The Infamous Plateau-Help

uyis11

uyis11

New member
Ok, I've experienced weight loss of around 2-3lbs a week for some months resulting in 39.5lbs lost. However, over the past 3 weeks, I have lost 0 lbs. My measurements have not changed either. My stats: 23/m, 170.5lbs (16.4% body fat), 6'0. I eat 1700 calories almost every day containing between 20-25% fat, 25-35% protein, and 45-50% carbohydrate. I drink 2 liters of water each day & rarely eat a meal that's larger than 300 calories (lots of small meals). Two days a week I drink probably 500-1000 calories of alcohol. I do cardio 6x a week @ 40 min. on the elliptical at HR 150-160. I have been gradually increasing the intensity (not duration) on the machine to experience higher caloric numbers burnt off (only according to the machine). I do weight training that hits all muscle groups 3x a week & have slowly been increasing weights/reps.

I've looked through a lot of the older threads and can't really find a straight answer on how to do this.

Is it too early to tell if this is a plateau? Am I not eating enough? Is it the alcohol? Do I need to change my cardio routine? I can't jog due to shin splints, so I don't have a lot of options (elliptical or bike, basically). I've read about some of the concepts people use to get off a plateau, but I don't really get how to implement them. How should I go about changing my routine?

BTW, it really pisses me off that our bodies work like this. Just when I thought I had developed a routine that I could handle, I have to change it. What a downer, not to mention a hassle.

From my fitday stats, basal + lifestyle +activities = 1892 +828+473= 3193 calories burned on an average day. Each week I'm eating about 13,900 [(1700*7)+(1000alc*2) ] and burning 21,878 (taking into consideration 1 rest day and leaving out calories burned from weight training). So 21,878-13,900 = 7978 or 2.28lbs. So, according to that I should have lost 6.8lbs over the past 3 weeks that I've lost nothing. What the hell did I do to my metabolism and how do I fix this? Even if I'm mis-estimating calories somewhere, it seems like I'm in such a deficit that I should be experiencing some weight loss as opposed to none. Should I just chill out?
 
Congratulations on your weight loss so far! You have been very dedicated and deserve to reach your fitness goal. I TOTALLY SHARE YOUR FRUSTRATION over the scale not accurately reflecting your hard work! GRRRR...:banghead: I have been screwing around with the same 3 lbs for the last month or so, too. Not a great feeling. :nopity:

I know some folks have said that a day of consuming more calories than usual has worked for busting them through their plateau, kind of shocking their body. However, I don't know much about the science behind it all, and can't say whether that is a reliable or suggested method to use.

Best wishes to you as you pursue better health,
ABBA
 
Ok a few things... I like that you are into the math, I really do. But, why are you using a 1.45 modifier over your metabolic rate and THEN adding in MORE for activities. Do you have a job in construction or something? Even as a teacher I use a 1.2 modifier over my BMR then add in my activities, so my BMR is 1860 * 1.2 + (insert gym stuff here). This pretty much works for me... so you might be actually going a bit TOO high on your calories expended... not sure, but that is an imperfect science so I like to stick to the LOWER side of things. The extra 2000 calories a week might be killing you if your numbers game is off too...

At anyrate, I think your body needs a break. Up your calories by 10% this week, than next week do another 10% then so on til you reach maitenance level (calories break even, as suggested above). Your body might not want to give up this weight because you are in a fairly nice place to be honest. I mean, you are at a VERY healthy weight for your size. So, it might not like the idea of giving up more after you just pounded off the excess. You don't know what your body wants because you don't speak it's language to be honest... and the number game only seems logical when the weight is coming off, so while it may seem like you should be losing, you really aren't due to a flaw in calculations and/or metabolic processes.

Why do you want to lose that much more? BTW, you really can't be losing that much weight when you are that low in weight... 2.5 lbs a week is NOT healthy. Your body won't give that much up anyways... Starvation mode kicks in. The best you should be cutting calories at this point should be a 1 lb a week loss... In two weeks, I post about 2 lbs... I wouldn't go more than that (if your body even allowed it).
 
Thanks for the support, folks.

Pooh, It looks like I probably am overestimating calories burned due to lifestyle activities. Fitday doesn't really have a good way of describing what "light sedentary" means or whatever the term was I selected. I work at a desk, so yea, my normal lifestyle besides exercise probably results in something closer to what you use- the 1.15 or 1.2 multiplier. In that case and after crunching the numbers, I should be losing a little less than a pound a week. This makes more sense. I know the math is inexact, but I am very logic/number-oriented [I am 2 months away from a masters degree in accounting], so I really lean towards the parts we can measure and manipulate.

Also, you are right. My body does seem to like being this weight and I don't consider myself fat. I would not be upset if I stayed this size the rest of my life. However, my goal from the beginning was to continue until I could see muscle definition in my abs and I intend to continue to work towards that goal.

However, you do make a really good point that I should think about. I am not going to realize the kind of quick weight loss I realized in the beginning the closer I'm getting to whatever that ideal weight may be. It would probably be more suitable to expect a 1-2lb loss every 2 weeks at this point, if not less.
 
New to the forum, first time posting, so I apologize if I say anything off-base.

I thought I was plateuing, however my bodyfat % is now close 13%. What actually happened was that my weight did not change much, but instead I put on some muscle which allowed me to burn off some fat. Now my problem area is lower back fat, which I will be targeting over the summer.I need to do this before I can start seeing a visible six-pack.

So, to answer your question, you can try a bunch of things:
  • Add in heavy training - are you doing any resistance training at all?
  • Interval cardio - perhaps cut down on steay-state. You only need 20 minutes, twice a week if you're doing intervals. Jump roping works best (not sure if it'll work with shin splints)
  • increase your healthy fat intake - eat fat to burn fat. This is the major change I made and in 5 days I lost 2.5 lbs.
  • Try a completey new exercise - maybe swimming?
  • try cycling carbs. What's your average carb intake? If you're trying lose fat, it should below or close 100 grams a day

Just some ideas, I hope this helps.
 
Parth, Hopefully it's the case that I happen to be losing fat and gaining muscle, but I find it unlikely given I only eat 1750 calories a day.

Add in heavy training - are you doing any resistance training at all?
Click to expand...
Right now, I do a full body workout 3x a week consisting of squats, dumbbell press, military press, and some kind of back machine that hits lats, traps, rhomboids. I've consistently been increasing my weights on all exercises, especially squats.

Interval cardio - perhaps cut down on steay-state. You only need 20 minutes, twice a week if you're doing intervals. Jump roping works best (not sure if it'll work with shin splints)
Click to expand...
Who wants to do cardio twice a week? I actually love cardio workouts and look forward to them every day (6 out of 7 day a week, at least). I tried a few intervals on the elliptical the other day, and it was really hard. It's something I'm going to have to work into to prevent getting sick at the gym.

increase your healthy fat intake - eat fat to burn fat. This is the major change I made and in 5 days I lost 2.5 lbs.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I generally eat a low fat diet, not really by plan, but it just coincides with a low-ish calorie diet. I rarely eat more than 40g of fat a day. Part of my plan to combat this plateau now includes this "zig zagging" of calories thing which I intend to eat more calories by eating more fats from nuts on some days. How does the "eat fat to burn fat" part work?

try cycling carbs. What's your average carb intake? If you're trying lose fat, it should below or close 100 grams a day
Click to expand...
Average carb intake is about 250g. 100 sounds a bit unhealthy, honestly. Carbs are the essential energy source for the brain and I do need to retain my brain power while losing weight. My daily split is something like 50/30/20% for carbs/proteins/fats. What is carb cycling?

Try a completey new exercise - maybe swimming?
Click to expand...
I can barely swim...weak, I know. But, you are right- I do need to start a new type of cardio exercise. Maybe a rowing machine? I've seen those in the gym, but never tried one.
 
I was on a plateau for a little over 2 weeks...didn't lose a thing.
So I stepped up my elliptical from 30 to 40 minutes before my weights AND started doing 20 minutes of the bike after my weights...in the past week and a half I have lost a pound and half;-)
Oh yeah, I upped my calories for breakfast and am consuming less fin the evening.
 
Oh yeah, I upped my calories for breakfast and am consuming less fin the evening.
Click to expand...
Did you change your overall caloric intake or did you just shift the calories from the evening to the morning?
 
Looks like you are down a lb. Low numbers are to be expected however when you are as thin as you are... yes sir. 169 lbs is considered thin... you might have to accept that. ;)
 
yes sir. 169 lbs is considered thin... you might have to accept that.
Click to expand...
Oddly enough, it's kind of hard to accept. I understand I'm not overweight by any stretch of the imagination anymore, but I want to see some abs, damn it!
 
uyis11 said:
Oddly enough, it's kind of hard to accept. I understand I'm not overweight by any stretch of the imagination anymore, but I want to see some abs, damn it!
Click to expand...

That is a Body Fat issue. There are methods out there to CUT rather than dieting. You are still in a caloric deficit but for the most part it is done clean (which is a fancy way of saying, naturally processed foods). I am trying to do a clean cut right now... I've dropped about 3% BF in 6 weeks... although I only lost about 5-6 lbs (not even sure how many lbs really).
 
No, I didnt change the number of calories per day, just how/when I am consuming them.
In the first part of the day, most of them, less in the evening.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top