How Long Can I Expect to Be Stalled?

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sapphire1166
sapphire1166 Posts: 114 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This isn't one of those "WHY ISN'T THE SCALE BUDGING??" posts. I know that sometimes the scale doesn't budge for a while. I just started (again) on MFP 2 weeks ago. The first 4 days I lost 5 lbs of almost pure water weight. But here I am 9 days later at the same exact weight. I'm weighing most of what I eat (overestimating usually as well), but not doing much exercise.

I tried overeating on Saturday (okay, I was at a party so I didn't have to try hard) to get the "whoosh", but no luck. What's the longest you've ever stalled for? I plan to continue eating at a deficit and I know my weight will come down eventually but I'm just curious as to when I might see a change on the scale again.

Replies

  • astrampe
    astrampe Posts: 2,169 Member
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    9 days is not "stalling".... Weight loss is not linear, and after dropping 5 lbs, how much more do you need to drop witin a week? have patience, the rest will follow. ...
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    4 weeks...9 days is nothing....actually going into 4 weeks now again...doesn't bother me...it is what it is..

    and I don't think have a big refeed 9 days in will cause a whoosh...but I could be wrong..
  • liekewheeless
    liekewheeless Posts: 416 Member
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    Probably about a month or so for me, but not at the beginning. Give it another week. Let your body catch up with the water weight.

    If that doesn't work, reevaluate your intake (unless it's already really low). I personally have a hard time losing when I don't regularly exercise.
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
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    As long as your intake is greater than your outflow, right?

    HINT: "try [ing] overeating" ain't gonna help. At. All.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    Give it a couple of weeks. If you are doing everything right, you could still end up with water weight gain that would offset fat losses for a couple of weeks. By the third week, you can expect to see some loss, even if you are still hanging onto water, because our bodies have a limited ability to gain water weight.
  • greena
    greena Posts: 36 Member
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    Ha ha ..I just posted pretty much the same thing! You have an easy change to make -- exercise!! That will kickstart the weight loss again! I am a believer in putting in a maintenance day every once in a while, particularly if you've burned a lot of calories through exercise.
  • YoungIronG
    YoungIronG Posts: 125 Member
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    once you bust out some cardio- and if you are already doing that, once you bust out some body resistance (push ups, sit ups, palates, baby lifting, can food curls).

    usually when i stall then my body has gotten used to something.
  • YoungIronG
    YoungIronG Posts: 125 Member
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    i used to use my baby as a barbell, bench press on the floor and standing curls--- he loved it! still does
  • ddoerr57
    ddoerr57 Posts: 27 Member
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    In my journey, I stalled a couple of times. As the postings above stated, weight loss is not linear. Continue to measure your intake, measure our exercise burn, and the weight will come off. There is nothing magic about it. Best of luck to you.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
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    Three weeks...or was it four? I lost track. It felt like most of February. If you know your logging is accurate and you're pretty much sticking to plan, don't sweat it.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    The longest I've been "stalled"? How about six months. Although I certainly not stalled unless I was only looking at the scale and not paying attention to other things - I dropped a full size because I was losing fat and inches, while my silly scale just went up and down the same 2-3 pounds during that time.

    You don't have to exercise to lose weight, all you need is a calorie deficit and some patience. :smile: Yes, exercise is beneficial - it's good for you, it allows for a higher cal intake, and you're more likely to end up with firm and fit results rather than just being just a smaller, but still squishy version of what you started with. :tongue:

    Take some photos for comparison along the way - you'll be glad you did. Get yourself a tape measure and start tracking measurements once a month or so. And don't let the scale mess with your head. Weight loss is not linear, scale weight will go down and back up, and stand still from time to time - as long as you're doing what you're supposed to, you're making progress.

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