Plateau from ****

  • Hi! I'm pretty new to the board and was looking for some advice about plateaus.

    I reintroduced myself to the Induction Phase of Atkins in January and after the two weeks have been on standard Atkins since. In the first 4 and a half months I lost 45 lbs. Since then....nothing. I'm working out more, and I've tried eating less and counting calories as well as carbs and I can't seem to get off it.

    I'm also reading conflicting info about caloric intake. The formula I heard growing up was take your goal weight, multiply it by ten and that's how many calories you should be eating a day.

    I checked the body for life website, thinking a change of diet could be the jolt my body needed to get back on track. As a 286 lb woman who is strictly looking for fat loss I should be taking in 2860 calories a day! And off an article I was forwarded for BFFM it should be your current weight times 12 to 13 which is 3432-3718!! I wouldn't be able to do my job or workout, I'd be too busy eating all day!!!!!

    So now I'm at a loss. For current stats I weigh 286, I work out 4 to 5 days a week (cardio and strength training) and I'm consuming 1800-2000 calories a day.What more can I do?

    Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks,
    Dawn
  • Hi Dawn! Unfortunately, there's no simple answer. Oh, how we love variables! For me, there are certain foods that are more likely to slow me down than others. If I haven't lost anything in a long time, cutting back on nuts seems to help me. But it's different for everyone.

    Also, I think those calories you're looking at are WAY too high! I've found that most of us do best around 1500 -1800 calories a day. Have you checked out www.fitday.com? It's excellent for not only tracking your calories, but also your fat/protein/carb ratios and nutritional values.

    Would you mind posting a sample menu of what your typical day looks like food and beverage-wise?

    Oh! And finally, how long has it been since you lost the 45 pounds? Stalls do happen - sometimes your body just needs time to catch up. And are you keeping track of your measurements? Just because your weight doesn't change that doesn't mean you're stalled. You are more than likely still losing inches and, ultimately, that's what counts, right?
  • Hi Dawn. Welcome.

    I use Fitday. When I registered it asked me for my weight, height, and activity level and figured that to maintain my weight I need to eat 1450 calories (there is also this place if you like to check what number they give you http://www.room42.com/nutrition/basal.shtml). So I decided that the maximum I should eat is 1400 calories a day. I have been on Atkins diet for 11 weeks now. The first two weeks I lost a little over 7 pounds. Then it slowed down. This week I lost 2.2 pounds following 4 weeks of stand still. I didn’t do anything differently when the plateau started and didn’t do anything when it finally got broken. My body just needed to adjust before showing a loss.

    You mentioned you exercise a lot. Have you done your measurements? Are your cloths feel more roomy? I do my measurements every six weeks, but I check out my body and how my cloths feel everyday, LOL. And you know in the past four weeks, even thought I wasn’t losing on the scale, I saw changes, small ones. I have gained almost all my weight in my mid section. It looked like someone had put two tires on me, one above my waist, one below, LOL, and then inflated the one below a bit more. It looked really gross. During this past four weeks I noticed that the upper tire, LOL, has been deflated, actully the bulges on the right side are completely gone, on the left side there are still some noticeable bumps, LOL. So even thought I wasn’t seeing any change on the scale, I could see changes in my body composition.

    Anyhow, the only word of advice I have is stick with it. Don’t be discouraged, you are going to see noticeable changes very soon.
  • Maybe you are losing weight but gaining muscle? how about laying off of the weights for a week or 2 or do just a little less and see what happens.

    Leenie
  • Gosh, y'all were so quick. Let me see if I can answer the questions in order....

    How long since I lost the 45? - I hit 45 lbs down mid April, so it's been 2.5 months since I lost anything.

    Calorie questions? - To the young lady who sent me the calculator link thank you. It said my basal caloric rate is 1903.4 and my active is 2855.1. So I'm right in the range. Originally I was keeping in the 1500 to 1800 range as one of you had suggested. Both my trainer and my doctor said that was far too low for a woman of my weight (286, down from 400).

    Shrinkage despite lack of weight loss? Initially I was still shrinking. The only measurement I've been regularly taking is my waist measurement. I'll have to check the measurement again tonight, it's been a while. Muscle could be a large factor. I have much more muscle than most people of my weight do. When I was down to 305lbs, I was put on a special scale that told you how much of your weight was fat, water, muscle, etc. For me 165 of it was muscle. This was before I changed gyms and began serious strength training. Even now, since one lady was discussing standards, it holds true. I heard a statistic that said the average American woman weighs 144 lbs and is a size fourteen.....

    I'm a 32 year old American woman who at 286lbs is wearing a size 18.
  • Wow Dawnd! 165 lbs of muscle. That's amazing. Good work! I think I was wearing a size 18 at 220lbs. How tall are you?

    Keep up the good work and I'm sure you'll come down off your stall.
  • I'm 5ft 4 inches tall. Overweight and short to boot
  • Definitely take your other measurements too, not just your waist. I haven't lost much on my waist at all in the last two months, but my hips are going down like crazy. I'd do at least chest, waist, abdomen, hip, thigh.
  • I just love this site. There's always such great advice. Nothing more I could add that these ladies haven't already covered. Keep up the good work and you're doing great. Try not to get discouraged. Someone once said---this weight didn't come ON overnight, why do we expect it to come off overnight. And then of course there's the "nothing worth having comes easy." or something like that.