How did you break your plateau?

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bmcneal078

New member
I’m 154cm (About 5ft) and I’ve been hovering around 154-156lbs since January. I have no problem with maintaining as I’m trying to grow muscle, but my waist measurements have not budged a bit at all! I feel like i’m going crazy! Here’s my routine:

Height: 154cm (5 feet)
Weight: 154-156lbs
Waist measurement: Currently 33in, I’m trying to get down to 30in, but 29in is the goal!

Cals: 1575 Sunday - Thursday, 1900 on Friday, around 2200 on Saturday. I have a routine that makes it hard to control what I eat on Saturdays, so I try to account for that by eating less during the week. With all that added up, that has me averaging 1710 cals a day. I also aim to get 110-120g of protein a day. Calorie calculators (with exercising 4-5 times a week) have me at losing half a pound a week if I average 1764 cals a day.

Exercise: I lift fairly heavy twice a week, lift moderate weights twice a week (4 days total weight training). I walk on 8% incline treadmill at 2.8 mph for a total of 80 mins a week. I’ve recently added trying to get 10k steps a day in when I can, so that adds almost 5-7 extra hours of walking each week. I have only been doing that for a week, so I was hoping that would help break my plateau, but the scale and my waist is just not moving!

I’m planning on lowering my calories to average out to 1600 cals a day. In the past, I was able to lose nearly 40 pounds with CICO and cardio alone. It seemed so easy, but with muscle weight in the mix I have honestly no idea what I’m doing. I really don’t care what the scale says. At the end of the day, I just want my waist to go down to 30in. I’m open to any ideas. I feel like i’ve tried everything!
 
@bmcneal078 Lowered my calories slightly, upped my exercise slightly, stayed consistent and patient. Eventually the weight started to shift again.

Can’t say I did anything else. It was a painful waiting game.
 
@dawn16 That’s the plan for me. Gonna lower my Sunday - Thursday cals and I’m hoping the extra 5-7 hours of walking a week is enough of more exercise. I’ve read other threads suggesting a “break” on CICO, but I feel like having elevated calories on Friday and Saturday would have prevented that. Who knows!! Trial and error for me
 
@bmcneal078 Not a lot of answers here, just sympathy - 5'0" and 143, and I've been stuck between 137-143 for about 6 months now. Tried a break (which made it go up, so that wasn't good!) Worse, even though I'm doing spin and weight training both, Macro Factor says my daily expenditure is only about 1300 (and I've been logging meticulously). So I think I'm going to focus on building muscle for the next month and see what happens. (Not dropping cardio entirely, but really trying to push myself in the weight training department.) Will share how it goes!
 
@bmcneal078 Girl 1710 is so much, even if you're walking a lot. Do you find it hard to feel full and stay full? Maybe you need more fiber. Are you drinking a lot of water too? You're 1 inch shorter than me and you don't need that much protein anyway, so cut back on calories even if it means less protein! More muscle mass = more calories burned too, so I'm glad you're lifting heavy. Are you fighting for the last 2 reps? If not, it's not heavy enough. Maybe try eating less on rest days too. Do you take creatine? One week is also just not enough time to see a difference though
 
@mirrorimageguitarist I thought 1710 was a bit much as well. I used to eat less calories before Thanksgiving, but I wasn’t happy with the amount of muscle I had. At the advice of someone with more experience than me, I upped my calories from November - Late Feb to try to get more muscle and be in “maintenance” though I still think that was a small bulk. I’m around 35% bf now though, so I think it’s definitely time to cut down. I think I just need to shift my priorities from gaining muscle to losing body fat.

I feel I drink enough water and don’t have a problem with feeling full, but that might change as I lower my calories. I like to keep my protein high as that helps me stay full, so I may only slightly lower my protein goal. I don’t take currently take creatine
 
@bmcneal078 I think creatine has helped me a lot w little side effects but I know everyone is different. You can definitely gain muscle and lose body fat at the same time, fasting or going on a crazy deficit will just ruin your metabolism anyway. Best of luck
 
@bmcneal078 I am 5’1 - I personally don’t count calories anymore as it would drive me a little crazy! The things I focus on are eating whole meals with higher volume (like a chicken veggie stir fry) and I don’t snack much throughout the day. If I had to guess I probably eat 1700-2000 calories a day.

I’ve also realized sometimes less is more when it comes to working out. I used to workout every single day with HIIT workouts. now I take the time to have active rest days and focus on walking, yoga, etc. My gym schedule is typically 2 days of heavy lifting and focusing on good form and functional movements, 3-4 days of incline walking, and just started adding in yoga and pilates on my rest days. I’ve really enjoyed adding pilates in for both my physical and mental health!

Walking incline is great!! I would slowly try and increase your incline if you’re looking for a challenge. I personally do 2.7-3.0 mph at 12-15% incline for 20-30 min. (30 min for my non lifting days) Incline walking really helped lean out my legs!
 
@bmcneal078 You said you lost weight doing CICO but have you ever counted your macros? That may be the change that you need. Also, your calories may need to be a little lower. I lost weight at 1600 per day (5’/129SW, ended at 119) took me 6 wks to drop the weight counting macros but I also move a ton. Orangetheory 5x per week (at that time), lift 3-4x per week and I average about 17k steps per day.
 
@bmcneal078 I increased my calories and ate at maintenance for a few weeks. I also cut back in the gym and gave my body some grace and rest during that period as well. When I started eating at a deficit again and back to my normal gym routine, the weight started coming off again! Sometimes all our bodies need is some time to rest.
 
@bmcneal078 Your calorie intake too high I think. I am 5 ft 3 inch, 130 lbs, and I eat 1,600 to 2,000 calories depending on the workload on the day. Protein, fibre, collagen, magnesium, and creatine. Less carb and fat.

Your Saturday intake 2,200 calories too high. One cheat day is all it takes to ruin 6 days of good diet.
 
@bmcneal078 I’m the same height and 1700ish is way too much. Also the exercise setting may have calculated an incorrect target for you.

Based on your description, I would set it to Light activity 1-2 x per week if you’re meticulous about counting… like weigh everything and measure all condiments etc. But since you mentioned difficulty controlling Saturdays, there is already room for error and I would re-calculate using no exercise at all. That number is probably a lot closer to where your calorie intake should be. And off hand, I’d say about 130 lb for 29” waist.

Also I think your macros are off / not optimal. You mentioned 110-120g of protein daily and while that number sounds right… at 1710 calories, that still puts your protein below 30% even if you do get it in.
 
@bmcneal078 I just started and have a very similar routine to you, but I also have 2-6 hours of cycling every week because I have about 20 extra pounds to lose. 5’2, 150 lbs, waist measurement is 32inches. This will be week 5 for me, but my diet has only been better for 1 week now. Since I started I’m up 3 pounds, but I’ve made significant exercise gains. I know I just have to keep my head down and push through, the scales means nothing. I just tried on all of my pants Saturday and I’m going to do it again in 2 weeks.

The reasons I know this will work: no alcohol, no eating out, no processed food, and it’s worked for me before. I’ve done weight loss with just cardio and my waist barely got smaller. When I lose weight with exercise, my body is fire and my waist shrinks to 24 inches around 123 lbs. Last year when I wasn’t quite this diligent, I lost 23 pounds from March-September, so I know I can at least match that (even though right now the scale is moving significantly slower). I’m approaching it like a science experiment.
 
@cph Good luck to us! The scale has also gone up a pound for me since adding in extra walking. It’s so discouraging. I hope it works out for us at the end
 
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