How did you bust YOUR plateau?

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  • 32nissy
    32nissy Posts: 67
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    bump
  • Annmarie49
    Annmarie49 Posts: 84
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    Dropped my calorie intake to 1000 cals/day (lots of fruit/veg/fibre/wholemeal/beans/pulses etc etc) & increased cardio exercise (eat less/exercise more) for 1 week, 4lb weight loss that week and now if I plateaued for more than 4 wks, I would do the same!! I know a lot of people disagree with this, however, you need to find out what is right for you. try all variations until it works but give each one time!!!
  • soehlerking
    soehlerking Posts: 589 Member
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    OMG i've only been stuck in my plateau for 3 weeks, and i'm already terrified...props to all of you who have seen the other side! i'm going to start out by changing my whole exercise routine (from burning 700 cal/day at the gym to doing a 400-cal workout video) and see where we go from there. best of luck to all!
  • gastankerdriver
    gastankerdriver Posts: 162
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    A few months seems like a very long time for a plateau. Here are some of the things I do for a plateau. Sleep more (sometimes your body needs to rest and burn some extra calories.) Add a half hour to your gym workout (if that doesn't do it, nothing will.) and finally when I get desperate--a hit of Superpump. This will blow the doors off your plateau, although it can be hard on the digestive system. I wouldn't make a habit of taking it every day or even every week.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    Dropped 3 lbs in the past 2 weeks after being stuck at a plateau for a YEAR. I did 2 things - first, I upped my calories from 1500 to 1800. And secondly, I completed my conversion to clean eating (no processed food, no white carbs, no refined sugars). Weight is steadily coming off now!

    This is encouraging...
  • believeandtry
    believeandtry Posts: 64 Member
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    BUMPITY BUMP
  • sweebum
    sweebum Posts: 1,060 Member
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    I take a diet break every 12 weeks of dieting. http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

    If I had done it last year I wouldn't have spent 9 months yoyoing.:smile:
  • brendacs21
    brendacs21 Posts: 180 Member
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    I had been weighing the same for weeks on end and had done so many different things to try and lose and nothing. id either gain or stay the same. I ended up doing 2 things. I bought a pedometer and noticed even when working out i only got 3ooo steps a day. (i have a sit down job) My mother in law who was losing weekly did between 10ooo-15ooo a day! I dont make it to 10ooo everyday but i at least hit 6ooo which is double what i used to do daily. Then i cut out my sodium intake. I heard sodium makes u retain water etc I was eating about 3200-3500mg a day!! I started doing 1500mg or less. in 2 days i dropped about 4 lbs! I lost another 1.5 the week after! this has all been in the last 2 weeks
  • HeidiHoMom
    HeidiHoMom Posts: 1,393 Member
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    I've been stuck for a few months - I tried mixing up workouts, upped my calories a little, zig-zagged calories, changed the balance of carbs/protein/fat, etc, etc... My problem now is that while I refuse to give up until I meet my goals for health, weight, and fitness, I am getting really discouraged. I've hit a wall before, but this is becoming never-ending and ridiculous now.

    So - I'd love to hear some success stories! What worked for all of you to help get you past that hideous plateau?

    You need to stick with just one thing instead of being all over the map. And stick with it for at least 8 weeks. that being said, you should up your calories as that is probably the best option.

    I broke my plateau by upping my calories.
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,250 Member
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    It's not a plateau. It's unplanned, temporary maintenance.

    I like you!

    OP how long did you stick with any of your changes? You won't see a change right away. Give them time to see if they work.

    Last time I had "unplanned, temporary maintenance" I ate more calories, ate the way I did when I started, and went back to my "normal" workouts. Bam! 2 pounds in a week after stalling for over a month.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,397 MFP Moderator
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    All 3 plateaus I upped my calories. The first time I upped it by 800 calories. The second two by a few hundred. So if you are eating 1200 and bumped it to 1350, that may not be a big enough jump. So the question is, how many calories are you eating?

    I was wondering how long you had to eat at the higher calories to break the plateau and then did you drop it back down?

    Thanks

    Each time i saw immediate results but that isnt always common. Although the majority of the people i work with see it in two week s. Btw based on your ticket you weight loss goal should be one lb per week and you should eat 50-75% of your exercise calories.
  • wftiger
    wftiger Posts: 1,283 Member
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    I did nothing. It broke on its own when my body was ready. My Dr. explained it to me as the body will stop losing for a while until it gets "comfortable" at the new weight. After it gets to that point it will let go of more weight. It worked for me even though it was frustrating to wait it out.

    I know that some tricks are upping strength training and cutting carbs. That seems to work for quite a few that I talk to.
  • crudd123
    crudd123 Posts: 244 Member
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    I just broke a year long plateau by lowering my carbs to 60 a day! I've lost 3 pounds since Tuesday! I tried everything to break it-eating more, eating less, exercising more and not exercising! I hope I can keep going and lose 37 more pounds! Good luck to you!
  • olyrose
    olyrose Posts: 569 Member
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    I've been stuck for a few months - I tried mixing up workouts, upped my calories a little, zig-zagged calories, changed the balance of carbs/protein/fat, etc, etc... My problem now is that while I refuse to give up until I meet my goals for health, weight, and fitness, I am getting really discouraged. I've hit a wall before, but this is becoming never-ending and ridiculous now.

    So - I'd love to hear some success stories! What worked for all of you to help get you past that hideous plateau?

    Some good advice on here and I'm sure others will share their advice too. I just wanted to commend you that you defined a plateau as being "stuck for a few months" and not a few days as is often the case here. That said, are you referring only to scale weight? Do you have some other metrics such as measurements? Or even some progress pics? Sometimes, the scale can deceive us for a while...yes, even for a few months. You don't want to drastically change what is working because the scale stopped cooperating for a while.

    My advice is to consider "cleaning up" your calories...(I'm a big fan of paleo, but not everyone here is). If I were advising you, I'd say to drop the grains for a few weeks...yes, *all* of them. If you don't see a difference after a month of going without them, then feel free to add them back. While it isn't a miracle panacea for everyone, it has been for enough people dealing with health issues, both serious and not-so-serious, that it certainly seems like a reasonable thing to try.

    And whatever you do or don't do, keep your long-term perspective in place. You certainly seem to be approaching this with the right mindset, so keep it up.

    Thanks :smile: I have been taking measurements, but it's all basically stalled. I feel like I'm fitting better in my skin, and adjusting to this new weight, which is nice, but even 3 weeks of 30 day shred didn't alter my stats at all. But, I know that everything I do, everytime I exercise, everytime I choose healthier food, it's a positive contribution to my overall health :smile:
  • olyrose
    olyrose Posts: 569 Member
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    I did nothing. It broke on its own when my body was ready. My Dr. explained it to me as the body will stop losing for a while until it gets "comfortable" at the new weight. After it gets to that point it will let go of more weight. It worked for me even though it was frustrating to wait it out.

    I know that some tricks are upping strength training and cutting carbs. That seems to work for quite a few that I talk to.

    This is kind of how I've been feeling! It's nice to hear someone explain it that way. I feel like I drop but don't notice any difference visually, then after a few weeks I start to feel smaller and better in my weight, then drop again, catch up mentally, and so on.
  • olyrose
    olyrose Posts: 569 Member
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    It's not a plateau. It's unplanned, temporary maintenance.

    I like you!

    OP how long did you stick with any of your changes? You won't see a change right away. Give them time to see if they work.

    Last time I had "unplanned, temporary maintenance" I ate more calories, ate the way I did when I started, and went back to my "normal" workouts. Bam! 2 pounds in a week after stalling for over a month.

    Have tried different things for a few weeks at a time, but have been trying to look at the big picture and not get stressed about it. I think it's difficult because as my body changes from losing weight, the quick changes aren't as quick anymore...
  • olyrose
    olyrose Posts: 569 Member
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    I take a diet break every 12 weeks of dieting. http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-full-diet-break.html

    If I had done it last year I wouldn't have spent 9 months yoyoing.:smile:

    Interesting idea...I've been playing around with that thought too lately. I will have to read up on that. Thanks!
  • olyrose
    olyrose Posts: 569 Member
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    It's not a plateau. It's unplanned, temporary maintenance.

    My new favorite thing! haha perfect :drinker:
  • Laura8603
    Laura8603 Posts: 590 Member
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    About once a month when I hit a stall, I had a piece of pizza. Real ooey, gooey pizza. I'd drop 3 pounds overnight. I think my body needed the extra fat.
  • curvykim78
    curvykim78 Posts: 799 Member
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    Plateaus suck...plain and simple!

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