowing it gets worse if I stop.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    heybales wrote: »
    Sadly muscle can never be built at the rate at which fat can be lost, and that's for best scenario of young male doing heavy lifting for max potential muscle build.

    Anyone with less potential than that, well, even harder to build muscle.

    Now - you can do a recomposition - eating at maintenance while doing heavy lifting - and while slow you are dropping fat while gaining muscle.

    But measuring is a great idea - water weight can be gained for many reasons, sadly stress from undereating being one of them, and could completely mask fat loss on the scale, but not in measurements in many spots.

    @ditchdoc94 - have you checked your Fitbit 24 hr charts for spikes of calorie burn or steps that don't match with reality?
    And ever confirmed Fitbit sees the distance you walk at average daily pace (not grocery store shuffle, not exercise level pace) correctly when you do a known distance?

    If you have a lot of steps - that can be impactful to accuracy estimates.

    OP didn't list his stats, but I'm guessing that if MFP set his calorie goal at 3700, he's probably got a while before thinking about recomp.

    @ditchdoc94 - if you've gone a month and a half without losing any weight, chances are that your food measuring/logging is the most likely culprit.

    Here's a great read of every possible reason you're not losing weight, with solutions offered for every one of them: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    ditchdoc94 wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    ditchdoc94 wrote: »
    Been around same weight for past month and a half(since sep 10) I've increased my workoutsand have stayed well below my calorie goal for the day, like 700 or more below. Honestly I dont know how Icould hit my goal with out going to our garbage food. I've tried changing up my routine with adding weight training to crossfit on off days. Very, very frustrated bout ready to throw in the towel andjust live at the weight im at!

    I went 11 weeks over the summer without the scales moving...

    As long as you know you're in a deficit the scales will move eventually.

    Otherwise tighten up your logging and look at whether your exercise calorie burn is accurate.

    That being said, why are you 700 cals under goal? Under eating is no more healthy than over eating. Do you weigh your food?

    I eat till I'm full. Usually fall between 2000 and 2600 per day with spikes every now and then. I honestly dont think I can do the 3700 set by mfp. I am weighing most of my food, exceptions being salads and like the slice of bread or bun or something like that. My goal was set at 1 lb per week. I changed that last night to 2lb per week which dropped my cal goal to 31somerhing. I am tracking my activities on fitbit.

    If MFP gives you over 3000 cals to lose weight, then I presume you have a lot to lose? If you're truly eating 2000 cals you would be dropping weight like crazy.

    Weigh your salad, weigh your bread, weigh everything that you eat and drink.

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