Plateau or am I expecting too much?

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armaretta
armaretta Posts: 851 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there! I am open to some constructive criticism. Please refrain from being a jerk. I've been bouncing around the same 1-2 pounds for about a month now. I got excited last week when I though I had lost one, but it came back, then went away, then came back, then went away. You get the picture. I have my stats in my signature and I opened my diary to public view. I look like I'm under most the time because I recently changed my goal to increase my calories by 200 or so to see if it would help. It did not. Before I was netting around 1000-1100. Now I net 1200-1400 (1400-1800 total depending on exercise), and was planning to gradually increase that to 1400, but the scale stopped moving completely the past couple weeks. Measurements haven't changed in a couple weeks either. Measurements have been jumping up and down an inch just like the scale.

Am I eating too little? Am I eating too much? I feel like I'm constantly eating. I think I eat pretty well overall. I know the sugar and sodium could stand to be lower, but I have been gradually lowering it as much as I can and most of my sugar is from fruit. I exercise 6 days/week, burning 400-600cals usually (measured with HRM). I've been doing JM Ripped in 30 with additional jogging for some extra cardio. I'm pretty sure its not all just water weight. I drink plenty of water (about 2 gal/day) to flush out most the excess sodium and I actually consume less sodium that when I was losing weight.

Perhaps I'm expecting too much out of my body. I got used to losing consistently 1lb/week, then hit a brick wall it seems. Can you give me your thoughts? Please be constructive. I can take constructive criticism, but I've seen a lot of people respond like jerks lately.

Also, several people have told me I need to stop losing weight even though I'm still a fair touch off of my goal. I don't think I see myself clearly in the mirror. Could it be possible that I'm not accurately measuring my body fat %? I'm not ruled by the scale. I track weight as well as measurements. I'm short, but have never been of delicate frame. I have hips and a fair amount of blessing up top.

Could my body be in it's own happy place now? I went from a size 8-6 five pounds ago (140/size8 - 135 size 6).
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Replies

  • chorgi
    chorgi Posts: 221
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    You could be at your ideal weight. The number on the scale is just that... a number. If you feel good and your happy with yourself, that's all that matters. You may want to start adding in some strength training. It does burn calories, but more importantly, the most muscle you have the higher your metabolism will be when you're resting. I'm not talking about bulking up (it would take a long time and a lot of heavy lifting to do that). Just toning and maybe adding a little muscle here and there in any areas you'd like to work on. You might want to try kettle bells. I haven't read it, but I've seen quite a few people recommend the books New Rules of Lifting and New Rules of Lifting for Women. You might want to check those out, as well. http://www.thenewrulesoflifting.com/
  • Javajunkie67
    Javajunkie67 Posts: 167 Member
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    I can only wish I had your stats!

    That said--I'd try real hard to cut back on the carbs. My body doesn't do well with them, too much sugar is the same for me. Give it a try for a week, see how you feel. I don't cut all carbs, but I do watch the refined ones carefully.
  • lgwmab
    lgwmab Posts: 274 Member
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    Chorgi makes sense on what he is saying. Food wise it looks better then mine! Are you stressing about the weight? Or other things in your life, stress can play more games with a body then you think.
  • anastasiaBH
    anastasiaBH Posts: 268 Member
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    BUMP!!! I'm in the EXACT same place. 42 years old, 5' 6", 146-148, and stuck for MONTHS. I really just want to get to 140-ish (I've given up 135-140, for now...) Lost 20 pounds during the past year, but really annoyed / frustrated with the plateau and no additional movement in measurements or scale.....

    I've upped my caloires by switching my goal to losing 1/2 pound per week, also trying more carbs, less carbs, more protein, etc. And I drink 10-12 glasses of water a day to help counteract my too-high sodium intake. YES, I know, it's too high. I do more cardio than weights these days (I've done many rounds of P90X, now I intersperse a weight day with running on a treadmill 2-3 times per week, plyo, and core synergistics, which has some weights too.)

    So glad you posted this, anxious to read the constructive criticism as well.

    Thanks!
    anastasiabh
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
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    At your current weight and body fat, you are in the healthy range. And being so close to goal, I wouldn't expect to lose more than 1/2 lb a week anyway. But really, I think you should focus on changing the fat % to where you want and worry less about the numbers on the scale.
    Are you measuring yourself? That may give you a more accurate picture of what's going on. If you're building muscle, that will keep the weight there, but you'll be healthier and slimmer.
    Make sure you're doing resistance training along with cardio. That will help build muscle and trim fat. Keep yourself around 1400 net calories and see how things go. Don't stress if the scale doesn't change much, pay more attention to the fat% and measurements.
  • ebkins7
    ebkins7 Posts: 427 Member
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    It does sound like a plateau - however if you are close to your goal weight it will be harder to get those pesky lbs off...

    Try changing up your workout - maybe your body is just bored OR take a break for a week and only do some light cardio just to give your body a rest! You say you're working out 6 days a week (I hope you're alternating exercises and not working the same areas everyday because that will cause your body to break down - because you're not giving it time to recover properly)

    Stength training would probably help you out too - not talking about becoming a bulk-asourus but lifting weights will help you gain muscle mass which will help you burn those pesky lbs faster! Alternate your cardio and strength training days! If you have a gym membership aske them about training tips for proper form and what types of exercises are best for you.

    Just keep at it.. You'll get there! Best of luck.
  • armaretta
    armaretta Posts: 851 Member
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    Thanks for the comments! I thought JM ripped in 30 incorporated a reasonable amount of strength training. It's definitely not easy IMO. It's 3 minutes of pretty tough strength excercise, 2 minutes of cardio, 1 minute of abs, then repeated for about 30 minutes and I do the intermediate or advanced version of all the exercises (does this count as interval training?), then I jog for about 20-30 minutes afterwards for some more cardio bc cardio makes me happy.

    I try to watch my carbs. I eat pretty close to a 40/30/30 c/p/f ratio, give or take 5% here or there. Do I need to eat even less carbs?
  • MrsPhan11
    MrsPhan11 Posts: 2,502 Member
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    Looking at your food diary, I would suggest to try to cut back on your salt intake. Try to eat more fresh fruits, veggies and meats instead of the processed stuff. That is where alot of your salt intake is coming from. When you eat salt, your body will retain more water and you will feel bloated. Remember to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! When you don't drink enough, your body holds on to the water which will cause you to gain water weight and may be way your scale isn't moving.

    Good Luck! =)
  • armaretta
    armaretta Posts: 851 Member
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    Looking at your food diary, I would suggest to try to cut back on your salt intake. Try to eat more fresh fruits, veggies and meats instead of the processed stuff. That is where alot of your salt intake is coming from. When you eat salt, your body will retain more water and you will feel bloated. Remember to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! When you don't drink enough, your body holds on to the water which will cause you to gain water weight and may be way your scale isn't moving.

    Good Luck! =)

    Thanks for your response! I do realize that much of my salt is from the processed stuff and I've been cutting it out little by little. I mentioned earlier that I was losing more when I was actually eating more salt! Also, I just realized that over 500mg of sodium comes from some of my daily supplements. perhaps I will cut those out too!

    Is 2 gallons of water/day not enough? I don't log it because it got to be tedious to log every sip of water, but I definitely drink enough to pee ever 45 minutes. I drink about 4 quarts during the day at work, then just as much if not more when I go home at the end of the day.
  • dewgirl321
    dewgirl321 Posts: 296 Member
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    It looks like a lot of your extra sodium is coming from soup. I would try replacing that soup for a few days and see if you notice a change. Have a sandwich on sandwich thins bread or grilled chicken or something instead. Everything else looks pretty good.

    I understand not wanting to eat too many carbs, but I think too much fat can be worse, depending on how your body processes it. I personally started doing better when I traded off some fat for carbs, but our bodies all work differently!
  • MrsPhan11
    MrsPhan11 Posts: 2,502 Member
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    Yes I would definitely say enough water! LOL...I drink like 9-10 glasses a day and I am running to the bathroom constantly. If you are peeing all the time and your urine is clear or light yellow then you are hydrated.
  • dewgirl321
    dewgirl321 Posts: 296 Member
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    Your water intake is great. I think the reason we're focusing on sodium is because you are fluctuating so much, which means you are probably retaining water on the days you go back up. I was just looking into how much sodium one should consume (since I haven't been tracking it!) and I found that your potassium to sodium ratio is actually more important (for heart health) than sodium intake alone. I don't know if that means it also affects the amount of water retention we have due to increased sodium or not. Interesting though.

    One of the articles about potassium to sodium ratio: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/11/potassium-salt-diet-dangers_n_895124.html

    The crazy thing about being so close to your goal is you are doing so much right that it's hard to find what you are doing wrong!
  • MrsPhan11
    MrsPhan11 Posts: 2,502 Member
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    Your water intake is great. I think the reason we're focusing on sodium is because you are fluctuating so much, which means you are probably retaining water on the days you go back up. I was just looking into how much sodium one should consume (since I haven't been tracking it!) and I found that your potassium to sodium ratio is actually more important (for heart health) than sodium intake alone. I don't know if that means it also affects the amount of water retention we have due to increased sodium or not. Interesting though.

    One of the articles about potassium to sodium ratio: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/11/potassium-salt-diet-dangers_n_895124.html

    The crazy thing about being so close to your goal is you are doing so much right that it's hard to find what you are doing wrong!




    Hey I didn't know about the potassium to sodium ratio. So thanks for that info! The frustrating thing is that a lot of foods don't list how much postassium it contains since it is not requried by the FDA. So on MFP, it always looks like I don't get enough!
  • stephyy4632
    stephyy4632 Posts: 947 Member
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    I would try to replace the soup with another option to help cut out alittle sodium
    change up your work out my guess is that your body is to use to what your currently doing so maybe mix it up abit. You said you used ripped in 30 maybe try getting her 30day shred as something different or in place of jogging try useing an eliptical and switch between them all to keep the body guessing kwim. I know with the videos they have weight training in them what size weights are you currently working with is it time to up them? I only ask because I started doing 30day shred with 2pound weights and now thats way to easy I had to up mine a few times to keep feeling the burn.
  • armaretta
    armaretta Posts: 851 Member
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    Thanks for the input! I will look into finding a lower sodium soup. I love the soup, and it's packed with salt, that's probably why :laugh: I actually normally make homemade soup, but I've been crunched for time and it's easy to grab going out the door.

    I actually eat so much fat because I'm kinda doing my own version of zone that has worked well for me in building muscle. I've thought about finding a nutritionist to help me refine my diet, but I'm also extremely cheap :blushing: I might try reducing the fat and upping the carbs too. It's so hard to know what is right when so many different things say too much of whatever is bad. Everything is bad these days! I might need to just stop being cheap and just pay for a nutritionist.

    I have a few more days to finish out the 4 weeks in ripped, then I was going to look for something else like a hybrid for ripped and 30ds, I even tried zumba this week. I still haven't decided how I feel about zumba. I have been using the 8lb weights for pretty much all the exercises. I use 5lbs on maybe two of the moves that make my shoulders go funny (very sensitive and bad shoulders prone to random dislocation from playing softball too hard in my younger days).

    I actually weight everyday so that I can keep track of how much water I'm retaining and such and regardless of my sodium, I'm weighing the same and tape measuring the same. that's why I didn't think the stall was from water retention. I could be wrong though! I think my heart is pretty healthy. I have to get a mandatory annual physical with EKGs and blood work because of my occupation. All my tests come out healthy and my resting heart rate is 50-60.
  • Kayjdicaprio
    Kayjdicaprio Posts: 9
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    ...I know exactly how you feel. Im 5'5.5 151lbs 33-28-40, and my pants size is 10, maybe an 8 on a good day and my bmi is normal. my goal is 140 and it seems the only way im going to reach that is to cut off a leg lol. i guess its harder for us because its that last pesky 10 pounds.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    I'd suggest changing your goal to a half pound a week. Making sure your activity level is correct (not many people are truly sedentary). How many calories does it tell you to eat then?

    40/30/30 should be fine. That's what I eat. But it doesn't matter too much as long as you are getting enough protein to ensure you keep as much muscle as possible.

    Maybe start lifting heavier weights. That is what I am trying next. Just got the book "new rules for weight lifting for women".
  • chatal36
    chatal36 Posts: 167 Member
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    are you drinking enough water? That can help ....i see you dont track that ... :drinker:
  • armaretta
    armaretta Posts: 851 Member
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    are you drinking enough water? That can help ....i see you dont track that ... :drinker:

    Yes, I explain earlier that I drink about 2 gallons/day. I don't track it because it got to be tedious.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,708 Member
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    Hi there! I am open to some constructive criticism. Please refrain from being a jerk. I've been bouncing around the same 1-2 pounds for about a month now. I got excited last week when I though I had lost one, but it came back, then went away, then came back, then went away. You get the picture. I have my stats in my signature and I opened my diary to public view. I look like I'm under most the time because I recently changed my goal to increase my calories by 200 or so to see if it would help. It did not. Before I was netting around 1000-1100. Now I net 1200-1400 (1400-1800 total depending on exercise), and was planning to gradually increase that to 1400, but the scale stopped moving completely the past couple weeks. Measurements haven't changed in a couple weeks either. Measurements have been jumping up and down an inch just like the scale.

    Am I eating too little? Am I eating too much? I feel like I'm constantly eating. I think I eat pretty well overall. I know the sugar and sodium could stand to be lower, but I have been gradually lowering it as much as I can and most of my sugar is from fruit. I exercise 6 days/week, burning 400-600cals usually (measured with HRM). I've been doing JM Ripped in 30 with additional jogging for some extra cardio. I'm pretty sure its not all just water weight. I drink plenty of water (about 2 gal/day) to flush out most the excess sodium and I actually consume less sodium that when I was losing weight.

    Perhaps I'm expecting too much out of my body. I got used to losing consistently 1lb/week, then hit a brick wall it seems. Can you give me your thoughts? Please be constructive. I can take constructive criticism, but I've seen a lot of people respond like jerks lately.

    Also, several people have told me I need to stop losing weight even though I'm still a fair touch off of my goal. I don't think I see myself clearly in the mirror. Could it be possible that I'm not accurately measuring my body fat %? I'm not ruled by the scale. I track weight as well as measurements. I'm short, but have never been of delicate frame. I have hips and a fair amount of blessing up top.

    Could my body be in it's own happy place now? I went from a size 8-6 five pounds ago (140/size8 - 135 size 6).
    When's the last time you changed your exercise? Adaptation to exercise happens in about 8 weeks.

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