Weight Loss Plateau

[SB-Girl]

16 year female, 5"5',

Starting weight- 164 lbs
Current- 151-152 lbs
GOAL- 110 lbs

Hi, for my senior project I am doing weight-loss & fitness and Muay Thai(which I haven't started yet). I finally got a gym membership at 24 hour fitness and have been going since the beginning if July. I want to lose 20-50 pounds.

At first I did cardio with riding a bike to the gym and using the machines there, and my own random workout routine. I finally decided I wanted more exercises so I have been using the app on android, more specifically the Lean Muscle Build/Weight Loss one.


I'm not sure if I should give you all the details but recently I have reached this point where my weight hovers around 151. The previous week I had weighed myself and loss 2.8 pounds leaving me at 150.8. Then somehow after I work out and all I weight 151.8. I heard it's not the best time to weigh yourself after a workout but when I first started my workouts, I would lose weight and not gain. A couple of people that I talked to have said that weight training will make you gain weight so now I'm considering doing only lighter stuff and to do more cardio. I feel like I'm weaker and not getting any stronger from weights anyways.


I don't understand it. It's not new to me with these weird weight fluctuations but it's annoying and I feel lost. I've been dieting with a 1300-1500 calorie diet the same and recording it, exercising(5-6 days a week), switching things up, and etc. Like really trying. I do feel kind of tired when working out but I have to get back into the groove after not being able to go the gym as much as I'd like for 2 weeks. I used to go almost everyday before and even eventually got a cold. I guess my metabolism slowed down. Am I overworking myself and has my body gone into famine mode?

I'm worried about this plateau. I don't see any results anymore for weight training/cardio and my diet. I've read options about fasting, zig-zagging calories, or just taking a break. I've also read to lower your intake again and increase your workout intensity and switch up the routine. At this time, if I do lower my calories and make my workouts more intense my body might just give out again and make things worse. I already don't do the same things everyday ya know?

I know this isn't the most clearest but what do you think and what can I do to break a weight plateau?
Do I have to jog up my metabloism somehow, take a healthy break or is it basically only a duration of time that you have to wait to pass before you can lose more weight?

Please help. I need guidance.

[Deviation]

What does your routine look like? Also, what does your diet looks like? Not just calories, but protein/carbs/fats (macros). Just an example day would work.

[tjwood]

I don't understand it. It's not new to me with these weird weight fluctuations but it's annoying and I feel lost. I've been dieting with a 1300-1500 calorie diet the same and recording it, exercising(5-6 days a week), switching things up, and etc. Like really trying. I do feel kind of tired when working out but I have to get back into the groove after not being able to go the gym as much as I'd like for 2 weeks. I used to go almost everyday before and even eventually got a cold. I guess my metabolism slowed down. Am I overworking myself and has my body gone into famine mode?

It certainly sounds like you are working a lot, and eating quite little (if you're really only eating 1300-1500 calories a day, that's quite a lot less than the typical requirements of an active female). I'd be a little worried that you might not be giving your body enough time to recover or enough nutrients and energy to do so. (Remember, at 16 years old you are still growing, your body needs energy for this too!).

Seeing an example of your typical day's food would be helpful, and also your routine.

But in general for someone who is relatively new to fitness, training 3 days a week is sufficient, allowing at least 48 hours recovery between sessions. You need a healthy balanced diet, reduced calorie yes, but not anything too extreme. Weight loss takes time to do right. Also get plenty of sleep!

If you're really concerned, it may be worth consulting your doctor or other suitably qualified professional.

[Deviation]

But in general for someone who is relatively new to fitness, training 3 days a week is sufficient, allowing at least 48 hours recovery between sessions.

This may very well be true. Most beginners don't know what overtraining is. I know I didn't.

[jghight]

I too would like to see your routine/diet.

Not to be discouraging but it’s quite possible all of the weight you have loss up to this point is water weight. Which is the first step (and a good one). I would shy away from weighting yourself frequently it can play games with your head/motivation. At the most I would check your progress once every two weeks, if you felt like it was a good two weeks of clean diet and hard exercise.

I wouldn’t go much lower than 1500 calories. Without seeing your diet I would almost bump this up a bit to 1700ish. It’s a common mis-belief that eating significantly less makes you lose weight faster. What you’re experiencing right now is the effects of that.

For some reason women have it in their head weight training is bad. It’s not. You don’t need to worry about putting on weight by lifting. First you’re not eating enough to put on weight. Second your body doesn’t produce the correct amount of hormones to make you gain a significant amount of muscle. It will do the opposite for you a lot quicker with better results than cardio can.

My suggestion is to cut out the cardio. Find a workout that is a split routine (arms one day, legs one day, shoulders one day, chest, one day off…. ect.) Lift heavy with lower reps and only two sets per excerse. Most importantly don’t be afraid to skip a day if you’re not feeling it, usually that’s your body telling you that I need a little more rest. If you stick with the diet you’re not taking any steps backwards.

Really the diet does all the work if you can nail it down. Post up your current diet and I’m sure the suggestions will come flying in.

[utefaninutah]

I'm definitely not an expert or anything, but I would agree that you need to eat more. BMR for someone your weight, age, and height is around 1500 cals already, and that's just the calories your body needs to keep yourself alive if you sat in bed all day doing nothing. Just eat healthy, and exercise. From what I've come to understand in the time that I've been working out and researching all that I can about dieting and exercising for myself, jghight above is correct, women's bodies don't have the right hormones to get all bulky like men, and the more muscle that you have the more fat you'll burn.

[SB-Girl]

Last Monday for example, before I started worrying. I kind of freaked out this day because I didn't make it to soccer practice. :
(I don't really understand the protein or macro stuff so I don't know how to apply it honestly.)

:-/

Food:
*Fiber-One 80 calorie ceral with Almond Milk
*Special K Sea Salt Cracker Chips and Cheeze-its
*Rice with Beans
*Light Wheat PB&J Sandwich
*Carl's Jr. Grilled chicken Sandwich
*Glass of Vitamin Water

which totaled to 1685. It's more than most days before.

Workout-

*Cycling To and From the Gym- 6 miles total
*Treadmill for 35 minutes
*Back extension at 25 lbs 3x12
*Hip Adduction (@70 lbs.), Hip (@90)- both 3x12
*Leg Curl/ Hamtractor- ?
*Rotary Calf( @90 lbs) 2x12, 1x12(@110 lbs.)
*Incline bench 3x15


I am supposed to be on this routine but I only get to do it like half of the time. I feel too exhausted to and stick to my usual "workout". I get around to doing the legs and Ab days though.:
http://www.jefit.com/routines/workou...se.php?id=3236

[tjwood]

Food:
*Fiber-One 80 calorie ceral with Almond Milk
*Special K Sea Salt Cracker Chips and Cheeze-its
*Rice with Beans
*Light Wheat PB&J Sandwich
*Carl's Jr. Grilled chicken Sandwich
*Glass of Vitamin Water

Sorry, but.... eurgh. No wonder you're exhausted. Sorry to be blunt but that diet is pretty awful. (Not the worst ever, but pretty awful :-)

Most of your calories came from "low calorie" cereal, some kind of chips, a fast food sandwich and a soda? ("Vitamin Water" is basically soda albeit without the fizz...check the sugar content!). The PBJ and rice and beans (was this homemade? from a packet?) are the best sounding bits there, even then there's not much protein and virtually no fruit or veg.

You could make some simple alterations to improve the diet vastly, for instance:

- replace the special K and cereal rubbish with oatmeal and fresh milk
- for the rice and beans use brown rice, add some chicken or other protein, and some vegetables
- replace the fast food with homemade grilled chicken breast with vegetables or salad and a wholewheat bun
- lose the soda, drink water, and eat some fruit
- even with changes such as these, you still probably need to up the calorie level slightly.

I don't want you to think I'm going off on a diet rant but really, "an army marches on it's stomach" and all that.

[Deviation]

I don't want you to think I'm going off on a diet rant but really, "an army marches on it's stomach" and all that.

Pretty much the truth there. You're going to be dead tired on that kind of a diet. There's not enough calories (forget the macros) to get through any decent workout.

This is why you hit a plateau. Give your body something to work with. In addition to what tjwood suggested, you can add in nuts (raw almonds my favorite) as well. Good sources of fat that you actually need.

[SB-Girl]

Thank you guys for the advice. I've adjusted my diet and workout since.

So basically if I want to develop lean muscle and lose weight, I have to change what I eat and eat more?
By how much? I've actually been doing the JEFIT workout routine this week that I posted in this thread, eating at least 1800 calories but is that still not enough to see a positive difference and it just not going to crap? I'm kind of confused on the concept.

I know I screwed up my metabolism from that bad, restricting, calorie-counting dieting so I don't know what will happen now with me actually eating more. Apparently when I checked my weight on Monday I was 154 lbs, +2 lbs (?). I don't understand that either because it was just after had quit my old diet plan for a couple of days and started this new one. Hopefully things will take time to settle?