Is this a plateau?

romanojennifer723

Hello everybody at the beginning of my weight loss Adventure it was going very well a total of 42 pounds lost but now for the last few months I have not gained and I have not lost it is extremely frustrating I have continued counting calories and even recently started some slight working out.... is there something I am doing wrong? For my line of work (caregiving) I walk a lot and I have a Fitbit which counts my steps and gives me extra calories I'm allowed to have because of my "stepping" I often wonder if I should not use those calories and stay within my 1700 goal... ideas or opions please

CoffeeNCardio

The plateau bible, for your reading pleasure:)

CoffeeNCardio

What this does not mention is that the closer you get to goal, the tighter your logging must be, and due to your loss of weight, your body does not need as many calories anymore. So the caloric intake goal you used in the beginning will not work all the way to goal unless your activity levels increase in direct opposition. MFP is supposed to alter your numbers every time you weigh in, but adding a fitbit or similar device and failing to verify your weight changes in both can cause an issue. The most common scenario, that applies to most everyone, is that your activity level is similar to the first couple months of your weight loss but that your body now needs fewer calories. The only more common problem is failure of logging, but 42 lbs down I don't think that is the primary concern here.

romanojennifer723

Thank you I do usually eat back all of my calories using my fitness pal as a calorie counter.. so I will start eating back 25 to 50% instead hopefully that will help

romanojennifer723

CoffeeNCardio wrote: »

What this does not mention is that the closer you get to goal, the tighter your logging must be, and due to your loss of weight, your body does not need as many calories anymore. So the caloric intake goal you used in the beginning will not work all the way to goal unless your activity levels increase in direct opposition. MFP is supposed to alter your numbers every time you weigh in, but adding a fitbit or similar device and failing to verify your weight changes in both can cause an issue. The most common scenario, that applies to most everyone, is that your activity level is similar to the first couple months of your weight loss but that your body now needs fewer calories. The only more common problem is failure of logging, but 42 lbs down I don't think that is the primary concern here.

I never even thought about this... the fact that I've lost so much weight and now my calories should probably be less thank you so much

CoffeeNCardio

Welcome:) When it comes to fitbit, it does have a tendency to overestimate burns. The common solution is to lie and tell fitbit you are one inch shorter than you really are, wearing the device on your NON dominant hand, but again lying and telling fitbit it's on the dominant hand, and accurately measuring your gait length (step length) with a known distance and inputting that information on the settings page for your fitbit. Solution one lowers artificially high caloric burns (shorter people burn fewer calories just existing), solutions two and three minimize the fitbit reading non-step movements as steps, also lowering your caloric intake goal slightly.

T1DCarnivoreRunner

If you decrease calorie intake for several weeks or months and don't lose weight and if you increase calorie intake for several weeks or months and don't gain weight, then you are in a plateau. Otherwise, it isn't a true plateau... usually a lack of weight change just means you are eating at maintenance - often unintentionally because of inaccurate logging or an incorrect estimated maintenance calorie level. Plateaus are when your weight doesn't change for months despite consuming at an actual calorie deficit or surplus. Only a very small number of us experience true plateaus... usually tightening logging or decreasing calorie intake solves the problem for most users.

CoffeeNCardio

midwesterner85 wrote: »

If you decrease calorie intake for several weeks or months and don't lose weight and if you increase calorie intake for several weeks or months and don't gain weight, then you are in a plateau. Otherwise, it isn't a true plateau... usually a lack of weight change just means you are eating at maintenance - often unintentionally because of inaccurate logging or an incorrect estimated maintenance calorie level. Plateaus are when your weight doesn't change for months despite consuming at an actual calorie deficit or surplus. Only a very small number of us experience true plateaus... usually tightening logging or decreasing calorie intake solves the problem for most users.

True. And a significant number of those are due to variables that don't apply to the larger population, such as medical conditions like hypothyroidism and poorly managed hypothyroidism (yeah, their effects are different enough to be listed separately), or any of the forms of diabetes or Celiacs, etc....

yirara

Did you ever recalculate your goal calories? As you lose weight your body needs less food, and thus your 1700kcal goal might be too high. But please also keep in mind that losing 2lbs per week at your current weight might be too aggressive.