Weight loss plateau

[cmc1991]

Hi! Cathe, sending best wishes on a full recovery soon!

I'm also looking for advice from Cathe (or others in the educated crowd on this forum) on busting through a weight loss plateau. Sorry for the long post, but it's in anticipation of questions . . .

Vitals:
--5'1.5", weigh 129.5, down from 135 about 7 weeks ago.

Eating:
--Daily net calories = between 1000-1300/ day. (I monitor calories with a food diary and heart rate monitor) I admit to the occasional glass of wine, frozen dinner, energy bar, or hershey kisses, but otherwise keep it mostly "clean" with lots of fruits, whole grains, protein, healthy fats, and always (except 1 day) within or slightly below my "weight loss zone" according to "My food diary" (on-line food diary).

Workouts: I mix up my workout
--types (cardio--kickbox, bike, step, elliptical, floor, etc.; strength (high weight, low rep and high rep low weight); flexibility),
--lengths (40 minutes to 2 hours), and
--intensity (intervals, lower impact/ intensity, circuits, steady state)
--I pretty consistently work out 6 days/week


Here's my past 3 months:
--Jan: did Cathe's Jan rotation plus one body part per day
--Feb: Alternated intense cardio (intervals -- plyos, IMAXs) and steady state cardio (kickboxing, biking, etc.) with about 3 days of 2 body parts per day workouts (gym, Cathe's gym style, and P90x).
Also started really watching the diet in Feb.
--Mar: Lowered intensity a bit. Was sick 1 week, so rested 4 days. The rest of the month I mixed in circuits (boot camp, etc.), layed off weights entirely one week and lightened weights one week to alternate full body weight workout days (muscle max, muscle endurance) and circuits with cardio days (lots of kickboxing, biking). Mixed in functional fitness into circuit & strength days.
--April: Plan to continue about 2 days circuits, 1-2 days intense, 1-2 days kickboxing or bike, one to two body parts per day.

I rest 1 day/ week. I stay lighter on leg weights, because I bulk. I also lessened step workouts to 1-2 times/week and upped the kickboxing/ floor/ bike, again b/c step seems to bulk my legs a bit.

Plateau:
I've been stuck for 3 weeks at 129.6. I know I need patientence, but am getting married June 17 so would really like to lose about 6-10 more lbs by then (and ensure my arms and upper body are toned and strong)! Plus, I'm pretty vigilant on the calorie monitoring and the weights loss seems off compared to the caloric intake.

Any advice would be helpful. Thanks!!!

CMC

 

[tillard]

Hmmmm....

Well my first thought is...WOW, you've had some great results thus far!!! Be proud...be very very proud .

My second thought, and question to you, would be...are you simply weighing yourself, or are you measuring yourself as well? I say that because with all of that exercise, and especially weight work, you could very well stagnate on the scale but be making great progress once you use a tape measure to gauge your success. You could be losing fat stores but gaining muscle, which that kind of progress doesn't necessarily translate on a scale. Are your clothes fitting better?? I honestly would say ignore the scale as much as humanly possible, and try and go by measurements instead.

Lastly, (now this may sound crazy) but maybe you should try upping your calories by a couple hundred "clean" calories to see if that may lift your body out of a possible starvation mode. It's hard to get those last few pounds off...they can be quite stubborn...and if you're body at all feels as though it may not be getting enough fuel it will fight back by holding onto those last few pounds as "back up".

Other than that slight modification, I would say you are doing great!! It sounds like you balance out the hard strenuous work, with some down time for your body to help it recover, which is essential. I try and take a light/recovery week every 4 to 6 weeks. Just make sure you aren't overdoing it in your active phases either though, which can lead to overtraining and unfortunately set you back in your progress. Also I've heard some great success stories from women on this board who have found great success in overall body composition and fitness by focusing on the weight training and reducing the cardio. I guess what it comes down to is merely trial and error. I'm still on this path myself trying to figure out exactly what combo my body responds to best. And your right it takes patience (which I'm lacking sometimes ). You'll get there though!!!

A big congrats on the upcoming wedding...I'm sure you are going to look beautiful!!!!

Deni

 

[cmc1991]

Hi! Thanks for the quick response and the congratulations. I am happy overall with the progress, but just a little bit less willing to wait around to see what happens without asking for advice because of the ever-approaching June 17

I have measured, and lost about 1 inch off my hips and waist (and I really need it off my hips). But that has been stuck too!

I have tried upping my calorie intake one day a week to eat at the maintenance level (to confuse my metabolism). Maybe one or two more days? . . . . Also, I forgot to mention I am also drinking 80-100 ounces of water a day! (so I don't think it's water weight)

I guess I could also try reducing cardio and upping weight work for a week or two to see what happens -- that was sort of the goal with the circuits (I have a hard time giving up that heart-rate raising work . . . I like the "workout high.") Has anyone else had results this way (upping weight, lowering cardio)? What was your workout rotation?

Thanks again!

 

[tillard]

Oh...I forgot about the idea of zig zagging your calories. This may be a great idea. I would say up them every other day, or every two days. A great e-book out there is Burn the Fat, Feed the muscle. It has great information on all of this. You should check it out. I don't have the direct link (I'm sure someone else out here in Cathe land does though ) but if you google the title it will bring up this guy's website. His name is Tom Venuto. It's worth the money, it delves into the whole zig zagging component to your diet...alot more specifically than I ever could . Plus a whole lof of other great advice and suggestions. Hope this helps...

Deni

 

[amybajamy]

Wow you sure seem to be doing everything right! Congratulations on your dedication!
I was also going to say alternate your calorie intake so that it is different everyday. Sometimes more sometimes less.
Keep up the good work and good luck!

Amy