A 6 month plateau?!?!

I had a 9 month one and gained back 15 llbs while eating 1300-1500 calories a day. I took a 2 week diet break finally, and started losing again.

bump

Check out the group Eat More to Weigh less. There is an excellent read on plateau there. My best guess, your not eating enough! My stats are all on my profile but I'm small framed with 13 lbs to go to get to goal and I eat approx. 1900 cals a day! Figure out your BMR and TDEE if you have not already. Eat at a 15% deficit of your TDEE and never below your BMR! Good luck!

interesting, i'm in my 2 months plateau also

I hit a 3 week plateau and started freaking out so I can just imagine how you feel. I decided to have a spike day and eat basically double my calories. I still logged everything I ate. After that I was sure to drink my 8 glasses of water and day and watch my sugar intake as well as my calories. Too much sugar and me just don't agree:( This seemed to work for me and I dropped 3 pounds that week and having been losing ever since.

You probably need to eat more or take a break. That is a pretty low amount of calories.

This helped me a lot http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3088-eating-for-future-you ... Read the sticky's and then use the spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGZlcmNCNmhJWFhtUGl0ZEk1RFd1c0E

Make a copy of it, then you can edit and input your own data

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/557201-how-to-lose-weight-correctly?hl=lose+weight+correctly

Well, I will stop whining about my two month plateau :embarassed: I am going to say this and others may freak out on me but I am doing a colon cleanse and focusing on water right now. I am taking psyllium husks 1 tbsp morning and night with crap load of water. I also am doing a barley grass drink to get some extra enzymes in the body and support my liver in detoxing. That's right I said I am drinking a green food drink to detox which people constantly mock but whateva.:devil:. I am also working on getting the junk out of my diet because in reality it is crappy with sporadic healthy choices. I have tried upping the calories and still holding. I have to admit that I can't keep eating fried stuff even within the range and be really surprised I'm not losing:grumble: . I have metabolic issues and severe food allergies so the cleaner diet is not optional even though I've been trying to hop on the calories in and calories out bandwagon. Everyone does not have the same system. Good luck

I see a lot of processed foods in your diary. Processed foods tend to be high in sodium which makes you retain water. I would suggest tracking your sodium, take a look back thru your diary to see just how much you've been consuming and then try cutting it down. If you're routinely over 2500, start by getting it down to 2500. Be mindful that when you do quick adds (something I saw a lot of) you don't get accurate sodium levels - they gonna actually be higher than what you're seeing.

Anyway, try it for a week or two and drink lots of water to flush the excess sodium out. The scale should move. You may even decide at that point you feel better and want to keep eating at a lower sodium level.

I was on a 3 month plateau at the same 172-180 and it was driving me insane. I added calories, I dropped calories and nothing.

Then I started to eat the same amount of calories as normal 1300-1600, but I cut out bread and sugar, aside from fruits and yogurts, and dropped 5 pounds in 6 days with no exercise. I just started exercising again, but eating cleaner and consuming less sugar has really helped me. I was staying within calories and working out and not losing a thing. I'm at 168 now and looking to hit 150 by the end of July.

Good luck to you with on your journey.

Hey,

Thanks for posting this...I've been there and met w/ a nutritionist to see what I was doing wrong once I hit my plateau.....

What I learned was 1. Vary your workouts and include light weight trainining. If you do the same workouts 24/7, your body learns it and doesnt have to work as hard to burn calories; So maybe do Zumba one day, then elliptical another and maybe interval training on treadmill for 30 mins(mix of run/walk/sprints/hills/decline) etc.

2.I went thru your food journal. Seems like you are eating a lot of processed foods/fast food and high sodium foods. I would add 'sodium' to your food journal so you can see the #s. This will make you hold water and bloat you. Also, log your water too. I try to pack my lunch w/me (cooler) and eat what I bring.This way you can control what you eat, save money and make sure you are making healthy choices. Incorporate more greens like lettuce, broccoli etc to help flush you out and have regular bowel movements.

3.Just saw this post, but checkout this spreadsheet to help figure out your caloric intake: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amt7QBR9-c6MdGVTbGswLUUzUHNVVUlNSW9wZWloeUE#gid=2

Also, there are some great forums and groups on MFP - http://www.youtube.com/user/EatMore2WeighLess?feature=mhee 'EAT MORE TO WEIGH LESS'. But I would just caution 'what you eat' is key. We want our insides to look as good as the outside -so try to eat foods w/higher nutrients. I have tried low carb, lower cal plans, etc But we want this to be a liftstyle and not a 'diet' -for us to simply gain it all back later. We want healthy hearts, colons, kidneys and more.

This is my 2 cents, Im no doctor, but finding what has worked for me. Do your research for yourself and log and stick to your plan.

But I think your plateau will break once you lose the sodium, drink more water and add some fresh fruits and veggies. Fruits have high sugar too-so try to stick to them during the day while active. Incorporate cardio for heart conditioning and weight training to tone and lose fat. Make sure you measure your inches and also take your body fat; because as you add weight training, you will see the scale go up some, but you may be losing inches and body fat!

happy journey; bless u

wow I love all the advice I need to break this plateau Im in! I ate a lot of processed foods too and my sodium is horrible! Ive been meaning to get on top of that but now its becoming a make or break desicion

congratulations so far on your success

Read about LEPTIN.

this sounds scary, but when i hit a plateau, i UP my cals..it seems to boost the body..try it and see if that works..good luck

I completely understand where you are coming from. I would say that you need to increase calories, but I only got minimal results when I attempted that (doesn't mean it isn't worth a try though). Anyway, the only thing that I can think might be going on is that your body has reached a 'set point'. The set point is one of the body's defense mechanisms against starvation. My friend wrote a great blog about it:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/UponThisRock/view/listen-to-your-body-your-body-wants-to-be-fat-259511

There is other good information on the internet about it as well:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/set-points-settling-points-and-bodyweight-regulation-part-1.html
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/set-points-settling-points-and-bodyweight-regulation-part-2.html

If you are frustrated, by all means, take a break, but the reality of it is (just my opinion) that the only way to break through the set point is with persistence and patience. I know that isn't an answer you want to hear. Believe me, I don't want to say it. But that seems to be the reality. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

Send me an FR if you would like me to join you on your journey (There really needs to be a better term for this). We seem to have some commonalities in our goals and possibly our body types.

Please read "Active-Passive diet" only seven chapters and is on line only. I have been in a 1.5 yr plateau and upped my calories to maintenance about 8 months ago. I have been maintaining the same weight for 1.5 yrs..
Two weeks ago my husban and I were helping out the daughter working night shift and eating junk food dinners for a whole week. Now I'm on day four of TOM and dropped below my plateua weight. This is giving me hope and I'm going to stay at a weight loss calorie range trying to lose .5 a pound per week.