Breaking through a plateau?

[5infam]

Hi everyone,

I am new to the WISH board and I am having trouble breaking through a weight loss plateau. I was curious to hear from those that may have been in the same situation...and how have you broken through? In other words, was there something specific that you did that got your body back on the weight loss road?

I have lost about 67 pounds on and off over the last year (about half way to my goal), but seem to be stuck at this same weight for about 3 weeks. I saw the WISH clippies everywhere and checked out the threads here and really got inspired to keep going on to my goal. I started a journal here (nder the Journal thread area) as well titled "Frank's Journal" (just in case you are interested in reading my story).

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. TIA for your responses!!!

 

[MelanieC]

Hi Sinfan,

Welcome to WISH! Grab a WISH clippie and join us. One of the threads at the top of the board will give you all the details.

What program do you follow? I think this will help everyone when they answer your question.

Congrats on the 67 pounds. You are doing GREAT! The motivation and support on this board will really help you keep up the great work, and break your plateau.

My tips would be:

1. Journal everyday. Keep it with you at all times, and if you bit it.........write it. It works, and will help you keep on track. Possibly your portions are either too large or too small. It's easy to have those portions get bigger and bigger.

2. Drink enough water. Your body can hold on to extra water if it thinks you are not getting enough. Drinking your water will help your body flush more water out of your system instead of holding on to it because it thinks you are depriving it.

3. EAT ENOUGH! Sometimes people don't eat enough and can actually gain weight or plateau. If your body doesn't get enough it may actually slow your metabolism so that you reserve fat for those "leaner" times (like back in the cave days).

4. If you really feel like this is a plateau that you can't break out of. Your body may need some exercise to increase your metabolism.


Try mixing something up a litte. Eat some new foods etc.


Melanie

 

[webray]

I read if you increase your daily exercise by 10% it will help you break through your plateau.

Good luck...and congrats on the 67 pounds.

 

[5infam]

Thanks for your replys and encouragement!!

I am eating a balanced diet, low fat, about 1600 calories a day. As far as exercise goes, I workout everyday (I am on my 5th week of this). 5 days are cardio and 2 days are weight training. I guess I am complaining about a plateau because I keep butting up against my current weight. What seems to happen is I hit this weight, then I get frustrated with not being able to lose beyond this, and eventually I put on some weight (5 to 10 pounds). I have been in this cycle since March, gaining and losing the same 5 to 10 pounds. Finally, over the past 5 weeks, I have gotten more serious about the exercise, and have done better with the eating. However, I can always do better on the eating side. Over the past 2 to 3 weeks, I have only lost 1/2 pound per week or nothing at all. This is not a big deal for one week, but when you run several weeks like this, added to a daily workout, you begin to wonder if you are getting any results from all your efforts.

I did start a daily journal (here on the WISH under journals) and it is already helping me to keep my eating in check. As an experiment, it was mentioned to me by several friends that I should try to cut out heavy carb items aafter lunch (I still eat them for breakfast and dinner). So tonight, for instance, I ate a grilled chicken breast (skinless), green beans (with spray butter and pepper) and non-fat cottage cheese, and of course, water. I'm really full, even though I skiped the potatoes the rest of my family ate. Maybe this will help me to get the scale moving again!!

Any other suggestions would also be helpful, the ones posted so far are great!!!

 

[~Sparkly~Zoe]

Well I have had the GBS so I'm a bit different than you guys, but at one of our support meetings, someone had asked the plateau question and they were told to turn what they do "upside down".

Huh? You say? Well if you eat a lot of the same things everyday the same way, do it differently and go backwards and eat what you normally do for dinner at breakfast and vice versa! This "jump starts" the body into losing the weight again!

Don't know how it works, but a lot that have tried it have gotten back in the losing stage!

 

[Terry S]

Water! I was at a plateau as well and one thing I have been doing for the last week is drinking more water. I really don't like water so I am drinking flavored spring water that has 0 Calories, 0 Fat and 0 Carbs. But, finally, I tipped over the edge. I have lost 2 pounds in the last week. I hadn't lost anything in 3 weeks.

 

[5infam]

Terry,

I have also increased my water this week. I usually have no problems with drinking a lot of water, but I have been paying more attention to just drinking water and nothing else (maybe a glass a day of low-sodium V-8). I used to think that drinking to much water was a bad thing because I would put on water weight (opposite of people saying that the first few pounds you lose are just water). After a lot of reading I realized I was being crazy and water was my new best friend.

Thanks for the tip. I weigh myself on Friday so I hope I finally can break through!!