Plateau-ing

I’ve been dieting and exercising for almost 9 months. For the first 7 months I lost about 5 pounds a month consistently. Then all of a sudden I stopped losing weight. My dieting is the exact same (following the 4 hour body) and I’ve increased my cardio and strength training over the past two months … so this effect isn’t from lack of exercise.

I’m 7.2lbs from my goal and want to lose the last bit … any ideas?

Thanks,
Justin

The last few pounds are always the hardest. Always.

If you have increased your cardio and strength training, it is possible that you are building muscle mass which is counteracting your fat loss. Equaling no change on the scale. A more accurate measurement of progress would be a body fat percentage. Or, if you took body measurements: biceps, thighs, waist, etc. Did those measurements increase/decrease where you wanted them to?

Your body also could have adapted to the diet and/or the exercising. Perhaps you could switch one or both of them?

Ultimately, don’t obsess over the numbers on the scale. They aren’t the best determining measurement for progress.

Good luck.

I would suggest going up to your maintenence calories (what you need to maintain your weight) for 2-3 weeks. Let your body have a break and reset. Then reduce your calories again.
Pamela

www.ThrivePersonalFitness.com

I agree with @ThriveFit—every time I plateau, eating maintenence for 2 weeks or so & not working out as much usually helps me break through. I only have 6 pounds left to lose, and I can tell you that (as @Ashalahn said) it really is hard to kick the last few—but after taking about 2 months off from counting calories & working out regularly, I’m hoping to kick the last few within the next few months!

Best of luck in reaching your goal!

Thanks everyone!

@Ashalahn — you may be right about muscle being built and equaling out. My measurements in arms/legs/waist etc. continue to decrease (though not as much as before). Also, though my body fat remains consistent at about 15% I ‘m not sure if the scale/caliper I’m using to measure this are accurate.

@ThriveFit — interesting idea. I think I’ll give this a try starting next week. Should the breakdown of carbs/fat/protein remain the same in the diet, or should I increase one portion of them?

@walkinlooove — thanks! good luck to you as well!!!

~ Justin

Thanks a lot for having this discussion. I am having the same issue although I am still very early in achieving my goals (lost 36 lbs; need to lose at least 42 more). I am wondering about if too many carbs or too little fat may be to blame in my case.

I am old school – following a low fat diet with (probably) too many carbs. I went through Weight Watchers in 1993 and lost 60 lbs in six month and began competing in multi-sport events (i.e. bike/run). A couple of observations on that experience: I managed to keep my fat intake so low that my hair would fall out – but once a week I splurged and ate a Costco muffin. (I think that extra surprise shot of fat may have helped) I lost 10 lbs a month until reaching my official WW goal weight of 184 lbs but continued to lose weight after and eventually settled in at 174 until I had a cycling accident and gained a bunch of weight back. My approach this time (doing this on my own with DailyBurn and DailyMile) is I have two goal weights: when I get down to 200 lbs I can start running again (I am currently walking, training for a half-marathon). My second goal is somewhere lower. I think this will help with the “almost met my goal” plateau.

However, I am already at a mini-plateau. I have lost weight steadily at least 2 lbs/week (10 lbs/month) since January. I have made fundamental changes in my diet to reduce fat and increase protein – but my carbs are at about 60% on days when my fat is at about 10-13%. I am thinking that is too many carbs. I am having trouble getting more protein without adding fat. (have incorporated non-fat greek yogurt and whole grain cereals)

With regard to Justin being at 15% body fat – that is very good! When I was at my peak in the late 1990s and participating in duathlons and races, etc. I had hoped to get down to 13% but never could get below about 19 – even though I was 5’11 and weighed 170 lbs. So you are doing awesome! I think the advice to “lighten up” for a week or two and then go back to it will help you a lot (kind of like my once-a-week Costco muffin helped me back in the day). But in my case, I am not to that point yet and still finding my way to a fundamental approach – if anyone has any thoughts on carbs vs fat tradeoff I would appreciate them.

Not sure what your current ratios are, so hard to say. I would say stay balanced and add a little bit each way, particularly if you’ve been keeping your carbs low. Just add good carbs.
Pamela

www.ThrivePersonalFitness.com

Thanks Pamela. I have been hitting about 15% fat, 65% carbs, 20% protein @ 1800 calories. Having trouble finding more protein that doesn’t add fat (hence the greek yogurt and whole grains).

I’ve lost over 30 lbs since the beginning of the year (down to 240). Maybe I need to drop my target calorie range from 1800-2000 to 1500-1600.

Carb sources are mostly fruit/juice and whole grain bread/cereal (and the yogurt of course)

@schwabenland, any particular reason you are being so fat phobic? 15% fat is EXTREMELY low. Your body needs fat to survive – your body uses it for all kinds of essential functions, including building brain matter.

Carbs on the other hand are NOT extremely important. It is the one macronutrient you can cut out entirely and still be able to achieve health (arctic peoples ate almost none most of the year). There are endurance athletes who eat Paleo, which is much lower in carbs than a typical diet (and no grains at all! their carbs come from veggies), so don’t feel like you HAVE to include so much. 50% is usually a good upper range for most people. Personally, I try to keep mine lower, since I feel fuller longer when I have more protein and fat

I’ve seen meat in your nutrition log, but not very much. Try adding some lean meats and don’t worry if a gram or two of fat is added. An egg or two for breakfast is very filling and will keep you fuller longer than cereal (due to the fat and protein).

@schwabenland, I would avoid fruit juices as they’re chock full of sugar. The exception may be if you were using juice as part of your post workout supplementation. The majority of your carbohydrate intake should come from vegetables and fruit. If you’re finding that you plateaued, try limiting your whole grains to your first meal of the day and post workout meal.

In regards to lean forms of protein, you actually have lots of options including egg whites, fish, lean meat and protein shakes (which I don’t recommend as a meal replacement, but can be added to your diet to meet your protein needs). You want to consume some form of lean protein with every feeding opportunity (along with a serving or two of vegetables).

Susan
www.CatapultFitnessBlog.com

I agree, don’t be afraid of fat! Good fats are very important in your diet. I would lower carbs and increase fat.
Pamela

www.ThrivePersonalFitness.com

Thanks everyone. I have a lot to learn; have to undo all that training I had in the ’70s and ’80s that said fat, meat, and eggs were bad. I like meat but had tried to cut it out of my diet as much as possible. Never liked eggs or milk that much though. I will work on revamping my diet.

BTW- I did break though the plateau for now; lost 3.5 lbs this week.

Woot! Nice work!
Pamela

www.ThrivePersonalFitness.com

I went on to lose 10 lbs in 11 days. I don’t expect to sustain this but, rather, go back to losing 2 to 2.5 lbs per week. I was able to to this partly because I was on vacation and put in 50 miles of exercise during the same time period but the dietary changes I made included: (1) dropped my daily calorie target range from 1800-2000 to 1600-1800 and (2) designated at least one day per week to consume higher fat/protein. I will continue to find ways to reduce carbs but feel that the low fat approach is working for now. Perhaps when I transition to a maintenance diet I can learn to live a more low carb/high protein life. Thanks to everyone for your feedback and suggestions.