Hi all,

I'm 6 months in and down 32 kilos. yay that is great but I have been getting down over the last few weeks as the scales have stoped moving :-( I've just read a post saying to keep carbs under 50 grams per day and not to eat carbs before bed. Any other advice would be appreciated and to know whether this is a common plateo? Only plateo I've had is at week 5 post surgery. I'm now super active and exercise every day, feeling great until scales decided to conspire against me.

Staying off the scale would be the best advice. It's a number. Are you measuring? How are clothes fitting? It's possible your body is recomping during this time and is adjusting to the weight that's been lost, but its lasted for a few weeks it may be time to change up the diet. Keeping carbs down certainly help. Carbs/eating before bed is a touchy subject I don't agree with. Muscle loss (catabolism) is natural during sleep cycles, so I eat before bed to help minimize the effect. What's your daily intake like? Are you eating boxed/processed crap or solid wholesome foods? What about Protein intake? Even if you keep carbs under 50, eating bad carbs is just as bad as eating 200g carbs. Watch for sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners as well, they have a negative effect on a lot of people keeping carbs low causing insulin spikes and such the same as sugar does.

How many calories do you consume? How many do you burn a day? What is your personal daily caloric needs to maintain your current weight?

Hey Mark, I know I should stay off the scales, I hear it everywhere but I just like to know I'm going ok. I haven't measured unfortunately as would have been a brilliant idea. I've got photo's which help me see the difference as I don't really see it in the mirror but comparing photo's I definitely can and I can see it in the clothes. I used to be a size 22 and brought from the bigger person section where as now I can shop in the normal section and can be from a 16 - 18 depending on which shop.

My daily calories are around 800 calories net as advised by dietition. I'm burning on average about 400 - 600 calories a day. So if I've done 700 for example I eat more to keep energy levels up but try not to go over the 800 net calories. Protein tends to be between 35g - 50g depending on the day. Carbs have been around 90 - 100g a day so I'm working on reducing that down to 50g as I only just read and took note of this today. I do have sweeteners in my coffee and drink pepsi max :-/ I cook meat every night and try to have a meat for lunch. I have high protein Cereal for Breakfast.

Thanks heaps

Kim

Staying off the scale would be the best advice. It's a number. Are you measuring? How are clothes fitting? It's possible your body is recomping during this time and is adjusting to the weight that's been lost, but its lasted for a few weeks it may be time to change up the diet. Keeping carbs down certainly help. Carbs/eating before bed is a touchy subject I don't agree with. Muscle loss (catabolism) is natural during sleep cycles, so I eat before bed to help minimize the effect. What's your daily intake like? Are you eating boxed/processed crap or solid wholesome foods? What about protein intake? Even if you keep carbs under 50, eating bad carbs is just as bad as eating 200g carbs. Watch for sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners as well, they have a negative effect on a lot of people keeping carbs low causing insulin spikes and such the same as sugar does.

Hi 2muchfun, I think I answered all questions above :-) any tips greatly appreciated.

Hi 2muchfun, I think I answered all questions above :-) any tips greatly appreciated.

Sorry, I don't understand "net calories"? Just need to know total calories in per day?

To answer your topic question, yes, plateaus are very common and it's not really a plateau unless you go 4 weeks with no weight loss and your clothes fit the same? If your clothes are looser, you're probably replacing fat loss with muscle and it's not a plateau.

Look, I know you don't want to hear this but there is no magical diet cure. I'm not attacking you. I'm just attacking the idea that somewhere there's a one size fits all approach to losing weight. There isn't, or we'd all do Weight Watchers, fly to goal and be skinny little princesses forever.

Eat the number of carbs that keeps you feeling satisfied, doesn't make you feel deprived, doesn't slow down your Protein intake but also doesn't hinder your loss. I kept it to 50 or under but lost at the same pace when I upped it to 70 and kept on losing at that same pace once I increased it to 100 grams a day.

It's so individual it's crazy.

If you're still doing the fresh out of the gate protein only, no carbs, very low calories thing - shake it up. Record what you do so you see how your body reacts. But sometimes increasing carbs and calories is the way to go.

And sometimes? We hit a stall or a plateau because our body needs time to adjust. I had two nine weekers on my long trek to goal. It happens. It stinks, but it happens.

~Cheri

For starters I would swap protein and carb numbers. Aim for 100g protein and 30-50g carbs. Regardless, scientifically if you're working out and not getting enough protein you're not doing yourself any favors. Quality food sources in, quality energy out. It's true your body is I obviously different from everyone else here but research trial and error has proven a thing or two over time. I would start with adjusting protein and carb numbers. Just my .02.

Thank you everyone. It's good to hear other people are hitting long stalls and I'm not alone. I will increase protein and concentrating on reducing carbs like I have. It's funny was at my friends yesterday and there all making healthy sandwiches and I had my little plate of turkey and a slice of cheese lol, I was quite content with that though.

Anyway appreciate all your suggestions thank you