I finally blasted through a 1 month+ plateau and thought I'd share what I did. It is not what John does, but it worked for me...

FOOD
Before: 1500 calories at 40/40/20, eating exactly every 3 hours
After: 1400 with no particular macronutrient ratio, eating every 2-4 hours. Although I do try to alternate a high-fat, high-carb days with a lower fat, higher protein day, I'm not nit-picky about the exact ratio right now.

CARDIO
Before: 23 min HIIT 3x/week and 40 min steady state cardio 3x/week
After: 60 min steady state 3x/week and 40 min steady state cardio 3x/week.

WEIGHT TRAINING
Before: 3-day split with 4-6 and heavy weights to failure
After: 3-day split with 8-15 reps and not as heavy weights to failure

It can be so confusing deciding what approach to take for getting in shape, but I think the key is to pick something and stick with it. Don't wait until you've found "the perfect" plan; there is no perfect plan. What works or doesn't work for one person won't necessarily have the same effect on you. There are too many variables--genes, environment, personality--so trust your intution when building a plan so that you can actually stick with it.

I find this site so inspiring. This community is so positive and supportive, I just want to let all of you know how much this has helped my spirit. When I first saw John's site, I was really down in the dumps, feeling very helpless about not being able to effect the changes I wanted in my life. The site gave me a template to work with and I started seeing improvements in my body and self-confidence. Now I feel like I know what I'm doing well enough that I can change my plan to better suit me as an individual. I'm really glad we're all here to help each other out. So, uh, thanks everyone! :o

Congratulations on the break-through - keep up the good work!

I eat around 1500 too without paying particular attention to macronutrient ratios. (Generally low fat, medium carbs, and high protein though.)

Congratulations on the break-through - keep up the good work!

I eat around 1500 too without paying particular attention to macronutrient ratios. (Generally low fat, medium carbs, and high protein though.)

Thanks for the support!

It's good to hear you found something that's working for you, too. In the beginning I was so hung up on getting my ratios perfect, I can't believe that now, when I'm least stringent, I'm losing the fat faster.

Wow congrats... I would have gone nuts if I remains at the same weight for 1+months

I dropped 250 cals to break through my "plateau", i was 173 last week and im 170 today :eek:
This weight is dropping off a bit too quick if you ask me, but im not complaining.

I dropped 250 cals to break through my "plateau", i was 173 last week and im 170 today :eek:
This weight is dropping off a bit too quick if you ask me, but im not complaining.

For some people they need to add calories to break a plateau, for others they need to cut. I was a little too comfortable at my 1500 I think, and was never hungry. Now I get a little hungry sometimes which I think is okay for a few weeks.

When people say they add calories to break a plateau, I think what's really happening is they stop cheating as much. A lot of people are like that. They say, 'I don't understand what's happening--I'm doing everything right' but they forget to mention that every night at 11pm they eat a couple handfuls of almonds, which is about 400 calories. THAT'S your problem. But to prevent that from happening, you can't let yourself get too hungry.

It can be so confusing deciding what approach to take for getting in shape, but I think the key is to pick something and stick with it. Don't wait until you've found "the perfect" plan; there is no perfect plan. What works or doesn't work for one person won't necessarily have the same effect on you. There are too many variables--genes, environment, personality--so trust your intution when building a plan so that you can actually stick with it.

I find this site so inspiring. This community is so positive and supportive, I just want to let all of you know how much this has helped my spirit.

Trinity, that's great. It takes so much hard work to get in shape, and it's nice to know that you're continuing to reach your goals. I know I couldn't make the changes that I've made if it weren't for the support I get here.

It's true everyone's different. What I was doing last week isn't working any more, so I'm trying something new this week and we'll see what happens. Keep in mind too that the perfect plan for this week won't necessarily be the perfect plan for next week either. To continue to see results, you have to occasionally change what you do. I certainly couldn't have started off by doing what I'm doing now.

When people say they add calories to break a plateau, I think what's really happening is they stop cheating as much. A lot of people are like that. They say, 'I don't understand what's happening--I'm doing everything right' but they forget to mention that every night at 11pm they eat a couple handfuls of almonds, which is about 400 calories. THAT'S your problem. But to prevent that from happening, you can't let yourself get too hungry.Good point! KarateTricker has a thread going on that very subject. I blew right through a mini plateau when I got Diet Power and started logging everything that I eat. The software has me eating about 2400 cal/day which I thought was a big increase in food. Now that I think about it, maybe it's not an increase. Now that I'm logging every last bite, I find that I don't grab that handful of almonds because I'm too lazy to log it. All those little hidden calories can add up over time!

I finally blasted through a 1 month+ plateau As of today (Monday: 4/19) I've been at the diet & exercise game for 76 days. I have yet to hit a plateau. I lose between 1.5 - 3.0 pounds per week.

Is there a big brick wall waiting for me, or am I just getting lucky so far?

As of today (Monday: 4/19) I've been at the diet & exercise game for 76 days. I have yet to hit a plateau. I lose between 1.5 - 3.0 pounds per week.

Is there a big brick wall waiting for me, or am I just getting lucky so far?

You're not just "lucky," you are doing the right things, sticking with the program and not cheating. I bet you don't sneak food that you don't enter in your logs. I bet you don't miss workouts. You are unlikely to hit a plateau as long as you stay honest with yourself, i.e. You really are eating what you say you are. I think as men approach 10% body fat it becames harder and harder to shed the fat mostly because before it was easy to go from eating way too much to eating a moderate amount. To lose more fat, you have to push it further: eat still less or work still harder. So it's not that the fat is stubborn, it's that we're stubborn about making more sacrifices.

I'm proud of you, Daveo! I actually downloaded your spreadsheet back in January when I needed a nutrition log template and it has helped me tremendously. I guess I'm not very good at winging it when it comes to eating healthy, so following your outline helped me get started. By June I'll have had about 4 months practice of eatin' good, so I may stop recording for a little while to see what happens. So I owe you a big thank you, too :)

I bet you don't sneak food that you don't enter in your logs. I bet you don't miss workouts. I'm a little obsessive sometimes, let's say it pays off :D
I count a cheat as more than one mouthful of something I shouldn't be eating: I don't cheat. Sometimes I taste homemade pasta sauce as a second opinion, or homemade ice cream (ohmy!), but otherwise I don't cheat. I do log everything, and I weigh everything out.

I've missed one workout so far: after my 5lb drop as a result of food poisioning. I'd have been killed in my sleep by my girlfriend had I even thought seriously about working out. I could hardly walk, I wasn't about to do dips!

I actually downloaded your spreadsheet back in January when I needed a nutrition log template and it has helped me tremendously. I guess I'm not very good at winging it when it comes to eating healthy, so following your outline helped me get started. I'm glad somebody else is using it :nod:
The first day of this whole thing I tried to wing it, just recording what I was eating. Around lunch time I realized I was hosed. There was no way I could correct my mistakes (I'd have had to eat a ton). That's where that spreadsheet came from. I've added a target for the sugar column now: grams of carbs * 10%. I've found I feel better that way, but 1 apple throws the whole thing off. I don't really care about that too much though.

By June I'll have had about 4 months practice of eatin' good, so I may stop recording for a little while to see what happens. I think I'd go nuts, :gl: