Plateauing despite sufficient calorie intake?

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  • adietron
    adietron Posts: 155
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    I make an effort to change my workouts every day (although I log most of them as "running" simply because I'm lazy and I know the calorie count from my HRM) and still no progress :(

    I'm curious about your actual workout routine (and it is ok to have a routine). For example, some people might weight train MWF, cardio T/Th, Yoga saturday. Doing this routine for 3 weeks straight is totally fine, and you can feel yourself getting better and stronger each time you do the same workout.

    However, at week 4, you should swap out almost every weight training exercise, or do them in 3 circuits instead of 3 sets all at once. You should switch from the stair climber to the treadmill, and do a bootcamp instead of yoga. You can do intervals of sprints/jogs instead of jogging at a steady pace.

    Overcome the plateau by consistently challenging your body with things it's never done before.
  • led6777
    led6777 Posts: 268
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    I make an effort to change my workouts every day (although I log most of them as "running" simply because I'm lazy and I know the calorie count from my HRM) and still no progress :(

    I'm curious about your actual workout routine (and it is ok to have a routine). For example, some people might weight train MWF, cardio T/Th, Yoga saturday. Doing this routine for 3 weeks straight is totally fine, and you can feel yourself getting better and stronger each time you do the same workout.

    However, at week 4, you should swap out almost every weight training exercise, or do them in 3 circuits instead of 3 sets all at once. You should switch from the stair climber to the treadmill, and do a bootcamp instead of yoga. You can do intervals of sprints/jogs instead of jogging at a steady pace.

    Overcome the plateau by consistently challenging your body with things it's never done before.

    Here's a general example of a week of workouts for me...

    Monday: HIIT intervals on the treadmill for 40 minutes
    Tuesday: Dance class for an hour, 15 minutes of HIIT on the treadmill
    Wednesday: Group Power (barbell weight lifting class) for an hour
    Thursday: Yoga for an hour and then 15 minutes on the elliptical
    Friday: Spinning for 45 minutes
    Saturday: 10 minutes on the stair climber followed by 10 minutes on the rowing machine and then 20 minutes of HIIT intervals on the elliptical
    Sunday: rest
  • BaldyLover
    BaldyLover Posts: 26
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    As well as calorie intake are you looking at fat content? Mainly on processed foods I mean. For instance a lot of 'low cal' ready meals are high in fat. And a lot of 'low fat' ready meals are high in calories (they add sugar to flavour it which isn't counted as fat oddly).

    Also look at eating more vegetables. Carrots are great as it takes more calories to eat them than what is contained in them. Grapes contain virtually no nutritional value also so you can fill up on those when you get hungry. Try adding chilli peppers where possible too.

    Also when you do a lot of exercise you will start to burn fat but also build muscle which weighs more than fat. It could possibly be that you're reaching this point. It's frustrating but good :o)
  • kcragg
    kcragg Posts: 239 Member
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    Another thing you could try is eating more protein with a ratio of protein/carbs/fat - 40%/40%/20%. Change your macros in your food diary. Works for me!

    Good luck
  • adietron
    adietron Posts: 155
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    Also when you do a lot of exercise you will start to burn fat but also build muscle which weighs more than fat. It could possibly be that you're reaching this point. It's frustrating but good :o)

    ^^ this!

    your cardio is commendable, especially the HIIT stuff. Maybe try weight training 3 days/week for 3 weeks, then go back to your normal schedule for 3? There are a TON of people in the "success stories" forum that praise the Goddess of the barbell...
  • Glucocorticoid
    Glucocorticoid Posts: 867 Member
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    Based on your post, I would guess that you have just been eating at maintenance, more or less. I am estimating your maintenance at about 2100-2200 calories, which is about what you have been eating.

    Therefore, don't automatically conclude that you are at a true plateau, you may just have been at maintenance this whole time.

    And I am glad to see not everyone here advocates the silly concept of eating back exercise calories.
    However, at week 4, you should swap out almost every weight training exercise, or do them in 3 circuits instead of 3 sets all at once. You should switch from the stair climber to the treadmill, and do a bootcamp instead of yoga. You can do intervals of sprints/jogs instead of jogging at a steady pace.

    Overcome the plateau by consistently challenging your body with things it's never done before.
    Don't just swap things out for the sake of swapping things out. If it's working for you, stick to it. Too many people think they have to keep "mixing it up" to see results. And just because you plateau in terms of fat loss, don't make the assumption that your plateau is solely attributed to your workout.
    I agree that you should incorporate resistance training into your routine, but be cautious of adding too many things. In most cases, weight training 3-4x a week + HIIT + yoga + whatever else is going to be too much activity in a deficit, You need rest days to recover.

    Contrary to many people's mentality, you should be exercising less when dieting, not more - you need more time to recover when compared to eating at maintenance or in a surplus.
  • led6777
    led6777 Posts: 268
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    My understanding is that my NET maintenance calories would be around 2100. Discussing calories consumed with no further analysis of calories burned is one-sided and definitely does not provide the whole picture.

    I have been eating back my exercise calories since the beginning and have lost almost 30 pounds so I know that it works for me.. not to mention I get weak and uncomfortably hungry if I don't eat them back. The concept of NOT eating your exercise calories back is silly in my opinion.

    If I were at maintenance I would probably be eating closer to 2300-2400 calories and exercising around 300 of them off.
  • led6777
    led6777 Posts: 268
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    Also when you do a lot of exercise you will start to burn fat but also build muscle which weighs more than fat. It could possibly be that you're reaching this point. It's frustrating but good :o)

    ^^ this!

    your cardio is commendable, especially the HIIT stuff. Maybe try weight training 3 days/week for 3 weeks, then go back to your normal schedule for 3? There are a TON of people in the "success stories" forum that praise the Goddess of the barbell...

    I think you're on to something! Barbell class and strength yoga are definitely being outweighed by my cardio workouts in my exercise repertoire.
  • Glucocorticoid
    Glucocorticoid Posts: 867 Member
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    My understanding is that my NET maintenance calories would be around 2100. Discussing calories consumed with no further analysis of calories burned is one-sided and definitely does not provide the whole picture.

    I have been eating back my exercise calories since the beginning and have lost almost 30 pounds so I know that it works for me.. not to mention I get weak and uncomfortably hungry if I don't eat them back. The concept of NOT eating your exercise calories back is silly in my opinion.

    If I were at maintenance I would probably be eating closer to 2300-2400 calories and exercising around 300 of them off.

    I won't argue with you on eating exercise calories since you're going to do what you want anyway.

    You did not mention in your first post that you have already lost 30 lbs and have been dieting for a while. I would do this:
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html
  • gatorginger
    gatorginger Posts: 947 Member
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    I viewed your diary and your eating a lot of things high in sodium, I would try to cut back on the sodium and see how that works for you.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,701 Member
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    I've been at the same weight for a few weeks and I'm becoming impatient. I have weighed myself every few days and there are small fluctuations but I attribute those to water weight. I have measured myself and I haven't lost any inches either.

    I'm 5'9" and I weigh 171 lbs. I net around 1550 per day. I eat my exercise calories (approx 400-500/day) so I get to eat around 1800-2100 calories per day - thanks to fat2fit radio I know how much I need to eat. I have a few cheat days every once in a while, but nothing more than 500 or so calories over my calorie budget, which I'm sure is compensated for by my modest overestimation of how much I eat and reasonable underestimation of how much I burn.

    I eat generally healthy foods, I'd say 80% natural/whole foods and 20% processed foods (although "processed" is a fairly vague term... I don't eat things like cheetos, but sometimes I do eat frozen meals and the like).

    I have a bodybugg that tracks my calories burned while I work out and I believe it is accurate, but as I mentioned above, I always underestimate the amount I burn by at least 50 to 100 calories just to be safe. My workouts vary from running, dancing, weight lifting, yoga, and spinning.

    I feel that I'm doing everything right. I'm eating enough, drinking water like crazy, exercising consistently, and sleeping plenty (9 hours per night). I have about 15 more pounds to lose and I'm going to go nuts if I don't start losing again soon. Please help!
    Up the intensity of each workout.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • ElPumaMex
    ElPumaMex Posts: 367 Member
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    Thank you for opening your diary.
    I will download it and send you a message, hopefully the diary will reveal the reason for your plateau :wink:
  • Shayztar
    Shayztar Posts: 415 Member
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    Bump. Reading ur post is similar to me now.
  • ExplorinLauren
    ExplorinLauren Posts: 991 Member
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    I've read alot about calorie cycling too, and I would try that... here is a site ... http://www.shapefit.com/calorie-intake-calculator.html# Just enter your info, then click Zig Zag cycle... and it will break it down for you :) Good luck!
  • Specialkayrina
    Specialkayrina Posts: 242 Member
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    Bump, same problem here :(
  • led6777
    led6777 Posts: 268
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    My understanding is that my NET maintenance calories would be around 2100. Discussing calories consumed with no further analysis of calories burned is one-sided and definitely does not provide the whole picture.

    I have been eating back my exercise calories since the beginning and have lost almost 30 pounds so I know that it works for me.. not to mention I get weak and uncomfortably hungry if I don't eat them back. The concept of NOT eating your exercise calories back is silly in my opinion.

    If I were at maintenance I would probably be eating closer to 2300-2400 calories and exercising around 300 of them off.

    I won't argue with you on eating exercise calories since you're going to do what you want anyway.

    You did not mention in your first post that you have already lost 30 lbs and have been dieting for a while. I would do this:
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

    Woah, I've never heard of something like this before. Super interesting. Thanks

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