[zephyr524]

I've recently gone through a plateau and feel like I may have broken through it..a little. I still feel like I need to change my eating but don't really now how.

Here is a typical day for me

Breakfast~ Oatmeal with brown sugar and milk
snack~ some fruit
lunch~ turkey sub from subway
snack~ some sort of "bar" whether it's crackers or a special K
dinner~ usually under 400 cals and consist of veggies and meat ( i use the biggest loser family cook book)
snack~ usually engilish muffin with pnut butter


in what way do you think I shoud change my eating? I'm eating around 1450 cals a day...

[AndreaMarie]

How long have you been at the same weight??

[Sonata]

Whenever I have hit a plateau, I will bring my calories up for a few days, closer to maintenance intake if not at maintenance intake. This allows the body to relax and your metabolism to regulate. Your body plateaus because it is either in starvation mode or it's reached a weight it lingered at in the past, and it's trying to maintain equilibrium. I will eat the higher calories for about a week or so, then drop my intake back down. I don't know if that will work for you, but it has helped me blast through every plateau I have hit.

[souvenirdarling]

Have a "break" day and go out with some friends! Consume more calories than usually and break it up!

OR, try to limit the carbohydrates you eat. English muffin, oatmeal, turkey sub... Maybe you'll see a difference then?

Maybe peanut butter and apple or bana for your evening snack?
A hard boiled egg and some fried lean ham for breakfast?

[ncuneo]

Try calorie zig zagging - I love it! It's suppose to really help avoid plateaus. I haven't been doing it long enough to confirm, been at it only 4 wks or so.

[srmb60]

I'm reading the Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson and am very interested in his theories about protein and good fats but reducing carbs. I haven't been doing it long enough to know one way or the other but it's certainly worth a read.

[zephyr524]

Originally Posted by AndreaMarie

How long have you been at the same weight??

I stayed pretty much the same for the whole month of feb. and into the first week of March. I dropped 3.5lbs last week but don't feel like anything is changing this week. I really didn't changed anything I'm doing other than starting to calorie count.

How does zig zagging my calories work? Is that something you do from week to week or only for a few weeks at a time? I thought about taking a "break" and eating my maintance number of calories for a week or two just to give myself a break. I've been at this for 3 months now and am down 20lbs.

I feel like I get stuck in a rut with my eating. I'll do the same sort of thing all the time and don't have much variety. Not because I don't want it but just because I don't know what else to have.

Thanks for some new advice!!

[ncuneo]

Zig zagging means you eat the same total calories over a week but the amount varies from day to day. You can do it temporarily or forever. I like and think I'll stick with it. Here's what mine look likes and I've been having great success with it (3lbs wk 1, 1 lb wk 2, but it was TOM, 3 lbs week 3, and 2 lbs so far this week)
M 1650
T 1400
W 1800
Th 1650
F 1500
S 2000
S 1650

Freedieting.com has a great calculator for zig zagging. The idea is that your metabolism adjust to your calorie levle after 3 days I think, zig zaggIng keeps it guessing so it's always performing at an optimal level.

[zephyr524]

Originally Posted by ncuneo

Zig zagging means you eat the same total calories over a week but the amount varies from day to day. You can do it temporarily or forever. I like and think I'll stick with it. Here's what mine look likes and I've been having great success with it (3lbs wk 1, 1 lb wk 2, but it was TOM, 3 lbs week 3, and 2 lbs so far this week)
M 1650
T 1400
W 1800
Th 1650
F 1500
S 2000
S 1650

Freedieting.com has a great calculator for zig zagging. The idea is that your metabolism adjust to your calorie levle after 3 days I think, zig zaggIng keeps it guessing so it's always performing at an optimal level.

Do you struggle to get enough calories on the days that you eat 2000 and 1800? I like that idea and think I may try that next week!