How to get past a weight loss plateau?

Options
BubblyKaitlyn
BubblyKaitlyn Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm just starting out on here, I have 55 pounds to drop to reach my goal weight, and my diet and exercise will start on Monday (I know, everyone must say this but I'll be at my boyfriend's house tomorrow and we never eat healthy over there so that day is going to be my one cheat day :sweat_smile: )

One thing I'm worried about though, is the plateaus in weight loss some people can get. I don't want to have weeks of amazing progress then suddenly hit a roadblock that I can't go around. I don't know how one gets past a plateau, and I'm worried about hitting one myself and be unable to get around it, and end up getting discouraged and quit altogether. So, how does one get over a weight-loss plateau? Is it complicated? What are the steps?
«1

Replies

  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
    Options
    Weight loss stalls or slows down at some point. If there is a long period of time (a month or more) of no loss, then you are eating too many calories, and need to eat less.
    I would also recommend you not look at days as "cheat" days, since one regular day of going way over can derail progress.

    I would highly recommend you make sure your logging is correct by using a food scale, and partially eating back your exercise calories if you are relying on MFP burns. These are overestimated.

    Eat what you want, but eat within reason and moderation. It takes trial and error, but progress can be made.
  • meritage4
    meritage4 Posts: 1,441 Member
    Options
    why worry about what might not happen? Instead concentrate on today and tomorrow. Track accurately. eat at a deficit and exercise more.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Options
    Do this today:
    1 take your measurements and put them into MFP so you can track your progress.
    2 take some photos of yourself so that you can look at yourself two months from now and so on.

    The body and scale are not always 100% in sync with each other.
    If the scale seems to be slowing down (or getting stuck), look at your progress in the measurements and the pictures.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    Options
    Most "plateaus", at least in my experience, aren't really a stall. I went six months without losing any weight, just up and down the same 2-3 pounds over and over - BUT, during that time I was losing inches, and dropped a full size. My scale was messing with my head, telling me I wasn't making progress, but I continued to exercise and eat right, and I made friends with my measuring tape. :smile:

    If you're active and eating the right number of cals on a consistent basis, the overall trend is going to be successful weight loss. Some weeks and months you'll see bigger losses, both on the scale and tape, and sometimes it may be more subtle and inches coming off. Stick with it, don't put too much stock in the normal fluctuations of the scale....take progress photos (no one has to see them but you!) and track measurements.

    Good luck!
  • sheldonklein
    sheldonklein Posts: 854 Member
    Options
    Scale data is very noisy, with lots of meandering data points that signify nothing. If you are the type that's going to agonize over every squiggle, consider weighing infrequently. Alternatively, use an app like Libra, that calculate trends in your weight, rather than a single daily data point
  • BubblyKaitlyn
    BubblyKaitlyn Posts: 2
    Options
    Thanks for the replies, guys.
    I recently learned about this and was like "whaaaat?:'o" and began prematurely panicking, but that's nothing new. I have a diet plan sorted already, with eating healthier, sticking to proper serving sizes for 6 days of the week then the one day "off"...also drinking a lot of water, that sort of thing. Exercising is something I'm definitely going to do as well, for five days a week. I'm just starting out, so this advice is quite helpful :smiley:
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
    Options
    What mission said. Check your logging. If you are weighing and logging everything and it's correct, then welcome to maintenance. Adjust you calories or activity levels and keep going.
  • kcd1961
    kcd1961 Posts: 126 Member
    Options
    You're overthinking it. Deal with the plateau when it comes - if it comes at all.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    Options
    kcd1961 wrote: »
    You're overthinking it. Deal with the plateau when it comes - if it comes at all.

    I second this...why worry about it now? :) It might never happen. If it does, you can deal with it then, but go into this with a positive mindset. Don't worry in advance. ;)

  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    Options
    It is possible to stay within your calorie goal while eating "unhealthy" choices with your boyfriend. I had to deal with this throughout my weight loss, as my husband's favorites are Whataburger and pizza. Go online and find out what the calorie counts are of some common foods that you eat together. You can make room for some of it, just watch your portions. And, yeah, don't stress about what hasn't happened yet. We will be here to help if it does:)
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
    Options
    I'm 8lbs away from goal, have lost almost 40lbs now and I haven't stalled as of yet.

    As long as you keep reassessing your caloric needs as you lose weight, you shouldn't have much issue.

    It will get harder, because the smaller you get the less you need, but it's not a guarantee for a stall.

    And I haven't given up anything. Today, we had Chinese. :-)
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Options
    Yeah...you kind of need to start eating at a calorie defecit before you start worrying about heffalumps and woozles
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
    Options
    I'd be more worried about why I wasn't starting today and what going to my boyfriends house had to do with my fitness goals.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Options
    BubblyKaitlyn wrote: »
    I'm just starting out on here, I have 55 pounds to drop to reach my goal weight, and my diet and exercise will start on Monday (I know, everyone must say this but I'll be at my boyfriend's house tomorrow and we never eat healthy over there so that day is going to be my one cheat day :sweat_smile: )

    One thing I'm worried about though, is the plateaus in weight loss some people can get. I don't want to have weeks of amazing progress then suddenly hit a roadblock that I can't go around. I don't know how one gets past a plateau, and I'm worried about hitting one myself and be unable to get around it, and end up getting discouraged and quit altogether. So, how does one get over a weight-loss plateau? Is it complicated? What are the steps?

    Congratulations on starting your new journey.

    Please keep this in mind anytime you get frustrated: weight loss is not linear. The numbers on the scale may increase and decrease at random, but the important thing is the downward movement.

    Do whatever works for you to eat at a calorie deficit and you will lose weight.
  • _whatsherface
    _whatsherface Posts: 1,235 Member
    Options
    I hit a stall for 4 weeks exactly. I just kept doing what I was normally doing but in the 4th week I went to the gym AND walk/jogged a 5k in the same day. I burned almost 1000 calories that day and that really re jump started my loss again. I lost like 3 pounds that week. Just keep at it. Don't be so easily defeated. That's my advice.
  • LAWoman72
    LAWoman72 Posts: 2,846 Member
    Options
    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    It is possible to stay within your calorie goal while eating "unhealthy" choices with your boyfriend. I had to deal with this throughout my weight loss, as my husband's favorites are Whataburger and pizza. Go online and find out what the calorie counts are of some common foods that you eat together. You can make room for some of it, just watch your portions. And, yeah, don't stress about what hasn't happened yet. We will be here to help if it does:)

    Yup! I have junk with my husband when he suggests it. Or sometimes I suggest it! We did Taco Tuesday (Del Taco) last week because we had all been cooking up a storm for a week over the holidays, and nobody felt like cooking. I had two tacos and a salad and I had plenty of calories left over.

  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Options
    LAWoman72 wrote: »
    DancingMoosie wrote: »
    It is possible to stay within your calorie goal while eating "unhealthy" choices with your boyfriend. I had to deal with this throughout my weight loss, as my husband's favorites are Whataburger and pizza. Go online and find out what the calorie counts are of some common foods that you eat together. You can make room for some of it, just watch your portions. And, yeah, don't stress about what hasn't happened yet. We will be here to help if it does:)

    Yup! I have junk with my husband when he suggests it. Or sometimes I suggest it! We did Taco Tuesday (Del Taco) last week because we had all been cooking up a storm for a week over the holidays, and nobody felt like cooking. I had two tacos and a salad and I had plenty of calories left over.
    Take me to Chipotle any day! They have an online nutrition/calorie calculator for figuring out what you want, they have really good food, and it's just down the street. I go once in a great while because I like to cook at home.
  • MoiAussi93
    MoiAussi93 Posts: 1,948 Member
    Options
    Keep in mind that weight can fluctuate from week to week based on water retention. You may show no loss or even have a gain for a couple of weeks and still be losing fat. So don't consider it "not losing" until you go 3 or 4 weeks. If that happens, you need to change something. Either exercise more, increase exercise intensity, add some weight training, eat less, or eat the same calories and change what you are eating...adding more protein immediately got me past a plateau.

    Also, if you are stuck for a little while, try telling yourself that even if you never lose another pound you are much better off at this new lower weight than you were at your heaviest. Psychologically, that helps me to keep doing all the right things until the weight loss resumes.
  • obscuremusicreference
    obscuremusicreference Posts: 1,320 Member
    Options
    Liftng4Lis wrote: »
    I'd be more worried about why I wasn't starting today and what going to my boyfriends house had to do with my fitness goals.

    This. I started this "diet" between lunch and dinner. I have also let people know that I'm no longer up for bars/restaurants unless I know more than a day in advance, so I can plan my calories accordingly. From my two breaks--Thanksgiving and Christmas--I know how badly I eat on cheat days. I'm also honest enough to realize that my cheating over Christmas is why I haven't lost weight since the middle of December. Am I plateauing/stalling? Nah.

    But weirdly enough, I've lost inches. So take measurements.



  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
    edited January 2015
    Options
    BubblyKaitlyn wrote: »
    .. I have a diet plan sorted already, with eating healthier, sticking to proper serving sizes for 6 days of the week then the one day "off

    This may work, depending on how many calories you eat on your day "off". But, its also possible to overeat so much on that one day that you will wipe out your other 6 day's effort.

    What I'm getting at is, I suggest you log the calories on your weekly day off too. That way you will know exactly how many calories a week you are cutting. For example, lets say you decide to lose a pound a week, so you eat 500 calories less each day. Now, since you are only staying within your calorie goal for 6 days, you probably won't really lose a pound since 6x500=3,000 and you need to cut 3,500 to lose a pound. Anyway, lets say that on your day "off" you eat 1,500 calories over your daily calorie goal. This could mean that 2 of the 6 days you were eating less, are now wiped out and really for the whole week you ate just 2,000 calories less than your body needs to maintain the weight its at now. If you eat 2,000 or 3,000 calories over your daily calorie goal on your day "off", like maybe a huge meal at a fast food place or chain restaurant, or a big bag of chips or a bunch of booze, well then you no longer have any deficit.

    Just pointing this out so you can plan ahead!

    Oh, and one more thing. In order to really know that you are cutting X amount of calories each day, you will need to weigh your food, otherwise you are pretty much guessing.

    55835802.png

Categories