done to death - breaking a plateau

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rachmass1
rachmass1 Posts: 470 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay admittedly it is a small one for only 3-weeks now, but I have bounced around 158-159 for this whole time, not going lower (started at 180 in January). I am still @ 28 pounds from a healthy weight so would like to see progress.

I am eating ~1,600-1,700 most days and burning ~1,900-2,200 each day, so should be on track for a good slow loss and had been at 1 pound a week more or less since the start. Perhaps it relates to the same exercise all the time? My normal routine is simply walking at work (treadmill desk) 3-4 hours a day. I have pumped up the pace, but it is still walking and it has been ongoing since March when I bought the desk. I lift 3-4 times a week but not heavy or long.

Suggestions welcome to try to break out of this to start on track again, in particular as it is a slow loss not one of those monumental quick ones, since I want life-long sustainability now.
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  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
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    I'd go heavy with the lifting :). And are you eating enough, that seems like a pretty big deficit if youre burning more than you eat every day? Maybe add some more protein to your diet. You eat a lot of yoghurt, maybe eat some more lean meat/fish, and some more veg. Throw some sweet potatos in.
  • 1nsanity
    1nsanity Posts: 95 Member
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    if in fact you are burning that many calories every day, you need to up your calorie intake a lot.
  • rachmass1
    rachmass1 Posts: 470 Member
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    I don't understand; I am between a 250 - 500 deficit each day, normally closer to 300 so not a significant deficit. This includes everything. As my BMR is ~ 1,350 I am always over that.

    Thanks for the food advice, that makes sense. Yogurt is my main source of protein as I only eat fish as meat. Was juicing my veggies but it upped the calories too much.

    Will try lifting a bit more. I find the lifting difficult due to two torn rotator cuffs that were never surgically repaired so I try to build strength without overdoing it.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
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    They think you mean burning as in exercise calories =
  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
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    I dont understand either,lol.

    You burn 2000 calories exercising
    You eat 1700

    That is a NET gain of 300 calories a day, after exercise. So you're only consuming 300 calories a day thats a HUGE deficit. Unless Im just not understanding what you really mean?

    Ouch, that sounds nasty. Be careful, and make sure you concentrate on good form :).
  • NovemberJune
    NovemberJune Posts: 2,525 Member
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    if in fact you are burning that many calories every day, you need to up your calorie intake a lot.

    She means that's her total burn, not her calories burned through exercise. At least that's how I understood it :)
  • Mamasota
    Mamasota Posts: 144
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    Add weight training and mix the intake - that is - undereat 3 days a week and use the saved calories to overeat by that amount for 4 days each week -- it sometimes works.
  • robinhardysmall
    robinhardysmall Posts: 246 Member
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    The diary is open- take a look. But from where I'm looking it looks good- and I've been on this plateu for a while as well- trying to mix up more foods and different exercising! Good luck I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful :cry:
  • 30poundsofbeauty
    30poundsofbeauty Posts: 41
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    Have 2-3 cheat days where you just eat anything you want (well-above maintenance, and you dont have to log it) then drop the calories back low.

    I was stuck in a 5-week ++ plateau. Went on vacation and pretty much just ate whatever (but not to the point where i felt like disgustedly full, but just enough) for about 3 days. Went back on my diet and finally have started to see it come off again.

    I follow Intermittent Fasting / Zig zagging calories.
  • half_moon
    half_moon Posts: 807 Member
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    Okay admittedly it is a small one for only 3-weeks now, but I have bounced around 158-159 for this whole time, not going lower (started at 180 in January). I am still @ 28 pounds from a healthy weight so would like to see progress.

    I am eating ~1,600-1,700 most days and burning ~1,900-2,200 each day, so should be on track for a good slow loss and had been at 1 pound a week more or less since the start. Perhaps it relates to the same exercise all the time? My normal routine is simply walking at work (treadmill desk) 3-4 hours a day. I have pumped up the pace, but it is still walking and it has been ongoing since March when I bought the desk. I lift 3-4 times a week but not heavy or long.

    Suggestions welcome to try to break out of this to start on track again, in particular as it is a slow loss not one of those monumental quick ones, since I want life-long sustainability now.

    I've been stuck at 162-164 for almost three weeks, now. -.-; I was losing a rapid 2 pounds a week and then my body just STALLED. How annoying. Time to pump up the pace and change it up!

    Also, I heard that lifting heavy helps a lot. I have been building up there (ok, ok, lifting 30 pounds on the machine may not seem heavy to a lot of you, but it sure is a step for me!) and I am having so much fun watching muscle replace fat in my arms! Now hopefully my crunches will do the same thing for my abs ;}
  • lorierin22
    lorierin22 Posts: 432 Member
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    I have no advice, just wanted to say I feel your pain. I also started at 180 in January and I had a 3 MONTH plauteau at 158/159, I finally got down to 156 a few weeks ago and now I'm back up to 157. Not sure how tall you are, but I'm about ready to give and just go on maintenance at this weight (if feels like that is what I'm doing anyway...) I'm 5'10" and my initial goal was to be 150.
  • prov31jd
    prov31jd Posts: 153 Member
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    I agree with other comments regarding lifting heavier . . . and with YOU (lol) as you even state in your original post that you may need to "change up" your exercise routine. If you have access to a pool or lake, I would suggest swimming, as it is as close as we can get to a full body workout.

    KEEP GOING -- a 3 week plateau is not really that long, even though it seems like an eternity when you are expecting the scale to continue as it has been. Hoping the best for you!
  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
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    Aaaaah I get you on the calorie front. That sounds entirely reasonable :)
  • knowak82
    knowak82 Posts: 200 Member
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    I am eating ~1,600-1,700 most days and burning ~1,900-2,200 each day

    So your TDEE is 1900-2200, depending on the day? So you're at about a 15% cut, which is perfect :) How do you calculate your TDEE? A Fitbit or BMF?

    What I can recommend is this...

    Take a break and eat at you TDEE for a few weeks. If you've been eating at your cut for an extended period of time, your body may be thinking it IS your TDEE, and is just maintaining at that current intake. You have to tell your body (by eating at TDEE) what, in fact, your true TDEE is. Maybe eat at TDEE for 4 weeks? Or possibly even consider doing a "full reset" by eating at TDEE for 8 weeks. There are stickys about this process on the EM2WL group page, if you want to check those out...

    Please don't DROP your cals lower than you already are :) I think you're cut is calculated right, I just think your body is confused as to what its actual "maintainence" level is...

    Hope this helps! Good luck breaking that plateau! :smile:
  • rachmass1
    rachmass1 Posts: 470 Member
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    LOL, no I meant TDEE is 1,900-2,200. My bad.

    Yes it is a small period of time but because I have been losing really slowly all along it feels exceedingly frustrating.

    I'll put another stack on the machine and grunt through it and will try more short bouts on the elliptical to push up my heart rate. I am a shorty at 5'2" so still have a way to go. Figured it would take me about 11-months to lose 50 pounds if I did it the smart way, so down 22 since the start but seem now a bit off track.

    Man it would be awesome to be able to exercise to the point of burning 2,000 calories a day, but no, just 400-600 most days even though I walk 4-hours a day. Its that darn desk ;)
  • rachmass1
    rachmass1 Posts: 470 Member
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    I am eating ~1,600-1,700 most days and burning ~1,900-2,200 each day

    So your TDEE is 1900-2200, depending on the day? So you're at about a 15% cut, which is perfect :) How do you calculate your TDEE? A Fitbit or BMF?

    What I can recommend is this...

    Take a break and eat at you TDEE for a few weeks. If you've been eating at your cut for an extended period of time, your body may be thinking it IS your TDEE, and is just maintaining at that current intake. You have to tell your body (by eating at TDEE) what, in fact, your true TDEE is. Maybe eat at TDEE for 4 weeks? Or possibly even consider doing a "full reset" by eating at TDEE for 8 weeks. There are stickys about this process on the EM2WL group page, if you want to check those out...

    Please don't DROP your cals lower than you already are :) I think you're cut is calculated right, I just think your body is confused as to what its actual "maintainence" level is...

    Hope this helps! Good luck breaking that plateau! :smile:

    Ah thanks, yes I thought I had it figured at a good slow steady pace. It is based on Scooby and the fitbit so I figure it is pretty close to being correct.

    I'd love to up my calories to the TDEE but am afraid I'd have a hard time going back to the 15% cut (sometimes 20%) that I am aiming for. Maybe a week would be doable. Full reset doesn't seem necessary since I've never been on a limited calorie diet except when I was younger and stupid.

    :)

    Thanks everyone!
  • 1nsanity
    1nsanity Posts: 95 Member
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    holy smokes i thought you meant 2200 cals burned in exercise, not tdee. sorry about that. as a few have suggested, i would definitely try to still eat an extra 100-200 calories a day, mostly protein, and continue to heavy lift.
  • phinners
    phinners Posts: 524 Member
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    Haven't lost for 7 months :(
  • StormyGal8
    StormyGal8 Posts: 184 Member
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    Add weight training and mix the intake - that is - undereat 3 days a week and use the saved calories to overeat by that amount for 4 days each week -- it sometimes works.

    calorie cycling....that is what I was going to suggest too.
  • rachmass1
    rachmass1 Posts: 470 Member
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    Anyone here done calorie cycling and how has it worked out?

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