Plateau or am I expecting too much?

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  • armaretta
    armaretta Posts: 851 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".

    Thanks! I might try looking for some more weights maybe. I thought I was challenging myself using the 8lb weights, but perhaps not! I might try to increase it to 10? I had changed my goal to 1/2 lb per week and I'm netting about 200 more calories that before. I'm set to sedentary, but I have been considering changing that too. I was losing on sedentary before and just eating back my exercise calories. I've been slowly increasing my caloric intake the past month, but maybe it is not enough yet? I feel like I'm constantly eating! I've kept it at sedentary because some days I sit at my desk for at least 6 hours, then some days I am on my feet a lot, but it's nothing strenuous.
  • armaretta
    armaretta Posts: 851 Member
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    When's the last time you changed your exercise? Adaptation to exercise happens in about 8 weeks.

    I was doing power90 for 4 1/2 months, then started JM ripped in 30 about 4 weeks ago. I did an extra week of the "week 2" because I had to take an extra day off besides my normal rest day. I don't think I've gotten used to the exercises since they change every week. I thought JM did the plyometrics thing, so you couldn't get used to it as quickly? I might be wrong. The only thing that has really stayed the same every week on JM is my supplemental jogging in addition to the daily workout.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    I'm set at lightly active even though I'm at a desk for 6 hours. When I'm not here, I walk a lot, take care of kids, clean, etc. It just seems to work better for me to be at "lightly active". I'm 5' 9". My NET goal is 1750 and I eat my exercise calories (so yeah 2200 some days). It's been slow but the last few pounds ARE coming off and I seem to be maintaining a good amount of muscle unlike the last time I got this low.
  • dewgirl321
    dewgirl321 Posts: 296 Member
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    armaretta, I think you are really on top of it and maybe you are just experiencing a bit of a plateau. Maybe work on tweaking the few little things mentioned here, but I'm guessing you will see some progress soon. Maybe take a few days off of weighing and measuring and worrying about it and try to listen to what your body tells you it needs.
  • armaretta
    armaretta Posts: 851 Member
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    Thanks for all the great input! I might try changing my activity level to lightly active. I'm considering investing in the bodybugg, but again... I'm so cheap! :tongue:

    Less salt, i'll work on that. Everything has sodium in it! I hate that canned food is so loaded with salt, but it's so convenient!

    Water intake is good.

    Exercise is going to change-up somehow after this week since I'll have finished the full 4 week cycle of Ripped in 30 by Saturday

    De-stress: Girls day out planned for Saturday already! Manicure, Pedicure, good food, maybe a movie. I might use this day of eating out to start the up of my caloric intake some more. A good gorging can shake up your metabolism after all! I'll try to keep it to lower sodium types of foods if possible.
  • dewgirl321
    dewgirl321 Posts: 296 Member
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    Sounds good to me! I am really thinking about a bodybugg too. I have heard from trainers that they make a HUGE difference in the success of their clients. Plus I am having issues with the calorie readouts on cardio machines - how can the Arc Trainer say that I burn 350 calories in 30 mins, then two days later I use an Odyssey (and sweat a bunch more!) and it says I burned 150 calories in 30 minutes?! That is a huge difference, and really unsettling when you consider we eat back our exercise calories - we want the count to be right! I have been holding out because of money too but I think I am about to break down and buy one.

    Thanks for being my inspiration to finally add sodium to my food tracking - why didn't I click that from the beginning?! Turns out I have something to work on - I have been going over about half the time.
  • anastasiaBH
    anastasiaBH Posts: 268 Member
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    I'm set at lightly active even though I'm at a desk for 6 hours. When I'm not here, I walk a lot, take care of kids, clean, etc. It just seems to work better for me to be at "lightly active". I'm 5' 9". My NET goal is 1750 and I eat my exercise calories (so yeah 2200 some days). It's been slow but the last few pounds ARE coming off and I seem to be maintaining a good amount of muscle unlike the last time I got this low.


    I appreciated this comment in the thread.... I had my settings at sedentary (as I'm working on hour #4 at the pc...), but when I'm not here, I'm active & on my feet. I'm going to give this a try and see what happens..... Glad to read the comments / suggestions!
  • fbuschur
    fbuschur Posts: 57
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    I'm in this boat too. 5'6" and stuck at 153 pounds(size 8 +/-), trapped between 153-156 gaining and losing the same pounds for the last 5 months. I am active (runner) and I have been down at about 1,000 calories, give or take, for a little while now and NOT LOSING A POUND. I am going to try to hit at least 1200 for a while and get my strength training back up and see if that shakes things up.
  • armaretta
    armaretta Posts: 851 Member
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    Thank you everyone for being so constructive! I'm trying very hard to eat more today. Of course, the large intake will make it even harder to keep the sodium low. I'm starting to wonder how I got fat in the first place. I can't seem to remember eating this much before, but I was inactive too, and it takes a lot of veggies to add up to anything significant in calories.
  • Kayjdicaprio
    Kayjdicaprio Posts: 9
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    I'm in this boat too. 5'6" and stuck at 153 pounds(size 8 +/-), trapped between 153-156 gaining and losing the same pounds for the last 5 months. I am active (runner) and I have been down at about 1,000 calories, give or take, for a little while now and NOT LOSING A POUND. I am going to try to hit at least 1200 for a while and get my strength training back up and see if that shakes things up.

    Im around the same measurements, and I was stuck for a few months BECAUSE I was eating 1000 calories. I think we are going to have to up the calories especially if we are exercising. Our bodies may be hoarding the fat because it think its starving. Since we dont have much to lose, because my BMI is normal and Im assuming yours is too, its just that much harder.
  • elizamc
    elizamc Posts: 285 Member
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    Bump
  • armaretta
    armaretta Posts: 851 Member
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    Only a few days after upping my calories and I'm 0.4 lbs down! HAPPY DANCE TIME!
  • dewgirl321
    dewgirl321 Posts: 296 Member
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    Yea! Good for you! :happy:
  • kirsty0911
    kirsty0911 Posts: 54 Member
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    Fantastic!

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