Three week long weight-loss plateau

[Anonymous]

I am on 20 pound weight loss quest. After losing 10 pounds in almost 3 months time, I hit the mother of plateaus. I'm going on three weeks of not dropping an ounce. Needless to say, I'm frustrated beyond belief. Can anyone please offer me up some pointers?

[Anonymous]

Op, you first need to tell us what your plan is- what are you eating and what are you doing for exercise?

[Anonymous]

O, sorry! I am 5'7", 151 pounds and 41 years old. I am eating between 1200 and 1300 calories a day. I try to walk 10,000 step a day and I do about 30 minutes of weights 2 times a week. I was good at getting on the treadmill but I've been remiss lately.

[Anonymous]

Up the weights to 3 days, and change up the cardio.

[Anonymous]

How carefully are you tracking your calories? You are at a healthy weight so dropping lower is going to take some effort, is my guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How carefully are you tracking your calories?

I am tracking them very carefully - I record everything using My Fitness Pal.

[Anonymous]

Are you eating enough? I'm 41, 5'8" and about the same weight as you and I would be starving all the time if I were on that low of a calorie intake. If I'm trying to lose weight, I try to eat 1,500 calories a day plus whatever I plan to burn off in exercise, otherwise I get light-headed and crabby.

Personally, I'd try to kick up the exercise a bit and maybe add in a few hundred calories. You may have hurt your metabolism by going too low, calorie-wise. Are you able to run? I think running is a much better way to burn calories than walking, but I understand that some folks can't do it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks, 14:08. I think that 1,500 would be too high for me but maybe I am eating too few calories. I've been doing this awhile and I've gotten used to the 1,250'ish calories. When I first started, I was very sedentary; perhaps I should set my calories to "lightly active" now.

[Anonymous]

Have you tried low carb?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried low carb?

No. I tried low-carb once when South Beach was popular. It is just not for me. I only each whole grains though.

[Anonymous]

I was stuck for a solid 3 months. What worked for me was not counting calories, but cutting all grains, dairy, beans and processed sugars for 30 days (whole30). lost 5 lbs in 1 month which is huge for me. I also felt amazing eating this way

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried low carb?

No. I tried low-carb once when South Beach was popular. It is just not for me. I only each whole grains though.

I would suggest that you give low carb another try, maybe for 2 weeks. Try for no more than 20-30 grams of carbs a day (you can adjust your my fitness pal goals to track this). At the same time, increase intake of good fats. So for breakfast, fry two eggs in coconut oil and use 2 T whipping cream in your coffee. You will feel more full and satiated and probably won't be hungry until lunch. For lunch you can have 1/2 can of tuna with 2 t real (full fat) mayo and 1/2 or 1/4 of an avocado. No grains! No sugar (avoid fruit for this period as well, but I do use Truvia in my coffee).

You can still track all this in my fitness pal, and stay within your 1200-1500 range.

Try for 2 weeks and see if the scale moves!

[Anonymous]

Also, wanted to add for dinner you can try handfuls of baby kale/spinach mix sautéed in garlic and so coconut oil and a protein of your choice. I will usually have nuts as snacks. Anyway, just some low carb menu ideas!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried low carb?

No. I tried low-carb once when South Beach was popular. It is just not for me. I only each whole grains though.

I would suggest that you give low carb another try, maybe for 2 weeks. Try for no more than 20-30 grams of carbs a day (you can adjust your my fitness pal goals to track this). At the same time, increase intake of good fats. So for breakfast, fry two eggs in coconut oil and use 2 T whipping cream in your coffee. You will feel more full and satiated and probably won't be hungry until lunch. For lunch you can have 1/2 can of tuna with 2 t real (full fat) mayo and 1/2 or 1/4 of an avocado. No grains! No sugar (avoid fruit for this period as well, but I do use Truvia in my coffee).

You can still track all this in my fitness pal, and stay within your 1200-1500 range.

Try for 2 weeks and see if the scale moves!

Agree with above, except I still enjoy fruits. I didn't see a move for a long time. When I decided to cut out all grains and increased avocado, coconut, nuts and seeds in my diet, the scale started moving again. I don't get hungry between meals anymore, either. I allow myself one grain day, so I can still enjoy pizza with my family, but that doesn't seem to matter. The first week was sort of a struggle, but I honestly don't crave bread anymore and I used to REALLY crave it.

[Anonymous]

I'm an avid runner and also used MFP. I had a plateau and had to really restrict my carbs. I would go days without surgar (except fruit) or any grains (did eat a TON of beans though).

I don't know how you survive on that low amount of calories. I'm 5'9" and now 140#s and am eating a base of 1600cal to maintain and eat all of my exercise calories. I'm often eating in excess of 2100cal a day. When I was losing I was eating 1400cal/day and eating about 75% of my exercise calories. However, again, I really limited the non-fruit, non-legume carbs.

I've found that in my late 30s and after 2 kids, if I want the kind of body that I like taking to the pool, it takes some changes.