How to deal with plateau?

daneejela

I was fed by all sorts of pseudo science and health myths until I've discovered this community and re-discovered some simple life truths. Since then this community has been an awesome "reality check" tool

So, back to my question...Plateaus Do they really exists? I know for sure that many people experience plateaus in weight loss - but is this due to unintentional/unaware eating at maintenance level or there is really some kind of metabolic readjustment?

Have you experienced a plateau while still eating at calorie deficit?
If yes, how did you overcome it?
By eating even less? By eating more for a short period, i.e. including a cheat day/week? By exercising more? By just being persistent and patient?

After 14lbs lost, last two weeks I haven't lost any weight. I know it's not a long time, so I am relatively cool with it, but I am interested what is going on. My TDEE has not yet significantly changed and I still eat at the same deficit (250 - 500cal deficit a day, depending on day). I don't exercise yet because I recently had a knee injury, but I am doing some gardening work about 3 times a week.

janejellyroll

I would not consider two weeks a plateau. It's just one of those things that sometimes happens when you're losing weight, you just stop for a week or two.

If it continues for six weeks with you being on plan the whole time, I would consider that a plateau. When I was losing weight, I lost count of how many times I didn't see a loss for a week or two. I only had one plateau -- I went six and a half weeks bouncing back between the same couple of pounds. I knew my calories were set appropriately and that I was accurately logging (I double-checked everything), so I just stayed on plan. Then the weight began dropping off again. Looking back, I'm fairly certain that it was my exercise routine that was to blame -- I am a runner and I was increasing my mileage fairly consistently in summer heat. The combination of the increased miles and the heat conspired, I think, to give me some extra water weight. So for me, the answer was patience.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

I don't believe in plateaus

youdoyou2016

For me, there have been times where the scale doesn't budge for 4-6 wks. Then, I will either drop several pounds all at once -- love that! -- or I just go back to my normal 1-2 / wk. (I've lost more than what I currently weigh now, and I've had these kinds of stalls throughout the process.)

I know it's maddening and frustrating, but what I would tell you to do is keep doing what you're doing. I would not up calories or decrease them. Just remain diligent and stay the course.

Who knows what's going on with us when we work on losing weight ... ? My guess is all sorts of good things are happening that we cannot see or measure, so I just trust that my body knows what it's doing and that's it's off working on and cleaning up other things and will get back to dropping weight when it's appropriate.

Speaking of measuring -- measure yourself and track that, too. Sometimes the scale doesn't change but, for example, your neck of all things will be an inch smaller, rings are looser ... Measure a lot of places in addition to the normal waist, hips, etc.

Luna3386

I always tighten up my food and make sure I am using my food scale.

Sheisinlove109

I've hit times where I feel I'm doing all the right things and the scale doesn't budge.

I usually switch up my workout routine and change some of my food choices. I agree with the other poster about all the sudden after no movement I lose a few lbs.

Best thing, keep going. Make sure you're tracking properly.

clicketykeys

I try (TRY) to think of "plateaus" as a reminder to check the accuracy of my logging and be patient. Easier said than done, I know.

MaddMaestro

Because of my activity levels, it turned out that I wasn't eating enough, so I was holding onto everything I ate. I upped my calories by 200-300 per day and I've gotten over my own plateaus. A few minor adjustments in activity or food will help you overcome them.

nosebag1212

Plateaus don't exist, it's either water retention, inaccurate food tracking or wrong calculations for energy expenditure or a combination of all 3. You should review your logging methods and ensure they're accurate (using a scale for solids, volume for liquids etc) and wait at least 3 weeks before changing anything (the whoosh is a real thing and weight loss is not linear).

janejellyroll

MaddMaestro wrote: »

Because of my activity levels, it turned out that I wasn't eating enough, so I was holding onto everything I ate. I upped my calories by 200-300 per day and I've gotten over my own plateaus. A few minor adjustments in activity or food will help you overcome them.

Many people do have success with eating more because it helps them stay on plan consistently or they increase their TDEE because they feel more energetic. That said, if someone is in a deficit, they will lose weight. The body doesn't have a mechanism to not use energy if one isn't eating enough.

crb426

Love your contemplative post! Plateaus are a bit of a mystery. My thought is that your body is just adjusting a bit to its new weight. Maybe a little water weight building despite the fact that you are really losing. That would explain the wooshes that often come later.

I agree with the previous poster in that you shouldn't change what you're doing. Just keep plugging along and it won't take long before the weight starts falling off again. Good luck!

StaciMarie1974

I lost my weight over the course of about 9.5 months and I never experienced a 'plateau' which is generally defined as a period of 6-8 weeks of no weight loss when nothing else in one's routine (fitness/food) has changed. That does not mean my weight went down every week. Of course one's weight fluctuates due to water weight, the amount of food mass/drink within the body at any given time, etc.

And then I maintained for a year. Not a plateau, of course, but a situation where I kept an eye on my activity (for calories out) and intake (for calories in). Then when I stopped paying attention so much to the calories in, I gained 10-12 pounds over the course of a year. And then I lost those 10-12 in 3 months by once again carefully tracking to make sure I was eating at a deficit. And for the past 2 months, maintaining again.

I added the extra paragraph/details to show that there IS a factual reason for trends in weight. Whether it be an upward, downward or stable trend: there is an explanation. Most who cry 'plateau' fall into one of two camps. First is the impatient person who freaks out because they did not lose weight for 1-2 weeks and does not understand that weight loss happens over time, not each time you step on the scale. That day to day fluctuations in water weight, food mass weight, can cover up the weight loss that is happening gradually. And second is the person who is staying the same of fluctuating within a few pounds over a longer period of time, but is estimating their food portions, having a bite of this/taste of that on a regular basis, not considering things like calories in beverages or condiments or cooking oils and in short is eating more than they think.

*There are of course some situations where one had a medical condition that influences their metabolism and thus their rate of 'calories out' but I do not think that is the most likely scenario.

MaddMaestro

janejellyroll wrote: »

MaddMaestro wrote: »

Because of my activity levels, it turned out that I wasn't eating enough, so I was holding onto everything I ate. I upped my calories by 200-300 per day and I've gotten over my own plateaus. A few minor adjustments in activity or food will help you overcome them.

Many people do have success with eating more because it helps them stay on plan consistently or they increase their TDEE because they feel more energetic. That said, if someone is in a deficit, they will lose weight. The body doesn't have a mechanism to not use energy if one isn't eating enough.

This is true. My problems were most likely occurring because my personal calorie deficit probably ended up being too much for my activity level. The deficit would make me feel tired therefore I would not exercise as much. When I ate more, I had more energy which equaled more activity...but I would still be at a deficit to lose weight.

Would that make more sense?

janejellyroll

MaddMaestro wrote: »

janejellyroll wrote: »

MaddMaestro wrote: »

Because of my activity levels, it turned out that I wasn't eating enough, so I was holding onto everything I ate. I upped my calories by 200-300 per day and I've gotten over my own plateaus. A few minor adjustments in activity or food will help you overcome them.

Many people do have success with eating more because it helps them stay on plan consistently or they increase their TDEE because they feel more energetic. That said, if someone is in a deficit, they will lose weight. The body doesn't have a mechanism to not use energy if one isn't eating enough.

This is true. My problems were most likely occurring because my personal calorie deficit probably ended up being too much for my activity level. The deficit would make me feel tired therefore I would not exercise as much. When I ate more, I had more energy which equaled more activity...but I would still be at a deficit to lose weight.

Would that make more sense?

Yeah, this was my experience as well. When I began MFP, my calorie goal was really low and I wasn't eating back exercise calories because I had no idea what I was doing. When I began eating more, I began losing more because I wasn't collapsing on the couch each day as soon as I got home from work.

daneejela

Thank you guys (and girls)! That is exactly what I needed to hear!

I'm gonna keep doing as usual and trust the process

sexygatubela77

Plateaus DO happen! There's something called "weight set point" and as you lose weight your body will try to hold onto its old weight set point. To break them, I do something different, like exercise more (or less), increase calories (or decrease them; something to confuse your body. Weightloss is never linear.

jjpptt2

Both happen, but in 99.999% of plateau situations, it comes down to things like intensity of workouts, accuracy of logging, and/or consistency.

nosebag1212

sexygatubela77 wrote: »

Plateaus DO happen! There's something called "weight set point" and as you lose weight your body will try to hold onto its old weight set point. To break them, I do something different, like exercise more (or less), increase calories (or decrease them; something to confuse your body. Weightloss is never linear.

This is due to water retention which is temporary, if you're a caloric deficit you'll still be losing fat even if the scale stays the same or even goes up, also shocking the body isn't a real thing.

Ready2Rock206

Personally I've yet to see a plateau that wasn't due to logging issues. Sloppy logging, not using a food scale, eyeballing, using generic entries, not using the recipe builder, "forgetting" to log all those bites, licks and nibbles, etc. Magically when one starts logging accurately again the plateau disappears.

JohnnyLowCarb

They exist and you will have to change something that worked before. Change your macros change your daily calories change your exercise routine. For me it was intermittent fasting.