Stalled - How long should I wait before switching things up?

krael65

I've been back using MFP for about 2 months now. I was averaging about 1 lb per week loss for the first few weeks. However, it appears that I've been losing and gaining the same 1-2 lbs for the past 4 weeks. Overall, I'm down ~5lbs from my starting weight.

I'm OK with 1/2 lb. a week loss (which is what it averages out to be). It just feels like I'm not making any progress lately, since the pounds stopped coming off.

I'm already technically at a healthy weight, so I don't have much to lose. My goal is to lose about 10 more. Here are my stats:

5ft 2in
51 yrs old
Female
CW: 129

I track/record my food every day. I weigh everything, in grams, with a food scale (except liquids).
I track my exercise calories with a Polar FT4 HR monitor, and eat them back.

I track my food in an excel spreadsheet, so my food diary is not online. My weight chart looks like this:


I definitely feel better in my clothes. I haven't measured myself, but I can tell I've lost inches and the jiggly bits are tighter.

My question is: Is this normal? should I continue on with my current program for a little while longer to see if I start to lose again? Or when is it time to switch things up? (Maybe not eat back all of my exercise cals, reduce my total calorie intake, other?)

Thanks in advance for any advice.

kmarnes

People recommend that you should only eat back half your exercise calories. I weigh myself every morning and I've definitely experienced water retention fluctuations whenever I have booze, sugar, or salt -- which tends to be on weekends. This past long weekend I gained a full 5 pounds in 3 days, then lost them in 3 days of cleaner eating, no booze, no sugar. I've also hit a stall myself about 3 weeks ago. I think I made the mistake of dropping my calories more and it wasn't fully sustainable.

Francl27

I'd give it a couple more weeks, then cut your calories a bit.

DaniCanadian

My plan when I get that close to my goal is to switch to maintence calories and focus on strength training and fitness.
Those last 10 lbs are the hardest and more "vanity weight" vs weightloss for health. Trying to lose for a number on the scale when you're already in a healthy range may just cause you unnecessary stress.

krael65

Thanks for the replies. I've noticed I have been eating high sodium foods lately. I'm trying to cut back on the sodium to see if it helps. I also added more weight training to my exercise. I'm hoping maybe it's water retention, I'm just not sure how long that's supposed to last. I probably will go another week or two, then maybe reduce my calories a bit.

dlkfox

Since you're 5'2", I can pretty much guess you're at 1200 calories a day -- I would not go any lower or you risk not getting enough nutrition. With so little to lose, any loss is easily obscured by water weight.

rkmomm wrote: »

I also added more weight training to my exercise. I'm hoping maybe it's water retention, I'm just not sure how long that's supposed to last.

DING-DING-DING! Every time I increase my exercise, I will retain water for a couple of weeks. It can last longer for others.

I suggest that you confirm that your logging is tight and not eat back as many exercise calories. It's just going to be slow and steady.

krael65

Actually, my average net is 1280, and I eat (avg) 1500 / day. I calculated the numbers on several TDEE calculators, and 1500 is on the lower end of my TDEE - %20. I aim for under 1300 net.

I weighed in this morning and have zigged down the pesky pound -- so that's at least going in the right direction!

That said, I will continue on and if I'm still "stalled", I can reduce the # of exercise calories I eat back.

Thanks for the feedback!

StealthHealth

If I'm reading this right it would appear that you've been holding steady since around 18th June. That is (in my book) enough to be called a plateau.

That being the case I would say that you need to decrease cals in or up cals out slightly. But, at 1280 net there is little wiggle room and assuming that (because you own and use a HRM) you do a reasonable/significant amount of exercise already, adding in more may not be practical.

If that is the case I would attempt to increase exercise intensity to burn more cals. If you run for example, add in some sprints into your existing runs or add a lunchtime walk to your weekday routines.

DebSozo

rkmomm wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I've noticed I have been eating high sodium foods lately. I'm trying to cut back on the sodium to see if it helps. I also added more weight training to my exercise. I'm hoping maybe it's water retention, I'm just not sure how long that's supposed to last. I probably will go another week or two, then maybe reduce my calories a bit.

Whenever I eat a high sodium meal I tend to stall for about 3 days, and then I drink extra water to dilute sodium out of my system. I can gain several pounds of water weight quickly also and stall out. I found that wheat products puff me up and cause water retention in my case. If I cut out sugar (an inflammatory) that helps me lose weight too.

krael65

It's crazy how finicky the human body can be!

loulamb7

rkmomm wrote: »

I calculated the numbers on several TDEE calculators, and 1500 is on the lower end of my TDEE - %20. I aim for under 1300 net.

I weighed in this morning and have zigged down the pesky pound -- so that's at least going in the right direction!

That said, I will continue on and if I'm still "stalled", I can reduce the # of exercise calories I eat back.

Thanks for the feedback!

If you are using TDEE, you should not be eating your exercise calories back. The allowance of eating exercise calories back is only used with NEAT calculators, like the one used on MFP.

CharlieBeansmomTracey

StealthHealth wrote: »

If I'm reading this right it would appear that you've been holding steady since around 18th June. That is (in my book) enough to be called a plateau.

That being the case I would say that you need to decrease cals in or up cals out slightly. But, at 1280 net there is little wiggle room and assuming that (because you own and use a HRM) you do a reasonable/significant amount of exercise already, adding in more may not be practical.

If that is the case I would attempt to increase exercise intensity to burn more cals. If you run for example, add in some sprints into your existing runs or add a lunchtime walk to your weekday routines.

plateaus from what has been mentioned here at MFP is 6+ weeks. so not quite a plateau yet.

normalicia11

kmarnes wrote: »

I weigh myself every morning and I've definitely experienced water retention fluctuations whenever I have booze, sugar, or salt -- which tends to be on weekends. This past long weekend I gained a full 5 pounds in 3 days, then lost them in 3 days of cleaner eating, no booze, no sugar.

I am glad I found your post..this happened to me this week I enjoy myself on sweats and salty food and had a 5lb gain(could not believe it), I was so disappointed, it's taking me all week to get rid of them...no more Chinese buffet for me

DebSozo

I've been maintaining for a long time. I consider my plateau "maintenance" or it makes me really upset. Lol.

krael65

loulamb7 wrote: »

rkmomm wrote: »

I calculated the numbers on several TDEE calculators, and 1500 is on the lower end of my TDEE - %20. I aim for under 1300 net.

I weighed in this morning and have zigged down the pesky pound -- so that's at least going in the right direction!

That said, I will continue on and if I'm still "stalled", I can reduce the # of exercise calories I eat back.

Thanks for the feedback!

If you are using TDEE, you should not be eating your exercise calories back. The allowance of eating exercise calories back is only used with NEAT calculators, like the one used on MFP.

Yeah, I'm kind of using a hybrid MFP/TDEE aproach. I used TDEE calculators to make sure I wasn't eating more than my TDEE -%20. 80% of my TDEE (an average, depending on the TDEE calculator) is 1583. Therefore, I make sure I don't eat over that amount (gross). I use 1300 as my NEAT number, and I use an HRM to track calorie burn, and eat those calories back, making sure I don't go over 80% of my TDEE.

(It makes sense to me anyway).

krael65

DaniCanadian wrote: »

My plan when I get that close to my goal is to switch to maintence calories and focus on strength training and fitness.
Those last 10 lbs are the hardest and more "vanity weight" vs weightloss for health. Trying to lose for a number on the scale when you're already in a healthy range may just cause you unnecessary stress.

I like this idea. It's kind of what I'm doing, since I plan to stay the course with my current fitness approach. I was doing mainly cardio when I started back up again, but have since re-added weights and HIIT back into the mix. I am not *stressing* about the number on the scale, necessarily.... But I was hoping to get back to my happy weight and fit into some of the clothes I had been wearing before I let my weight creep up. Unfortunately, every pound shows on my short frame!

I had been maintaining ~122 for a few years, and then stopped logging and really slacked off on the exercise about a year and a half ago...hence the weight creep. It would be awesome if I could get back there, but I'm trying not to beat myself up over it. I figure if I can hold it together and stay fit at 51 and beyond, I'm not doing so bad.

DebSozo

rkmomm wrote: »

loulamb7 wrote: »

rkmomm wrote: »

I calculated the numbers on several TDEE calculators, and 1500 is on the lower end of my TDEE - %20. I aim for under 1300 net.

I weighed in this morning and have zigged down the pesky pound -- so that's at least going in the right direction!

That said, I will continue on and if I'm still "stalled", I can reduce the # of exercise calories I eat back.

Thanks for the feedback!

If you are using TDEE, you should not be eating your exercise calories back. The allowance of eating exercise calories back is only used with NEAT calculators, like the one used on MFP.

Yeah, I'm kind of using a hybrid MFP/TDEE aproach. I used TDEE calculators to make sure I wasn't eating more than my TDEE -%20. 80% of my TDEE (an average, depending on the TDEE calculator) is 1583. Therefore, I make sure I don't eat over that amount (gross). I use 1300 as my NEAT number, and I use an HRM to track calorie burn, and eat those calories back, making sure I don't go over 80% of my TDEE.

(It makes sense to me anyway).

I like this approach. I know what my TDEE is so it is easier for me to think of that as my maintenance daily calories. Then I won't have any troubles keeping the weight off.

I'm planning to use my TDEE as a max baseline figuring that I "stall" at or will gain above that number and work my deficit from that number. I won't eat back any exercise calories since they are built into TDEE already.

I might use weekly averages and do a bit of intermittent fasting to change things up day to day. That way I can eat a slightly bigger dinner here and there with family and still make my calorie goal for the week.

krael65

I read this post:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10155495/just-another-plateau-and-weigh-in-thread/p1
and it helped me put things into perspective.

I added a trendline to my weight graph, and it shows that I'm still moving in the right direction. I shall continue on, be patient, and see how it goes.

krael65

So....

As it turns out, I believe I'm pretty accurate with my CI. It's the CO that I was underestimating.

I got myself a FItbit Blaze (LOVE!), and apparently my TDEE wasn't as high as I thought. I had used a bunch of TDEE estimators and picked the middle/average.

My calorie burns for purposeful exercise were consistent from the Blaze to the Polar HRM. But before the Blaze, I was apparently pretty darned sedentary the rest of the time. The fitbit has encouraged me to move every hour, and meet or exceed 10,000 daily steps, and thus up my overall daily burn.

Before the Fitbit, I was averaging a loss of about .2 lbs / wk for about a month. The scale was moving, but pretty darned S-L-O-W-L-Y. If I hadn't been weighing daily and charting it in Excel, I may not have noticed the losses at all.

Since using the fitbit, I'm averaging 1+ lb / wk loss, while eating slightly more than I had been. It's also liberated me from thinking I need to go crazy with the exercise. I still workout most days, but now my main form of exercise is "purposeful" walking, with weight training and some HIIT thrown in the mix. I no longer feel I NEED to do an hour of strenuous cardio every day to get the scale to budge.

And have I mentioned that I love my Fitbit?

kshama2001

rkmomm wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I've noticed I have been eating high sodium foods lately. I'm trying to cut back on the sodium to see if it helps. I also added more weight training to my exercise. I'm hoping maybe it's water retention, I'm just not sure how long that's supposed to last. I probably will go another week or two, then maybe reduce my calories a bit.

Thanks for coming back and updating! Adding more weight training might have also contributed to your stall in July due to increased water retention.

krael65

kshama2001 wrote: »

rkmomm wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. I've noticed I have been eating high sodium foods lately. I'm trying to cut back on the sodium to see if it helps. I also added more weight training to my exercise. I'm hoping maybe it's water retention, I'm just not sure how long that's supposed to last. I probably will go another week or two, then maybe reduce my calories a bit.

Thanks for coming back and updating! Adding more weight training might have also contributed to your stall in July due to increased water retention.

Agreed. I also believe that being more active has helped!