I need help going through this plateau

jacki865

I am 5;2 and I started at 234.6 on New years. Today I weighed in at 219.6. For the month of January I have dropped about 15lbs but since February started I have been fluctuating between 119-222 despite doing the same thing as I did in January.

I am on a 1200 calorie diet and I pretty much eat the same thing everyday. I eat out one meal once or twice a week and completely gave up soda and any sugar containing drinks. I do cardio machines 3 times a week and resistance training 3 times a week. as well as a kettle bell routine, zumba, and a 5 mile hike usually once a week. I do half my exercise calories readout from the machine and I eat some of them back if I am hungry.

How common is plateaus this early on and how did you handle them without feeling discouraged?

lifeofagymbunny

Hi jacki865. Congratulations on your weight loss far! The reason you are plateauing is a) your calories are you too low, and b) could be that you are eating more calories than you realise.

Nobody can survive long term on 1200 calories - it is below the basic energy expenditure required for a human being. Your body has gone into survival mode and is desperately holding onto every last piece of fat because you are not eating enough.

Or it could be that you are consuming more than you realise. Do you weigh out all your food? If you make your diary public, I could have a look

Good luck.

Tavahi

Change it up! Your body will get so used to the same diet and the same workout it will begin to grow stangant.its the same concept as muscle confusion, but use it with your diet! Also 15 pounds is a pretty dramatic drop. Probobly mostly water weight. Just keep pushing and it will show! Not today, not tomorrow, but soon. Best of luck!

diannethegeek

A plateau is usually considered to be something like 6+ weeks with no change on the scale and no changes to your routine (since changes in diet and exercise routines tend to come with a lot of water weight fluctuations). So it doesn't sound like you've quite hit one yet. But stalls are still frustrating!

This is my really general advice:

1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.

2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.

5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.

Stimpy56

I just hit my plateau today as well. I had been loosing on average 2 lb per week, down 12 lbs since Jan 1. Even though I did not loose any weight this week, I have noticed that my pants fit looser than last week, so I may be loosing inches over pounds. Also, I have been doing lots of cardio (elliptical and treadmill) and my legs burn after every workout. That tells me I am most likely building muscle. This week is going to be a mental game and I got to stay motivated. I just need to keep doing what I have been doing and wait until my next weigh-in. Hope that helps.