What to do when you plateau (vegetables, NutriSystem, system, weight loss)
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I started my weight loss journey for seven months and have lost 35 lbs. For the past three weeks I have hit a plateau and am obviously frustrated. The majority of the weight I've lost is due to being on Nutrisystem. I have been talking with their weight loss counselors and have received a lot of help and good advice but now I'm not sure what to do. I've increased my proteins and carbs at their recommendation and while I'm eating more I am still maintaining the same weight. They said I wasn't eating enough and that my body was in "starvation mode" since I wasn't giving it enough food so it was holding on to the excess fat. I have heard that before so do believe that.
In addition to changing up the eating I've also started walking daily. My job entails a lot of physical work so I definitely don't sit around much. Any thoughts on how to jump off this plateau?
Plateau's are illusions, they aren't biological in nature.
The starvation theory has not been proven by any credible research; fat cells are not intelligent. The body will consume all available fat stores in the absence of newer, recently ingested energy. Honestly, if our bodies were smart enough to save fat for a better time, why wouldn't it also discharge excess fat once a threshold has been exceeded?
You are consuming more calories than your body burns and aren't generating a consistent calorie deficit. Forget worrying about the type of calories you consume for a few weeks and focus instead on keeping to a consistent daily budget. I used to plateau as well, and also couldn't lose weight because of my being older and having hypothyroidism and eating too many carbs. When I started keeping my intake to 1,500 calories per day all my excuses failed to hold up under scrutiny.
Keep to a fixed calorie budget that works for you (if you're a moderately active man, try 1,500 - 1,800, if you're a moderately active woman, try 1,200 - 1,500) and see what happens to the plateau.
If your exercise at work isn't cardio, that would be the first thing I'd add in order to change up your routine rather than walking. Either run or use a machine like an elliptical or something that gets your heart rate up. I do interval training which seems to work quite well. Do something fast and hard enough to get your heart rate up for 45 seconds then slow down to a moderate pace for 3 or 4 minutes then go fast again.
Congrats on your weight loss and good luck getting to your goal.
To break a plateau, change things up to give the body a "kick." Switch up your exercise. You probably will need to do something more than walking. Eating wise, play around with your macros, cut sodium for a few day, or do just intermittent fasting for a week.
Starvation mode as discussed in popular discourse isn't real.
When I have hit plateaus in the past I up the intensity of my workouts. If you hike instead of walk you can torch a lot more calories. If you can run, even just for a minute or two you can do some intervals which are also great for getting your body burning calories.
Depending on what your calorie consumption is you may either need to scale back your calories, or surprisingly enough, add more. If we are not getting enough calories we can slow down our progress. Plateaus eventually play out and a true plateau is no weight loss for 3 weeks.
I'd rather eat less than do cardio. Currently trying to stay at 1700 calories but I often cheat myself by going to 1800...thus I throw in a little cardio. Every time I reduce the calories it feels like something isn't working for a few weeks but by week 3 or 4 the scales indicate I've lost a little. I think it takes a while because I'm never weighing at the same time of day and some days I might drink more water so it seems like I didn't lose or even gained.
Thanks! Very helpful and encouraging posts. For intake I'm about 1600 max per day. When I go below that I get very cranky and then my wife gets frustrated with. She is supporting me 100% which really is half the battle IMO. I will have to sit down today and map out exact intake and see where I'm at. I weigh myself every thursday morning. The odd thing is that I feel like I'm losing weight, clothes are looser but that darn number just won't go down. I'm determined to not get discouraged.
Is there any foods or beverages you would recommend to stay away from besides the obvious sugary foods and high carbs? I've often wondered about coffee as I have a few cups every morning. I do low fat cream and splenda. I've tried Truvia, Stevia and other "natural" sweeteners and I simply can't use them. The taste is extremely gross to me. Again, many thanks for your encouragement!
Thanks! Very helpful and encouraging posts. For intake I'm about 1600 max per day. When I go below that I get very cranky and then my wife gets frustrated with. She is supporting me 100% which really is half the battle IMO. I will have to sit down today and map out exact intake and see where I'm at. I weigh myself every thursday morning. The odd thing is that I feel like I'm losing weight, clothes are looser but that darn number just won't go down. I'm determined to not get discouraged.
Is there any foods or beverages you would recommend to stay away from besides the obvious sugary foods and high carbs? I've often wondered about coffee as I have a few cups every morning. I do low fat cream and splenda. I've tried Truvia, Stevia and other "natural" sweeteners and I simply can't use them. The taste is extremely gross to me. Again, many thanks for your encouragement!
1600 calories is not a lot for a man. I would recommend upping your caloric intake by 100 calories. Eat some nuts, avocado, or some other protein with some healthy fats. Its sounds counterintuitive but too low calorie consumption can trigger a plateau.
Thanks! Very helpful and encouraging posts. For intake I'm about 1600 max per day. When I go below that I get very cranky and then my wife gets frustrated with. She is supporting me 100% which really is half the battle IMO. I will have to sit down today and map out exact intake and see where I'm at. I weigh myself every thursday morning. The odd thing is that I feel like I'm losing weight, clothes are looser but that darn number just won't go down. I'm determined to not get discouraged.
Is there any foods or beverages you would recommend to stay away from besides the obvious sugary foods and high carbs? I've often wondered about coffee as I have a few cups every morning. I do low fat cream and splenda. I've tried Truvia, Stevia and other "natural" sweeteners and I simply can't use them. The taste is extremely gross to me. Again, many thanks for your encouragement!
First, I find it amusing that people working for a company that sells you the food you need in order to follow their program would recommend you're not eating enough, thus the reason why you're not losing weight.
Second, if you are truly keeping to a 1,600 calorie per day budget and not losing weight there's one of two reasons; either you're eating more than you think or you are leading an insanely sedentary life. If you are truly capping out at no more than 1,600 calories you would be generating somewhere between a 500-1,000 daily calorie deficit which would be resulting in a steady weight loss. Audit your record keeping process, figure out where you're under-reporting, make the necessary corrections and proceed from there.
And never ever stop trying to lose the weight you want to, it's so totally worth the effort.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Luckyd609
1600 calories is not a lot for a man. I would recommend upping your caloric intake by 100 calories. Eat some nuts, avocado, or some other protein with some healthy fats. Its sounds counterintuitive but too low calorie consumption can trigger a plateau.
I'm sorry, but what is your conclusion based on regarding sufficient calories?
I maintained a 1,500 calorie per day diet for nearly six months, including many days where I didn't even pass 1,200, and I was fine. A typical day for me started with two turkey sausages for breakfast (120 calories), two cups of coffee each with a tablespoon of half-and-half (36 calories). Lunch was always somewhere between 300-400 calories and so I'd wind up getting to dinner at no more than 600 calories. Dinner was often a portion of chicken or beef (around 250-400 calories), a side of either vegetables or salad (maybe another 150 calories) and always something later in the evening for dessert (either ices or fruit, never exceeding 100 calories). If I was hungry during the day I'd grab nuts or another piece of fruit. Some days I went over budget, most days I was under budget.
My rule was to never allow myself to be hungry. If I had just eaten something and still felt hungry I'd drink water. If after drinking the water I still felt hungry I'd rely on one of my aforementioned snacks.
I often hear people spout crazy theories about diet, such as you should consume the calories you burn during exercise, or you're starving yourself if you consume less than 1,800 calories, or that your body will stop losing weight if you eat too little; it's all unsubstantiated, unproven myths that don't ever hold up under any meaningful scrutiny. Quite frankly, it drives me crazy because it gives people excuses to hide behind and justifies their not losing weight.
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