need 2 month plateau help!

I'm at a 2 month plateau, I lost around 15 pounds the first 1.5 months and now I am at a standstill. The last 2 months I have ate maybe 300-500 calories more per day, I am still averaging 700-900 calories below my daily needs to lose weight. Any thing to help would be greatly appreciatated!

i would need more details then that. what is your daily intake of cals? bare minimum is 1,200 if your a girl and 1,500 if your a guy. which i am sure you know. do you vary your cals, one day high, one day low? i am a zig zagger, it works for me. eating enough healthy fats? also, how close are you to goal weight? if your on that last 15-20 to lose, you need to tone and try to have your cal defect no more then 500. note i said cal defect, not cal range. you need to eat to lose and to live. I am just making sure i am clear so i dont get yelled at by anyone.  so more details about you, foods you eat, cals you eat and your activites, and i and everyone else will try and help. 

Hello, that was fast!

I now weigh 221.4 lbs I started at 235 on august 13. I climb 7 stories of stairs up and down 7 times ,3 times a week and 4 days I walk 40 minutes at 3.5 mph. I'm allowed approx 2700 calories a day and if you add in my exercise Im allowed about 3000 calories a day to MAINTAIN 220-222 lbs roughly.

   I am a zigzagger on calories. I eat anywhere from 1800 to 2300 a day, but I mostly eat 2150 calories a day on average. I lost 14-15 pounds the first 1.5 months doing it this way. I was supposed to weigh 205 by december 5th, well that isn't going to be! Should I eat more? or less?

I even incresed my stairclimbing by on eset a week

I'm a man, I eat alot of fruit and vegetables and maybe 2 slices of bread a day, I eat alot of chocolate chips!!!!! And I eat ablout 2 bags of microwave popcorn a day. I eat turkey breast or chicken every day, I also eat 2 fish filets that are the bad ones that you put in the oven with the breading. I would say alot of my calories are candy runts and chocolate chips each day. I lost 15 pounds this way, I wanted to lose 15-20 more lbs, and then from there move on to another 15-20 pounds.

I followed the plan here with the amount of calories I should eat a day to maintain this which is 2150 cals a day. I ate less the first 1.5 months, now Im at a 2 month dryspell and I'm averagin 1800-2300 cals a day with exersice! Thanks again!

2 words will solve your problem: EAT MORE!!!

How much more do I eat? Should I add a rough estimate of my exercise to my total daily calories? Too maintain weight I must eat 2797 calories a day not including exercise.

So....How many calories a day! Thanks!

yes i am guessing you need to eat more. and microwave popcorn is so high in sodium, way to much sodium, it was my weakness, but i gave it up because of that.  You need to add in all your exercise as your daily burn, if you dont add it, then your not eating enough. plain and simple. I zig zag my cals. take it like this, on a normal day say I burn 2,300(without exercise) so i eat 1,400-1,600 on that day. if i work out I burn 2,700 calories-So i would then eat 1,800-2,100 cals.  get it? you have to increase your cals for you activities. It can be tricky at first, but you will figure it out. 

so, add your exercise, and find out what your really burning, then subtract 500-900 cals from it, and eat the number of cals that you got left.

stef

I'll try this but it feels strange eating more calories, I already gained a pound in the last day doing this. I hope it stabilizes?

yes eat more, strange but it works. And remember you would have to eat 3,500 calories above what you burn to have actually gained a pound. that means you would had to of eaton 6,500 somthing cals. which i am sure you didnt. now if you have been platuing for a couple months your body is in starvation mode, you might gain weight before it starts to go down, DONT FREAK OUT, once your body sees you arent going to deprive it the loss will start.

i wish you all the luck, also, weigh less often, our weight bounces all around, dont worry, watch your trend line on your weight log, and relax!

stef

Thanks Stefhernandaz! I'll give it a go!

it could be that the lb you saw is simply a matter of water retention, so don't be afraid to give it a chance to really work for you. :)

I actually heard plateaus could last up to 3 months.

Change your exercise routine every 6-8 weeks!

Do the zigzag calorie cycle method. It broke my plataeu in 4 days. Go here for a zigzag calorie cycle calculator:

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calc ulator.htm

i'd also suggest checking your "analysis" to make sure you have a good ratio of fats carbs and protein.  the suggested ratios i've seen for a male are about 60% carbs 20% fats and 20% protein.  i did my weight loss (and still maintain) at 50% carbs 25% of fats and protein.

you can figure out how many grams of each by dividing carb cals and protein cals by 4, fats by 9.   so, if you need 2000 cals total, take 50 or 60 % of that, divided by 4.  etc.

also make sure you have sodium under 2500 gms.  fiber at least 25 grams, and drink lots and lots of water. 

Well, it has been about a week but now results with upping my calories . Any suggestions would be helpful. I added about 400-500 more a day and actually I weigh about 0.5 pounds more.

you may be adding muscle, if the exercise you are doing is new exercise.  that will add weight, as muscle is heavier than fat.

you might want to invest in a scale (can we name brand names?) that provides a bio-analysis.  I have one that provides:  weight in tenths of a lb., fat %, hydration %, muscle in lbs, and base metabolic rate.  I have set it for my height and my age, so it factors those in.  It also has a neat memory, in case I don't have pencil and paper handy to write the numbers down.

I have obvious signs of losing fat (<: but I want to monitor my hydration levels and muscle mass to be sure that's all I'm losing.

I weigh twice daily (first thing in morning and last thing at nght), and I record the stats for each weight.  I do this because I am interested in developing some documentation on whether this "lifestyle" works to produce healthy results.

Hello Thanks Manewll!

I will check out one of those scales, How does it really know what the % are?

I haven't changed any exercises so I don't know why I am at a standstill?

I still have not loss any more weight since upping my calories 400-500 more a day it has been about 2 weeks. I have maintained the same weight during this time. Any help would be nice????????????????????????????????????????

Hi - you mentioned that you increased your time on your particular exercises....what about changing the kind of exercises you are doing?  For example, instead of the stairmaster, try another cardio exercise, like an elliptical trainer, or the bike.  Try a different resistance machine, or different exercise class.  Change it up.  Sometimes you need to increase the amount (time) or, if doing resistance exercises, the weight.  I was going to also suggest changing around the calories a little, but you said you are already zig-zagging them, and from the sounds of it, I would say you are not going into starvation mode.  Maybe add another 100 cals a day?  How are you doing on your water?  Also, how are your sodium levels?  Not enough water coupled with too much sodium could cause some people to retain excess water.  Also, are you getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night?  I know for me, and many others, not getting at least that much sleep each night does affect weight loss.  If you have many nights of too little sleep it can end up being counterproductive.

Hope that helps, and best of luck.

u06598, i don't have any additional suggestions, but would just like to say that it might help if you look at the "average" weight loss over the time you have been on this new plan of eating.  many people have lost weight very quickly at first, just as you did, and then it slows way down, because it seems like the body just wants to conserve its weight, and hangs on to it.  i would say, have patience, just keep on doing what you are doing, enjoy the 15 lbs already lost, but whatever you do, do not give up!!!

Just give it more time.  You said you gained 1/2 pound when you started eating more and now you are eating a pound per week more calories without gaining.  If that 1/2 pound is now gone then your metabolism is getting better as you're now burning 500-700 more calories a day.  Be patient as I'm sure it took a while to gain it too.