Plateau!!!! >:-/

kelliebeth25 · December 2011

Hey all!

This is my first post, and it comes out of desperation ! I have opened my diary for those that are willing to help! I have talked to my trainer, a nutritionist friend and they all tell me to eat more. Unless I force feed myself, I am unsure of how to make this happen as i feel like i am eating all day! Below is a typical day/timeline:

730: Wake up- drink 8oz of water
745: quick 15 min workout (jumping jacks, abs, mountain climbers...)
900: 2 hard boiled eggs- bottle of water/coffee-black
1000: 1/2 grapefruit
1100: low carb/ low sugar yogurt, bottle of water
1:00 3.5 oz turkey, 1.5 cup steamed broccoli, 1/2 fat free cottage cheese-bottle of water
3:00- 1/2 cup blackberries-bottle of water
5 or 6ish (on my way to gym) carrots and 2 tbsp of hummus-bottle of water
7-8: Power hour boxing (burns about 800 calories--but i left the diary at the lower number...better to underestimate I would think)
830/9:00 4oz salmon, steamed brussel sprouts-bottle of water
10- more water before bed, then hot tea
Midnight-ish-bed

(obviously this varies slightly day to day as you can see in my diary, but this is generally the timeline at least...)

As for the gym, I go to this class about 4 times a week, if not 5. Do I need to add more cardio? DO a day of just weights? I can feel im getting stronger and can see definition, but i need to MELT THE FAT on top of it!!
**Edit, each class is taught by a different instructor, so they are almost never the same workouts. ie one guy focuses more on cardio (which the punching part is basically cardio for 30 straight min anyway) another guy focuses more on like "insanity " type things...circuits and such... but every class is structured as 15 min cardio/warm up (includes running, to squats to lunges to planks...wall sits...however mean they're feeling that day!) then 30 min on the bags, then 15 min "cool down".core (usually abs with medicine ball...lots of planking...)

I have been following this approximate plan for about 3 months with a cheat here and there... I have tried introducing oatmeal with flax and cinnamon (not the instant kind) in the mornings to see if maybe that'll kick start things. no results as of yet as i just started this on monday.

I feel like I am doing everything right. I started in September at 161/162 and I am stuck at 147... yes i have lost inches, but i have stayed at consistent measurements as well as weight for about 3 weeks (give or take a lb or 2)... SO...does anyone have any ideas, suggestions, advice?? I know my calorie intake is low, which I am sure is the problem, but I am not hungry ever (even when i eat) and don't want to eat high cal high fat foods... I welcome ideas for increasing calorie intake in a healthy and preferably "clean" way, if you all think that could be the culprit.

Thank you all in advance!!!!!!

Paige1108 · December 2011

Hey all!

This is my first post, and it comes out of desperation ! I have opened my diary for those that are willing to help! I have talked to my trainer, a nutritionist friend and they all tell me to eat more. Unless I force feed myself, I am unsure of how to make this happen as i feel like i am eating all day!

You can add some calorie dense Items to the things you are already eating:
Add nuts to your yogurt.
Toast or English muffin to your eggs with butter
add a little pasta to your lunch
If you don't want to add carbs for some reason you could go with
cheese on your eggs
and add avocado to your lunch.
Cheese and veggies as one of your snacks
nutella and peanut butter in a smoothie will kick the calories too

It is my opinion that you are going to have to eat more calories to bust your plateau. I had to up my calories to continue to lose after the first 10lbs, I also had to eat every one of my exercise calories to continue to lose. I have maintained my lose for a year eating about 1800 calories a day.

Good luck on your journey I hope you find a way that works for you.

kamhap2003 · December 2011

make sure you are meeting the calories on MFP. You may want to try taking a few days off to give your body a break. I take a break at least 1 day a week from exercise to help re-motabolize my body. If I work out 7 days a week, my body's metabolism acutally goes down. It sounds like your body is sculpting itself, which makes really slow weight loss, but keeping at it is important. I also lose weight very slow.

delong99 · December 2011

Eat more. You should be at least eating your BMR (look under Tools to find out what it is).

Bamacraft · December 2011

Hey all!

This is my first post, and it comes out of desperation ! I have opened my diary for those that are willing to help! I have talked to my trainer, a nutritionist friend and they all tell me to eat more. Unless I force feed myself, I am unsure of how to make this happen as i feel like i am eating all day!

You can add some calorie dense Items to the things you are already eating:
Add nuts to your yogurt.
Toast or English muffin to your eggs with butter
add a little pasta to your lunch
If you don't want to add carbs for some reason you could go with
cheese on your eggs
and add avocado to your lunch.
Cheese and veggies as one of your snacks
nutella and peanut butter in a smoothie will kick the calories too

It is my opinion that you are going to have to eat more calories to bust your plateau. I had to up my calories to continue to lose after the first 10lbs, I also had to eat every one of my exercise calories to continue to lose. I have maintained my lose for a year eating about 1800 calories a day.

Good luck on your journey I hope you find a way that works for you.

This ^ plus change your workout up for 3-4 weeks. Keep the boxing 2 x / week but replace 2-3 with some long runs/repeats/intervals OR intense eliptical/cycling class etc..do boxing between your run days as a day off for your legs. Such as run M, Box- Tues, Run repeats Wed, Box Thurs, Run Sprints Fri, Sun - Eliptical or Cyling...you could also add some strength traing for upper body on days you run. You might also try going to bed by 10:30 or 11..cut off intake after 8 or so.

KT_ny · December 2011

1. Add some fat in your diet. 2. Add protein, like cheese stick. 3. Change up your exercise routine. 4. Change up the things you are eating (your body starts to react differently to the same exercise/food if it receives it every day) 5. Make sure you are eating enough.

stenochick0417 · December 2011

I agree -- eat more, rest and be patient. Over the past month, I've had the death of a family member to deal with, so I haven't been working out *at all* or logging my food like I should, but I've been trying to eat like I normally would, as in, not hogging out on "bad" food like I used to do when I was stressed out. That being said, I've had a few days where I'd eat more than normal (having a bad day, that sort of thing) but amazingly since Thanksgiving, I've lost 4 pounds.

A little over a month ago, I upped my calories from 1350 to 1500 just to see if it would help because I had been *stuck* at the same weight for literally months. Then all of a sudden the scale started moving. I think it's just a matter of giving my body a break from working out so much (5 days a week) and eating more. And honestly, I try not to focus on the scale so much anymore. I've gone down a jean size and my clothes are loose, so I know I'm doing something right, no matter what the scale says.

ETA: as far as exercise goes, I'm going to try my darndest to start lifting weights to add to my cardio. If I had my choice, I'd ride my bike every single day (which is what I did over the summer) but now that it's cold, I have to get creative.

I also know that in order to help things along, I have to throw weights in there, too. For now, I ride on the weekends when I can and take spinning and kickboxing classes four days a week.

EngiAli · December 2011

Just eat some foods that are more calorie dense, switch your fat free cottage cheese for 1% or full fat. Same goes with yogurt. Add cheese to your eggs or sandwich, add olive oil and garlic to your veggies. Spread avacado on your sandwich or wrap, add in a handful of nuts as a snack.

Espressocycle · December 2011

I'm sorry, I am sick of people who complain that they can't eat enough. Have you never heard of pie? It's delicious and it looks like this:

LJGmom · December 2011

Eat higher cal foods. It's quite simple. Look at my diary. I never go over, and I eat pizza and ice cream. I don't eat a lot of it, but I do eat it. I still eat a lot of healthy food too. It's not really hard. If you don't want to put junk in your body add whole grains, breads and pasta.

kelliebeth25 · December 2011

Thank you to those who responded! I have been trying to eat more and have been reading through other threads where people are having the same problem. I read an article at this thread:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/395881-people-who-lost-weight-eating-more?error_user_id=2261974&error_username=kelliebeth25&page=2

And I am do glad I did. It talked about when you start actually eating your daily calories as well as your exercise calories the scle will first move up (it has) and the down (it BETTER!!) it was enlightening actually. And I hope....true. I'm going to stay off the scale for at least a week and only do measurements. See what happens. I have also added more cardio and plan on adding weights this week.
Thank you again for your responses! My next question is this: those of you that had this problem, did the scale initially go up? How long was it until you noticed a change (for the better)?

Plateau!!!! >:-/

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