Is it a plateau or not?

FrancineDesign
FrancineDesign Posts: 67 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've just reached the half way point in my weight loss and I seem to be a bit stuck. My weight keeps fluctuating from 80kg to 79kg. I really want to get under 80kg and stay there and keep losing but its constantly going back and forth and I'm getting annoyed. My diet is the same sticking to my calories and I was losing weight before. I change my meals every week and am burning 500- 800 calories in one work out of hill walking or swimming every 2-3 days. Not really sure why I'm not losing it as quickly, thinking to myself I could eat cleaner and try some different exercise but does anyone have an experience with this or advice? Thanks

Replies

  • TheNightWalker
    TheNightWalker Posts: 59 Member
    How many calories do you eat per day? Also check out http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bmr_calculator.htm Obviously very general calculation, but gives some kind of an indication.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    How long has it been since you've lost?

    Yes, I've experienced this. I took a look at my diary and tightened up my logging. I was simply eating a bit too much food. That is why weight loss stalls. Period.
  • FrancineDesign
    FrancineDesign Posts: 67 Member
    TheNightWalker wrote: »
    How many calories do you eat per day? Also check out http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bmr_calculator.htm Obviously very general calculation, but gives some kind of an indication.

    Hi, I'm eating 1,200
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    FrancineDesign wrote: »
    TheNightWalker wrote: »
    How many calories do you eat per day? Also check out http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bmr_calculator.htm Obviously very general calculation, but gives some kind of an indication.

    Hi, I'm eating 1,200

    Are you using a food scale to weigh all solids and semi-solids? Logging all cooking oils, condiments, drinks?
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    These are the things that I wish someone had told me when my weight loss stalled out for 8 weeks:

    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.
  • FrancineDesign
    FrancineDesign Posts: 67 Member
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    These are the things that I wish someone had told me when my weight loss stalled out for 8 weeks:

    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.

    Thanks for the great advice, I do use a food scale and I have a heart rate monitor to tell me how many calories I'm burning. But I could log better when it comes to cooking oil, I use a spray and it hasn't been that long since I lost so maybe I will be ok. Thanks
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    FrancineDesign wrote: »
    diannethegeek wrote: »
    These are the things that I wish someone had told me when my weight loss stalled out for 8 weeks:

    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.

    Thanks for the great advice, I do use a food scale and I have a heart rate monitor to tell me how many calories I'm burning. But I could log better when it comes to cooking oil, I use a spray and it hasn't been that long since I lost so maybe I will be ok. Thanks

    I suspect that's why @arditarose asked above how long it's been. A plateau tends to be defined as 6-8+ weeks with no change on the scale while keeping everything else the same (since exercise changes tend to come with some excess water retention for a couple of weeks). If it's only been a couple of weeks, you could just be seeing natural fluctuations in weight and you may start seeing losses again once they even out.
  • TheNightWalker
    TheNightWalker Posts: 59 Member
    FrancineDesign wrote: »
    TheNightWalker wrote: »
    How many calories do you eat per day? Also check out http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bmr_calculator.htm Obviously very general calculation, but gives some kind of an indication.

    Hi, I'm eating 1,200
    That isn't much at all. I myself keep it at 1500. It could be water retention. But I've heard about people (on YT) who ate a low amount of calories and had a plateau. They fixed it by adding more calories. Try adding 100-200 calories and see if it helps. The reason is that if your body suddenly goes from a lot of calories to a few it will after a while learn to function with fewer calories or something like that.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    TheNightWalker wrote: »
    FrancineDesign wrote: »
    TheNightWalker wrote: »
    How many calories do you eat per day? Also check out http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/bmr_calculator.htm Obviously very general calculation, but gives some kind of an indication.

    Hi, I'm eating 1,200
    That isn't much at all. I myself keep it at 1500. It could be water retention. But I've heard about people (on YT) who ate a low amount of calories and had a plateau. They fixed it by adding more calories. Try adding 100-200 calories and see if it helps. The reason is that if your body suddenly goes from a lot of calories to a few it will after a while learn to function with fewer calories or something like that.

    Nope. She needs to be patient.make sure her logging is accurate. How does adding calories help with weight loss. That's not how it works.
  • TheNightWalker
    TheNightWalker Posts: 59 Member
    edited March 2016
    You might be right. Didn't really get a lot of info so I assume the logging is correct.
  • FrancineDesign
    FrancineDesign Posts: 67 Member
    Hi guys, thanks for your reply I'm thinking I will just be patient for now and hope for the best. It can be confusing as I am eating low calorie and there is the thought of many more calories would jump start my weight loss again but yeah everyone else has different opinions which I'm thankful for though.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    FrancineDesign wrote: »
    Hi guys, thanks for your reply I'm thinking I will just be patient for now and hope for the best. It can be confusing as I am eating low calorie and there is the thought of many more calories would jump start my weight loss again but yeah everyone else has different opinions which I'm thankful for though.

    Adding more calories won't jump start weight loss. There is no science to back this up, but I do start losing again after having a brief break in maintenance. Some others do as well. I don't really think it comes from adding calories, but I think going into maintenance forces some serious tightening and accuracy of logging-because nobody wants to take a maintenance break to find that they have gained. Anyway...I don't really know if that's helpful lol.
  • TheNightWalker
    TheNightWalker Posts: 59 Member
    What I have heard and read is that because if you suddenly start to restrict your calories a lot your body might go into starvation mode and therefore adding more could make you burn more. But I'm not a nutritionist nor have I read any scientific studies on this so it might just be broscience.
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    Starvation mode is a myth.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    TheNightWalker wrote: »
    What I have heard and read is that because if you suddenly start to restrict your calories a lot your body might go into starvation mode and therefore adding more could make you burn more. But I'm not a nutritionist nor have I read any scientific studies on this so it might just be broscience.

    In this sense, it is broscience.
  • FrancineDesign
    FrancineDesign Posts: 67 Member
    Hi guys. Weighed myself yesterday and was 79.5! So looks like it might be going down again and hopefully won't go back up. Strangely enough I didn't do any exercise these past few days.

Categories