Plateau Shmateau! HELP!!!!!

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JAM7791
JAM7791 Posts: 47 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been sticking to my calories like crazy! I eat a smidge of my exercise calories back and I work out 3-5 days a week, but usually only for a half an hour at a time...and usually I do the elliptical and some weights. I can't seem to lose more than the 8-9 pounds I've already lost and it's driving me bananas! A guy I work with just weighed himself for our "biggest loser" contest at work and he dropped 4 pounds this week! What the!? I bust my bum and resisted the 36212 boxes of girl scout cookies and NOTHIN! I welcome anyone to look at my diary, exercise..anything and give me some ideas! Ugh!

Replies

  • AntWrig
    AntWrig Posts: 2,273 Member
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    I have been sticking to my calories like crazy! I eat a smidge of my exercise calories back and I work out 3-5 days a week, but usually only for a half an hour at a time...and usually I do the elliptical and some weights. I can't seem to lose more than the 8-9 pounds I've already lost and it's driving me bananas! A guy I work with just weighed himself for our "biggest loser" contest at work and he dropped 4 pounds this week! What the!? I bust my bum and resisted the 36212 boxes of girl scout cookies and NOTHIN! I welcome anyone to look at my diary, exercise..anything and give me some ideas! Ugh!
    Eat more calories back, monitor for two weeks. Weight loss is not linear and stop comparing your self to a man. We will always lose weight at a faster rate.
  • LivyJo
    LivyJo Posts: 355 Member
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    Splurge - when i've been in these situations in the past, a little shock to the system would wake mine up and make the lbs start coming off again.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    You aren't fueling your body properly. I saw some days where you were eating 800-odd calories. That isn't nearly enough to fuel your body's organ function, let alone enough to keep a normal active person going. I also plateaued by under-eating and within a week of eating what I was supposed to, I started losing again. Drastically reducing calorie intake to dangerous levels is a surefire way to screw up your weight loss goals. Eat at least 1200 a day (I needed more like 1300-1400 to keep losing weight). You are entering your food into MFP but you aren't following what it is telling you to do, which is EAT MORE!
  • thinclo
    thinclo Posts: 164 Member
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    maybe try and up your water intake incase your retaining extra? ive had that problem before where i was holding onto water weight .
  • sailorsiren13
    sailorsiren13 Posts: 460
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    Men always lose at a faster rate so you really can't compare yourself to a man. I have been stuck at the same weight for a while now so i'm curious about the answers you will receive. I made an appt. with my dr. to see if anything is off. Are you still losing inches? That matters more than the scale.
  • thinclo
    thinclo Posts: 164 Member
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    Splurge - when i've been in these situations in the past, a little shock to the system would wake mine up and make the lbs start coming off again.

    ^^^ this has worked for me too
  • joyfulteach
    joyfulteach Posts: 419 Member
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    You don't seem to eat a lot of fruits and veggies... Your protein is also low. It seems most of your calories come from processed foods. Try eating healthier and up your calories some. 1200 is a minimum.
  • Krisgren
    Krisgren Posts: 95
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    I'm kinda in the same boat, the first two weeks the scale moved and now zilch, nadda, I'm very frustrated. It sounds like we have a similar workout of cardio and weights (at home I use elliptical and at gym at work I use treadmill/elliptical). I dunno is there truth to what they say about lifting weights adds muscle so you don't notice the scale loss as much? I think I'm weighing to often as someone else suggested to me so I'm gonna work on that, I'm also trying to add in some high protein and fiber snacks, I'm on body by vi shakes and lead a very busy life (I have four kids and work full time) so I rarely have any snacks in between my shakes, I think that is hurting me too. So I am thinking my new goal is to add protein and fiber snacks, stop weighing every 5 minutes and I thought maybe I would also switch it up from the elliptical and weights to occasional power walks on the treadmill (I know that I've read power walking is a huge fat burner especially around the tummy) Anyways, I know I'm blabbering but it isn't even 7am and I'm working on getting some coffee into me. Anything in there help you for tips? I hope so.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    Also upon second glance, and this is just a random diary critique, you really should add vegetables in to your diet. I didn't really see any in there.
  • havok46
    havok46 Posts: 4
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    Looking at your diary, I would also say to put in the sodium and sugar columns. If you switch over to a lower carb count, low sodium diet for a few days you should notice a difference. It appears that you are having a lot of sugar throughout the day and that can spike your natural insulin, causing you not to lose weight. You can still do your normal workout, but pepper in a few minutes of high intensity with your exercise....meaning do a couple minutes of your normal pace, then blast for one minute, and then back to two normal....keep doing this all the way through your workout and you will also see a nice difference.

    Good luck!!
  • JAM7791
    JAM7791 Posts: 47 Member
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    Also upon second glance, and this is just a random diary critique, you really should add vegetables in to your diet. I didn't really see any in there.

    I hate veggies. I know, I'm awful. I like corn, cucumbers and peppers. That's about it. My parents clearly should have forced me to eat more. I can eat fruit all day, but hate veggies. I like proteins-eggs, chicken, meat, cheese...but veggies...uhy! You're right though.
  • sweetendeavor
    sweetendeavor Posts: 72 Member
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    First off, it mgiht depend on your starting weight. People who have a MUCH higher starting weight lose a lot more weight faster than people who have less weight to lose.

    Also, how much time have you given yourself to diet and exercise. Sometimes it takes awhile to notice anything. When I first started dieting and exercising I didn't lose any weight for two months. BUT, I did lose inches and my clothes felt looser. So don't pay too much attention to the scale.

    When I hit a plateau, I started alternating circuit training (twice a week of circuits) with HIIT training (four days a week). I would go to the gym and get on the elliptical for 45 minutes and alternate between 1 minute of easy walking and 1 minute of going as fast as I can. This helped me get past my plateau like magic. I started dropping more weight, a pound to two pounds a week consistently.

    My trainer had also suggested to me that there be a least two days out of the week where I eat more food than usual. Not unhealthy food, just go over my calories a bit. It's is called cycling. You can google it.

    Also, eating enough food is so important. Aim to eat at least 1200 calories on days you don't exercise and 1500-1600 on days you work out. To give you more direction about what you should be eating I suggest buying
    The Hollywood Trainer Weight-Loss Plan: 21 Days to Make Healthy Living a Lifetime Habit by Jeanette Jenkins. It's a very simple book that doesn't include ingredients that are hard to find like most diet books.

    Good luck!
  • l2rell
    l2rell Posts: 88
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    Hi I'm having the same problem for nearly a week the scales have not budged I work out at home 4 times a week forvapprox 20 each time following ea active 2 9 week cardio workout programme on the Xbox kinect I also do Zumba Monday and Wednesday evenings for 60 each time please omeone tell me where I'm going wrong so frustrating xx
  • Kaimana94
    Kaimana94 Posts: 165 Member
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    Would have to agree ,you need to stay up on the calories closer to your daily goal. Plus the sugar are not helping. If you strave your body it will hold onto the fat. Green tea has helped me get back into dropping weight.
  • hersheyskiss
    hersheyskiss Posts: 40
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    Dont give up! Keep working out ! Maybe instead of working out at your own pace.. get an aerobics or weight tape..Denise Austin has a good bootcamp or try Jillian Michaels..Just DON'T give up! My trainer always tells me "You did'nt gain it overnight and you wont lose it overnight".
  • JAM7791
    JAM7791 Posts: 47 Member
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    I 100% eat too much sugar! *sigh*
  • kiminikimkim
    kiminikimkim Posts: 746 Member
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    EXERCISE:
    Enter a much higher resistance (close to the maximum)on the Elliptical, between an 8 -10. You'll burn the actually calories MFP says it will.
    A resistance of only 1 or 2 burns less calories than a moderate walk. You'll feel a difference after 2 mins on the elliptical. It's challenging!

    DIET:
    I know a lot of members suggest eating more, but only if you are actually hungry. It's better to listen to your body than to ingest food randomly for the sake of "shocking" your body. There is a healthier way of "shocking your body", like eliminating process foods.

    You're eating a lot of heavily processed carbs 3 times a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner (Cereal, english muffins, pasta... ) not enough fruits and vegetables. Skip the processed lunch meats, choose to fill your sandwich with left over meats from the night before or with a mashed-up boiled egg. Try cutting out wheat for an entire week (I don't mean cutting out carbs, just wheat) and replace it with natural foods (half an avocado, baked sweet potato, squash etc...). If you are really attached to bread, get gluten free bread made with rice flour or tapioca flour....etc.

    Visit the Dr.Oz site, they have show segments on diet plateau. In some cases, 15-20lbs of extra weight is due to wheat and or milk allergies. The symptoms are bloating and diet plateau.

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