Three-month plateau. Suggestions?

My guess is you're not eating enough. 1500 calories sounds really low. I went through the same thing. Have a look at this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3817-eat-more-to-weigh-less

I think you're probably not eating enough, I eat around 1500-1600 calories and I'm only 5'4" and 139lbs. Try upping your calories 200-300 and see if that makes any difference. If not, figure out your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) and subtract 15-30% from that.

I was on a 2 month plateau and could never figure out why the scale wasn't moving though I was doing everything right. The only thing that helped me get out of the plateau was increasing my calorie intake. I was eating 1200-1300 calories per day, then I read lot of forums and groups related to "eat more to weigh less" and increased my intake to around 1500 calories or some days more depending on the amount of exercise. I started to see a difference in my weight almost instantly ! After upping my calorie goals, I have lost 7 pounds so far..

Hope that helps you..

I just went through your diary, and I have 2 suggestions:
- Lower your carb intake to between 60-100g/day - I did that and busted my plateau. You have to cut more grains and eat more veggies to keep the balance, but I'm not as hungry anymore when I did that.

- Also, I think you might need to eat more. How are you figuring your TDEE? I would try and get closer to a 15% cut. I lose more when I eat closer to my daily burn than when I'm farther from it.

But, damn, you're doing great anyway! Your diary is awesome, and you keep your carbs and sugar pretty low - and those are my two weak points, and the ones that tank me always, so I go look there first.

When was the last time you changed up your workout routine as well?

in my opinion, your calories are fine. The big question is what are you eating? Your exercise is fine too. The big question for exercise is, have you been doing the same routine for the last 3 months? Sounds like Your body has become "adjusted" to what you consume and the exercise that you do. So you have to change it up. Whether it's modifying what you are eating ie reducing "refined carbs", increasing protein to help decrease hunger. Increase intensity, resistance or changing the routine completely... ie P90x, insanity, kickboxing,. something intense that you do not already do.. just a sample of good plateau busters.

Previous posts say you have to eat more but missing one key point. If you eat more, then you have to exercise more.
i hope this helps.

Agree with what others have said--you may need to eat more as well as change your exercise routine. Your diet looks pretty good. Another suggestion--try eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. I get hungry all the time too and part of what has helped is eating a small meal every 2-3 hours. I track by breakfast, lunch and dinner and but that's not really what I do. If I work out in the am, I'll have a protein shake afterwards and then 1-2 hours later an egg white omelet with veggies--that kind of thing. I'm hardly ever in a state of 'full' (unless I go out or I haven't eaten in a while and I need to eat more) but I'm not hungry either. Right now I eat 1600 and I'm 5'5 probably around 138-140 and trying to lose fat and tighten up but not necessarily lose weight. So far seems to working...

im far from an expert on this sort of thing, but is it possible you're gaining muscle and losing fat? besides that, i guess you could take your measurements and see if they are changing.

I had been in a plateau for almost 2 years, so here is my best advice: I recommend seeing a doctor and getting a body composition test done. After getting mine, I saw the ACTUAL number of what is required for me to maintain my weight, which was about 100 calories less than what MFP calculated for me (which makes a huge difference in the long run). Also, I recommend trying the Doctor Oz 28 Day Carb Detox and then trying the GI Diet (I recommend buying the GI Diet book and reading it so you can incorporate it while you do the Carb Detox).

I have been doing this for almost 3 weeks now and I have dropped about 7lbs and am the "skinniest" I have ever felt--my stomach has flattened out A LOT. I set my MFP calorie goal at the number that I was given with the body composition test and I still continue to do my same workouts of running, kickboxing, and weight training 4-5 days a week (I normally burn 500+ calories through exercise, so I still create enough deficit to drop 0.5-1lb a week even without having to cut eating calories). Over a 2 year span, I felt like I have been trying EVERYTHING and thought it was my exercise and had started weight-training this year, but even with that, still wasn't dropping WEIGHT. The reality was it was actually my diet and I was over eating by 100 calories every day and I wasn't eating the RIGHT kind of carbs and veggies to aid in dropping the WEIGHT.

You may feel hungry for the first week of this, but TRUST me, it gets a lot better! Now, most days I get to dinner time and still have about 700-900 calories left to eat because I feel very satiated throughout the day, except for after I workout.

Good luck!

bump

in my opinion, your calories are fine. The big question is what are you eating? Your exercise is fine too. The big question for exercise is, have you been doing the same routine for the last 3 months? Sounds like Your body has become "adjusted" to what you consume and the exercise that you do. So you have to change it up. Whether it's modifying what you are eating ie reducing "refined carbs", increasing protein to help decrease hunger. Increase intensity, resistance or changing the routine completely... ie P90x, insanity, kickboxing,. something intense that you do not already do.. just a sample of good plateau busters.

Previous posts say you have to eat more but missing one key point. If you eat more, then you have to exercise more.
i hope this helps.

Umm, you only have to eat more if you're eating above maintenance. At 1500 calories a day plus exercising that is highly unlikely. In a day when I'm doing just my normal stuff, no exercising, I burn about 2000 calories and I'm 5'4".

If she's eating 1500 calories and burning 300-500 of those off exercising her body is starving. It's slowing her metabolism down to have the energy it needs to function.

I would try to slowly increase your calories...maybe by 50-100 extra a day for a week or two, then up it again. This should help.

So far there are two people who have posted who tried the "Eat more to Lose more" and did not work. What do the pros EMTLM have to say about that?

I've only upped my calories for about a month now, so I'm not an expert by any means, but three weeks is not long enough to 'try' EMTLM. It depends on how long you've been eating at a restricted calorie level, it depends on how vigilant you are about measuring and counting your calories. I just got back into tracking my food a few months ago, had been stationary at 197ish for a few months. Starting logging on here again and was eating 1300-1400 calories and usually not eating back exercise calories. But I only exercised about 3 times a week too.

My weight loss stalled a month or so ago, not for long, but it was definitely not moving. I joined EMTLM, upped my calories to 1715, and have been losing ever since.

However, the big difference was I didn't eat way below my BMI for long. If you read some of the information out there, it clearly addresses people who have been eating below BMI for an extended length of time. These people often take a lot longer and can gain back quite a few pounds while getting their body used to eating more. It takes time for the body to go into starvation mode, it also takes time for your body to believe it won't be starved again.

in my opinion, your calories are fine. The big question is what are you eating? Your exercise is fine too. The big question for exercise is, have you been doing the same routine for the last 3 months? Sounds like Your body has become "adjusted" to what you consume and the exercise that you do. So you have to change it up. Whether it's modifying what you are eating ie reducing "refined carbs", increasing protein to help decrease hunger. Increase intensity, resistance or changing the routine completely... ie P90x, insanity, kickboxing,. something intense that you do not already do.. just a sample of good plateau busters.

Previous posts say you have to eat more but missing one key point. If you eat more, then you have to exercise more.
i hope this helps.

Umm, you only have to eat more if you're eating above maintenance. At 1500 calories a day plus exercising that is highly unlikely. In a day when I'm doing just my normal stuff, no exercising, I burn about 2000 calories and I'm 5'4".

If she's eating 1500 calories and burning 300-500 of those off exercising her body is starving. It's slowing her metabolism down to have the energy it needs to function.

I would try to slowly increase your calories...maybe by 50-100 extra a day for a week or two, then up it again. This should help.

How are you burning 2000 calories a day if you aren't exercising?

I agree with the person that said "lower your carb intake" but do that while also increasing your fiber intake. Yesterday's meal shows you have a few instances where you ate high carb and virtually no fiber intake "at the same time." This means your body is probably storing those excess carbs as fat. When you include high fiber, you can deduct the fiber from the carbs and get the "net carbs". If you eat less carbs, more fiber & protein, you won't feel as hungry throughout the day.

in my opinion, your calories are fine. The big question is what are you eating? Your exercise is fine too. The big question for exercise is, have you been doing the same routine for the last 3 months? Sounds like Your body has become "adjusted" to what you consume and the exercise that you do. So you have to change it up. Whether it's modifying what you are eating ie reducing "refined carbs", increasing protein to help decrease hunger. Increase intensity, resistance or changing the routine completely... ie P90x, insanity, kickboxing,. something intense that you do not already do.. just a sample of good plateau busters.

Previous posts say you have to eat more but missing one key point. If you eat more, then you have to exercise more.
i hope this helps.

Umm, you only have to eat more if you're eating above maintenance. At 1500 calories a day plus exercising that is highly unlikely. In a day when I'm doing just my normal stuff, no exercising, I burn about 2000 calories and I'm 5'4".

If she's eating 1500 calories and burning 300-500 of those off exercising her body is starving. It's slowing her metabolism down to have the energy it needs to function.

I would try to slowly increase your calories...maybe by 50-100 extra a day for a week or two, then up it again. This should help.

How are you burning 2000 calories a day if you aren't exercising?

It's quite easy to burn 2000 cal a day without exercising. If her BMR is close to 1500 a day, and she burns 500 more from everyday activities, ie. work, walking, cooking, etc, etc. That could easily add up to 2000. Everyone who is looking for help here needs to do some research on BMR and TDEE. You should not be netting below your BMR ever, as this is the bare minimum amount of calories your body needs to survive.

Sounds like the lady, who claimed to "eat more" and then gained didn't give it enough time. Most people gain at first when eating more, but the bloat eventually disappears and you lose again. If she had done some research into the process, she would've seen a lot of information on this. You can do major damage to your metabolism from eating too few calories for too long. She more than likely needed to do a complete metabolism reset, and eat at maintenance for awhile. Some people just like starving, I guess. Do some research and figure out how to properly fuel your workouts and body.