Darn plateau...can I beat it?

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curvykim78
curvykim78 Posts: 799 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been doing this for 15 weeks now. I've lost 14 pounds, but I have been stuck at this weight for 3-4 weeks now. After listening to the others, it seems like they think I need to eat more. I adjusted my goal from losing 2 pounds a week to 1.5 pounds a week. It has put me from 1200 calories to 1290 calories a day. My question is this...is the 90 calories enough to make me overcome this plateau or should I go by the BMR number I found online which is 1878.
If it helps, I was 172, currently 158 and 34 years old, healthy, and walk the treadmill 4-5 days a week for 35-40 minutes weekly carrying 5-8 pound weights. Any ideas for me to get over this hurdle?
THANKS!!
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  • curvykim78
    curvykim78 Posts: 799 Member
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    I've been doing this for 15 weeks now. I've lost 14 pounds, but I have been stuck at this weight for 3-4 weeks now. After listening to the others, it seems like they think I need to eat more. I adjusted my goal from losing 2 pounds a week to 1.5 pounds a week. It has put me from 1200 calories to 1290 calories a day. My question is this...is the 90 calories enough to make me overcome this plateau or should I go by the BMR number I found online which is 1878.
    If it helps, I was 172, currently 158 and 34 years old, healthy, and walk the treadmill 4-5 days a week for 35-40 minutes weekly carrying 5-8 pound weights. Any ideas for me to get over this hurdle?
    THANKS!!

    :)
  • antihillmoby
    antihillmoby Posts: 131 Member
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    Me too - I would like to see the answers to this.
  • binderde
    binderde Posts: 23
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    I was at a plateau for about the same amount of time, and I was eating under my goal consistently, in the last few weeks I started to just eat right at my goal and i have lost 2 pounds already. So the key is to just keep at it and see what works, I think eating more should help and you should be shooting for 1 pound a week not 2 or 1.5, so maybe try 1 pound a week and eat at the calories recommended. If it doesn't work then at least you still ate your goal and only for a few weeks too.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,404 MFP Moderator
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    Not eating the way you have been as it wAY too little calories. But lets gather some data. First use the link below to figure out your estimated BMR and post that. Also, what do you do for a living and what do you do for exercise?



    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

    ps- based on your current stats, you should be closer to 1 lb per week and eating at least 50-75% of your exercise calories but we can adjust things once you post results.
  • Jillk1023
    Jillk1023 Posts: 121 Member
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    bump
  • patf1979
    patf1979 Posts: 18 Member
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    bump
  • goforkissy
    goforkissy Posts: 157 Member
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    Bump.
  • pmanco2009
    pmanco2009 Posts: 76
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    bump
  • LPS1986
    LPS1986 Posts: 104
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    I've been doing this for 15 weeks now. I've lost 14 pounds, but I have been stuck at this weight for 3-4 weeks now. After listening to the others, it seems like they think I need to eat more. I adjusted my goal from losing 2 pounds a week to 1.5 pounds a week. It has put me from 1200 calories to 1290 calories a day. My question is this...is the 90 calories enough to make me overcome this plateau or should I go by the BMR number I found online which is 1878.
    If it helps, I was 172, currently 158 and 34 years old, healthy, and walk the treadmill 4-5 days a week for 35-40 minutes weekly carrying 5-8 pound weights. Any ideas for me to get over this hurdle?
    THANKS!!

    If you are losing inches, you are losing fat and toning. I have lost about 40 pounds but have not lost a pound since early March. It is super frustrating but I have accepted that I need to stop looking at the scale. Also, I have increased my calorie limit on MFP to 1500 calories. Though, I do eat my exercise calories, so the increase can leave me eating 1800-2100 calories a day. I've been losing inches/fat but not really losing "weight" or pounds on the scale. It is pretty awesome still. I fit into a size 9 in Juniors the other day. Keep in mind, when I started MFP, I was wearing size 14 in women's!
  • mississippi_queen
    mississippi_queen Posts: 483 Member
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    Bump
  • pandaJOY7
    pandaJOY7 Posts: 11
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    I think if you are eating healthy and exercising the numbers will eventually catch up. Maybe you are redistributing your body mass, and building muscle that weighs more. How have your body measurements been???

    Also, are you drinking enough water??? That is what really helped me to get past my last plateau.

    Just don't give up. The numbers will eventually reach where you are. And, YES, you CAN beat the plateau!
  • kindra3434
    kindra3434 Posts: 177 Member
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    I haven't hit plateau yet...but I have a plan for when I do. I plan on eating more and adding in more challenging workouts.
  • tabinmaine
    tabinmaine Posts: 965 Member
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    If your BMR is over 1800 than yes you are eating way too little......
  • Modcom
    Modcom Posts: 18
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    I hit a 2 week plateau while staying on course with my exercise and calories. All of a sudden the weight started dropping off again. Perseverance, tenacity and steadfastness is the long term strategy. I won't say it wasn't hard and depressing to see the scale stagnant for that long, but it finally paid off.

    Stay with it and keep up the good work!!!

    :wink:
  • chattipatty2
    chattipatty2 Posts: 376 Member
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    bump as you and I are very similar in wt/loss/plateau status.
  • mamabear23
    mamabear23 Posts: 15
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    I was just on a plateau for the last 3 weeks. I had lost 1.5 lbs the week after I was on vacation and then gained 3 back. Stayed at that wait for 3 LONG weeks no matter how much exercise and staying under my calorie goal I did.

    You can do it.
  • curvykim78
    curvykim78 Posts: 799 Member
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    I posted my BMR and exercise inthe original post. As far as my job, I am a home daycare provider who chases kids around in circles all day. :)
  • criscricket
    criscricket Posts: 72
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    Not eating the way you have been as it wAY too little calories. But lets gather some data. First use the link below to figure out your estimated BMR and post that. Also, what do you do for a living and what do you do for exercise?



    http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/bmr/

    ps- based on your current stats, you should be closer to 1 lb per week and eating at least 50-75% of your exercise calories but we can adjust things once you post results.



    Ok I did this and I got "your current BMR is 1536 calories." I work at a desk job and I run three times a week for 45 minutes, do weight training 1-2x a week. Some weeks I get more cardio like a step class and some weeks I may take a yoga class. So average 4-5 days a week doing something.

    The chart says I should be eating 2158! Wow thats alot more than I am doing now.

    here's the chart:
    Activity Level Daily Calories
    Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1670
    Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1914
    Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2158
    Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2401
    Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2645
  • poulingail
    poulingail Posts: 110
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    I like this statement from the link provided above.
    <Based on how much activity you do on an average day, the calories in the right column will be the number of calories that you will be able to eat at your goal weight. If you start eating those calories right now (eating like the thinner you), you will eventually become that thinner person. As you get closer to your goal weight, your weight loss will start to slow down. It is OK to eat a few hundred calories less per day (200-300) to speed up your weight loss at this point.>
    What I don't agree with is the calculated calories. MFP is giving me 1380 calories a day. The chart from the link looks like this.

    Activity Level Daily Calories
    Sedentary (little or no exercise, desk job) 1632
    Lightly Active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk) 1870
    Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk) 2108
    Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk) 2346
    Extremely Active (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.) 2584

    When I have eaten at these levels, I have gained weight quickly and held on to it longer.
    For me, the plateau broke when I changed things up. My schedule changed quite a bit for a couple of weeks.

    Try eating more at different times of day, less at others.
    Change the foods you are eating.
    Change up the time you exercise.
    Here's an odd one, stay up and active later. I like to be in bed reading at 8:30 or 9. One more hour of activity could break a plateau.

    All of those things changed for me for a couple of weeks and I suddenly found I had lost 5 lbs after plateauing for 3 months. Let me know if you try these suggestions and if they work for you. I want to change things up more often to see if I can keep my body out of a rut and too routine. Last night I was still doing light housework at 9.
  • acstansell
    acstansell Posts: 567 Member
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    I've plateaued twice - once at 37 and again at 48... I'll probably plateau again.

    1) don't give up - plateaus don't mean you're done, it just means you're stalled and you need to change it up. It can be frustrating and annoying, but don't give up.
    2) drop your calories for a few days to just kick your body into gear.
    3) don't splurge until you hit goal.
    4) change up your cardio - if you run, interval - that kinda thing.
    5) Consider if it's water weight - if it could be check your sodium and try to keep that low for a week or so.

    These are just the things that have helped me. All of these things can maybe help to kick you over the hump. I was at 48 for almost 3 weeks - then I lost 3 pounds - I splurged one day and pulled back a lot for the rest of the week. Then, I started lifting and running again. I also made sure I drank 8 glasses of water.

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