[LynneA]

I've been eating low fat since Spring this year. This way of eating seems to have fit my body very well and I lost a total of 18 pounds through eating like this. I did hit a plateau sometime around June this year, which I expected and it's been pretty awful trying to break the plateau. Infact, I'm still trying to break it and it's October already!

After studying what I eat, it seems that I eat quite high carbs (over 100g a day), low fat (less than 15g a day) and moderate protein (around 50g a day, though this figure does fluctuate). A lot of the carbs I eat come from fruit. I love fruit, I eat at least 4oz grapes, plus a banana or maybe an apple a day. Add to that at least 1 portion of veggies with my evening meal. I eat around 1600 cals a day.

Is it possible that I am taking in too many carbs from fruit/veg which is then making it difficult to break my plateau? I've heard that reducing carb content and increasing protein can break this but I can't imagine giving up much of my fruit intake. It's what I snack on and eat after dinner as my pudding.

I do exercise every day at least 30 mins and I try vary it incase my body gets too familiar and stops burning fat (the things we do!). I walk, lift light weights or get on our elliptical.

I'm at a loss! I would like to shed some more pounds and continue being a loser but it's very hard to stay motivated when the plateau will not break.

Any advice from other successful low fat dieters?

[nelie]

I'm not a lowfat dieter but I figured I'd chime in I tried looking at your fitday and only saw today so I'm not sure if you just started it or haven't put anything in. Anyway, I would definitely try keep monitoring yourself through fitday to see what you are really doing. 100g of carbs really isn't considered high, but not sure where you really are with that but 15 g of fat is really low, what I would consider almost worrisome and 50g of protein seems really low as well. I would definitely recommend try cutting out some of the fruit, add some more veggies especially non starchy ones and add more protein. You might have to increase your exercise, change up your exercise and/or decrease your calories.

[Meg]

Lynne -- congratulations on the 18 pounds! About your question -- can you break down what you eat a little bit more? 100g of carbs is about 400 calories, 15g of fat is about 135 calories and 50g of protein is about 200 calories. That all adds up to around 735 calories and since you're eating around 1600, it would be helpful to know how you're spreading the other ones around. I'm sure you'll get lots of good ideas and suggestions with a little more information.

[LynneA]

Hi Nelie Yes, my fitday is very out of date, I only just started updating it again today.

Hi Mel As usual, I didn't make myself very clear in my first post . I've been looking back at my Fitday between March and May (during those months I lost the most of the weight). Some days I would eat between 15g and 40g of fat, up to 200 of carbs, up to 90 of protein. The lowest amount of cals I ate was around 1000, the most around 1900. I'll get round to working out an average for you if I get the time. Some days I didn't fully complete the Fitday . Meals seemed to consist of oatmeal and skimmed milk and tea with skimmed milk for breakfast, maybe a piece of fruit as snack, home made veggie or pulse soup for lunch or cottage cheese pot and fruit, more fruit as a snack. Dinner would be 2 portions of veggies and meat portion like chicken stew, steak, beef stew, shepherds pie etc. Low fat jello or pudding for dessert. I'd occasionally have a granola bar as a snack or a slice of deli roast beef and a slice of cheese.

Is that what you mean by broken down? What other information could I give?

After looking back at what I did eat, it did look like I wasn't eating enough but what I was eating combined with exercising was working for me. I dropped 18 lbs between March and July.

Should I up the calorie intake to 2000 maybe? I was aiming to eat between 1200 and 1600 cals a day. I feel like I am cheating if I up it too much.

Please let me know if you need more info, I'll gladly provide.

[Lyria]

I eat a tonne of fruit as well, usually up to 3-4 apples a day, a bunch of grapes, sometimes a mango (now they're coming back in) and when I have it I'll snack on things like rockmelon and watermelon. I also eat a tonne of veges, and will often reach for a carrot if I have the munchies as well as the salad I have one my sandwiches and with dinner.

Eating fruit and veg at this level I guess would make my carb intake rather high (especially since i eat a lot of wholegrains as well lol) but I'm still losing weight (albiet slowly, but i AM trying to just maintain now) and I am eating at a level around 1800-1900 calories a day. I sometimes think that it's the exercise program we use that we need to shake up in order to get off that plateau rather than fiddle with our food. (Unless I was eating a tonne of junky stuff lol)

Livi

[Meg]

Thanks, Lynne, that's exactly what I meant by breaking it down a little more.

It sounds like you used Fitday during the time that you lost most of the weight - have you been logging it lately or are you just re-starting with Fitday? During the time that you've been plateauing (July through October?), were you tracking what you were eating? The reason I'm asking is that when I don't track what I'm eating in Fitday, I tend to eat too much, even if it's all healthy food. So perhaps you were eating more calories for the past few months than when you were losing? Or just eating more calories than you realized?

If that's not it, then I'd look at the protein, fat, and carb ratios. Like Nelie suggested, maybe try increasing the protein and lowering the carbs. The great thing about consistently keeping track of what you're eating is that you can evaluate what works for you and what doesn't every week and tweak it if necessary. Only you are going to be able to discover the right ratio for your body to lose weight (but it can change over time and as your weight goes down). Keep tracking and you'll know for sure if you're eating too much fruit.

In my opinion, your calories are fine if they range between 1000 and 1900 per day and I wouldn't increase them if I were you. I think it would be hard for any of us to lose weight on 2000 calories per day, even if someone did hours and hours of exercise. I can't eat anything close to that amount even in maintenance without gaining, despite doing a ton of exercise. This whole weight loss thing is calories in vs. calories out and the more you eat, the more you have to exercise off or the slower you'll lose. If your weight loss stops entirely, sometimes you have to lower the calories to get it going again. I found that to be true as I was losing -- I started at 1600 calories/day and had to gradually drop to about 1200/day to get to goal.

Finally, Nelie and Lyria are right again about exercise (they're smart chickies ). You might need to increase the time or the intensity to get the weight loss going again. Unfortunately, our bodies adapt to our routines. Could you jog instead of walk? Or walk longer or faster? Light heavier weights? Increase your time and resistance on the elliptical?

Hope some of these ideas help! Once you do a solid week back with Fitday, see what your weight's doing and come on back and let us know.

[LynneA]

I last used Fitday at the end of May when I started to plateau. It got to the point where I was comfortable with what I was eating and thought I knew the right things to eat, so Fitday kinda petered out of my routine. Looking back, this probably wasn't the smartest thing because I need to see what I am eating. As you said Meg, when you don't track you tend to eat more and don't realise it.

I'm starting Fitday again today and am going to make more of an effort to keep it up to date. I'm also going to look at upping my protein and reducing my carbs.

As for the exercise, I try to vary it as much as I can. I've recently introduced some light jogging into my daily walk. I'll jog 10 feet, walk 10 feet, lather rinse repeat as needed.

I'll see how it goes,thanks for the advice I guess I just have to keep trying different things until I once again find what my body likes/needs.

[Meg]

It sounds like a terrific plan. Be sure to check back and let us know how it's going for you.

[lil_cara_mia]

Hi,

Sometimes the natural sugars in fruits can affect us. Maybe just a simple switch to a different fruit might help.. like grapefruit, oranges, or blueberries.

I know for me green grapes are a major no-no, they make me crave carbs even when I'm not on a diet.

Hope your plateau breaks soon!

Heather

[vmelo]

Hi, I just wanted to chime in here. I think you’ve gotten good advice here, but I just wanted to say that I don’t recommend that you give up the fruit. For one thing, despite the high carbs, they’re all good carbs. Also, it seems like the fact that you’re eating so much fruit is helping you not to feel so deprived, so you’re more apt to stick to your plan if you’re eating what you like. I give you credit. I like fruit, but I can definitely resist it (unlike my beloved Ben & Jerry’s—LOL!).

I will tell you, however, that one of the things that helped me lose 5 lbs. w/out changing my eating at all was increasing my exercise time. When I lost the majority of my weight, I did 30-45 minutes of exercise, 5-6 days a week. Now, I’m doing 60-70 minutes of exercise (combinations of cardio, strength training, & stretching) 5-6 days a week. If you look in the Maintainers section of this site, you’ll see a thread about maintaining & doing 90 minutes of exercise a day. It seems that most of the maintainers who posted do anywhere from 60-90 minutes of exercise daily. You might want to give this a try.

Hope that helps!

[LynneA]

Thanks for the supportive words guys, it's been a horrible weekend for me so far though as I've been sick Friday and Saturday. Must have been a stomach bug as I've been throwing up etc. . Woke up this morning feeling better though so am currently trying some oatmeal and tea. Fitday got no entries for Friday and Saturday because I wasn't eating anything that could keep down. I'm back up and running today though all being well.

[Suzanne 3FC]

I'm sorry to hear about your stomach flu, but glad you are feeling better today

I thought I'd stick my big nose in, too What vmelo said made a lot of sense to me. The latest guidelines say 60 minutes of exercise daily to maintain, 90 minutes to lose weight. Plateaus are always tricky, and there were a lot of great suggestions in this thread. Please keep us updated!