Breaking through a plateau

OrangeBlossomSpecial21
OrangeBlossomSpecial21 Posts: 149 Member
edited April 2019 in Success Stories
Any success stories on breaking through a plateau? I haven’t lost any additional weight in the last couple of months. What can I do to break through? For those that have broken through a plateau, what worked for you?

Replies

  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
    A few years ago I sat on a 6 month plateau and eventually gave up, re - gaining all the weight lost. Since joining MFP I have learned so much more - especially how their calorie calculations work. Over a year I have lost just over 30 kg (68 pounds), which means that my daily TDEE dropped by bout 400 calories a day. If I would continue eating the same way, I would end up on another plateau. MFP re - calculated by daily calories - which means a slightly smaller weekly weight loss, but at least I continue losing weight.
  • OrangeBlossomSpecial21
    OrangeBlossomSpecial21 Posts: 149 Member
    neugebauer52 wrote: »
    A few years ago I sat on a 6 month plateau and eventually gave up, re - gaining all the weight lost. Since joining MFP I have learned so much more - especially how their calorie calculations work. Over a year I have lost just over 30 kg (68 pounds), which means that my daily TDEE dropped by bout 400 calories a day. If I would continue eating the same way, I would end up on another plateau. MFP re - calculated by daily calories - which means a slightly smaller weekly weight loss, but at least I continue losing weight.

    Thanks. I am thinking that I need to be much more dedicated about logging everything I eat. I log in every day, but I don’t always log everything. Maybe I just need to tighten things up to break through.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    OrangeBlossomSpecial21 wrote: »
    neugebauer52 wrote: »
    A few years ago I sat on a 6 month plateau and eventually gave up, re - gaining all the weight lost. Since joining MFP I have learned so much more - especially how their calorie calculations work. Over a year I have lost just over 30 kg (68 pounds), which means that my daily TDEE dropped by bout 400 calories a day. If I would continue eating the same way, I would end up on another plateau. MFP re - calculated by daily calories - which means a slightly smaller weekly weight loss, but at least I continue losing weight.

    Thanks. I am thinking that I need to be much more dedicated about logging everything I eat. I log in every day, but I don’t always log everything. Maybe I just need to tighten things up to break through.

    yes i would absolutely start there.

    and if that doesn't work i would then start weighing all food with a food scale and CAREFULLY choosing diary entries (lots of incorrect entries in there)
  • lafayettenana
    lafayettenana Posts: 79 Member
    Last year I was stuck in a plateau. I had been counting calories and monitoring how many calories I had expended using my fitbit. Even though I was supposedly using fewer calories I wasn't losing additional weight. I think a few things were going on. First our bodies adjust to the calories we're getting and it tries to maintain the weight we're at. Second I was eating calories that were sabotaging by metabolism (and my willpower)- in particular Wine. I broke through when I joined Weight Watchers for a few months. Their eating plan directs you to lean protein (chicken breasts & fish), high fiber (legumes, fruit and vegetables) and penalizes processed foods (white bread, white rice, oil/butter, anything with sugar and alcohol. Although one tracks points with weight watchers you end up eating fewer but higher quality calories and avoid the foods that have a higher glycemic response like white bread, rice and potatoes. You might give it a try for a few months. I'm not on WW currently and just using MFP for tracking and community support.
    My take away after 3 years of really trying to maintain a healthier weight is that weight loss is more complicated than just reducing calories and maintaining the weight loss is also hard (maybe harder).
    Good luck breaking through that plateau.
  • oceangirl99
    oceangirl99 Posts: 161 Member
    1. adjust your calorie allowance (MFP does not do this automatically and I re-set my goals every few lbs). The more you lose, the less you can have (unfortunately).
    2. weigh/measure your food
    3. log EVERYTHING EVERY DAY
    4. don't eat back all exercise calories because calories burned aren't accurately measured (sounds like ~1/2 is okay)
    5. Track weight with something like Happy Scale - maybe you aren't at a plateau but the trend is a very slow decline.
    6. Measure yourself - muscle gain?

    Note - I don't follow all of the above but it is what this site has taught me so when I feel as though I have hit a plateau, I think about all the above points and ask myself if I've really been at a calorie deficit and I'm still not losing. The answer has always been no.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10589119/how-to-break-through-a-plateau#latest
  • mohanj
    mohanj Posts: 381 Member
    I was stuck in plateau for 3 weeks in a row. The scale did not budge at all and it was very frustrating when I knew I was doing everything right. Changed my exercise routine to accommodate more time for strength training and added little more carbs to my diet. Wight started dropping.
  • OrangeBlossomSpecial21
    OrangeBlossomSpecial21 Posts: 149 Member
    Thank you. all. This has been really helpful.

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