Weight will not come off.......

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laurahammiller
laurahammiller Posts: 3
in Motivation and Support
I am losing my mind....I started my weight loss back in 1st week of February and lost 18 lbs and for the last 2.5 weeks I cannot drop anymore weight and I am just at a complete loss. I eat healthy everday and excercise 50 minutes each day of cardio. I don't want to give up, but this plateau just seems like it will stick. I have 40 more pounds to lose and at this rate It will take me years to get there. Any advice to keep the motivation would be great

Replies

  • honestlysweet
    honestlysweet Posts: 221 Member
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    I feel your pain, I have had several plateaus, and I have only lost ten pounds in the last two months, when I started. But I just kept at it, doing cardio classes at the gym daily and eating healthy. To break a plateau, I have eaten a bit more, but it has to be protein related. In other words, when I was plateauing, I would eat a bowl of cereal (high carbs) or eggs and bacon (high fat) for breakfast. To break this, I started eating a wedge of Brie cheese and a protein shake for BF and other protein related foods throughout the day. I also would eat my exercise calories, but not all. About half. Just don't eat the extra calories with carbs or fat. Make it protein. Hope this helps.

    Also, if you open your diary, others can view it and make suggestions.
  • sprhmnnumn
    sprhmnnumn Posts: 2 Member
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    It depends on what youve been doing in the kitchen but it's possible you've been eating too little therefore your metabolism shuts down. Theres a difference between eating healthy and eating for fatloss. If you just eat healthy ( nutrigrain bar in the morning, apple for a snack with a salad and a sensible dibnner ) It wont take long for the body to think its staving itself. You gotta feed the machine to get the fat burning metabolism gong in the right direction.
  • dmf9455
    dmf9455 Posts: 1
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    Have you added strength training to your routine? Cardio is great but the strength training will boost your metabolism and increase the burn long after you work out. Also, try mixing your calorie intakes to be different amounts on different days. Essentially, this can trick your body so it breaks the plateau.
  • Wilson336
    Wilson336 Posts: 76
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    Remember that your body is always try to reach a balance. If you eat the same amount of calories and exercise the same amount for an extended period of time, the body will eventually adjust your metabolism so that you no longer are losing so much weight. I would recommend changing either the amount of exercise or the amount of calories taken in in order to shake your metabolism up again. Some people have reported that actually eating 200-300 more calories a day has kick started their weight loss, while others simply pick up their exercise routine for a week or two. Try to change it a little every few weeks so your body does not adjust into a set routine, and it should minimize your plateaus.
  • DonnaRe2012
    DonnaRe2012 Posts: 298 Member
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    Are you eating enough??? what is your calorie intake? open your diary.
  • akiramezu
    akiramezu Posts: 278
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    Hey there

    Every dieters worst nightmare, the dreaded Plateau.
    It seems like your body is used to what you're doing, and how do we fix this?
    simple! just have to change it up.
    Remember, someones usual diet/training routine would only ever last them perhaps 3 months max?
    and then you would probably stop seeing any gains
    and even that is way too long to be doing something every day for three months.
    You have to mix things up!

    As i say a lot on the forums.
    Our bodies are so efficient at adapting, that it gets to a point where it's stupid

    Tips
    1. Instead of doing a steady paced cardio that lasts 50 minutes every day, why don't you sprint 2 out of the 7 days that you do cardio
    2. Zig-zag your calories, go from low to high, medium to high, high to low etc
    3. Have variety with your food
    4. strength train
    5. zig-zag your macros (Have a high carb day, have a low carb day, have high fat day, have low fat day etc)
    6. have a cheat day (twice your usual calorie intake on that day, but don't go stupid)

    Example of what i'm doing at the moment that confuses the crap out of my body
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538464-because-people-were-curious
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map

    Eat more!
  • gaia3rd
    gaia3rd Posts: 151
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    That means you lost 18 pounds in 5 weeks? I'm not at all surprised you've stalled. Even if a few of those pounds were water-weight, that is a very large amount and I have to ask if you're eating enough, especially with the amount of exercise you've listed.
  • laurahammiller
    laurahammiller Posts: 3
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    I am eating about 1100 calories a day and doing 50-60 minutes of cardio each day. I have started changing my routine and it seems to be working at the moment, but for how long is the question.
  • laurahammiller
    laurahammiller Posts: 3
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    Thanks for the advice :)
  • frosty73
    frosty73 Posts: 424 Member
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    Definitely you will need to increase your calories if you are exercising that much most days of the week! Try taking it up to 1600/day and see if you don't feel better. Don't worry so much about the weight as about how you are feeling and how your clothes are fitting.
  • maryjboom
    maryjboom Posts: 137 Member
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    I can understand what you are saying. I have lost 11lbs since Christmas, but have not lost anything in the past 3 wks. I am still eating well and getting to the gym 3-4x a wk. I just have to keep thinking positive that it will change soon.
  • brendacooks
    brendacooks Posts: 103 Member
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    2.5 weeks isn't much really....the thing to remember is that this is not a diet (meaning a short term change to achieve a quick weight-loss goal and then over) this is a new way of eating and living and it is forever...there is no pressure to lose on a time schedule. Over time, if you eat less and better and exercise more your body will reflect the changes - and I agree with many other replys - change your routine a bit, eat a bit more. Be patient. Be patient. Be patient. You are doing great!

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