Have hit my plateau - time to up my calories?

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yummymummy52
yummymummy52 Posts: 34 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I started at the end of June and so far have lost 34lbs but I have been stuck on the same weight for weeks now and it is starting to become quite demotivating for me.

I did a search on how to overcome weight loss plateaus and so far I have tried quite a few of the suggestions - mixing up my food and eating a bit more one day and less the next, changed the kind of exercises I am doing, drinking more water etc.

I have read a few people say that as you lose weight you should up your net calorie intake periodically as your body needs more to fuel it. My net calores are currently set at 1200 so I was wondering if maybe upping them to 1300 a day would help get me past this plateau.

Any ideas on whether this might help and any other tips that will get me through it would be gladly received.

Replies

  • yummymummy52
    yummymummy52 Posts: 34 Member
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    Anyone?
  • doornumber03
    doornumber03 Posts: 221 Member
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    are you netting 1200 calories or eating 1200 and then exercising on top of it? If you are eating 1200 and then burning on top of that, that's a bad scenario..... In any case, i'd definitely up them a bit (at least a couple hundred) and see what happens.
  • bananamac
    bananamac Posts: 47 Member
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    I'm certainly not an expert, but I've been plateaued as well since early November, and have finally started losing again. This is what I did:

    1. Started drinking more water. I was drinking about a litre of water a day, and I increased that to 2L.

    2. I upped my calorie goal to 1500 cals/day. I went back into my diary entries from the weeks where I was losing weight consistently, and noticed that when mfp dropped my calorie goal from 1500 to 1300, my weight loss slowed to a crawl. It got me thinking that perhaps my body just wants more fuel.

    Since making these changes, the scale has started moving consistently downward. I'm also noticing that I have more energy, and I'm getting hungry again. When I was trying to keep to 1300 calories, I noticed I lost my sense of hunger, but also lost my energy. Guess I just needed more fuel to keep things going!

    I hope that helps. Good luck, and don't give up! Try something, and stick with it for a week or two to see if it helps. If not, switch it up for another strategy. Eventually, you WILL get past this!
  • yummymummy52
    yummymummy52 Posts: 34 Member
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    are you netting 1200 calories or eating 1200 and then exercising on top of it? If you are eating 1200 and then burning on top of that, that's a bad scenario..... In any case, i'd definitely up them a bit (at least a couple hundred) and see what happens.

    Up until about 10 days ago I wasn't logging my food as I didn't want to become obsessive about things and as I had been losing I assumed I had been doing everything correctly. I decided to start logging as some days I do quite a lot of exercise (maybe two classes and a swim) and I was worried that I wasn't eating enough calories to accomodate the amount of exercise I'm doing.

    Since I started logging I have been trying to net 1200 after the calories have been taken off after I have exercised but I think that maybe I hadn't necessarily been managing that before. I'm finding logging shows me I need to actually eat a bit more when I am exercising so much.
  • yummymummy52
    yummymummy52 Posts: 34 Member
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    I'm certainly not an expert, but I've been plateaued as well since early November, and have finally started losing again. This is what I did:

    1. Started drinking more water. I was drinking about a litre of water a day, and I increased that to 2L.

    2. I upped my calorie goal to 1500 cals/day. I went back into my diary entries from the weeks where I was losing weight consistently, and noticed that when mfp dropped my calorie goal from 1500 to 1300, my weight loss slowed to a crawl. It got me thinking that perhaps my body just wants more fuel.

    Since making these changes, the scale has started moving consistently downward. I'm also noticing that I have more energy, and I'm getting hungry again. When I was trying to keep to 1300 calories, I noticed I lost my sense of hunger, but also lost my energy. Guess I just needed more fuel to keep things going!

    I hope that helps. Good luck, and don't give up! Try something, and stick with it for a week or two to see if it helps. If not, switch it up for another strategy. Eventually, you WILL get past this!

    Thanks for the tips there. I am going to try and increase my water intake each day and I have increased my calories up to 1350 and will see how that goes.

    I know it's a case of keep ploughing on with it until you get through the hurdle its just SO blooming infuriating.
  • bananamac
    bananamac Posts: 47 Member
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    I know it's a case of keep ploughing on with it until you get through the hurdle its just SO blooming infuriating.

    Totally agree! Although, if there can be a bright side, at least you're not shrinking out of your clothes so quickly that you have to keep buying new ones? Yay for saving money? (I know, it's a reach :)
  • Mixmode
    Mixmode Posts: 332
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    If ur at 1200-1350 cal a day. You MUST eat back all of the calories you spend in exercise because 1200-1350 is just barely enought for you to live off of. If you don't eat back those cals you are basically starving yourself and will not lose fat, but instead lose muscle. BAD.
  • yummymummy52
    yummymummy52 Posts: 34 Member
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    Totally agree! Although, if there can be a bright side, at least you're not shrinking out of your clothes so quickly that you have to keep buying new ones? Yay for saving money? (I know, it's a reach :)

    Thing is I am having to do that as my body shape is changing so quickly.

    We have scales that measure body fat/muscle and water and they are showing my body fat going down (yay) and my muscle mass going up. Am wondering if this may also be a factor in the scales not moving as they always say muscle weighs more than fat don't they?
  • celticmuse
    celticmuse Posts: 492 Member
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    Hi,

    I have been in the same boat for 3 mos. Very frustrating I too have lost 32 lbs. I have recently switched to "Olivia's method". If you search the boards, you will find it. I can't tell you if it is working, because my weight still hasn't budged. I sympathize with your frustration though. If you want to friend me, maybe we can work through it together. I just read today that cutting back on starchy carbs, white rice, refined sugar and alcohol can help break a plateau. Also, increasing the intensity of your exercise, or zig zagging your calories can also help.

    The one thing I would point out is that the holidays intervened. I don't know about you, but I gained 1.5 lbs. over the holidays, so working that off has been a bit of a setback. I think it is also hard to lose fat during the winter months.
  • yummymummy52
    yummymummy52 Posts: 34 Member
    Options
    Hi,

    I have been in the same boat for 3 mos. Very frustrating I too have lost 32 lbs. I have recently switched to "Olivia's method". If you search the boards, you will find it. I can't tell you if it is working, because my weight still hasn't budged. I sympathize with your frustration though. If you want to friend me, maybe we can work through it together. I just read today that cutting back on starchy carbs, white rice, refined sugar and alcohol can help break a plateau. Also, increasing the intensity of your exercise, or zig zagging your calories can also help.

    The one thing I would point out is that the holidays intervened. I don't know about you, but I gained 1.5 lbs. over the holidays, so working that off has been a bit of a setback. I think it is also hard to lose fat during the winter months.

    I have been cutting back on refined carbs as I kn ow my body doesn't cope well with them and I very rarely drink alcohol either. Have also tried ziig zagging calories and increasing the intensity of my workouts.

    I was lucky that I only put on 1lb over Christmas and I lost that the following week but I just can't seem to get the scales moving any further. I know I can go lower as I have been before (albeit a number of years ago now).

    Will keep doing all the things I'm doing and hopefully it'll click eventually. I've added you as a friend can do with someone in the same boat to swap experiences with.
  • doornumber03
    doornumber03 Posts: 221 Member
    Options
    are you netting 1200 calories or eating 1200 and then exercising on top of it? If you are eating 1200 and then burning on top of that, that's a bad scenario..... In any case, i'd definitely up them a bit (at least a couple hundred) and see what happens.

    Up until about 10 days ago I wasn't logging my food as I didn't want to become obsessive about things and as I had been losing I assumed I had been doing everything correctly. I decided to start logging as some days I do quite a lot of exercise (maybe two classes and a swim) and I was worried that I wasn't eating enough calories to accomodate the amount of exercise I'm doing.

    Since I started logging I have been trying to net 1200 after the calories have been taken off after I have exercised but I think that maybe I hadn't necessarily been managing that before. I'm finding logging shows me I need to actually eat a bit more when I am exercising so much.

    It always seems odd, but it's true.....definitely need to eat more.....try upping to 1500 and see what that does
  • estherpab
    estherpab Posts: 59 Member
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    I'm certainly not an expert, but I've been plateaued as well since early November, and have finally started losing again. This is what I did:

    1. Started drinking more water. I was drinking about a litre of water a day, and I increased that to 2L.

    2. I upped my calorie goal to 1500 cals/day. I went back into my diary entries from the weeks where I was losing weight consistently, and noticed that when mfp dropped my calorie goal from 1500 to 1300, my weight loss slowed to a crawl. It got me thinking that perhaps my body just wants more fuel.

    Since making these changes, the scale has started moving consistently downward. I'm also noticing that I have more energy, and I'm getting hungry again. When I was trying to keep to 1300 calories, I noticed I lost my sense of hunger, but also lost my energy. Guess I just needed more fuel to keep things going!

    I hope that helps. Good luck, and don't give up! Try something, and stick with it for a week or two to see if it helps. If not, switch it up for another strategy. Eventually, you WILL get past this!



    are you eatting the 1500 calories on days that you exercise too?

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