Plateauing and need motivation!

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kmboffice88
kmboffice88 Posts: 35
in Motivation and Support
The beginning of my calorie counting experience was a great success. I minimized my intake to 1200 calories a day. I initially weighed in at 146.2, and am now maintaining between 139.2 and 140.2. The problem is I would like to lose 5 more lbs (ideally). I can't seem to get past this plateau. I find myself getting down on myself that my weight hasn't shifted, and then when I do so, I end up eating more. I need to get back in a positive attitude about this all, and need to stop binge eating (like today, if you look at my intake). I don't have any other friends who are on the track to losing weight, nor do I live with anyone so it is hard to keep myself from getting off track once I get home from my job.

Do you have any suggestions? Would anyone like to be a buddy in helping me through this? I leave for the Bahamas October 14th and would have already liked to hit my goal weight by now. Will anyone help me in trying to make this 5lb loss a reality in 2 weeks?

I need all the support I can get! Let's be strong together!

xox
Kristin

Replies

  • mels77
    mels77 Posts: 6
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    I hear you! I've lost 5kg steadily over 10 weeks, but the last two or three weeks I've lost nothing! I only have 2kgs to go to reach my goal weight but it just seems like they are stuck like glue and don't want to come off! I can't see it getting better over the next two weeks as we are going away so I won't have my usual netball games or exercise bike. It seems like so close yet so far. I guess it's just a case of keep trying... you're not alone!
  • leomom72
    leomom72 Posts: 1,797 Member
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    how long has the plateau been ?? mine lasted all of sept..BOO !!! try zig zagging your cals for a week or so, or up them a bit..good luck, we all have gone thru it:flowerforyou:
  • MissMaryMac33
    MissMaryMac33 Posts: 1,433 Member
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    1200 calories is way too low if you have under 20 lbs to lose unless you're about 4'8"

    You should reset your goals and choose to lose 1/2lb a week and see what it tells you.
    Believe it or not, you probably need to be eating more -- not less.
  • vettle
    vettle Posts: 621 Member
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    eat more. 1200 calories is extremely low.
  • alexsgal
    alexsgal Posts: 35
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    you might wanna bump up your calories a bit...same thing happened to me when i was eating 1200 calories...then bumped it up to 1250 and lost more weight...now im eating 1400 and still losing!
  • euselda
    euselda Posts: 1
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    Try increasing the amount of exercise you are doing a little more maybe an extra 15 minutes a day or so would be an improvement. Be sure you are getting at least 45 -60 minutes of exercise for weight loss. Try using weight training instead of all cardio do a mixture of exercises. See if this helps
  • sjcply
    sjcply Posts: 817 Member
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    what worked for me was increasing my protein, decreasing my carbs (only good carbs....like fruit, potatoes, brown rice) eating as clean as possible (no processed food) and increase or change up my exercise....then it started moving! Most people say increase your calorie intake (eat exercise calories) but I didnt do this I just ate less and exercised more and it started coming off!

    But that is just my opinion and what works for one may not work for another, so just play around with it and see what gets the scale moving!
  • 40Marbles
    40Marbles Posts: 188 Member
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    I don't have any good suggestions for you since I'm going through the same thing.

    I've lost over 30 lb so far this year, but I'm only halfway there - another 34 to go. I've been stuck at this weight for about 3 weeks.
  • kmboffice88
    kmboffice88 Posts: 35
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    Seeing all of your progress on your tickers is motivation in itself! I never thought of upping my calorie intake; in fact I recently tried to lower it 100 to make it 1100. I think I will up it again, and also try to walk for 15-30 minutes a day. More suggestions and friendships are definitely welcome though. :)
  • mark03264
    mark03264 Posts: 334 Member
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    We could probably give you better advice if your food log was visible.

    Did you tweaked the settings of MFP so that it would give you a 1200 daily calorie goal or did MFP give you 1200 calories with REAL, ACCURATE information about your weight loss goals and daily activity level. If you tweaked it, than start again and put in real information. Set your rate of weight loss to 1 pound per week. This is the rate most reputable health care professionals, and this site, recommend. There are reasons that rate is recommended.

    If you set up MFP right to start with then the daily calorie goal that MFP gives you already has a calorie deficit built in to lose weight. That said, you should eat close to the calorie goal MFP gives you each day including eating back most of your exercise calories. If you are too far under your daily calorie goal you are very likely to cause your body to hang onto the fat it has by either slowing down or even stopping fat loss. It may not happen right away but eventually you will most likely plateau. If you have a lot of weight to lose you can probably get away with it longer but as you have less to lose your body will plateau easier. May sound counter-intuitive but that's just the way it is.

    Hope this information helps you in some way. Good luck!
  • kmboffice88
    kmboffice88 Posts: 35
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    Think I tweaked it so you can see it now. I originally started with what MFP recommended (1200 cals a day), then when I started to plateau I went it and changed just the calorie intake myself.
    I normally use the app on my phone, and didn't even realize there was a %age breakdown for things like carbs/proteins/etc. I guess I should try to follow that more and maybe I can break my 2 wk no weight loss rut!

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