weightloss plateau

[NJMIKE1]

Hello all , Im a pretty new fitbit user (a couple of months) and I have seemed to have hit a plateau weight loss wise.My BMR is 1991 times 1.375 for light activity for about 2700 calories a day minus the 500 calories to lose 2 pounds a week I should be eating around 2200 calories.Now I go to the gym and walk fast(4.3-4.5 MPH on a treadmill usually 6 or 7 days a week for 1 1/2 hour to 2 hours and (i know it can be inaccurate) according to the treadmill I am burning anywhere from 1000 up to 1600 calories a day

I usually eat around average about 2000 calories a day(very accurate measuring my food and eat very healthy) and am having bad results on the scale even with all the extra calories I am burning at the gym I have only lost about 3 pounds this month

Any suggestions ?            Thanks

[Jabrat]

There is a good book out Getting Past a Weight Loss Plateau by the Mayo Clinic.  Check it out online.  

[gerrymcd]

You might want to try changing your workout to see if that helps.  Perhaps swap in cycling or a workout on an elliptical machine for some of your treadmill time, or do more strength based exercises - weights, TRX, etc.

[Spryguy]

Hey quick note if you are only cutting 500 cal your are only supposed to be losing 1 lb a week not 2 so your are pumping yourself up for more weightloss then you should be achieving.

If you have lost 3 lbs this month remind yourself that still moving in the right direction and still is a good number!

Not only is it a good number you should have only lost 4lbs based on the 500 cals. As for the plateau just keep at it, it will come. The body is a stuborn (more so then a significant other sometimes) if you want to start kickstarting it again try doing something new at the gym instead of walking trying lifting weights, rowing, and cycling.

Hope this helps, Keep on fitbiting!

[tallson]

See the forest for the trees. We can all get caught up in step counts for after all,  it is fun to compete with our friends. The treadmill is by far the most Fitbit friendly exercise machine but if your goal is weight loss you may be already doing everything you can do to lose weight from an exercise viewpoint. Tweaking your diet would be my next step as it has far greater effect on weight loss. Watch your carb intake and exercise portion control. It is a mantra that seems to work.  Good luck and happy steppin'

[moosmummie]

I am really hoping I am going to be over mine this week! I reseached it exhaustively and this worked:

TRACK all your food - I had 'calorie creep' - the odd bit here and there that I didn't track that was adding up.

Do high interval intensity workouts - don't just do 30 mins of cardio. Interperse it with running/rowing/cycling as fast as you can for a minute. Until you think you'll die! Then slow down again - maybe raise the incline on the treadmill for 2 mins etc.

Do weight lifting - muscle burns more calories than fat - it raises your metabolism. Sometimes however if you are doing a lot of muscle work you will gain weight as you put on muscle. Get a bodyfat analyser and do your body measurements. You body may be changing shape even though there is no loss on the scales.

Jillian Michaels advocates 'calorie cycling' ie look at your entire calorie allowance for the whole week and then eat more or less on alternate days, ie 1200 one day, 1600 the next and so on. This apparently tricks your body into keeping your metabolic rate up.

Lower your salt intake and drink LOTS of water.

Hope that helps! Good luck, plateaus are soul destroying :o(

[NJMIKE1]

I made a mistake with saying a 500 calorie deficit.Myfitnesspal puts my calories at 1800 for a 2 pound a week weight loss and I usually eat between 1500-2000 calories a day and am borderline OCD with weighing my food and nutrition 🙂

Now this does not take into consideration that I am burning (according to the treadmill and it may be off by a few hundred calories) about 1000-1500 calories 6 days a week depending on how long I stay at the gym

I should be crushing the scale week after week and this sucks lol

[moosmummie]

Fiddle around with it - drop your cals a couple of hundred. Mix up your workouts - sometimes you just have to wait it out 😞

[NJMIKE1]

I really do track my nutrition ,probably too much to be honest.I also do interval training on the treadmill.I run for about a half mile then walk fast the other half for the first few miles then run 1/2 mile and walk the other 3/4 mile for the last few miles.Maybe I need to try something different cardio wise.I am not a fan of weight training even though its prob. the most benefitial to weight loss

[moosmummie]

looking at your gym schedule - I really would step it up. You need to be doing high intensity to burn the cals otherwise our body gets used to it and the weight loss stops. Walk 2 mins, run 30 secs or just up the speed to a power walk for a min. Power walking is usually around 6 to 6.5. Try an exercise class - if you just do the same low intensity exercise everytime you go - it will make no difference on the scales. Weight loss is not just about the maths. Your body is complicated and it wants to hold onto the weight - you have to force it to let go!

[carl669]

3 lbs a month isn't necessarily bad depending on how much you have left to lose.  when i first started losing weight, i had a lot to lose.  so initially, i lost 12-15 lbs per month.  the closer i get to my target goal, the slower the weight loss becomes.  i'm currently down losing 4-5 lbs per month (about 20 lbs from my target weight).

also consider that you may be building muscle and losing fat.  just remember, the scale doesn't tell the whole story.

[MO_wannaBfit]

Hi!  Don't be too discouraged.  While I believe there are definite differences between the metabolism and weightloss workings of men and women, sometimes your body just takes a break and readjusts.  I've just recently gotten the Fitbit as a motivator for me as I get closer to goal, but I've lost significant weight (about 90 lbs. over 2 years) and have endured some looonnnggg plateaus.  Funny thing is that keeping at it and not getting discouraged usually results in seeing changes in your body even if the scale doesn't reflect them. Also, if you've upped the exercise you might be adding lean muscle mass as you lose fat but not seeing much change on the scale.  Perserverence Pays!  Hang in there and Good Luck!

[moosmummie]

That's a great post above from someone who has been there and done it! Trouble is I have another 100 pounds to lose and I want to do it NOW! Must stop watching The Biggest Loser!

[Mary]

Why are you using the treadmill's estimate of calories to guide your eating?  How much does your Fitbit say you burn on gym days?  1000-1500 at the gym is an awful lot.  That'd be over 12 miles on the treadmill for most of us.  

I'd recommend you give up the MFP eating plan and use Fitbit's.  

[NJMIKE1]

I have lost almost 100 pounds using myfitnesspal so it works for me.Im about 25 pounds from where I need to be so maybe the last few pounds are going to be a pain for me 🙂

When I go to the gym I do very high intense interval running like the cops are chasing me lol ,then walk very fast @about 4.5 mph and do this for usually about 90-120 minutes 6 or 7 days a week. I know that the calorie counts on gym equipment can be off as much as 40% but I just use them as a guide and motivation

As far as my fitbit yesterday for example it says I did almost 17000 steps ,just over 8 miles,burned 3841 calories and had 101 very active minutes and my food intake was 2568 calories which is almost a 1300 calorie deficit. Maybe im not eating enough calories based on what I burn

[NJMIKE1]

Thanks MO I plan on keep doing what im doing to an extent(except maybe change my workouts some) and im thinking eventually if I keep my nutrition where it needs to be it will give 🙂

[Bcbscorp]

I'm down 56 lbs with another 30lbs to go and have hit a plateau as well, I actually found your post trying to research ideas to get passed it. I definitely recommend changing your workout routine, I was an elliptical junkie and have now switched to interval training on the treadmill and man is it kicking my butt. I do some weights but after reading stuff today I'm going to do more weights and I'm going to do them before my cardio. I not sure which article I read it off of but it said to do weights first because that uses you regular energy level (not the term but loose translation) and then when you do the cardio, your body burns fat doing it.

Good luck to you!