IntoTouch: I can't send you PMs, so I'll post this link on here, just let me know if you can't view it.

Plateau Nutrition Story

I personally am not doing a cycling type thing... I just stay with my regular 1600cal per day routine for 6 days.. and on sun or sat i forget about it and eat w/e i want i however much of it . So far (3 times) it has been fine. So since its not cycling I am not sure if it will actually help with my metabolism (which i think dropped due to my 1600 routine).

I read in one of my diet books to do one week of 1200 calories, then 3 weeks of (I believe) 1500 calories and cycle like that until you hit your goal weight. When at goal weight, eat approximately 2000 calories to maintain and keep metabolism going. If you go above 3 lbs of goal weight, cycle again on 1200 calories for 3 to 4 days. I'm still just starting this though!

Jessica, Good luck with that diet. I hope that it works for you. It would be brilliant if it did.

This won't word for me unfortunately. I probably tried this accidently for the past decade or so. I would put on weight quickly when I went anywhere near 2000 calories a day or the lowest estimate of my calorie needs. (1750) So now I'm suspicious of any diet that suggests that I could go back to normal amounts of calories just like that. I've basically had to be on a low cal diet all the time since I first did one. This is the first time that I have eaten more than 1500 to 1800 on average and not gained weight. However that's just me.

K9Owner, thanks for that. I will check it out.

I'm going to post about this week's Spike Day mid-week instead of waiting until the end of the week.

I HAD a great plan with last Saturday's attempt at a 1600 cal day with vino, but it did NOT turn out according to plan
I ended up having to use Saturday as my Spike Day rather than Sunday.

Saturday Spike Day
Cals: 2840 (Junk after Merlot:chips, dip, cookies) **Caused MAJOR cravings for Sunday
Weight: Did not weigh
Exercise Cals: 631

Sunday (Cravings ALL day)
Cals: 1405
Weight: Did Not weigh
Exercise Cals: 421

Monday
Cals: 1228
Weight: 147.6
Exercise Cals: 309

Tuesday
Cals: 1877 ( I wasn't at home for dinner)
Weight: 145.6
Exercise Cals: 565

Wednesday's Unofficial Plan
Cals: ~1200
Weight: 144.6
Exercise Cals: TBD

The guy who wrote the Spike Diet Book is on MFP. I have read many of his posts, which all seem to make alot of sense to me, especially after having experienced a 6 month plateau. When people tried to tell me to eat more, I was extremely reluctant to do so for fear of gaining back to 153-155 after being at 149-150 for so long.

It was only after it became my last resort that I had to try some sort of different approach. I'm not sorry I did it this way though. It has taught me alot about being in maintenance mode and eating at maintenance calories & how to make the BEST selections of food for nutrient denseness while the cals are low.

K9 Owner, sounds like you had a great Saturday! Isn't it weird when going over your diet is a good thing?

What were you craving the day after your spike day? I haven't experienced cravings yet, but the day after I'm much hungrier than normal.

Week 3 results:

Sat 2403 calories, 6 day average: 1332 calories
Overall average: 1485 calories per day

Weight loss: 0 Weight gain: 0

Back on the plateau! Aaaaaargh!

So I ate far less this week. And this is the week that I lost nothing. My weight varied the same way as it did on the first week. It peaks the Tuesday after the refeed Saturday, drops to it's lowest again on Thursday and then stays there.

Why have I stalled again? Maybe I need to eat more every day again? I don't know. This is frustrating. And confusing.
Next week I will eat above 1400 per day again and see if this helps. There's no way that I'm eating less than what I ate this week. That would send me into constant hunger and craving territory.

Week 4 results:

Sat: 2408 6 Day average: 1492
Overall Average: 1623

Result; Weight gain of a half a pound.

So eating a little more made me gain this week. And yet the week that I had two refeed days and ate far more. I lost a little bit. I'm still confused.

Next week I will try to eat a little less again and also include more calcium rich food.

I don't know... I've always found it impossible to believe that one could eat, say, 1,500 calories/day and not lose weight, then bump it up to 2,000 for a day or two and start losing. The strategy may appear to "work" for a couple of weeks because of random weight fluctuations, but I just can't believe it could work long-term. I also haven't seen any credible scientific studies supporting this approach.

I guess my intuition/common sense tells me there's no such thing as a free lunch and that the fewer calories you eat, the more weight you'll lose (though the rate of weight loss may be lower than expected in severely restricted diets). The Weight Watchers research team appears to agree: http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/a...1&art_id=35501


F.

IntoTouch: I gained 0.4 the 4th week as well But it was because I ate poorly throughout the week, had way to much alcohol on Spike Day & ate Taco Bell (yuck) that day too. I also didn't exercise as much. Double Whammy!!
So, here is the breakdown of last week.

Sunday (Spike Day)
Cals: 3158
Weight: 145.4
Exercise Cals: 85

Monday
Cals: 1228
Weight: 147.6
Exercise Cals: 338

Tuesday
Cals: 1446
Weight: 146.4
Exercise Cals:510

Wednesday
Cals: 1747
Weight: 146.4
Exercise Cals: 527

Thursday
Cals: 1369
Weight:146.6
Exercise Cals: 306

Friday
Cals: 1195
Weight:145.8
Exercise Cals: 441

Saturday
Cals: 1227
Weight:No WI
Exercise Cals:176

Total Weekly Cals: 11370
Total Exercise Cals: 2383

Another thing that hindered my weight loss this week was over-eating on Spike Day. As far as the cravings from the alcohol, I craved more highly processed foods--like tortilla chips, bread, crackers, etc.

It will be a long time before I drink vino again. It sets me back to far. At this point, even 0.4 is too far for me!

FreeLanceMomma: I will not discredit the WW approach to helping people lose weight. All I know is I did their plan with my MIL and followed it to a tee! She lost 25 lbs. I didn't lose 1 ounce!!
However, this statement
I guess my intuition/common sense tells me there's no such thing as a free lunch and that the fewer calories you eat, the more weight you'll lose (though the rate of weight loss may be lower than expected in severely restricted diets). The Weight Watchers research team appears to agree: http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/a...1&art_id=35501

I don't really know who calls working out and training for a 1/2 Marathon daily and NOT eating the calories back that you burn "free".
Furthermore, if you've been at a plateau for 6 months, you're almost willing to try anything--except QUITTING!
I would add, this isn't a mere "eating 1500 cals per day, then upping it to 2000 for 2 days". For me, it's supposed to be 1200/1400 alternating Monday- Saturday, then eating between 2600-2800 cals on Sunday.
Also, perhaps science has not had any clinical trials, but there are a host of people who have had success with Spike84 on several forums & My Fitness Pal. And, this approach DID allow me to break through a 6 MONTH plateau after trying several other ways!

<<I don't really know who calls working out and training for a 1/2 Marathon daily and NOT eating the calories back that you burn "free". >>

When I said "free lunch" I wasn't referring to this regimen. I was referring to the idea that you can jumpstart a weight loss by INCREASING your weekly (or monthly or whatever) calorie count compared to your previous calorie-restricted regimen. I have trouble buying the concept, but if a credible scientific study comes along I'm certainly willing to changing my mind. (I've looked and haven't found one so far.)

F.

I have been counting calories since last July, and have lost 48 lbs so far. I started out with following a strict 1200 calories a day, and soon started hitting plateau after plateau. I started going out to dinner every 7 to 10 days, even though I still tried to make healthier choices, I would usually split a dessert and have a few glasses of wine. I will wait a few days to weigh myself, and always have a weight loss. I went on a cruise in December, and ate horrible for a week, got home and got back on the 1200 calorie train, and lost 5 lbs a week later!! I have been on a plateau for 10 days or so, ate some great superbowl food yesterday, and will see if I lost anything on Friday.

Now, we're getting serious!

Week 5
Sunday (Spike Day)
Cals: 2530
Weight: No WI
Exercise Cals: 530

Monday
Cals: 1229
Weight: 145.6
Exercise Cals: 356

Tuesday
Cals: 1416
Weight: No WI
Exercise Cals: 525

Wednesday
Cals: 1294
Weight: No WI
Exercise Cals: 530

Thursday (TOM)
Cals: 1237
Weight: 143.2
Exercise Cals: 685

This is a 2.6 lb drop for me in 1 week! Even though I gained in week 4 (which I thought was just a blip), I dropped the 0.4 I had gained, then a whole lot more for a person my size! I have yet to weigh in officially for this week & with TOM here, it is messing up my weigh in anyway!!

I'll update this again on Sunday! Hope you are all having a great week!!

Hi K9 Owner. That's brilliant! Well done. I was away for a week and have gained a couple of pounds. I'm going to do a week on my usual 1400 and then see how I go. I'm encouraged by your success to go and try the refeed day again afterwards.

Freelancemomma although there have been no trials done on regular people body builders have been doing this for many years to get down to almost 0% body fat. If you google leptin etc you will find scientific evidence showing boosts in leptin levels after a spike/refeed day. The thing that I don't know is how it can help me or other non body builders to lose weight or if it will increase metabolism.

At the beginning of this thread a lot of women posted to say that it worked for them. Maybe this won't work for me. I don't know. But I've been on a plateau for months and months and I need to try something different. It's also great for allowing me to eat nuts, avocados and other high cal good stuff once a week. The worst that can happen on this diet is that I will gain a bit of weight. Then I will have to try something else.

K9 owner, I forgot to ask. On your spike day what kind of stuff are you eating.

I don't get cravings after the spike day but you're losing more weight. Maybe it depends on how you do it.