Don't Stress the Stalls! Use this to help from being frustrated

JohnnyLowCarb

You don't have to go as crazy as I do, but do track your weight. Weekly is my preferred tracking, but I do note daily in MFP. I have found some interesting trends when looking at my results. During periods of perceived stalls, I get frustrated, vent on MFP - but I went back and looked at the tracking. I can see my pattern is 3 weeks of loss, 3 weeks of stall, followed by 3 weeks of loss. Knowing this will certainly calm me down going forward. I also will expect this pattern to change, but will look to the data before getting frustrated. I hope this helps anyone who feels the same, and if you ever have any questions, shoot them to me, I love to share. We are all in this together!

JohnnyLowCarb

Green is Actual, Yellow is current week, Blue is projected given the average weight loss per week achieved and the Green horizontal line is my goal.

Mellykay88

Thank you! I needed to see this. I was getting frustrated with only a .2 lb loss this week despite staying under my calorie goals. I looked back at my MFP progress chart and saw a pretty clear pattern of big dips followed by a stall or even tiny increases.

JohnnyLowCarb

@melkelmore That was me! I saw a stall with an increase & I freaked out. I needed to step back and see the big picture. Now I see it. I am so much more at ease/comfortable and can handle the periods of no movement. Take care.

Fit_in_Folsom

Nice graph! Very true...goes to show you that good metrics can help! Thank you

jennyi27

somebody loves excel!

JohnnyLowCarb

@jennyi27 can't help it! I work with numbers and thankfully with weight less and less

pdxhak

I wish my plataues only lasted 3 weeks I loose in chuncks and then wait for the next drop. Weeks? Months? I take it however it happens and keep grinding. Staying consistent and trusting what you are doing is what matters the most.

boopster99

@johnnylew Thank you so much for posting this. I seem to be following quite a similar pattern of 3 - 4 weeks flatline, then a substantial drop, and repeat. This really helps put it in perspective. Amazing, these bodies of ours aren't they!?

muellheimer

Your R-square is looking real good!

JohnnyLowCarb

@boopster99 your welcome and they are amazing! @muellheimer you noticed that? Yeah I am a data geek

JohnnyLowCarb

pdxhak wrote: »

I wish my plataues only lasted 3 weeks I loose in chuncks and then wait for the next drop. Weeks? Months? I take it however it happens and keep grinding. Staying consistent and trusting what you are doing is what matters the most.

. That's why I posted! So many me included get frustrated when we don't see a straight line to our goal. When the big picture shows that progress is being made

boopster99

pdxhak wrote: »

I wish my plataues only lasted 3 weeks I loose in chuncks and then wait for the next drop. Weeks? Months? I take it however it happens and keep grinding. Staying consistent and trusting what you are doing is what matters the most.

What's the longest flatline period that you've had? I feel like I'm on 5 weeks with this one.

JohnnyLowCarb

Everyone will have different patterns the key is to identify yours.

lorrpb

Excellent. Could the mods please set this post up to auto-post every time someone mentions the words "plateau" "stall" or "Help!" in a thread title?!

tealtortoise

I needed to see this post, too. Thanks

GemstoneofHeart

I am like this too! I have noticed I stall for about 12 days and then will drop 3-4 pounds suddenly, then have to wait about 12 days again. I weigh daily so I have been able to notice this trend for myself

JohnnyLowCarb

I learned it has to do with the way the body holds and manages water. Up to 4 pounds. So you could be burning and losing fat but your body retaining water and then once the water is released the weight loss shows that you had all along

cgvet37

I use an app called Libra. It's nothing to gain 3-4 lbs. of water weight.

spiffychick85

Ok...someone please help my new *kitten*. What happens between 06/23 and 06/30? I love your chart by the way...just confused on why it keeps going down then jumps up and stays.

Is that just an average after that point?

V4kerker

johnnylew have you done any other spread sheets to compare to stalls and drops, like body part measurements or total calories for that week and or macros?

JessiBelleW

spiffychick85 wrote: »

Ok...someone please help my new *kitten*. What happens between 06/23 and 06/30? I love your chart by the way...just confused on why it keeps going down then jumps up and stays.

Is that just an average after that point?

I'm guessing he hits goal weight and allows a few lbs to account for working out maintenance. Something about the stores of sugar and water when you are no longer losing weight so if you want to maintain at 175lbs best to lose to just under that.

iammedee

Glad I found this because I thought it was just me. I also lose in chunks. I lost 14lbs the next week after not losing after 3 weeks. Then recently I stalled for 3-4 weeks with no weight loss, then this morning I lost another 9.2lbs.

Jimb376mfp

Thanks after four years of losing I still need to tell myself WL is NOT linear.

I try to look at month to month rather than week to week.

JohnnyLowCarb

spiffychick85 wrote: »

Ok...someone please help my new *kitten*. What happens between 06/23 and 06/30? I love your chart by the way...just confused on why it keeps going down then jumps up and stays.

Is that just an average after that point?

@spiffychick85 yes it is projected weight based on average lost to date

JohnnyLowCarb

V4kerker wrote: »

johnnylew have you done any other spread sheets to compare to stalls and drops, like body part measurements or total calories for that week and or macros?

@V4kerker now that I am approaching desired weight loss I am getting the tape measure out. The water weight will be deceiving soon and the measurements will be a better indicator of success

anorman16

Perfect timing. I have been retaining water the past two days and am experiencing a stall right now despite logging within range sand working out every day. Thank you for sharing!

JohnnyLowCarb

spiffychick85 wrote: »

Ok...someone please help my new *kitten*. What happens between 06/23 and 06/30? I love your chart by the way...just confused on why it keeps going down then jumps up and stays.

Is that just an average after that point?

Oh and 175 is my desired weight so that's why you see a straight line in the future

JohnnyLowCarb

anorman16 wrote: »

Perfect timing. I have been retaining water the past two days and am experiencing a stall right now despite logging within range sand working out every day. Thank you for sharing!

@anorman16 before I could see the pattern and understand that the body (mine and others are sharing the same timing) could retain up to 4 lbs of water while still reducing fat I had to share what I learned. I definitely don't freak out and more relaxed about the progress.