When did you hit your first plateau?

ariamythe

During my last run of weight loss, I dropped nearly 70 lbs without a solid plateau (there were weeks here and there). Then I went three months of less than 1lb a month lost. What had happened was that I had left one job and become much more sedentary, but I never thought to adjust my calories (I had a lot on my mind at the time).

callsitlikeiseeit

I'm 7 months in and no plateau. I've had a week or two with no loss, but thats normal. not a plateau.

Cortneyrenee04

I've never hit one. I definitely took a break of sorts, but I just lost the right mindset.

Plateaus don't have to be part of your weight loss like a lot of people seem to think. As you lose, keep adjusting your calories (and weighing your food!) and you'll never plateau.

arditarose

I hit mine right on the high end of a healthy weight for my height. And then every 5 pounds after haha. Every time, I had to do something to tighten up my logging/tracking. No longer could I eyeball foods at the salad bar for lunch-lunch had to be weighed and packed. I had to drop my calorie goal Monday-Friday to give me a little wiggle room on Saturday.

barbecuesauce

You can actually tell when I hit that ice cream hard:



I think that as long as you log what you eat, you're not going to have any mystery plateaus. Health issues and exercise water weight stalls aside, of course. Weigh your food, adjust your calories when you've lost a fair amount, know where your maintenance is and don't go over that too often (although I definitely go to parties and enjoy holidays).

The majority of people who come on here crying "plateau!!" should just take a diet break and come back with a fresh mind for accuracy.

Sirius_12

I was paragliding in Arizona, didn't watch where I was going, and hit a plateau. Broke my arm too.

dakotababy

I remember my 1st plateau...I started at 250lbs and I got to 210lbs. 40lbs in - and I sat there for 8 long months. I tried decreasing my calories because "you are eating too much!" was the go to the response of the sheeple of MFP. This did not work. I tried taking a diet break - nothing. I tried fasting, drinking more water, changing my exercise, exercised less, lifted more, lifted less. Ate more protein, ate less carbs, ate more carbs, changed the macros...8 months was a long time to try different things! None of it was working. I even went to the DR. to check for medical issues - nothing. Perfect in everything.

I then purchased the bodymedia armband (a calorie tracking device) because I had come too damn far to just give up! I found out that I was under eating by about 500-800 calories, basically - my deficit was too large. I was burning way more than what I thought.

I increased my calorie intake (drastically) for a month and BAM - weight slides off. I have never really been in another plateau that bad since then. 8 months was a long time...and it was discouraging. I had decided to think of it as "practicing for maintenance mode." which really made it easier to keep pushing through.

I am a firm believer that "you are over eating/over estimating your exercise calories" is not always the answer. I will also recommend you purchase a calorie tracking device. Not just a HRM - but one that you can wear 24 hours to get a good idea of how much you are burning. Without one...I would have been going blind this whole time. Fitbit is also a good choice. I no longer use a tracking device...as after a year of wearing one, I have a pretty good idea of where my TDEE is at.

Good luck. It is 100% worth it to keep trying no matter what happens - because if you give up, only regrets follow.

JayBirdAZ

@dakotababy I think you just solved my most prominent issue with my fitness regimen. Thank you for the thorough post!

dakotababy

I forgot to mention for those who can not afford a calorie tracker, if you google "Scooby's Calorie Calculator" a website will pop up where you put your information in and it gives you an approximation of how many calories you should be eating. This website was very close to the numbers provided by my bodymedia armband.

At one point I actually gave my bodymedia to my boyfriend to use, then I was just relying on the numbers provided to me through this website and I was still losing weight just fine.

lokihen

dakotababy wrote: »

I forgot to mention for those who can not afford a calorie tracker, if you google "Scooby's Calorie Calculator" a website will pop up where you put your information in and it gives you an approximation of how many calories you should be eating. This website was very close to the numbers provided by my bodymedia armband.

At one point I actually gave my bodymedia to my boyfriend to use, then I was just relying on the numbers provided to me through this website and I was still losing weight just fine.

I was just looking at the bodymedia and from the reviews it's being discontinued and replacement armbands are no longer sold. Sad. It looked like a good product.

Francl27

My 'plateaus' happened every month from the time I started ovulating to the end of my period... so 2/3 weeks at a time, every single month.

T1DCarnivoreRunner

@dakotababy When you say you drastically increased your calorie intake, are you saying you ate at maintenance? Above maintenance? How far above?

mbaker566

eshnna wrote: »

Steve_ApexNC wrote: »

not sure I understand your response. Adipose is a correct biological term is it not?

I am confused too.

I hit my first one at 40 days. Lasted almost three weeks. I kept logging and exercising. Then all of a sudden my body got the memo and I lost 2 lbs in a week by doing exactly the same thing I was doing when I was losing .5lbs a week.

ditto

dakotababy

I was in about a 1000-1200 calorie deficit each day. TDEE was about 2400-2500 calories a day (some days were even higher) when I started using my tracker. I was eating around 1200-1500 calories a day. (which was not enough) I went and started eating about 2000-2100 calories a day and then the weight started coming off again.

I have lost a lot of weight since this happened, so I am eating less calories a day (closer to 1800 as I am about 70lbs lighter since this occurred, my job is not as physically demanding as well) but I continue to keep about a 250-400 calorie deficit off of my TDEE regardless.

lorrpb

No plateau in 14 months, -100 pounds. I do not depart from my eating plan and I rarely miss a workout or steps goal. Consistency and discipline are key for me. Good luck! F60 y/o.

GaleHawkins

I did not lose a pound for the first six weeks but I did lose an inch in the waist and some in the face/neck/butt before I lost my first pound. I did not know it was possible to lose fat and not lose weight but now I know you can lose fat without losing pounds.

ogmomma2012

I had a 2 month wait after I had lost about 55 or so pounds before I got under 200. Even with meticulous logging. It was worth it to push through!

T1DCarnivoreRunner

dakotababy wrote: »

I was in about a 1000-1200 calorie deficit each day. TDEE was about 2400-2500 calories a day (some days were even higher) when I started using my tracker. I was eating around 1200-1500 calories a day. (which was not enough) I went and started eating about 2000-2100 calories a day and then the weight started coming off again.

I have lost a lot of weight since this happened, so I am eating less calories a day (closer to 1800 as I am about 70lbs lighter since this occurred, my job is not as physically demanding as well) but I continue to keep about a 250-400 calorie deficit off of my TDEE regardless.

That is similar to my first plateau (actually I was gaining). I cut calories hoping to lose faster, but started gaining instead. I increased to a smaller deficit after I read that eating below RMR could cause gain. As soon as I returned to a smaller deficit, I started losing again.

Future plateaus were under different circumstances, though.

Sued0nim

Never

Sure I stalled frequently for 2-3 weeks because that's how weight loss works

But constantly downward trend ...easily seen by a trend tracker site like trendweight.com and the application of patience

Machka9

Machka9 wrote: »

I didn't hit a plateau.

I lost 15 kg in 16 weeks ... and hit my goal.

Then I took a holiday break and maintained for a few weeks. Deliberately stopped logging and tracking etc. while I travelled.

And now I'm down another 1 kg.

6 months into this ... still no plateau.

booksandchocolate12

The only time I've ever hit a "plateau" was when I got sloppy with my logging and was actually eating at maintenance.

In other words, I've never hit a plateau that wasn't self-inflicted.

kvansteen

If you are a woman you might seemingly plateau before your time of the month due to excess blood volume. This goes along with why you shouldn't weigh yourself daily, even weekly. Use measurements along with the scale to see your body changing and you won't be surprised by little "hiccups" along the way.

Machka9

Isn't a plateau defined as something which lasts 6 weeks or more?

Remaining the same weight for a few days or even a week or two isn't a plateau ... it's just part of normal weight fluctuations.

Sued0nim

kvansteen wrote: »

If you are a woman you might seemingly plateau before your time of the month due to excess blood volume. This goes along with why you shouldn't weigh yourself daily, even weekly. Use measurements along with the scale to see your body changing and you won't be surprised by little "hiccups" along the way.

And around ovulation...water retention not blood volume

I find it makes more sense to weigh daily so you understand your fluctuations...linking to a weight trend line app like libra or happy scale or a site like trendweight.com gives you a trend line over time which smooths data and extrapolation lines

maxit

I camped for a while once I lost about 30 # - then I added weight training and tightened up tracking and ended up slowly loosing another 12 or so. I would like to lose about 5 more - I am figuring it will take me until the end of the year just because I am now within healthy weight range (upper third - I could lose #18 and still be in range) and my actual deficit is probably only 150 calories a day. I aim for 250 but don't make it every day.

T1DCarnivoreRunner

Machka9 wrote: »

Isn't a plateau defined as something which lasts 6 weeks or more?

Remaining the same weight for a few days or even a week or two isn't a plateau ... it's just part of normal weight fluctuations.

I'm not sure about how long it takes to "officially" call it a plateau. However, I experience fluctuations within a plateau. For example, my second plateau was 6 months. I fluctuated up and down around the same number for that whole time. But I was not losing. I have no idea what caused the whoosh that time, but you know it because rather than small fluctuations of a few lbs., weight drops a few lbs. every day for several days... so then after a few days of consistent drops and no increases, then I went back to hovering up and down around the same weight (another plateau).