To increase calories or not? Plateau

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Ebwash89
Ebwash89 Posts: 180 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I work in an office and I'm sitting down majority of the day and when at home I am relaxing, laying in the bed if I'm not working out so I always had my activity level set to secondary regardless of how much I worked out. Now that I've hit a wall people are telling me that I need to increase my calorie or activity level to get pass my plateau. I try to workout at least 3 days out of the week some time I'll do 5. So should I reset my activity level to lightly active and eat more(at my bmr)?

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  • rubybeach
    rubybeach Posts: 529 Member
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    How tall are you? What are your calories currently set at?
  • Ebwash89
    Ebwash89 Posts: 180 Member
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    How tall are you? What are your calories currently set at?

    I'm 5'2. My calories were originally 1200
  • rubybeach
    rubybeach Posts: 529 Member
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    It may be worth a try if you've been stuck for awhile. I'm 5'5", 135 and at 1410, I've been losing consistently. When I first started I was at 1560 and was losing as well. (I was tested for my fitness ability -Which included RMR, body fat, etc.....very helpful information if you can afford to do so)

    Im also at sedentary setting as I'm recovering from surgery and can only use one arm (so it possible to lose and not be very active-although not ideal IMO)

    Best of luck to you!
  • sharleengc
    sharleengc Posts: 792 Member
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    I'm 5'0 and I was at 1200 calories for 2lbs a week and got stuck as well. I changed it to 1lb a week and 1364 calories and started to loose again.

    I try to excercise 4 times a week, it doesn't always happen but I try.
  • Ebwash89
    Ebwash89 Posts: 180 Member
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    Thanks....How do you feel about eat your exercise calories?
  • HauteP1nk
    HauteP1nk Posts: 2,139 Member
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    what do you do for your workouts? Are you strength training & doing resistence training?

    I have heard that each additional pound of muscle gained from weight training can amount to as much as 50 to 100 calories per day (depending on person of course) by doing absolutely nothing....so it might be worth it to incorporate some weights into your routines.
  • stephiejones
    stephiejones Posts: 54
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    bump:ohwell: cause im there...
  • amicklin
    amicklin Posts: 452
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    How much are you looking to lose?

    I am 5'6'' (small-ish to medium frame) and to lose weight I had to be at 1700 or my body just wouldn't "let go" of the additional stores. Plus, it gave me the additional energy/fuel I needed to work harder in my weight training/ cardio sessions.

    I think, overall, people tend to over-do the calorie cutting. Generally, if you are not obese and have less than 40lbs or so to lose, cutting fewer calories while focusing on the quality of what you are eating, is really what will help the most.

    I just wanted to mention that, MFP will automatically set your calorie allotment to include a deficit. To maintain the proper proportion of deficit/intake you will need to eat back the calories from your workouts.

    Example: If the number of calories you need to maintain your weight is 2,000 and you set your goal at 1lbs/ loss per week. MFP will automatically deduct 500 calories from your allotment for the day. So, if you burn 500 calories in a workout, you will need to eat back those 500 calories to remain at that 1500 calorie level.
  • MyaPapaya75
    MyaPapaya75 Posts: 3,143 Member
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    I think it depends on how long you have been stuck....my Dietician says plateaus are natural we generally lose weight in a stair step motion with intervals where we seem stuck but its just the way our bodies naturally lose....Generally this takes 2-4 weeks when it does happen ...and then if you are 100% with staying accountable and on track you will see a loss without increasing or changing anything.....sometimes we try to change things and go totally off track.....
  • rubybeach
    rubybeach Posts: 529 Member
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    Thanks....How do you feel about eat your exercise calories?



    I always eat mine back, however, I use a HRM and subtract my RMR from the calories burned.
  • thamre
    thamre Posts: 642 Member
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    Thanks....How do you feel about eat your exercise calories?

    I have hit a wall as well. I exercise 5-6 days a week for about 2 hours each day. I have always thought that eating back my exercise calories just didn't sound right. But at this point I am willing to give it a try for a while. I hope it works.
  • Ebwash89
    Ebwash89 Posts: 180 Member
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    what do you do for your workouts? Are you strength training & doing resistence training?

    I have heard that each additional pound of muscle gained from weight training can amount to as much as 50 to 100 calories per day (depending on person of course) by doing absolutely nothing....so it might be worth it to incorporate some weights into your routines.

    I do a bit of it. I do some Jillian Michaels workouts that incorporate strength training along with cardio. Should I add more?

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