How do you get past a plateau??

calroseangelo
calroseangelo Posts: 144
edited December 19 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been around the same weight for a while now and I just can't seem to get the scale to move! I work out everyday and burn about 400 calories each day. I have just started trying to eat more although I have a hard time eating back all of those calories I burn. I'm not sure what else I can do! Can anyone help me out??
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Replies

  • AFluffyNyamma
    AFluffyNyamma Posts: 99 Member
    What time of day do you exercise and do you mix up your exercise routine?
  • jakay_f
    jakay_f Posts: 28
    zigzag calories
  • calroseangelo
    calroseangelo Posts: 144
    I normally exercise in the afternoon and I do 45 min of zumba one day, then 20 minutes of zumba, weights, and ab exercises the next day. I just switch back and forth. I just started doing that this weekend and into this week.
  • samra2012
    samra2012 Posts: 715
    zigzag calories
    ????? what it means???:huh:
  • TheFitHooker
    TheFitHooker Posts: 3,357 Member
    zigzag calories

    This! Basically what this means is, try lowering your calories about 100-200 calories less then you normally eat, then going up 100-200 more then you eat, then go back down to how much you normally eat. Also, you said you work out every day, your muscles need a break time to time, and to much of anything isn't good for us.

    How many calories a day are you in taking? If you aren't taking in as much as your body needs, your body stops losing weight, because our body goes into starvation mode and when that happens our metabolism slows down. So if the zigzag doesn't work, try upping your limit. Your ticker says you have only lost 11lbs, that's not a lot of a loss to hit a plateau unless you aren't that over weight.
  • calroseangelo
    calroseangelo Posts: 144
    zigzag calories

    This! Basically what this means is, try lowering your calories about 100-200 calories less then you normally eat, then going up 100-200 more then you eat, then go back down to how much you normally eat. Also, you said you work out every day, your muscles need a break time to time, and to much of anything isn't good for us.

    How many calories a day are you in taking? If you aren't taking in as much as your body needs, your body stops losing weight, because our body goes into starvation mode and when that happens our metabolism slows down. So if the zigzag doesn't work, try upping your limit. Your ticker says you have only lost 11lbs, that's not a lot of a loss to hit a plateau unless you aren't that over weight.

    I want to lose another 30 lbs...I don't know if that would be considered way overweight. I just recently upped my calories...my goal is set at 1626. Today I netted around 1300. Like I said, I burned 450 today so I actually ate around 1700 calories. Does zigzagging work?
  • AFluffyNyamma
    AFluffyNyamma Posts: 99 Member

    I want to lose another 30 lbs...I don't know if that would be considered way overweight. I just recently upped my calories...my goal is set at 1626. Today I netted around 1300. Like I said, I burned 450 today so I actually ate around 1700 calories. Does zigzagging work?

    Indeed Zigzagging does work. You have to get your metabolism woken up. It might take a while but the key is always to throw your body off any sort of routine, because it will adjust exercise wise and eating wise
  • TheFitHooker
    TheFitHooker Posts: 3,357 Member
    zigzag calories

    This! Basically what this means is, try lowering your calories about 100-200 calories less then you normally eat, then going up 100-200 more then you eat, then go back down to how much you normally eat. Also, you said you work out every day, your muscles need a break time to time, and to much of anything isn't good for us.

    How many calories a day are you in taking? If you aren't taking in as much as your body needs, your body stops losing weight, because our body goes into starvation mode and when that happens our metabolism slows down. So if the zigzag doesn't work, try upping your limit. Your ticker says you have only lost 11lbs, that's not a lot of a loss to hit a plateau unless you aren't that over weight.

    I want to lose another 30 lbs...I don't know if that would be considered way overweight. I just recently upped my calories...my goal is set at 1626. Today I netted around 1300. Like I said, I burned 450 today so I actually ate around 1700 calories. Does zigzagging work?

    Zigzagging does work, it's been the best plateau breaker I've found yet.
  • calroseangelo
    calroseangelo Posts: 144
    Sounds like that's the way to go! I will give it a shot for a week or so and see what happens.
  • dup32
    dup32 Posts: 68
    I'll tell you what worked for me is balancing the times I eat. Instead of 3 meals and snacks , I went to 6 small snack/meals to keep things leveded off...(metabolism)
    I also watch my carbs much closer and work hard to get no less than 6 hours of some type of workout in....
    This shook things up things drastically and ended a 2 year stalemate! things are moving again and have lost 12 pounds in 5 weeks...
    Maybe this could help you too...
  • casseyleinen
    casseyleinen Posts: 48
    :flowerforyou: Change up workout routine, drink lots of water and maybe cut back a lil bit on carbs if possible. oh and up your protien! Best of luck!!
  • cshearer25
    cshearer25 Posts: 1
    I agree with the zigzag. I hit a plateau when I got down to the last few pounds that I wanted to lose. They say that your metabolism adjusts after about 3 days. so if you go into starvation mode because you arent eating enough calories then by doing the zigzag, your body doesnt really have time to 'adjust' to the new calorie intake which then causes your metabolism to go back up. I would also vary the cardio you do versus the strength training. In the long run you need strength training for toning and building muscle...muscle will then burn more calories. but you also need the cardio to burn more calories. dont do the same cardio and strength training as your body does adjust and get used to an exercise. i do a combo of hot yoga, barre method, spinning, jump roping and running throughout the week. i dont think it really matters when you exercise...also try to eat AFTER you exercise, especially protein which is what your body needs after exercise. if you are strength training its really important to eat a protein. I usually eat a plain greek yougart or hard boiled egg. good luck!!
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    Just eat maintenance for a week or 2 then resume the diet.

    Here...this may help!
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map
  • calroseangelo
    calroseangelo Posts: 144
    I'll tell you what worked for me is balancing the times I eat. Instead of 3 meals and snacks , I went to 6 small snack/meals to keep things leveded off...(metabolism)
    I also watch my carbs much closer and work hard to get no less than 6 hours of some type of workout in....
    This shook things up things drastically and ended a 2 year stalemate! things are moving again and have lost 12 pounds in 5 weeks...
    Maybe this could help you too...

    6 hours a week I'm guessing?? There's no way I could do that in a day! I have 3 little kids!! Haha. I do have snacks throughout the day...a morning snack and afternoon snack. I'm trying to eat more fruits and veggies in my meals. Trying to cut out as much sugar as I can except for the natural sugar in fruits. Also, watching my sodium.
  • calroseangelo
    calroseangelo Posts: 144
    Just eat maintenance for a week or 2 then resume the diet.

    Here...this may help!
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map

    Is maintenance just my BMR?
  • steinbok
    steinbok Posts: 82
    Consider what you are consuming each day and see where you can eliminate or cut back on. Start with breads, pastas, and processed carbs. I recently lost 20# (172-152) doing this in 2 months.
  • dup32
    dup32 Posts: 68
    yep! your right... 6 hours in a week... HA HA sorry about that...
  • calroseangelo
    calroseangelo Posts: 144
    Consider what you are consuming each day and see where you can eliminate or cut back on. Start with breads, pastas, and processed carbs. I recently lost 20# (172-152) doing this in 2 months.

    That sounds like a good idea too. I will look at my diary and see what I can cut out.
  • jomiley23
    jomiley23 Posts: 76
    Bump this, because I regularly plateau.

    I'll go three weeks at the same weight, then bust through 4lbs in one week. I went to reports in the tabs at the top and made myself a spreadsheet to see if I could see a correlation between my eating, exercise and weight loss, and there wasn't really anything definitive, although it's probably an unintentional zigzagging....meaning I get discouraged, eat what I want for a day or two, then on Monday of that fourth week, feeling guilty and having gained a couple of pounds from overindulgence, I kick it into high gear, but I always end up lower than I started.

    Maybe if I zigzagged with intention, I could keep the plateau from happening in the first place.

    Worth a shot.
  • TheFitHooker
    TheFitHooker Posts: 3,357 Member
    Just eat maintenance for a week or 2 then resume the diet.

    Here...this may help!
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map

    Is maintenance just my BMR?

    Some people have a hard time losing weight with eating back their calories. I am one of them, I hardly ever eat back my workout calories, I am at a point now that I'm not stressing the scale so much, so I did eat most my workout calories back today. Sometimes I do, but hardly ever do I, when I'm focused on the scale, I eat right at what my bmr is and no more. I've done that for 116lbs.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    Just eat maintenance for a week or 2 then resume the diet.

    Here...this may help!
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map

    Is maintenance just my BMR?

    BMR is what you eat if you stay in bed all day and do nothing.

    Maintenance is BMR+daily activity.

    Read the link.
  • cheryl5115
    cheryl5115 Posts: 154 Member
    Lots of good information on here. I havent heard of the zigzag before. Makes sense to me.
  • jg627
    jg627 Posts: 1,221 Member
    I'll admit, the whole 'confusing your digestive system' thing sounds like a bunch of bro science, but check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_brain
    Your ENS has over a hundred million neurons and it's completely autonomous. It's constantly finding the most efficient way to digest your food. The more you eat the exact same diet every day the more efficient it becomes at digesting that food. Another thing to keep in mind, your fat cells are made up mostly of triglycerides. As your body metabolizes fat, it replaces those triglycerides with water. You could very well be 'burning fat', while not necessarily losing any weight. Changing your diet usually causes your body to purge water. Calorie zigzagging is one way of changing your diet. It gives me gas though. Yet another thing to keep in mind is, when your ENS isn't very efficient at digesting what you ate (fiber, caloric surplus, diet change) the symbiotic bacteria that lives in your guttyworks will digest it for you via fermentation, the byproduct of which is.... you guessed it, fart gas! Just think of it as your 'second wind' in your weight loss marathon.
  • Oops25
    Oops25 Posts: 68 Member
    I've been in a plateau too and am desperate to lose weight, so this thread has been very helpful..I will try the plateau method and see what happens..I already follow every other suggestion given here..
  • calroseangelo
    calroseangelo Posts: 144
    Just eat maintenance for a week or 2 then resume the diet.

    Here...this may help!
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map

    Is maintenance just my BMR?

    Some people have a hard time losing weight with eating back their calories. I am one of them, I hardly ever eat back my workout calories, I am at a point now that I'm not stressing the scale so much, so I did eat most my workout calories back today. Sometimes I do, but hardly ever do I, when I'm focused on the scale, I eat right at what my bmr is and no more. I've done that for 116lbs.

    So how many calories do you eat in a day then if you don't eat your exercise calories back? Let's take me for example if I ate my BMR (1626) and burned 400 calories that leaves me at 1226 net. Is that like what you do?
  • calroseangelo
    calroseangelo Posts: 144
    I'll admit, the whole 'confusing your digestive system' thing sounds like a bunch of bro science, but check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_brain
    Your ENS has over a hundred million neurons and it's completely autonomous. It's constantly finding the most efficient way to digest your food. The more you eat the exact same diet every day the more efficient it becomes at digesting that food. Another thing to keep in mind, your fat cells are made up mostly of triglycerides. As your body metabolizes fat, it replaces those triglycerides with water. You could very well be 'burning fat', while not necessarily losing any weight. Changing your diet usually causes your body to purge water. Calorie zigzagging is one way of changing your diet. It gives me gas though. Yet another thing to keep in mind is, when your ENS isn't very efficient at digesting what you ate (fiber, caloric surplus, diet change) the symbiotic bacteria that lives in your guttyworks will digest it for you via fermentation, the byproduct of which is.... you guessed it, fart gas! Just think of it as your 'second wind' in your weight loss marathon.

    Hahaha!! That made me laugh out loud. Good to know!!:laugh:
  • AFluffyNyamma
    AFluffyNyamma Posts: 99 Member
    I'll admit, the whole 'confusing your digestive system' thing sounds like a bunch of bro science, but check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_brain
    Your ENS has over a hundred million neurons and it's completely autonomous. It's constantly finding the most efficient way to digest your food. The more you eat the exact same diet every day the more efficient it becomes at digesting that food. Another thing to keep in mind, your fat cells are made up mostly of triglycerides. As your body metabolizes fat, it replaces those triglycerides with water. You could very well be 'burning fat', while not necessarily losing any weight. Changing your diet usually causes your body to purge water. Calorie zigzagging is one way of changing your diet. It gives me gas though. Yet another thing to keep in mind is, when your ENS isn't very efficient at digesting what you ate (fiber, caloric surplus, diet change) the symbiotic bacteria that lives in your guttyworks will digest it for you via fermentation, the byproduct of which is.... you guessed it, fart gas! Just think of it as your 'second wind' in your weight loss marathon.

    if you are gunna pull out the technical portion you should quote a scholarly article instead ;) JK great info up there.
  • TheFitHooker
    TheFitHooker Posts: 3,357 Member
    Just eat maintenance for a week or 2 then resume the diet.

    Here...this may help!
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/538381-in-place-of-a-road-map

    Is maintenance just my BMR?

    Some people have a hard time losing weight with eating back their calories. I am one of them, I hardly ever eat back my workout calories, I am at a point now that I'm not stressing the scale so much, so I did eat most my workout calories back today. Sometimes I do, but hardly ever do I, when I'm focused on the scale, I eat right at what my bmr is and no more. I've done that for 116lbs.

    So how many calories do you eat in a day then if you don't eat your exercise calories back? Let's take me for example if I ate my BMR (1626) and burned 400 calories that leaves me at 1226 net. Is that like what you do?

    I normally eat between 1200 and 1300 a day. I'm told I can't possibly stay like that, workout, and build muscle, but I have. For me it works. It might not work for other's, I'm not one of those that will say "It works for me, it should work for everyone else." because we are all created differently. I know how a lot of people feel about the 1200 calories. But, I'm also under a doctor care, and was put on 1200 calories by him. Today I ate nearly 1600 calories, but I only eat when hungry, and today I was hungry. I started jogging again, and I had quit working when I started working my job as a server, figured I got enough workout carrying big loaded trays and nearly jogging the floors and cleaning, but decided that it's not doing enough and wanted more, so I decided to pick that back up, I'll now start jogging 3-4 days a week, and I do pushup's and a few other work outs around the house.
  • jg627
    jg627 Posts: 1,221 Member
    I'll admit, the whole 'confusing your digestive system' thing sounds like a bunch of bro science, but check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_brain
    Your ENS has over a hundred million neurons and it's completely autonomous. It's constantly finding the most efficient way to digest your food. The more you eat the exact same diet every day the more efficient it becomes at digesting that food. Another thing to keep in mind, your fat cells are made up mostly of triglycerides. As your body metabolizes fat, it replaces those triglycerides with water. You could very well be 'burning fat', while not necessarily losing any weight. Changing your diet usually causes your body to purge water. Calorie zigzagging is one way of changing your diet. It gives me gas though. Yet another thing to keep in mind is, when your ENS isn't very efficient at digesting what you ate (fiber, caloric surplus, diet change) the symbiotic bacteria that lives in your guttyworks will digest it for you via fermentation, the byproduct of which is.... you guessed it, fart gas! Just think of it as your 'second wind' in your weight loss marathon.

    if you are gunna pull out the technical portion you should quote a scholarly article instead ;) JK great info up there.

    It's not like wikipedia ever gets vandalized or anything lol.

    "The 32nd president of the United States, Rick Astley was born in Uranus <link to adult website>..."
  • RonHyland
    RonHyland Posts: 1
    Well I sure can't help you. I've been at the same or gaining my self. But, I stay around my calorie quota too.
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