WHAT GIVES? This Can't be a PLATEAU

Margy82
Margy82 Posts: 63
edited September 18 in Motivation and Support
Hello Everyone, I need some help!

I started this program on January 21st, 2008. I weigh myself every Monday at the same time wearing the same thing (nothing). I eat all my cals, which I started at 1200 cals per day then about 1.5 months ago I increased it to 1400 after calculating my actual BMI. I exercise regularly, 5-6 days a week, (3 days weights and 4 days cardio) and even change it up so my body doesn't get into a trend of the same thing everyday and I eat all my exercise cals. I get 8 hours of rest every day and drink 10+ glasses of water everyday. I am maintaining the right levels of fat, carbs, sugar, sodium, protein and fiber. I am taking my doctor recommended vitamins everyday and eating clean foods with lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains and natural good fats and oils.

Since I have started I have only seen the scale on Monday mornings move twice. 5lbs after my first week and 5 lbs during the Monday after my birthday ( which was weird, cause I totally pigged out on my birthday, I know I went way over).

So what's wrong, it seems like I get weight loss spurts like most people get plateaus. My first plateau lasted 6 weeks, and I am already into week 3 of my second one. I am also taking my measuring every where and they seem to be doing the same thing, I only noticed loss in inches twice, and that was each time I loss the 5lbs,

So my question is WHAT GIVES? Has anyone else gone through this, cause this IS NOT A PLATEAU!

Replies

  • Margy82
    Margy82 Posts: 63
    Hello Everyone, I need some help!

    I started this program on January 21st, 2008. I weigh myself every Monday at the same time wearing the same thing (nothing). I eat all my cals, which I started at 1200 cals per day then about 1.5 months ago I increased it to 1400 after calculating my actual BMI. I exercise regularly, 5-6 days a week, (3 days weights and 4 days cardio) and even change it up so my body doesn't get into a trend of the same thing everyday and I eat all my exercise cals. I get 8 hours of rest every day and drink 10+ glasses of water everyday. I am maintaining the right levels of fat, carbs, sugar, sodium, protein and fiber. I am taking my doctor recommended vitamins everyday and eating clean foods with lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains and natural good fats and oils.

    Since I have started I have only seen the scale on Monday mornings move twice. 5lbs after my first week and 5 lbs during the Monday after my birthday ( which was weird, cause I totally pigged out on my birthday, I know I went way over).

    So what's wrong, it seems like I get weight loss spurts like most people get plateaus. My first plateau lasted 6 weeks, and I am already into week 3 of my second one. I am also taking my measuring every where and they seem to be doing the same thing, I only noticed loss in inches twice, and that was each time I loss the 5lbs,

    So my question is WHAT GIVES? Has anyone else gone through this, cause this IS NOT A PLATEAU!
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
    Hmm, you have a pretty telling little bit of fact there. First i'll show you what stands out in my mind when I read this post:
    5 lbs during the Monday after my birthday ( which was weird, cause I totally pigged out on my birthday, I know I went way over).

    maybe your not eating enough calories to start with. Can you give us your numbers, lets dial em in and see what comes out.

    I'll need your age, weight, height, activity level (Not your workouts, just how active you are through the day, I.E. do you sit at a desk all day, or do you deliver mail, or work as a waitress...etc).

    We'll see what we come up with.
  • jpketz
    jpketz Posts: 73
    The previous commenter may have nailed it....I hit a plateau after about 3 weeks so I cut back my exercise and ate more cals and dropped 2 lbs. immediately. I know it's counter-intuitive but it makes sense in the context of how metabolism responds to sudden increases/decreases in calories. Also, and I hate to bring it up, but girls lose it more slowly, it's just a fact. And this may be way off point too, but if you've ever had any thyroid issues, that can be a factor. My wife should chime in here, she's experienced the thyroid plateau big time.

    So the first 5 lbs. was probably water, now it's all about hanging in there and fighting the good fight ...which you are SO doing!! These pounds shall pass!

    And happy birthday.
  • Margy82
    Margy82 Posts: 63
    Okay, Banks, here are my numbers are,

    Age = 26
    weight = 160
    Height = 68.5 inches
    Activity level = Sit at a desk all day

    I did a calculation the other day for my Estimate Energy Requirement (EER) and according to my height, weight and age, plus the Physical Activity coefficient it said that my daily calorie intake should be 1850, thus if I subtract 500 cals from that, it would will bring me to 1350 cals a day to lose one pound a week.

    All i know is that this is getting very frustrating. Also, I Do not have a thyroid issue. I have lost weight before and was down to 150 the first time I lost weight, and I wasn't even tracking my calories that time. Just cut out snacks, carbs, cheese, fast food and exercised a lot. I went from 210 to 150. in a little over three months. But when I started introducing those foods back into my diet, I gained a lot of the weight back. So this time I want to do it slower but maintaining all the food I want to eat once I have lost the weight.
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
    Hi Margy,

    Uh-oh. I recognize exactly how you're losing. That's how I lost. I would reach a weight, stay at it for MONTHS, say to myself "well. . .I guess I'm just supposed to weight 1xx lbs. . .and then two weeks later, I'd drop four pounds. I also had my thyroid checks, my hormone level checks, my everything checks. I started to think of myself as just particularly "famine resistant". I did have success with slowing down, and making my deficit smaller (say 300 down from 500).

    I think some of us just don't do well at "body math". It sucks! I think you have exactly the right idea when you say that you want to eat this way for good, and not be on "a diet". Also, you're at a healthy weight already, so even though it may not be your "goal weight", it's going to be hard to get lower. (not impossible, but slow.)

    Be patient with yourself.:flowerforyou:
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
    Well Margy, your numbers are pretty much on, but you are at a bmi of around 23.5 or so, which is in the healthy range. Ahh, put it this way. Your body's gonna fight you. I mean, your almost 5'9" tall, that's a pretty good weight for that height.

    Basically, your body is pretty happy where it is, it's not going to feel all that obligated to burn extra calories, the body LIKES having a little just in case fat. That doesn't mean you can't lose it, it just means it's gonna take a while, Maybe you don't like your shape, that's fine, but you would have better luck changing your shape with weight training then attempting to lose more weight.

    See this post I put out. It might give you a better Idea of what you should be shooting for. You're pretty much at stage 5 right now. It can take 3 to six months to lose that last 10 (I.E. less or up to 1/2 a lb a week sometimes).


    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9433-expectations
  • Margy82
    Margy82 Posts: 63
    Thanks Banks, I thought I was in stage 2 or 4, but now I understand, but what should I do?

    I am not sure of the best way to loss the last 10-20 lbs
    If my Maintenance calories is 1850, then

    Should I keep my calories at 1350 or should I increase them?
    Should I do more or less weights, (I do abs 3x a week, arms 1 a week and legs 1 a week)
    Should I do more or less cardio (I do 30-45 mins 5-6 times a week)
    Should I have more rest days ( I have 1-2 rest days, usually the weekends)

    Yes, I would love to be more toned and less flabby. I would love to see my muscle not just feel them. My percent of Body fat ranges from 22 to 27% depending on the test online test. What is ideal?

    My goal is to look good in a bikini an not have a flabby belly, jiggling under arms and flabby thighs. Also, I want to be toned enough so when I get pregnant, in about a year or so, I can not gain much and loss the weight quickly.

    Thanks everyone for your help!
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
    Well, ahh, at least you have goals. :tongue:
    That's a lot to shoot for. Are they unreasonable goals? Nah, I don't think so. Will you be able to achieve them all in 1 year? Well, ahhhhh, maybe, that depends on how much time you have to dedicate to it. To reach all those goals you will probably have to deviate from the normal "last 10" regimen and get a little harsher with yourself.
    Put it this way, if you want to do all this in 1 year, then you probably need to eat more protein, and calcium rich products, cut 2 of those 5 cardio days out and replace them with weight training (3 cardio days are fine if you just want to maintain if you can keep your heartrate in the mid 70% for 20 minutes or so). And up your weight somewhat.
    Here's the deal, right now your body is still probably trying to fight you. Get closer to maintenance calories and your body will relent. It will stop trying to store fat, drop it from 5 or 600 to 300 or so with more weight training. You will notice muscle tone start to happen after probably about 1 month or so, you'll notice it more in the arms and legs first. The stomach and love handles along with butt and thighs are the hardest places to lose fat and therefore tougher to see the tone right away. Also, 22 to 27% body fat isn't horrible. Ideally you want to be between 10 and 16 but 14 to 18 would be fine. In order to get there, you really need to build muscle.
    Oh, and last thing, alcohol would be a HUGE no no on this plan.
    Now if you feel like you can do this, email me and I'll help you work up some more detailed steps. If this sounds like too much (god knows I wouldn't do this, I'm satisfied with taking 2 to 3 years to get there) you can stick with just slicing down your deficite by 200 or so and letting it take longer to get there. You won't get the muscle definition you would with the above plan, but you will be nice and healthy, and the flabbyness will (slowly) go away.
    Whew, that was a lot of typing.
  • Margy82
    Margy82 Posts: 63
    Okay, I'll send you a message though here, but I don't know how access email addresses from here yet.
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
    Okay, I'll send you a message though here, but I don't know how access email addresses from here yet.

    click on my name on the left, there is a send message button there. :happy:
  • AdvocareTeresaInBeaumont
    AdvocareTeresaInBeaumont Posts: 23
    I noticed your post - here is something that I was told by a friend of my who is a registeredDdietician.

    I already eat 5 - 6 small (200-300) calorie meals/snacks each day, my friend recommended that I be sure to get at least 10 grams of protein in each meal, I had not been so diligent with getting protein in my snacks. I was munching on fruits & veggies, whole grain crackers and nuts -not enough. Now I sometimes I have a low calorie protein shake as a snack, even a left over grilled chicken tender. I also take a product called Catalyst - branch chain amino acids that feed my lean muscle and keep them strong and help to increase my metabolism. Catalyst also has helped to keep me toned & tight, not flabby (nor bulky) as I lose weight.

    I hope this is helpful.
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