T Nation

Weight Loss Plateau

Bodybuilding
#1

Hello. I’ve been struggling to lose weight for the last 8 months or so. So far, I’ve dropped from 188 to a low of 145. However, latley I’ve been stuck at about 147 and can’t seem to get past it. I lost about half of the weight by just eating less than I used to, and the second half with a very strict keto diet. I have done all this while increasing strength. I haven’t been able to work out for the past 2 weeks (doctors instructions), but my weight has stayed the same. Any suggestions on what to do to get past this plateau? For 2 days I even stopped eating everything except for eggs and carbless MRP shakes.

Thanks.

#2

Why the hell do you care about weight loss? Shouldn’t you be concerned with fat loss? Weight is a combo of things including H2O, muscle, bones, etc. I lost a lost of fat (44in waist down to a 36in) and the scale weight only said a 5-10 pound loss. Unless you are trying to make a weight class, don’t even get on a scale except once a month.
Just my $.02.

#3

How tall are you by the way? What is your goal? be able to fly when the wind blows? If your height is 5’2", I understand, but if you’re taller than 5’7", man, you are looking in the wrong direction. Stop starving yourself and try to build muscles, that will eventually burn fat. I was 158 lbs last summer, I’m now 185 and I look as lean even if I gained a couple of pounds of fat. I need more info about what you look like, what you are eating, how many calories and what is your training protocol.

#4

Maybe “nags” is a woman???

#5

I’m 5’5". I’m in no way “starving” myself. I eat 5-6 small meals a day and usually stay under 15 grams of carbs. I drink about 2 gallons of water a day. My workout is 3 days a week, and usually 3 days of light cardio (run 1.2 miles).

#6

I forgot to mention that I’m 18, if that helps.

#7

Eat no more than 1,300 calories per day, and be sure that at least 600 of those calories come from protein. You should easily be able to lose the remaining pounds.

#8

Thanks for the suggestions, but I am doing most of what was suggested already. And no, I’m not a woman :slight_smile: Should I look into taking an ECA stack or an herbal equivalent? I have taken Metabolife in the past.

#9

Eating small meals will not help, staying low-carb will not help, taking an ECA stack might help, but only if your diet is in order. Weight loss/gain is a simple matter of energy in/energy out. If you expend more than you consume, you lose weight; if you consume more than you expend, you gain weight. The laws of thermodynamics cannot be violated, not even for you (sorry!). Hence my suggestion that you eat 1,300 calories per day (the 600 coming from protein bit is an attempt to stave muscle loss).

#10

I do that already. And as I said, I do workout 3 times a week and do cardio 3-4 days a week. I use lots of energy. As for an ECA stack. Any suggestions on a good brand? Or I could just get the stuff seperate. What’s best?

#11

The only reponse that pops into to my head is why? First and foremost why do you want to be skinny because that’s the only rational that could possibly be applied. There’s a difference between being ripped and being a runt. Second, why are you on such a rediculously inappropriate diet? You are 18 and this diet when misused can have extreme effects especially when you’re that young. It’s a tool that has its time and place and you really could be abusing yourself by undertaking it for so long at this age! The idea is to put on muscle inorder to lose fat not to lose weight. What is your body fat % anyway?

#12

If you are eating no more than 1,300 calories per day, and yet are still not losing weight, you need to take a couple of weeks off from your diet and consume around 1,700 calories. As for an EC stack, MD6 works fine. Met-Rx and Ergopharm both have very convenient time-released EC stacks.

#13

Nags, I’m going to make some guesses here so bear with me. I’ll bet you’re already skinny looking but you have some belly fat or annoying love handles. In an attempt to “get it all off” you are lowering calories and running a lot, watching that scale every day.

You’ve plateaued because your body is likely in emergency mode. You’ve crapped out your metabolism. You may have lost some muscle too, despite the strength gains- that can happen to newbies and young people to an extent. I’ve seen a lot of people (mostly women) get way too thin trying to get rid of that last little bit of fat. Ain’t gonna happen probably, especially if you’ve been overweight in the past. If you do get it all off, you’ll likely feel horrible and look worse if that’s not a natural state for you.

I remember getting down to around 5% bodyfat, looking and feeling like a POW, yet still having a bit of side fat from back when I was overweight. What did I do? I got pissed off and said “Fuck this bone skinny look!” I started focusing on adding muscle. I lost my fear of fat. That was many years ago and now I’m around 208 and have less bodyfat than I did at 159. I’m still not super ripped lean (I have a “four pack”, though) yet I look a hell of a lot better than I did at 159! As the others have said, gaining some calorie eatin’, metabolism boostin’ muscle should be your focus. Just add in some more calories from protein sources, get some good dietary fats, and drop the cardio or at least greatly reduce it. Don’t get in a hurry or you’ll lay on fat, panic, and start going for the super-model-on-heroin look again. (Bad for a women, even worse for a guy like yourself.)

Trust me on this, I’ve been there and so have most of these guys giving you advice on this thread. I probably wouldn’t have believed it myself at your age and in your current situation, but it’s true. Learn from our mistakes. That’s true wisdom.

If you don’t go for that, then at least stop dropping your cals further (actually, you’ve never mentioned cals, so I don’t know how many you’re getting per day.) Try the Delta 1250 diet as outlined in T-mag. Do a search or look at the FAQ section. Next, read the “Diet Manifesto” article. Good luck. I hope you don’t have to learn all this the hard way.