Weight Loss Plateau

[jghight]

You can't do both "develop lean muscle and lose weight". Only one at a time. That is a conversation for another thread.

Your body can swing anywhere from (+-) 5 lbs in any given day. Your body will retain WATER until it adjusts to your new diet. It will quickly shed after a week or two. Stop worrying about your weight. Use a mirror and pictures to see your progress.

Try the 1800 calories for a few weeks and see if your energy levels are back to normal, then adjust accordingly. You need to get it out of your head you’re messing up your metabolism. Your metabolism will adjust to whatever you feed it. The true art in all of this is finding the balance of energy in (food) and energy out (workouts).

[SB-Girl]

I am so stuck.

I'm honestly REALLY new to weight loss and fitness so I wouldn't understand or know that you can't lose weight and gain lean body mass at the same time. I used to be an athlete/athletic(soccer & tennis) so I never really worried about my weight until this year recently when I got cut from varsity and somehow I gained 20 pounds, putting me at my highest weight.

3 weeks ago I had the chance to check my body fat %, 27%. It surprised me because I though it would be higher but I definitely want to lower it.

Yes I adjusted my diet to 1800-1900 and doing all of my workouts in addition to biking/walking, even finally doing the arms which I used to not care about skipping.

Recently I've been getting compliments that I am slimming down. Although I feel more confident and healthier, inside it pisses me off a bit because the actual number hasn't gone down and I have been maintaining the same weight for the past 3 weeks.

I'm not ready to give up. I just need help making a plan right now. I have no idea in what direction I should go.

I considered doing zig-zag calories.
School started this week. I'll be taking aerobics for PE. I still don't know when I start the Muay Thai of the Senior project.

[Deviation]

Post up the routine you're doing (a link or copy & paste). Let's see if we can help you tweak it some.

The mirror doesn't lie. If you see a change, then you're on the right path. Don't get so caught up in what number is on the scale.

[SB-Girl]

this one, plus biking and walking:

http://www.jefit.com/routines/workou...se.php?id=3236

[morphite65]

Advice sounds good so far, keeping your calories high enough is very important at your age. (Once you hit 20 or so, then you will need to adjust more carefully).
Keep hitting the weights, no matter what! Increased muscle mass will increase your BMR (basal metabolic rate), which multiplies your fat loss efforts exponentially. DO NOT be concerned about getting too much- as previously mentioned, you would need a male's level of testosterone in order to look like one, even with the exact same routine.
Along with that- fat loss should be your main concern, not weight loss. The scale is only one way of measuring progress; as you gain muscle and lose fat, you may hover around the same weight but be in the midst of an extensive bodily re-composition.
That's my two cents, anyway.

See:
http://www.diet-i.com/weight_loss/metabolism.htm
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?t...#nutrientneeds

[Deviation]

this one, plus biking and walking:

http://www.jefit.com/routines/workou...se.php?id=3236

That routine seems a bit all over the place. Keep it simple. 6/days a week for a beginner isn't going to do much for you except get you overtrained and rundown.

As has been said before, get calories in check. Deficits only work short term especially as young as you are. Keep up some quality cardio time (running, eliptical, circuits) and lift some weights. Keep with compound exercises to start with and you'll do fine.

[ReidWilson]

Hi,

Thank you that was helpful! When it has happened to me, I started keeping track of my food and exercise and most of the time my portions had crept up and I was allowing myself more processed and/or higher calorie choices. I found that on both my cleanses, I didn't really show any loss until close to the end. Day 10 and after. And I lose a pound or two more when I am breaking the fast and slowly going back to regular eating.

Thanks and Good Luck!!
Reid Wilson
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