Plateau experience required

happysherri

Since you are just looking for experiences - I will not give suggestions nor advice. I'm just going to share. Last year when I hit a plateau I did take a break for about a week and then jumped right back into it and started losing again (not sure all the logistics, I just felt like I needed a break and did so). I am now at a plateau and am just adjusting some things and will give it time. I do have my weight loss goal set non-aggressively - under half a pound because I only have about 10 lbs to lose and want to sustain this life style. I don't really like the word diet Goodluck and be patient

CiaIgle

Sometimes we forget the obvious. When I started loosing my calories intake recommendation was 2.160 per day, as I started loosing sometimes I forgot to re-calculate calories. The less you weight the less calories you need. Today my calorie intake is 1.760 after loosing 20 kilos (44 pounds).

Maybe OP is not adjusting the calories, so she is not aware that she is on maintenance.

Regarding cheating or leaving. I'd rather not.

cheryldumais

CiaIgle wrote: »

Sometimes we forget the obvious. When I started loosing my calories intake recommendation was 2.160 per day, as I started loosing sometimes I forgot to re-calculate calories. The less you weight the less calories you need. Today my calorie intake is 1.760 after loosing 20 kilos (44 pounds).

Maybe OP is not adjusting the calories, so she is not aware that she is on maintenance.

Regarding cheating or leaving. I'd rather not.

If 1200 calories is maintenance for me I'm in trouble.

SezxyStef

cheryldumais wrote: »

Thank you Spliner1969 and Spencerport for responding. I wanted to hear other people's experiences with this issue. I appreciate you both taking the time to share yours.

To those with various other ideas, I have been dieting for quite some time and know to measure/weigh and to exercise etc. I know I have to log every bite of whatever even while cooking. I am on a true Plateau because my loss has stalled for 8 weeks. My weight goes up 2 pounds then down 2 then up then down etc. This is clearly water or waste and I am not losing fat. My exercise never really varies which I acknowlege is a problem and as stated I intend to use my treadmill to increase intensity. I am grateful to everyone who replied and the time you took to share. I think I will do as advised and eat at maintenance for a couple weeks and see what that does. Because I'm so cold I agree it could be a matter of not enough calories and maybe my metabolism has slowed. Wish me luck.

just do yourself a favour when you get back into your deficit don't go as steep as 24lbs isn't a whole lot to lose and 1lb a week is plenty until you get to 10lbs then dial back again to 1/2lb...

cheryldumais

Hi SezxyStef, actually to lose 1 pound a week I have to go to 1200 which is where I am now. Sadly at the beginning that was for 2 pounds a week. But you are right I might just do a half pound a week and be content there. That gives me 1380 calories a day.

bbell1985

I hit a plateau after a decent amount of months dieting. I took a diet break for two weeks and started losing again. It wasn't the extra FOOD, but it was the practice of logging more accurately (trust me, you won't be making mistakes the first time you try maintenance), a possible raise in leptin levels and hormones leveling out a bit, and a stress relief for mind and body. It probably also helped me raise NEAT a bit, because I do tend to get tired in a deficit and want to move a bit less.

sharrondeco

58 Y/O woman was on 2 month plateau and instead of eating 3 meals of 1200 calories total I started eating 5 balanced meals of 1200 calories total. BOOM! That was the sound of the plateau crashing

spiriteagle99

Because you are cold all the time, I would definitely get the thyroid levels checked as that is a symptom of low thyroid. I would also get iron/ferritin levels checked at the same time.

Have you had your medications changed since you lost all the weight? Your dosages may be inappropriate for your new body.

I agree with the advice to switch up your activity. Our bodies get very efficient at moving when they do the same thing over and over, so you end up burning less. By adding incline, doing weights or body weight exercises, maybe some dancing or light aerobics - you will increase your burn rate.

CattOfTheGarage

I can't really speak to the medication or thyroid issues, that does complicate things. But if it helps, I had a 4 week apparent plateau last August and I came out of it in the end without changing anything. It was just water weight fluctuation, and I say "apparent plateau" because when I looked at the daily weigh-in data afterwards, it actually wasn't static, it was trending slowly downwards but I wasn't aware if it. All I saw was that I was going up and down, apparently losing the same few pounds and regaining them over and over.

So it is always possible that you are experiencing something similar. I do think, though, that the fact it coincides with a medication change and with feeling cold all the time could be significant. If your metabolism has slowed down, it could cause you to feel cold.

perfectjewel

I increased my calories. Scary, yes, but it worked. Literally 500 cal or more. Try even just for a few days. P.S. please check out https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/bwp/ and be sure you're eating enough calories. You probably already know about it, but after a year, I find it extremely accurate and after already hitting my goal weight, I'm still losing an average of 4 lbs a month eating about 1850 cal per day. I don't exercise much more than you at all....