Plateaus and how do you deal with them?
 

I am worried that after a month, my body has his a weird plateau. Sigh. I have lost about 10-11lbs, but at 307lbs, I still have a long way to go. I know that I am sedentary (working on exercising more), but I would still think that eating less than 1800 calories a day would help me to lose weight.

Is it possible to plateau this soon?

How do you deal with your plateaus?

Also, does anyone else here have the whole "whoosh" effect? I find that I will stay the same weight for a while, and then seemingly overnight, I will be down 3lbs or something. I appreciate any weightloss, it is just a bit discouraging at times when I don't see the scale move for days and days. So far, I have been hovering around 309-307 for the past 10 days or so. :( Things like that make me want to overeat, but I know I shouldn't.

Are you exercising?

Hiya Million,

I usually rant and rave and generally have a temper tantrum (that counts as exercise, doesn't it? lol). Rationally, I know these things happen. It's my irrational demands that cause all my grief. I get angry because I'm doing everything right, but my body isn't cooperating. I know if I am patient, there will be scale movement. Many suggest to not measure your success by the scale, but that's nearly impossible when the object of the game is to lose weight. Talking and fussing about it helps me not EAT over this frustration.

Oh, and some people mix things up calorie or protein/carb ratio-wise to keep their bods confused and not prone to plateaus. I dunno if that really works or not. I'm convinced my fat cells are sentient and are planning on hanging around as long as possible to get me to break and binge. lol

Hugs,
Ratkity

Honestly I think you are eating too little. You are over 300 lbs and eating less than 1800 calories? And I take it you exercise now and then?

I think you should eat 2000-2300 calories a day and up the workouts and you'll see a big difference. I used to eat 1200 calories a day and be starving and not budge on the scale. I now count carbs but it works out to where I'm eating 1300-1500 calories a day and losing steadily about 1 lb a week. I also work out 5 times a week.

My trainer used to tell me you eat 100 calories for every 10 lbs you weigh to maintain- and to lose you should eat around 75% of your calories. Now this works for people who are overweight- not for someone who is 120 lbs. He had a client who weighed over 300 lbs- eating less than 1500 calories- who was frustrated and thought he was destined to be fat forever. My trainer told him to eat 300 x 10 x .75 (for 75%) = 2250 calories a day. He tried this and the weight started melting off.

You might want to try this- specially if you are feeling hungry and the urge to binge.

thank you, everybody. I am not exercising much because of the weight, but I have noticed that I am getting around much easier and walking is already seeming easier than more laborous like 10lbs ago.

I don't seem to lose weight on higher calorie counts. I end up just maintaining when I ate around 2000 calories, but not losing. :(

1) Getting all your water?
2) Have you considered zig-zagging your calories? I was reading about that, and it sounds like it makes sense. Sort of a misdirection for your body.
3) Do you eat three big meals, or five to six small ones?

Are you feeling okay or are you constantly hungry? I only suggest more calories since you say you haven't lost a pound in 2 weeks.

And I hate to sound annoying but are you sure you are properly counting then? Maybe you are missing little things here and there that add up? So while you think you may be eating say 1700 calories you really are eating 2000?

Whatever works for you- but it just seems like that amount is so low- but if you don't work out often that could be why it's working for you. You might notice when you work out that you are more hungry- don't ignore it :)

I'd up the working out to at least a few more walks a week if nothing else. Even a 15 minute walk can help. My nutritionist told me to just give her TEN minutes a day, well everytime I started with "I'll just do 10 minutes" I ended up doing 30- it definitely worked for me :)

I am going to start more on the exercising, and increase my water intake. My stomach has been really funny lately, so that could be part of the issue with the lack of weightloss.

I do chart my calories, and I am eating less than 2000 calories per day.

All I can do is just keep at it. Maybe when tom goes, then there will be that whole woosh thing.

I am a bit frustrated with myself. The scale isn't budget, though I have been watching what I have been eating. However, I have eaten more flour and rice lately than previously, so maybe even those small amounts could be causing water weight gain or something.

I didn't plan my food like I should have, and ended up buying fast food for breakfast. It didn't make me happy, and it didn't taste as good as I thought it would. I still tracked the calories, and while it wasn't horrendous, it wasn't the healthies thing either. I am also not sure it is going to keep me full. :( I will go grocery shopping tonight and get the foods that I really need to eat and that will help me to lose weight.

I am trying to not get discouraged. I just want the scale to show below 305lbs. Sigh.

Ok... So you and I have been doing the same thing for the last two weeks. I've watched your posts and totally been with you on frustration. I will actually admit I got pissed enough to not care, ordered myself up some nasty fast food, and said to **** with the plan. Time for me to get back on it though so...

Make ya a deal... I have an idea and I want to see if you are up for it to see if it will work for you. I am going to give you the info on what I know works/ed for me when I was doing regular food and if in trying it the worst thing that happens is you stay at the same weight... no prob. Time to try something different.

Let me know if you are game for this - if not I understand completely. All I can say is this is how I lost the first 40 lbs...

The game plan re:food :

Instead of just looking at calories... look at what you are eating, when you are eating it and with what. I am not saying ignore the calories all together but counting them isn't working so big picture time.

Sure have grains... before noon. Have them with a fruit or veggie pairing and ditch the protein with grain factor. You can still do a protein and veggie/fruit combo before noon but don't pair the protein/starch (grains, etc) after it.

After noon go with the veggies/protein combination more. If you do fruit then try to make it a high fibre fruit.

Try to keep whatever you are eating low to moderate on the Glycemic Index - high will give you the burst of energy followed by a crash usually...

Low GI = less than 55
Moderate GI = 55-70
High GI = more than 70

The benefits of low GI foods are:

* they result in a reduced rise in blood glucose levels
* they provide a feeling of fullness and therefore can assist with weight control
* they can improve blood cholesterol

Which foods have a low GI?

Foods that have been tested and are known to have a low GI include:

* legumes
* heavy grainy breads and pumpernickel bread
* breakfast cereals such as oats, untoasted muesli, oat bran and rice bran
* pasta and noodles
* Doongara and basmati rice (low-medium GI)
* grains such as barley, buckwheat and bulgur
* fruits such as apples, pears, citrus fruits, stone fruits and firm bananas
* vegetables such as sweet potato
* low fat milks, and yoghurts

Carbohydrate-rich foods, such as fruit, vegetables, breads, cereals, rice, pasta, grains and legumes, should be eaten regularly. Low fat milks and yoghurts also contain carbohydrate, and are an important source of protein and calcium.

I am NOT recommending this site as I don't know it well enough to say anything other than their quick reference list is good: http://www.gilisting.com/2003/05/gi-foods-list.html outside of that I haven't looked at it enough. Same with this one : http://www.carbs-information.com/gly...food-chart.htm

Now on to dairy... Don't hate me for what I am going to say but I will say it.

NO CHEESE. So sorry but ditch the cheese... You need 2 dairy servings a day so go with Skim Milk, fat free yogurt, kafir, whatever but ditch the cheese. Just for this time frame. It is worth a try.

For your veggies... Ditch corn, potato, and carrots. Yep carrots. Too high in starch and sugar for all three. You can have sweet potato, or squash, etc but ditch the white/yellow potato.

The rest of the game plan:

1. Walk to your scale, pick that charming little device up, walk to a closet and put it in the back. We are not going to look at it till next Wednesday. Yep Wednesday. I'm doing the biggest loser challenge so I am counting what I weigh as of today for this weekend. You need to step away from it because you are getting too frustrated by it. Trust me here. We're going to measure things differently then by scale.

Let me put it to you like this: Do you care what the scale says if your clothing gets looser? ;)

2. Pick a time of day... are you a morning person, and evening person or a night person? We are preferably aiming for daylight here but if you are strange like me and walking alone late at night is not a problem for you then we can do that too... Just pick a time you can give 10-15 minutes of yourself for this week of your life. Post it here. I am going to post up a window of 4-4:30 + a window of 11-11:30 pm as I am doubling it for myself and doubling the walk time. Anything else is pure gravy by way of exercise but I sure as heck don't ask or expect you to double up with me - that would be your choice. We're going to go for a walk... Not a run, not a jog... but a walk. As fast as we can walk without hurting ourselves. If you can do it faster great. If you need a slower more relaxing one that is fine too. Grab a water (bottled or buy one to fill at home - dollar store has a bpa free one usually). Take it with you and make sure you stop for a sip as needed.

If you are game (and anyone else if they want to play try something new for the week) then the only rule is honesty. If you are tired, not feeling well or just don't care that day... own it. We all have off days but own it.

My way of sticking to it will be to do a post in this thread if you are game and if not then in my own thread I've been posting in. I will take the 30 seconds to post at the beginning of a walk, and the 30 to edit it at the end. That will tell me my start time, and end time with the post time and last edited time. If you can't make it for the time you originally set up but fit it in elsewhere... post. Makes it easy. Then at the end of the week we count up our time totals and add them to the monthly get moving thread. A double bonus.;)

Hope you see this before you head to the store... I'm subscribing as a per/post update so I'll be watching for a yes or no and if it is a no that is cool. I'll move this post to the other thread.

Big hugs,
Shelley

Well, I have done the food combining thing before, and it just not the best thing for me. I have also tried the low-gi foods, and for certain types of them, they make me feel hungry more often, even though I know that with the fiber content they should not. I do best on the plant based low-gi foods that pertain to fruits and veggies only.

I will definitely ease up on the cheese, as I have been having a lot of it lately.

What I am going to do is really stick to my calories more, and definitely increase my water and exercise levels. I think that not having enough water, and being sedentary is a big part of the issue with the scale not moving. :(

I am not yet ready to put the scale into the closet, as that is how I got to this weight in the first place.

thank you for the advice. I really appreciate it. :)

i dont have time to read the responses right now but skimming over them it seems like there is some good advice! I have hardly lost any weight since January. However, I've suddenly had a whoosh week and lost 5 pounds all at once! I really didnt change anything this month. However, I'm hoping that my body was just going through an adjustment period and that I will keep up a 5 pound a month loss from now on. Just keep yourself honest with the calorie tracking, keep exercising, and keep the faith and your body will start to lose again!!

How are you measuring your food when you account for the calories?

We are very close in weight...I eat 1650 calories 5 days a wk and do 1900 and 2100 on the other 2 when I have my more strenuous wkout days. I think what everyone is advising is very valid. I would offer up that you need to be careful where your calories are coming from, I get mine from protein,veggies, fats and a few from fruits. You may want to track your carbs more and stay away from flour. I keep my carbs under 100g, but aim for them to be 60-80g and they mainly come from my milk in the morning and some berries.

Just some thoughts...everyone is different and I'm sure you'll figure out what works for your body. It has taken me years to figure out that my body reacts badly to grains. Good Luck, I'm sure the scale will start moving!

I am very upset at myself that my scale hasn't been budging. On a positive note, it isn't going up either, so that is a good thing.

I am going to watch my calories more. I have to meter out my calories throughout the day. I find I eat too many in the morning, and maybe the wrong kinds of calories at night? I also need to stop eating after 7pm for sure, or stick to just fruit or veggies if I do end up eating late night.