6 week plateau - would love to hear your thoughts on why

LadyBattenburg
LadyBattenburg Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Morning everyone. I hoping to canvas some opinions on what might be going on here...

I started at 235lbs and have lost 21 so far.

Female, 214lbs, 32 years old. 5’ 9” tall.

During the first week of June I suddenly lost six pounds over the week – which was very unusual for me as I’d been averaging 1-1.5 lbs per week before that. I didn’t really seem to do much different to normal, other than I wasn’t at work that week so I guess I was more relaxed!

Since then, however, my loss has stalled. Properly stalled – as in hasn’t moved a single little bit in six weeks. Neither have my waist/arm/leg measurements which have all stayed the same. I track BF using the Aria scale and that has also remained static at around 43% (except this morning which it dropped suddenly to 40.9% but I’m guessing that’s a freak reading due to hydration or something).

My diary is open so feel free to look through it. I used to have my MFP settings as sedentary and try to eat back some/most of my exercise cals but more recently I wondered if it would be better for me to put myself in as active and not eat the exercise cals back so that’s what I’ve been doing. I wondered if it might cause a natural zig zag effect as my NET would then naturally vary over the week.

I used 5 or 6 calculators that I’ve seen recommended on here and all suggested my TDEE was around 2650-2750 a day. I said I was moderately active as most described that as exercising 3-5 times a week. However, I’m open to suggestions that I might be over estimating based on my activities…

I do the 30DS 4 times a week. I run 3 miles cross country twice a week which involves a couple of hills. Mon-Fri I walk between 1-2 hours 2-3 times a week and at the weekends I almost always either have a longish hike (5 miles) or spend a couple of hours in the garden doing stuff like mowing the lawn (push mower), raking the driveway etc – I guess what I mean is not doing anything so heavy duty as digging a vegetable patch but definitely more work than pruning :smile: . At the weekends I am a ‘potterer’ so even when I don’t have a specific activity I tend to be at least mildly active. However, in the week I do work in an office so spent lots of the day sat on my bum.

I am a pescatarian and so have been using mainly fish and eggs to keep protein levels up.

Whilst I’m not too disheartened as I see other benefits of a healthy lifestyle that isn’t just clothes-size related I am getting a bit frustrated and perplexed by what’s happening.

Am open to all and any suggestion here so thanks very much in advance!

Replies

  • agent99oz
    agent99oz Posts: 185 Member
    Just looking at your diary you eat a lot of processed stuff, maybe change up what you eat - also try not to eat too much at night - I notice you often have evening snacks?
    Drink more water, watch sodium levels, cut out any processed protein bars - better to eat ricotta cheese or cottage cheese for protein.
    Egg whites are a wonderful source of protein with out all the calories - 19 cals a white - I often eat them for dinner with one whole egg...
    Also change up your cardio - try something new....
    I am also going through a plateau - it's hard! Hang in there
  • LadyBattenburg
    LadyBattenburg Posts: 6 Member
    Thanks very much for looking and your suggestions. Yep, I had been wondering about the level of processed stuff myself. Looks like it's time for me to pull me home-cooking finger out!!
  • escloflowneCHANGED
    escloflowneCHANGED Posts: 3,038 Member
    Is the TDEE you mentioned based on a day you just go to work and do normal stuff without a workout?
  • haylz247
    haylz247 Posts: 435
    i'm not saying you have to take these, but i have been taking USN CLA Thermo for a couple of weeks and they have really helped me. Maxitone Sculpress pills helped as well but they are SO expensive! (they only last a week!!) I have bought USN CLA 1000 but won't be trying them out until i finish Thermo. I take them before each main meal :)

    Also, i agree with agent99oz. Drink more water. Try green tea too instead of coffee.

    Try having a nice big bowl of oats in the morning. I usually have a diet shake, mainly because i'm too lazy to actually make breakfast haha but really, i hate eating some mornings. I normally have 2 of them a day.

    Defo change your cardio every week. Do some resistance training as well.

    The weight will come off! :)

    PS I'm the same with processed food. I barely have any money so i eat whatever is in the house. It really sucks! I just have a tiny portion when i do.
  • LadyBattenburg
    LadyBattenburg Posts: 6 Member
    The TDEE is based on a normal day in which I got to work and then do a workout or go for a run. So... a normal day looks a bit like this;

    Get up and drive to work. Often I don't have a parking space at work so I park my car about 1.5 miles away from the office and walk the extra bit. However, some weeks (like this week) I do have a space so park at the office. If I have time at lunch I go for a brisk walk around the park for an hour.

    Other that that, though, my day is mostly sat at a desk/sat in a meeting/sat in a presentation (see a trend?? :smile: ). I then walk back to my car (if it's parked away from the office) and drive home. Once home I'll do a 30DS session or I'll go for a run. Very occasionally I'll throw in half an hour of yoga, but not very often. The rest of the evening (which is quite short as I get up early for work) is then spent pottering around doing jobs like laundry or tidying up or reading/TV.

    Thanks everyone for taking the time to read and for your suggestions!!

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