Plateau

SherryDawn9271956
SherryDawn9271956 Posts: 3 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I have been within my calorie goal consistently but have not lost additional lbs for about 3 weeks...I started riding my bike, but only about 12 minutes a day. Does anyone have any insight as to the stand still? I'm jokingly saying it is my body wanting to hibernate because it is so cold and non-sunshiny here in central PA.

Replies

  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    can you open your diary up? settings>diary>click the public radio button
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Do a search on here for "plateau" or browse through the first 2-3 pages of threads. There are several posts per week on this topic and the answer is nearly always the same!
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    I find that 90% of plateaus are due to logging issues. Are you using your food scale for all solids, measuring cups/spoons for all liquids? Using the recipe builder? Using accurate entries? Accurately calculating your calorie burns? Logging everything that passes your lips?
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    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.
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