Stuck at a plateau for ages - help? ideas?

Joined 17 years

administrator

I hope this won't seem too funny to post, especially since I've been part of the online feederism scene for a long time. But basically, what the topic line says. This is also the first in a long time, if ever that I've asked for some help, ideas, assistance, etc.

At the very least, I thought I might be 200+ lbs by now. I even have some 40 inch trousers that I can't use yet.

Without getting into too much detail, there have been times when I got a bit depressed so then my appetite dropped, but it's not usually always like that.

Other than that, the biggest problems so far seem to be appetite, timing, and habits. Sometimes it's just not as convenient to eat, and I often need use of my hands. I had hoped the COVID pandemic might have been a good opportunity, but no such luck.

I have had a few 4,000 calorie days, and then I felt great, until the next day when I don't eat very much, which wipes out most of the progress. Also frustrating are days when it's not that convenient to eat, so when I finally do eat, I only manage to get 2,000-2,500 calories in.

I did come up with a delicious shake recipe for the end of the day, that you can find here called "unwhipped cream" but then it often takes me an hour to drink it, which is moderately annoying because when it's time to sleep, I often just want and need to doze off right away.

Another thought might be to snack more, but not sure of the best way to establish that habit. I didn't even have any chocolates when I wrote this. Any thoughts on how to best establish this?

Not sure if I just need encouragement, or if there's more tips I can try that I haven't thought of?

I even thought about maltodextrin powder, but it does NOT mix well with heavy cream at all, creating an undrinkable mixture. Not sure what else to mix it with.

As much as I wish I could eat more fast food while out and about, I can't really do that more often because it'll get expensive very quickly. I had hoped I'd be eating entire large pizzas in one sitting by now.

3 years

Stuck at a plateau for ages - help? ideas?

Lynne841

Joined 7 years

I am in very similar boat, had a really good gain of around 25+ pounds thru 2019 after being stuck in a rut. 235 in June 250 by Labor Day and 260 by holiday season, only time I've ever gained like that in my life. Previous 10+ pound gain just kind of fizzled after awhile. I plateaued at 218 for over 3 years before joining FF.

I actually lost roughly 8 pounds in 2020 I guess due to stress and dropped to 256 after 6+ months stuck in low 260 range. Struggled to stay above 265 this past year and have trouble keeping up my daily calorie count as well. Can relate to all things said above, too busy through out the day, dont like to eat while on laptop, I hate cooking especially in the summer months. Or if I am around family and don't want to make a pig of myself and stick to normalish portions.

Heavy wipping cream helps me make up the difference and is mostly responsible for latest 5+ pound gain. I can't drink that stuff strait so I make a point to stop for a Lg Jamoca shake (1050 cal) or a couple Carmel frappes (S = 450 cal) to mix the hwc into. Also add Rum Chata to help take the edge off.

Cheaper option is to mix own milkshakes w/ any flavor ice cream, hwc and whole milk to thin it out. Blender Bottle is awesome for that.
Small Carmel frappes are only $2 but even that does add up fast from week to month... But they are calorie bombs.

I also thought I'd be devouring whole pizzas and be able to eat multiple fast food meals by now. Although I am always missing closer on the pizza's. I do love feeling stuffed but usually can't make myself eat much past that, to push through the discomfort. Someone to encourage me, get up to reheat the last 2 or 3 slices, or rub my belly would probably help a lot.

I need a perfect storm and cooperative tummy to really let loose, even when I make plans to binge. Although if I start early enough I usually start feeling hungry again a couple hours b4 bedtime and can sometimes finish leftovers, or eat some yogurt or pre bed snack, bowl of cereal.

Have read multiple articles on how alcohol causes weightgain, but I despise taste of beer. A coke and whiskey with dinner or rum chata mixed in shake is my choice of drink. Although it usually makes me tired and I go to bed early b4 I can eat anything else b4 bed 😆
The science says your body will prioritize the alcohol first therefore you end up storing more of the food calories while system is busy. Metabolise the alcohol while body soaks up the big meal, I also find I can eat more when tipsy, less inhibitions and maybe masks the discomfort.

My appetite has also been a little more demanding as of late but I was still surprised to see I broke 270. Then I've gone a couple days where I don't really eat dinner since its so hot and muggy. Constsnt struggle of balance and trying to eat more than 3000 calories a few times a week or more.
I also dislike the acid reflux and bloated feeling I have at work most the morning after... Yet after a decent binge I feel ravenous and extremely hungry by the afternoon. Can sometimes stretch it out a few days and eat a bit more than usual following trip to buffet or 3/4 of lg pizza.

Like I said, the large shakes from Arbys or Culvers pack 1000+ calories, I drink maybe a 1/4 then refill to top with heavy wipping cream. Some nights I drink 2 of those, but got one rotting in fridge I didn't get to b4 bed night b4 last. Or I mix with ice cream and milk... Even added scoop of Skippy peanut butter a few times. Best of luck to you.

3 years

Stuck at a plateau for ages - help? ideas?

Ky Belly Boy

Joined 10 years

I am also stuck on a plateau. I have been between 285 and 290 pounds for a while. I really want to break the 300 pound threshold and see where to go from there. But I haven't found anything that would help me reach my goal. I am going to try devouring a tub of ice cream before bed, among other ideas.

3 years

Stuck at a plateau for ages - help? ideas?

Zora

Joined 6 years

I hit a plateau during my last gaining cycle, and was not able to break through it during that cycle.

Gaining weight in cycles has helped me get through plateaus in the past. I had planned to start a new cycle last month, but life happened.

Aside from gaining weight in cycles, consistency during a cycle is key. If you're having trouble remembering to eat, then I highly recommend adding reminders. Set timers or alarms on your computer and/or phone.

Make things easy on yourself. If it takes over an hour to drink a gainer shake, then it's probably too much. If you're drinking heavy whipping cream straight, then limit yourself to no more than 10 fluid ounces per sitting. If 10 fluid ounces gives you indigestion, you might have to go as low as 6 fluid ounces per sitting. Separate your consumption of heavy whipping cream by at least 2 hours to give your body enough time to digest the fat.

I have been losing my tolerance for heavy whipping cream. It might have something to do with a recent change in the hormones I'm taking. The taste, smell, and texture are starting to gross me out. I'm going to try to work around this by mixing it with half & half to dilute it.

I plan on starting a new gaining cycle next week, and am going to incorporate an additional change to my diet, based on a post made by fatchance in the "delayed effects of heavy cream 0_o" thread.

My normal diet is a low-carb diet. I ran some numbers, accounting for the small amount of carbs that would be added by the heavy whipping cream and half & half. Based on my calculations, my diet during the gaining cycle is still low in carbohydrates. I would still be 170 grams short of the recommended daily amount of carbohydrates.

I'm going to add 170 grams of complex carbohydrates to my diet, to see if it has any positive effect on my next gaining cycle. If nothing else, doing this would add about 730 calories per day.

Those are just my recommendations, along with things that I will be trying out during my own attempt to break through a plateau. I hope they help you.

I'll keep my fingers crossed and start posting updates when I start my gaining cycle next week Friday.

3 years

Stuck at a plateau for ages - help? ideas?

Wdk680

Joined 13 years

This thread reminds me how full of shit all of the online fat-haters out there are, thinking it is a simple mathematical equation as far as calories consumed versus those 'expended' as to whether a person gains weight (as fat). It might be a wakeup call for these clowns (I can think of one popular podcaster in particular) to hear from people that actually WANT to gain weight, that it is not so simple!!

Does anyone know if 'set-point' theory is still a thing? In that sense I remember them saying many people would yo-yo diet themselves up to ever larger weights through cycles of calories restriction (putting their body on 'famine' mode followed by feast (in which you blow by your old high weight to a new 'set-point plateau'.

3 years

Stuck at a plateau for ages - help? ideas?

Zora

Joined 6 years

wdk680:
This thread reminds me how full of shit all of the online fat-haters out there are, thinking it is a simple mathematical equation as far as calories consumed versus those 'expended' as to whether a person gains weight (as fat). It might be a wakeup call for these clowns (I can think of one popular podcaster in particular) to hear from people that actually WANT to gain weight, that it is not so simple!!

Does anyone know if 'set-point' theory is still a thing? In that sense I remember them saying many people would yo-yo diet themselves up to ever larger weights through cycles of calories restriction (putting their body on 'famine' mode&apos

followed by feast (in which you blow by your old high weight to a new 'set-point plateau'.

So true. Weight gain is something that didn't just happen for me. I'm a hard gainer, and heavy whipping cream was the only thing that led to consistent weight gain for me. Becoming obese definitely required work.

I don't know all the details of 'set-point' theory, but my weight gain cycles, specifically the one-week break, look very similar to the yo-yo diet you mentioned. I don't intentionally go on a diet. I just take a break from the heavy whipping cream and eat my regular diet.

Having said that, set-point definitely appears to be a thing for me. I have not changed my regular diet since intentionally starting to gain weight. I eat just as much as I ate before starting my weight gain journey.

From what I have read in journal articles, the easiest way to stay skinny is to not gain weight in the first place. Once you start gaining weight, there is the potential that your body's set point may increase.

I weighed 166 pounds when I decided to start using heavy whipping cream to gain weight. Today, I weigh 252 pounds. I dropped down to 252 pounds from the 265 pounds I reached when I hit a plateau. After that initial 13 pound loss, my weight stabilized at about 252 pounds, and has stayed there for the past three weeks.

My last weight gain cycle ended on May 14th, and I've just been eating my regular low-carb diet. As I said, it's the same diet I ate at 166 pounds. Despite this, my body weight isn't dropping down to 166. It's stable. So now I'm basically 86 pounds fatter than I was when I started, and I don't need to do anything special to maintain my weight. I was 244 pounds at the start of my last weight gain cycle, so it looks like my set-point has increased by 8 pounds since then.

I think other factors can definitely have an impact on the set-point. I attained my highest weight of 295 pounds while on a medication called Prednisone. I then took a 4-month break from gaining. After that break, I decided to start another weight gain cycle, and was disappointed to see that my weight had dropped from 295 pounds down to 244 pounds, without any exercise or effort on my part. I was just eating my regular diet.

I had weaned completely off the Prednisone during that 4-month break. During that time, my pot belly shrunk, my moon face went away, and the buffalo hump on the back of my neck also disappeared. I strongly suspect that much of the 51 pound weight loss during that 4-month break was due to losing all that prednisone weight.

Like I said, my body's set-point has increased significantly since I started intentionally gaining. Set-point may be a curse for those trying to lose weight, but it has been an absolute blessing for me. It is to nice to be able to gain to a certain point, take a break, and not worry about losing all of the weight I just gained.

If I can break through my last plateau, it will be interesting to see what my weight does once I eventually get back up to 295 pounds. I suspect that, since I'm gaining weight without Prednisone, I'll actually be able to maintain most of that weight whenever I decide to take a break from gaining. Time will tell.

3 years

Stuck at a plateau for ages - help? ideas?

Primal23

Joined 5 years

I'm in this situation right now. Recently I started my weight gain journey. I was about 150 when I started a few months ago. I do have health issues that make it difficult to gain weight. So for pretty much my whole adult life I have been normal if not underweight.
I started intentionally gaining and gained about 30-40lbs. I am not sure 100%. But, I definitely did gain a decent little amount. Holy hell have these extra lbs been hard-won. Like mentioned above, only by drinking heavy cream have I been able to gain.
This past week or so I haven't had the money to keep buying heavy cream, as it is pretty expensive. Along with having been doing some minor physical work. As soon as I stopped having heavy cream the lbs just start dropping off. So frustrating! Knowing how hard it was to gain each of those lbs. When I see people saying how easy it is that they gain weight or I have even had people tell me I am lucky because the incurable, chronic, debilitating illness I have keeps me skinny normally. Here I am wishing the exact opposite, trying my hardest to gain just to see that scale needle barely move... oh well, I will keep trying!

3 years

Stuck at a plateau for ages - help? ideas?

Primal23

Joined 5 years

wdk680:
I think other factors can definitely have an impact on the set-point. I attained my highest weight of 295 pounds while on a medication called Prednisone. I then took a 4-month break from gaining. After that break, I decided to start another weight gain cycle, and was disappointed to see that my weight had dropped from 295 pounds down to 244 pounds, without any exercise or effort on my part. I was just eating my regular diet.

I had weaned completely off the Prednisone during that 4-month break. During that time, my pot belly shrunk, my moon face went away, and the buffalo hump on the back of my neck also disappeared. I strongly suspect that much of the 51 pound weight loss during that 4-month break was due to losing all that prednisone weight.

I too have been through and share much of what you say. I have Crohn's disease so that makes gaining very difficult for me too. I have also been on Prednisone so many times. Which yes, it can cause weight gain, but holy hell the other side effects make that medication so horrible! Best of luck in your journey!

3 years

Stuck at a plateau for ages - help? ideas?

Zora

Joined 6 years

It's an interesting idea. I haven't tried it, but I'm not a huge fan of pasta, and I can't really see myself eating enough of it per day to get the job done.

I'm not a foodie or feedee, and I don't like stuffing myself to gain weight. The heavy cream worked because it didn't take much to get the job done.

If I'm able to tolerate the heavy cream/half & half combo, I should still be able to get some solid gains out of my cycles.

3 years

Stuck at a plateau for ages - help? ideas?

Wdk680

Joined 13 years

wdk680:
This thread reminds me how full of shit all of the online fat-haters out there are, thinking it is a simple mathematical equation as far as calories consumed versus those 'expended' as to whether a person gains weight (as fat). It might be a wakeup call for these clowns (I can think of one popular podcaster in particular) to hear from people that actually WANT to gain weight, that it is not so simple!!

Does anyone know if 'set-point' theory is still a thing? In that sense I remember them saying many people would yo-yo diet themselves up to ever larger weights through cycles of calories restriction (putting their body on 'famine' mode&apos

followed by feast (in which you blow by your old high weight to a new 'set-point plateau'.

Zora:
So true. Weight gain is something that didn't just happen for me. I'm a hard gainer, and heavy whipping cream was the only thing that led to consistent weight gain for me. Becoming obese definitely required work.

I don't know all the details of 'set-point' theory, but my weight gain cycles, specifically the one-week break, look very similar to the yo-yo diet you mentioned. I don't intentionally go on a diet. I just take a break from the heavy whipping cream and eat my regular diet.

Having said that, set-point definitely appears to be a thing for me. I have not changed my regular diet since intentionally starting to gain weight. I eat just as much as I ate before starting my weight gain journey.

From what I have read in journal articles, the easiest way to stay skinny is to not gain weight in the first place. Once you start gaining weight, there is the potential that your body's set point may increase.

I weighed 166 pounds when I decided to start using heavy whipping cream to gain weight. Today, I weigh 252 pounds. I dropped down to 252 pounds from the 265 pounds I reached when I hit a plateau. After that initial 13 pound loss, my weight stabilized at about 252 pounds, and has stayed there for the past three weeks.

My last weight gain cycle ended on May 14th, and I've just been eating my regular low-carb diet. As I said, it's the same diet I ate at 166 pounds. Despite this, my body weight isn't dropping down to 166. It's stable. So now I'm basically 86 pounds fatter than I was when I started, and I don't need to do anything special to maintain my weight. I was 244 pounds at the start of my last weight gain cycle, so it looks like my set-point has increased by 8 pounds since then.

I think other factors can definitely have an impact on the set-point. I attained my highest weight of 295 pounds while on a medication called Prednisone. I then took a 4-month break from gaining. After that break, I decided to start another weight gain cycle, and was disappointed to see that my weight had dropped from 295 pounds down to 244 pounds, without any exercise or effort on my part. I was just eating my regular diet.

I had weaned completely off the Prednisone during that 4-month break. During that time, my pot belly shrunk, my moon face went away, and the buffalo hump on the back of my neck also disappeared. I strongly suspect that much of the 51 pound weight loss during that 4-month break was due to losing all that prednisone weight.

Like I said, my body's set-point has increased significantly since I started intentionally gaining. Set-point may be a curse for those trying to lose weight, but it has been an absolute blessing for me. It is to nice to be able to gain to a certain point, take a break, and not worry about losing all of the weight I just gained.

If I can break through my last plateau, it will be interesting to see what my weight does once I eventually get back up to 295 pounds. I suspect that, since I'm gaining weight without Prednisone, I'll actually be able to maintain most of that weight whenever I decide to take a break from gaining. Time will tell.

Yeah, thanks so much for the detailed response!! We often see it stated that you need to eat a lot just to maintain a high weight, but it's not true for most people. That is why they use 'weight loss' surgery to essentially starve people in order for them to lose weight. I have seen folks that have recently lost a lot of weight that way, and they look SO unhealthy (skin tone is grey-ish, and the hair generally looks totally lifeless and sparse). Starvation is not good for anyone no matter how fat they are. The fact that the 'medical community' has ignored that fact makes me question everything else they say......

3 years