Weight Loss plateau firsts

[Wakegrl0021]

Question for you: I'm training for a Physique competition, its a month into training and I think weight loss has plateau'd do you recommend cutting carbs, cutting calories, or adding more cardio first? I am currently doing 1650 cals, 123-162carbs, and doing HITT 15 mins 3x a week. Just wondering where I should start to see additional fat loss.

Thanks!

[Barn01]

Question for you: I'm training for a Physique competition, its a month into training and I think weight loss has plateau'd do you recommend cutting carbs, cutting calories, or adding more cardio first? I am currently doing 1650 cals, 123-162carbs, and doing HITT 15 mins 3x a week. Just wondering where I should start to see additional fat loss.

Thanks!

What was your previous weight loss history on this diet and training? How long have you not lost any weight? How do you go about weighing yourself? How much hysteresis is in your scale?

[Rsardinia]

What is this 123-162 carb intake? Is this your low day and weekly refeed or just the amount your carb intake can fluctuate day to day?

You should be more precise than that on food intake if its just fluctuation. That 39g of carbs swing is 156 calories in a day. Over a week's time that adds up, even more so over an entire prep. And if you have fluctuations in protein or fat intake as well, you could be potentially swinging 3-400 calories a day, if not more.

If you are on a consistent food intake every day and you've plateau'd then you can weigh your options. But if you aren't strict on your food intake, it could be any number of things causing the plateau. The differences in food intake could simply be the problem for all you know.

[Wakegrl0021]

What was your previous weight loss history on this diet and training? How long have you not lost any weight? How do you go about weighing yourself? How much hysteresis is in your scale?

This is my breakdown: I came up with this by reading Layne Norton's article:
Daily Caloric Intake 1650
Daily Grams of Fat 31-42g
Daily Grams of Protein 180-195g
Daily Grams of Carbs 123-162g

I started this 3 weeks ago and have pretty much lost a 1 lb every week, like I was wanting too. We will for sure see this coming Sunday when I weigh myself but it will be 2 weeks without weight loss. I weigh myself on the same scale and I am going to check measurements and body fat % this week also. I am not sure on the hysteresis on the scale.

[Wakegrl0021]

What is this 123-162 carb intake? Is this your low day and weekly refeed or just the amount your carb intake can fluctuate day to day?

You should be more precise than that on food intake if its just fluctuation. That 39g of carbs swing is 156 calories in a day. Over a week's time that adds up, even more so over an entire prep. And if you have fluctuations in protein or fat intake as well, you could be potentially swinging 3-400 calories a day, if not more.

If you are on a consistent food intake every day and you've plateau'd then you can weigh your options. But if you aren't strict on your food intake, it could be any number of things causing the plateau. The differences in food intake could simply be the problem for all you know.

I do not fluctuate on calories I am normally at 1650 calories or 1652. I use myfitnesspal.com to log all my macros and I have a weight scale that can do grams and ounces along with a nutritional calculator on it. I am pretty consistent with my food I eat the same things most days: oatmeal and eggs for breakfast, turkey burger-sweetpotatoe-broccoli for lunch, 8oz pork loin-broccoli for dinner, and snacks consist of 3oz chicken or tuna with 1/2 cup whole grain brown rice, and preworkout is a protein shake w/peanut butter. Thank you for the replies!

[Tarah1218]

What antidepressants do you take? That could be making it stall up? Some seems to aid in weight loss, while other's seem to make other's gain. I refused to go on them because of the fear I'd become bigger than I was after this baby. Luckly once I started back at the gym and starting eating better I felt much better emotionally.

Do you take Birth control? I just got off birth control a cycle ago, I saw 0 weight loss since I stopped it but after 1 month off it and a normal cycle month things looks like they are going to start moving again (I feel like my peppy self again too).

Also, there have been months where I don't lose anything, recently 4 months. I got body comps on a monthly basis and each month I was lose a tiny amount of fat, 1 pd or so, but I also gained some lean mass and water, so that was why there was no change on the scale.

You are a woman....The week or 2 before your period you could weigh in at 5 pds more than your low and than a few days after your cycle be down those 5 pds plus another half. I think the scale is a horrible thing for women due to our water weight issues with hormones. Can you start taking weekly pictures in a pair of your "small" jeans? I never notice difference in bikini pics but my small pants are fitting perfectly now.

[Barn01]

This is my breakdown: I came up with this by reading Layne Norton's article:
Daily Caloric Intake 1650
Daily Grams of Fat 31-42g
Daily Grams of Protein 180-195g
Daily Grams of Carbs 123-162g

I started this 3 weeks ago and have pretty much lost a 1 lb every week, like I was wanting too. We will for sure see this coming Sunday when I weigh myself but it will be 2 weeks without weight loss. I weigh myself on the same scale and I am going to check measurements and body fat % this week also. I am not sure on the hysteresis on the scale.

Well first you should be weighing yourself first thing in the morning ONLY because the rest of the day has too much fluctuation. Hell even in the AM there's fluctuation but not nearly as much. The protocol is to wake up, go do your 1's and 2's then stand on the scale before eating or drinking anything. Record your weight in a spreadsheet (since you seem to understand how a computer works) and use a 2 week avg. Many things can cause a stall in weight loss ... especially for women. If after 2 weeks you don't see 2lbs diff from 2wks ago then drop cals by 300 and repeat.

Also get a couple 1lbs items and do a hysteresis check of your scale. Stand on it normal, then off, then grab 1lbs of weight then back on and note if there is a change and how much it reads. Then off then grab another 1lbs and do it again. Does it read 2lbs diff? Keep doing this until the scale changes appropriately. Then do the same in reverse .... on and off dropping 1lbs each time and see how much it takes to register the change. You'll then have a feel for the reproducibility of your scale. example ... my scale reads to 0.2lbs but holds up to 2lbs (up and down) hysteresis. Precision and accuracy are two very different things!!

[Wakegrl0021]

Well first you should be weighing yourself first thing in the morning ONLY because the rest of the day has too much fluctuation. Hell even in the AM there's fluctuation but not nearly as much. The protocol is to wake up, go do your 1's and 2's then stand on the scale before eating or drinking anything. Record your weight in a spreadsheet (since you seem to understand how a computer works) and use a 2 week avg. Many things can cause a stall in weight loss ... especially for women. If after 2 weeks you don't see 2lbs diff from 2wks ago then drop cals by 300 and repeat.

Also get a couple 1lbs items and do a hysteresis check of your scale. Stand on it normal, then off, then grab 1lbs of weight then back on and note if there is a change and how much it reads. Then off then grab another 1lbs and do it again. Does it read 2lbs diff? Keep doing this until the scale changes appropriately. Then do the same in reverse .... on and off dropping 1lbs each time and see how much it takes to register the change. You'll then have a feel for the reproducibility of your scale. example ... my scale reads to 0.2lbs but holds up to 2lbs (up and down) hysteresis. Precision and accuracy are two very different things!!

Thanks Barn01! I will surely try that with the cals, I'll assess what this week shows and go from there. Hmm never done that with my scale but that makes sense I will have to do that, thank you for explaining how to do so!

[JungleCat]

contest prep is different. You will have to track each macro nutrient and caloric intake more closely than that range you posted.

[Wakegrl0021]

contest prep is different. You will have to track each macro nutrient and caloric intake more closely than that range you posted.

Thanks JungleCat. I've noticed that my carb marcos are normally the same at 136g. While fat and protein fluctuate slightly, I'm hitting about 184-201g of protein. I read your response to a forum on joint pain and I think I am experiencing that as well so I am going to look into adjusting my exercise routine and see if that will help add in body fat loss as well.