That dammed Plateau

[kingflab]

For the last few weeks (at first I assumed it was simply a result of the 'christmas binge') I've been struggling with a bit of a plateau.

I just can't seem to get past 14st 5lbs. And I really daren't lower my calories any further, for an age 21 male I would have though that 1000-1200 calories a day would be quite a low diet.

I've started working out with dumbbells, but I'm not overly positive that will make a difference.

Should I lower the calorie intake? Say to about 800-1000 calories a day?

 

[wannabslim]

Hiya, I think you need to UP your calorie intake for a bit... surprisingly often when we hit a plateau, it is the boost in calories that gets the weight coming off again. Really for a 6'1'' male, I would have thought that on 1000-1200 calories, your body would be struggling to get all it needs and at some point would hit a plateau. Try upping your cals for a week and see what happens? Don't worry about gaining - even my BMR is 1580 cals (so I could eat that without doing ANYTHING and stay the same weight... and I'm a 5'6'' female!). If you try and eat around your BMR for a week you will probs find the weight starts shifting again! xxx

 

[kingflab]

Thanks for the advice!

Do I up my calories to surpass my BMR, or would it be a good idea to stay just below it for a week?

At the moment my BMR is 1773.75, so perhaps a diet of about 1400-1500?

 

[KD]

Do I up my calories to surpass my BMR, or would it be a good idea to stay just below it for a week?

At the moment my BMR is 1773.75, so perhaps a diet of about 1400-1500?

Yep, that sounds good (or more)

Remember your BMR is less than your maintenance calories. Your BMR is what you burn if you do absolutely nothing. Not even breathe

 

[wannabslim]

I would say eat your BMR in cals (you'll still lose doing that you know!) for a week... say 1700 cals? xxx

 

[kingflab]

Excellent. I've just bought some extra fruit and Actimal (sp?) from the shop, and I'll increase the size of my meals. Hope this works, I really do miss losing 2lbs a week.

 

[wannabslim]

let me know how you get on matey xx

 

[xkawaiix]

Thanks for the advice!

Do I up my calories to surpass my BMR, or would it be a good idea to stay just below it for a week?

At the moment my BMR is 1773.75, so perhaps a diet of about 1400-1500?

how do you know your bmr? i would like to find out mine..

 

[ChristieK]

It might also help to add your extra calories in the form of healthy snacks. I do small snack portions of nuts/seeds/raisins/cranberries (mostly almonds, they're terrific). I have a small snack mid-morning and then mid-afternoon, portion should be around 150 calories per snack, like a small pile in the middle of your palm. I eat it slowly. The protein is good for you, and the nuts and seeds have healthy MUFA fats which help you to lose weight. So that might help your metabolism slip up a bit higher to get you off that plateau!

 

[kingflab]

how do you know your bmr? i would like to find out mine..

Here you go!

BMR Calculator

 

[xkawaiix]

ooh awesome thankyou ^^ apparently mine is 1521.95

 

[wannabslim]

celery is great as a snack as it takes more energy to burn off than it actually contains... thought very low cal so if you need to up your cals you can probably go for a slightly more calorie-dense snack than that!

xx

 

[totty]

everyone hits a platau.....just stay focused and work through it x

 

[kingflab]

everyone hits a platau.....just stay focused and work through it x

Are diet plateau's something that you have to find a way to get round of, or do they dissipate on their own? And by that I mean should I just stick with my normal diet and hope the plateau goes away, or should I try making some changes to get past it.

I bought quite a few bags of roasted nuts today, with one bag a day boosting my intake to 1700 cals. I assume now all I need to do is eat 1700 a day for a week, then go back to my regular diet for a week to see if its made a difference?

 

[totty]

you can just sit it out, and it will start again....or you can change something...ie...do a few hours of exercise and change it that way...change the type of foods you eat..cut down on carbs...or just cut the carbs of an evening....

or a good tip i give people is...you should ALWAYS eat protien with carbs...ie...tuna or chicken with jacket pototoe etc as protien helps with the absorbtion of "good" carbs

 

[kingflab]

Aha, ace, at the moment I've started a 20-30 minutes dumbbell workout (4-5 days a week) and as soon as i finish that I have wholegrain pasta and tuna for dinner! Hopefully that will help.

I'm going to stick with 1700 calories for a week, then switch back to normal, and see if it works.

 

[totty]

that should do it hun, see how you go

 

[lippy66]

I agree with Totty and others. When you're dieting there is a temptation to think that less is always better and it isn't always the case. For your height and exercise levels I can't see you getting all the necessary nutrients on a diet below 1500 cals. I think you should see how you get on with the 1700 cals experiment and then afterwards don't go below 1500.
BEST OF LUCK anyway.

 

[kingflab]

I agree with Totty and others. When you're dieting there is a temptation to think that less is always better and it isn't always the case. For your height and exercise levels I can't see you getting all the necessary nutrients on a diet below 1500 cals. I think you should see how you get on with the 1700 cals experiment and then afterwards don't go below 1500.
BEST OF LUCK anyway.

Cheers! There are two reasons I went to 1100 calories. Firstly I'd spent a month or so on a rubbish one meal a day diet which did very little, so upping to 1100 calories became a bit of an approvement. Secondly, at the moment I'm not doing anything physical - I'm spending 95% of my time in my house or my bedroom studying for exams at the end of the month, so my energy expenditure isn't high.

Both of those reasons don't count now I suppose, as I am now exercising and slowly upping the cals.

 

[chocolatecat]

I'm sure I had heard of people changing their exercise a little to get past this.

What exercise are you doing? Is it the same thing all the time. Sometimes your body just gets used to it and needs to be a little more challenged to burn more calories.

Also RE calorie intake. You need to adjust your calorie allowance as you lose weight. It sounded to me as though you weren't getting enoug calories.

Good Luck!