The Evil Plateau

pdxwine
pdxwine Posts: 389 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Yep, I hit a plateau. I have been *stuck* at the same weight for the past 10 days. It is driving me nuts. The beauty is, my weight has not gone up. The bad part, it has not gone down.

My activity level has changed, in the past two weeks, so most likely, that is the reason I am in a holding pattern. I work in the wine business and we were shorthanded, so I did spend 8 weeks helping the guys in the warehouse, which meant more steps taking and a lot of weight lifted. We are now fully staffed, so I am back to my management duties, which are less physical.

My goal is to lose 1 pound per week, which has been the norm, until now.

Writing this made me see where the problem lies. Activity. I need to replace that physical activity with something.

Replies

  • rkcampbell
    rkcampbell Posts: 188 Member
    10 days is not long enough for a plateau. Weight loss is not linear. You'll have some weeks where you don't lose and some weeks where you do. Just be patient and keep on keepin on!
  • GinaMBarajas
    GinaMBarajas Posts: 1 Member
    Same here. I have got to step up and exercise more. Hoping Zumba will do that. I'm aiming at 4 times a week.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited May 2015
    It's not a plateau, plateaus are eating to a defecit for 6-8 weeks and the scales not moving

    It's a a natural stall ...they happen frequently and can last 2-3 weeks then whoosh

    You don't need to do anything special ...you just need to keep doing the right things consistently
  • pdxwine
    pdxwine Posts: 389 Member
    Thank you for the responses. I know that I am going the right direction. Just frustrating to stall. :smile:
  • Emilia777
    Emilia777 Posts: 978 Member
    edited May 2015
    Physical activity is great, but the key thing for weight loss is your food intake - it’s easier to maintain a deficit by eating less than by burning more. I notice you have a lot of cup measurements and size-estimates in your diary (large apple, 2 tbsp mayo). These things can add up. There’s a good youtube video showing this but I just can’t find it…

    Besides, 10 days is nothing - hang in there!
  • BodyByBex
    BodyByBex Posts: 3,685 Member
    pdxwine wrote: »
    Thank you for the responses. I know that I am going the right direction. Just frustrating to stall. :smile:

    Oh yeah. We've been there. I'm there right now. But I focus on other milestones. My weight might be 'stuck' but my cardio in the last week has improved SO much.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,961 Member
    pdxwine wrote: »
    Yep, I hit a plateau. I have been *stuck* at the same weight for the past 10 days. It is driving me nuts. The beauty is, my weight has not gone up. The bad part, it has not gone down.
    Not that "evil" since it's not a plateau. A plateau in weightloss is 6 weeks or more of no weight movement while being consistent with diet and exercise. Anything less would be a stall. If there's any disruption to the routine, then it's also still a stall. Plateau's are rare.
    My activity level has changed, in the past two weeks, so most likely, that is the reason I am in a holding pattern. I work in the wine business and we were shorthanded, so I did spend 8 weeks helping the guys in the warehouse, which meant more steps taking and a lot of weight lifted. We are now fully staffed, so I am back to my management duties, which are less physical.
    Less physical activity will usually lead to less of an overall deficit.
    My goal is to lose 1 pound per week, which has been the norm, until now.

    Writing this made me see where the problem lies. Activity. I need to replace that physical activity with something.
    So as you see it's NOT a plateau, but a body adjustment to recent reduced activity. Honestly, if you were still able to do your management duties and still help in the warehouse, then why not keep doing it? When I was the bike and warehouse manager for Toys R Us, I STILL helped unload the trucks during the week. Why? Because it was physical.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

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  • pdxwine
    pdxwine Posts: 389 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Honestly, if you were still able to do your management duties and still help in the warehouse, then why not keep doing it? When I was the bike and warehouse manager for Toys R Us, I STILL helped unload the trucks during the week. Why? Because it was physical.


    I cannot keep helping the warehouse guys out. I have to get back out an produce income. While the activity was helpful, helping them out does not produce the income we need to keep them employed. I need to replace that activity with something else. I have been checking on some dance classes.
  • kamber13
    kamber13 Posts: 249 Member
    I'm in the same not-plateau/ not-stall that you are in! It's been nearly 3 weeks at the same 3 scale balances. I'm thankful my activity level is about to ramp up in a few weeks, but until then I decided to overhaul my eating habits. No only am I looking to maintain my deficit, but I'm adding other angles like not eating after a certain hour at night... (currently 9PM, but I'd like to bring that down to 7pm).

    I hope you see a change soon... I really know how frustrating that can be.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    pdxwine wrote: »
    Yep, I hit a plateau. I have been *stuck* at the same weight for the past 10 days. It is driving me nuts. The beauty is, my weight has not gone up. The bad part, it has not gone down.

    My activity level has changed, in the past two weeks, so most likely, that is the reason I am in a holding pattern. I work in the wine business and we were shorthanded, so I did spend 8 weeks helping the guys in the warehouse, which meant more steps taking and a lot of weight lifted. We are now fully staffed, so I am back to my management duties, which are less physical.

    My goal is to lose 1 pound per week, which has been the norm, until now.

    Writing this made me see where the problem lies. Activity. I need to replace that physical activity with something.

    A plateau is another word for eating too much but 10 days is probably just natural fluctuation and/or a sign that weight loss is not linear. Patience is a virtue.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,961 Member
    pdxwine wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Honestly, if you were still able to do your management duties and still help in the warehouse, then why not keep doing it? When I was the bike and warehouse manager for Toys R Us, I STILL helped unload the trucks during the week. Why? Because it was physical.


    I cannot keep helping the warehouse guys out. I have to get back out an produce income. While the activity was helpful, helping them out does not produce the income we need to keep them employed. I need to replace that activity with something else. I have been checking on some dance classes.
    Fair enough. Good luck to you finding something to replace the physical activity. If all else fails, walking is great because it's free and you can also use that time to come up with ideas for work or other strategies to increase income. No distractions and time to yourself at the same time.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

  • pdxwine
    pdxwine Posts: 389 Member
    ninerbuff, yes, walking is a good thing. Definitely will ramp up there. I am hoping that the dance classes I found are truly of interest. They have a jazz class, for beginners, that caught my eye. They are drop in classes, so I need to get my tush over there and check them out.

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