100 lb. Club - Plateau

It's been 2 weeks, I am not giving up, still doing fine but it's getting old. Anyone else on that plateau with me???:hug:

Or, if you were on a plateau, how long did it last and did you do anything special to get off?

Personally, I made sure I was eating enough and made sure I exercised. Still, nothing. For some weird reason, it's not bothering me. I have given myself a year to lose 100 lbs so if this is still going on in a month, it might be a different story.

I just came off a plateau myself. Mine lasted for 2 weeks. One thing I have to be careful about is SODIUM! I retain water with the smallest amounts of salt, so I have had to make sure I don't eat anything with sodium the night before weigh-in so that my true weight will show up on the scale. Also, I made sure I was measuring everything because calories add up so quickly, and little dabs of extra here and there can add as much as 200 to 500 extra calories a day - calories that are not being journaled if 1 cup is listed for 1.05 cups, etc.

I'm glad you are having a positive outlook on this. I'm sure you will break through any day now with a loss.

Yes, I DO admire your attitude. It's a GOOD one to have.

I think the best way to break through a plateau is to be excruciatingly honest with oneself. Really, REALLY take a look at what you've been doing these past couple of weeks. Because I think most, CERTAINLY not all, but most plateaus are usually self induced.

How has your exercise been? Do you keep increasing it as you get smaller? How has your calorie intake been? Do you keep decreasing those as you get smaller? Like Ritzy said - count EVERYTHING, every morsel, because well every bite does ADD up. Have you been on plan everyday for the entire period? How "clean" is the food you've been eating? More protein and fiber, less carbs and junk. How's your sodium intake been? How's your water intake been?

I've yet to hit a plateau, so I don't know if I'm the one to answer this. BUT I believe the reason that I HAVEN'T is because I've been adhering to the things I just mentioned above.

HocusPocus, you're doing a GREAT job!!!! Unfortunately even when doing all the "right" things sometimes our bodies just don't want to cough up the lbs - just yet. STICK WITH IT. There's just no way that if you continue on a healthy path of eating and exercising that those pounds won't fall off.

Your attitude is awesome! Hitting a plateau can be extremely discouraging, but it sounds like you are handling this well. Are you measuring yourself? Sometimes, my scales don't move, but the inches drop. Hang in there....this will pass.

2 weeks is NOT a plateau... 6 weeks is a short one... I went 14 weeks without losing this winter.... i have a friend who has not really lost in over a year..... she keeps on plugging along...

sometimes our bodies have to adjust and then they start dropping again....

since you are eating healthy and plan to eat that way for the rest of your hopefully long long life... this is but a blip of data in your life.

great attitude and keep on going...

Hi
I plateaud for 8 days, and hated it, I weigh myself almost every day and would move the scale to different positions in the room, to see maybe the room is crooked,lol. I increased my time on the treadmill by 5 minutes for 3 days and did alot of exercising yesterday and did notice a difference on the scale today ( Wednesday is my official weigh in). I have read everyone goes through plateaus, and so far with an 8 day one I went a little obsessive, with a 2 wk one,I am not sure what I would do, probably add more exercise and try to be patient, because it will come off. So be patient and I am sure you will soon see the scale moving down again.
cheryl

Plateaus are hard to get through...and very discouraging! You have the right attitude, though, for sure. It will pass, and you will get back to losing. Just keep up what you're doing and DON'T GIVE UP!!!

Thanks guys. I can't believe, well yes, I can that you moved the scale because you thought the room was crooked hellokitty!

I have NOT been exercising. My motto was, "I'd rather starve to death than exercise". SO, today three of us did stairs at work. 2 flights up, 7 down, 7 down again, 2 flights up, 5 down, then 5 down again. That's what I can do just in a normal day, going to work, lunch and home. They say you burn half going down that you burn going up so down is good too.

Maybe I am doing my counting wrong, WW points are not exact so if I list what I ate today, maybe someone who is really bored can take a look...

I am editing, I figured out the calories. I guess I am still under. I get 962 but the thing is, I felt like I ate too much today. Ugggg.... I would have counted this as 18 WW points so I am clearly under. I normally am closer to 25 WW points. I am very determined and that may be working against me.

R Robin, you lost so fast. How many calories did you eat? BUT, you exercised a lot so wouldn't they be as low as mine when that is subtracted??

Thanks!

2 pieces of ww toast, 90 cal each piece with sugar free jam, 25
coffee with 15 calories of creamer

1 cup grapes, 62

Subway sandwich listed at 300 calories and lays baked chips. I think they are 120 calories.

1 cup fresh cherries, 90

small grilled chicken breast, 120. Grape tomatoes, 50 calories

1 WW snack cake 80 calories

6 cups of water, will try to get more.


:( I have never been distressed because I didn't eat enough before!

Sorry, I didn't answer all of the questions-

I do not track sodium but don't salt anything I make. I do eat frozen entrees a few times a week but not daily. I have a lot of Subway. Wheat, turkey, provolone, spinach, tomato, cucumber, oregano, light, light mayo. My husband and I work near each other and zip through for lunch.

Worse, I don't take vitimans but I try to eat clean. My kids buy organic, one is a vegetarian so I am aware of additives etc.

Okay, enough about me. Most of you know that when we are heavy we don't like the spotlight on us and this is wayyy too much about and for me!

Great attitude! I'm like Nessa in that I don't think of 2 weeks as a plateau - if that were the case I'd have one almost every month. :D It's more of a big annoyance!! For me it takes both food and exercise to lose the weight and to keep it off, but I have to admit that I know many thin people who never exercise so they just prove that every person is different. If your typical day is like the above menu, I would recommend cutting back on the breads (if you're going to have a sandwich at lunch most days, then try to find an alternative breakfast that doesn't include more bread) and increasing your fruit and vegetable intake.

Good luck!! As long as you stick with it you will see a loss!!

Ahhh.... there you have it - mystery plateau solved - darlin' you've GOT to exercise. I was the worlds most sedentary person in the world. But I HAD to face reality - this is just not gonna work longterm and that's what I'm looking for, if I didn't exercise. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE add in some exericse - ANYTHING. Walk for 20 minutes in the beginning. Pop on the radio and DANCE. Swim. SOMETHING. Really it will make all the difference in the world. It'll have your metabolisim up and RUNNING. It also changes your whole mindframe. Exercise is what healthy people do. You want to keep up with it, then you want your food choices to better. They feed off of each other. Be NIKE here - JUST DO IT. Believe me, this is a former Miss Sedentary, you WILL get into it. And you will be shocked and dismayed as to why you didn't do it earlier.

I also want to mention, that exercise does not negate your calories eaten. Your calories eaten doesn't change just because you've exercised. Don't try to compensate for not exercising by eating too little. You NEED your nutrients and energy from foods eaten. You eat what you eat, you burn what you burn.

I hope you don't mind, but I've taken a look at your menu for the day and quite frankly - I see some areas where you can improve. Where's your protein? Your veggies? You've got lots of carbs and sugar. Cherries and grapes have some of the highest sugar contents that you can find in fruit. With the least other benefits.

You said you're very determined. Good. Then make the switch. Add in that exercise and change up your menu a bit. Remeber, you're a work in progress. You don't have to be perfect from the beginning (or at ALL). But if you are determined to make this work I do think you need to make some changes.


And I think you're underestimating your calories. Fitday says grapes are 113 calories per cup. Not 62.

Breakfast - toast? Come on you can do better then that. How about some high fiber cereal or at least if you've got to have the toast have it with some protein. Either 1 tbsp of peanut butter or an egg white omlette.

Lunch, instead of those valueless chips, how about some crunchy baby carrots? Or a side salad?

Dinner, how about a nice big salad with that grilled chicken breast. Or a chicken breast stir fry?

Snacks, maybe cut back on those sugary fruits a bit. How about some fat free yogurt with high fiber berries? That's a much, MUCH better choice. Or some cut up veggies - cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, celery with 1 tbsp hummus. Some low fat cottage cheese with berries. A sliced apple with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a few almonds.

I know it's calories in vs. calorie out, but it can make ALL the difference in the world if you eat high quality calories. You will be amazed. And I can't say too much about the exercise. Remember - you're NIKE. Good luck. :)

Wow Robin what great suggestions you made... beat me to it!

Thanks for your suggestions.

I shall be Nike! I am not happy that we sold our treadmill 4 mths ago. It's so hot outside and by the time I get home, the little knats are out. Can I do the stairs at work instead?

Cutting up veggies for work and breakfast was 2 soft boiled eggs. I have low blood pressure and cholesterol so I am hoping that's ok. I don't have much time to cook in the am and they are easy in the microwave. Don't really like peanut butter. I normally don't have grapes and cherries but we stocked up on fruit. Figures I'd be attracted to the fruit with the highest sugar content.

I am so lazy about food. I need to take more time and make salads instead of doing what is easy. No excuses here, I don't have little kids, I don't have to cook for anyone my husband and daughter's are all pretty good cooks.

I love that you take the time to help, thanks everyone!

One more question-

So you eat x amount of calories based upon your weight and then you exercise x amount of time and don't alter the calories at all? Is that correct? If you take in 1,500 and burn 500 that's fine? I don't have to increase?? Thanks.

Maybe try not to think of exercise as X number of calories right now. Exercise serves a different purpose. It raises your metabolism, it gives you energy and it just makes you feel better.

Yep it burns fat and calories and that is the point, but eat the calories you need, and whatever you burn off is just bonus!!!

Exercise doesn't have to be anything formal. I got up this morning and I have a step and I did it in front of the TV for 15 min. The point is that I moved. I will try for 15 min later today or maybe I'll walk the dog.

I am so lazy about food. I need to take more time and make salads instead of doing what is easy. No excuses here, I don't have little kids, I don't have to cook for anyone my husband and daughter's are all pretty good cooks.

I love that you take the time to help, thanks everyone!


HocusPocus,

Maybe you can PREMAKE your foods?

i boil 12 eggs on sundays (or whenever I am out) and always always always have hard boiled eggs available.

I'm doing South Beach WOL and i have an egg and oatmeal for breakfast every morning and a can of V8 it's fast cause you can make the oatmeal in the microwave the night before and just reheat it in the morning.... i just grab it all and take it to work...

when i do salad I cut enough to have leftovers for lunch the next day....

i buy my chicken breasts frozen at the wharehouse in 10 pound bags and grab one frozen and it grills up in 10 minutes... I grill 4 or 5 at a time and always have grilled chicken breasts ready to go...

it's much more labor intensive to eat well but it's so worth it.

One more question-

So you eat x amount of calories based upon your weight and then you exercise x amount of time and don't alter the calories at all? Is that correct? If you take in 1,500 and burn 500 that's fine? I don't have to increase?? Thanks.

Don't alter your calories at all. That would be totally counterproductive. The idea is to create MORE of a deficit. So if you're moving more then usual, you're BURNING more then usual. Hence, creating a bigger deficit - weightloss.

I eat x amount of calories through what I have found to give me a weightloss through trial and error. I started at a certain number and have steadily decreased as I decreased in size. The smaller you are, the less calories you require to get by in life. As far as what I burn. I haven't a clue. I could care less what those calculators tell me. They are HIGHLY inaccurate. I started off slowly with the exercise and then increased as I was more fit and more determined to avoid - that plateau. I don't require the same amount of calories anymore, so I've got to burn some more off or eat even less. Not happening.

Doing the stairs at work is fine. But just how long are we talking here? I would do the stairs AND something at home. The Walk Away THe Pounds DVD's by Leslie Sansone are GREAT. So easy to follow and fast. I started out with those and loved them. I still do them every now and then. I also have a pedometer. I find it VERY motivating. I love seeing the numbers climb. You'll find yourself adding in extra steps just to see it rise. Extra steps - extra calorie burned - extra calories burned - more weightloss. :)

I agree with doing some cooking ahead of time. Chicken breast cutlets. Make a bunch in the beginning of the week or whenever is good for you. They are great to cut up in salads or reheat and serve with a stir fry. Tuna fish is a GREAT low cal protein source. I eat it for lunch sometimes with a cut up red pepper and a sliced cucumber and a few almonds. Sometimes I put the tuna in a salad. Sometimes I even cook up a huge amount of veggies, stir fry style - mushrooms, onions, peppers, zucchini, broccoli, and spinach. I then have it for a few days and use it in stir fries or with egg white omlettes. Delicious. You have to experiment and find what YOU like.

Turkey breast is also a great option. Salmon fillets, I keep them in the freezer. They are EASY to prepare and fast to cook. They're great cold as well.

I also cut up a bunch of romaine hearts at a time and keep it in a big ziploc bag. It's all ready for me.

Losing weight IS work. I won't lie to you. For me, there's a lot of preparing and planning. BUt I don't mind one little bit. I've made it almost a hobby of mine. Anything, ANYTHING is better then being morbidly obese in my opinion. But again, I don't look at this as a burden. I enjoy it all IMMENSELY. It is soooo incredibly worth it I can't even begin to tell you.

Thanks again for the tips!

They added treadmills at work and I went to see them. They have TV screes, pretty cool. My work friend and I walked for 15 mins, going to try to find time to do more. I like getting some exercise in during the day!