After losing 30 pounds, STALLED! Can you help?

My wife and I were ready for a life change after Mardi Gras of this year.

Before pic (245 pounds):


So, we got with MFP and we love it. The app told me to shoot for 1550 calories and within 4 months I lost 30 pounds.

After pic (215 pounds):


However, during this, the app suggested I drop to 1380 calories. I decided not to do that since most places I read seemed to indicate it would be akin to starvation. I admit, I work a desk job and don't exercise but maybe a light 30 minutes twice a week.

But, at the clip the weight was falling off, I didn't really mind if the rate slowed to even half as fast.

Well, guess what? Suddenly, after months of steady progress, I'm at my third week with no weight loss. I've been hovering between 214 and 216 since the first of June or so. Everything has completely stopped. It was like turning off a light switch.

On the theory that I needed to raise my calories to get my body going again, I went to 1700 a day along with some zig zag days thrown in when I would even hit my "maintain" number.

It hasn't worked. It's discouraging because I'm still 500 (on average) under my suggested maintain intake of 2200 each day. The deficit is no longer producing results.

Now, I don't know which direction to go. Get completely off the diet and go nuts (within reason) for a while or try starvation? We try to take in fewer processed foods now and we watch sodium at least a heck of a lot better than we did back in the day. I also changed to eat three meals a day instead of the two I normally did and have integrated healthy snacks as well.

I know this is a common story, but I really need help. Funny thing is, my wife hit a plateau the same week as me after losing 40 pounds.

We're only half way to our goals and we're determined not to give up.

...and now my response.

I replied to a similar post by another, so thought I'd give you my input on the topic of plateaus.

I have hit multiple plateaus and have used different strategies to break through each of them. I've had some last as little as 1-2 weeks, others last 4-5 weeks. As for my history, I'm 5' 9" tall and started at 247 lbs. So far I'm down a little over 61 lbs. Early in my journey I was losing 1-3 lbs. per week, sometimes more. But I'm now experiencing roughly 1-2 lbs. lost per week and I'm within 10 lbs. of my goal. Here are some of my tips based on what I've heard and what I've done:

1.) Vary Calories - If you typcially take in say 1500 calories per day every day, try varying that from day-to-day. In my case MFP had my goal set around 1500 calories, but I also eat back my cardio calories so I end up closer to 2,500 calories per day. I try to come in at or a little over that number on some days, under that number on other days. Your body is great at adapting to its environment - give it the same thing every day and eventually your metabolism will slow down as it gets more efficient. Keep your metabolism on its toes by varying intake a bit.

2.) Rest Day - I was doing cardio 7 days per week and lifting 5-6 days per week. I started taking one day off each week after I plateaued and I've found that it help me get the weight loss moving again. (looks like you're already doing this)

3.) Water - When I looked back at what had changed from my big weight loss weeks to my plateau period, one difference was water intake. I was religious about drinking 8+ cups of water every day and that had tapered off. I got back to drinking a minimum of 8 cups again and it seemed to help.

4.) Vary Cardio - You body can get used to your cardio - the movement, time, level of effort, etc. I recommend changing things up every so often. I did and it worked. Maybe try a stair climber or bike one day. Not willing to do that, try a different program on the elliptical (interval, cross training, etc.) or try upping the level. I typically do intervals on the elliptical, but some days I'll throw in the stair climber or do more of an endurance program on the elliptical machine.

5.) Consistency - Keep it going. I was getting crazy frustrated when stuck at my weight. The only thing that kept playing over-and-over in my mind though was that if I wasn't losing weight while working out and watching my calorie intake, what would it be like if I stopped everything. Keep going and you WILL break through.

6.) Up Your Calories - Based on your info below you may be eating too few calories. Check out http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ and enter your info. Make sure you eat AT LEAST the BMR calories and some deficit below your TDEE. In my experience, when my NET calories were consistently coming in under my BMR, my weight loss slowed dramatically over time.

7.) Carbs - In my most recent plateau none of the above was working so I cut down on my carb intake. I only intend to limit carbs for 1-2 weeks and then I'll slowly add them back in. So far it has worked.

Lots of ideas there, but bottom line, keep tweaking and keep going. And as a caveat, these are just my recommendations based on my experience, for what it's worth. Keep going and you'll break through. Best of luck to you!