I've hit a plateau...am I doing something wrong?

laurelkerickson

Hi everyone! I've been using MFP for 51 days now, and I've lost just over 15 pounds so far. I'm a 5'3.5" 23-year-old woman and I weigh 139.6 pounds. I'm very happy with my progress, but I'm afraid I've hit a plateau. For the first 5 weeks, I was eating 1200 calories and eating back about half of my exercise calories. I lost roughly 2 pounds a week doing this.

In the past two or so weeks, my weight loss has stopped. I posted a question about a week ago about it on Reddit's r/loseit subreddit, and I was advised to increase my calories to lose about a half pound a week since I am a short girl. Now, I eat no more than 1470 calories a day now, sometimes still as low as 1250, but I still haven't seen any progress since June 19 where I weighed 139.6 for a day. Since then, every morning when I step on the scale after I've used the bathroom, it's around 140-141 pounds. Each morning, I'm expecting that "whoosh" that everybody says will happen eventually, but it's been a while and I can't seem to figure out what I'm doing wrong. I just want to see my scale go down again to validate that I'm doing this right, no matter how little progress it is. I keep telling myself that I have to be patient, but it's hard to not get frustrated.

I exercise regularly, mostly running about 2 miles a day or walking 4 miles a day with some elliptical and biking thrown in there. I also do bodyweight exercises. However, I am not eating my exercise calories back anymore because I haven't seen progress on the scale.

I weigh and log every single thing that I eat, so I do not think that is the issue. I also have my activity level on MFP set to "not very active" even though I'd consider myself to be "lightly active" to "active" most days.

I would welcome any help or suggestions to my current plan. Like I said, I'm incredibly happy with my progress so far and my body does look great right now, but I would like to get out of this plateau and continue to see progress on the scale. Thank you!

janejellyroll

I think two weeks is too early to get concerned about a plateau (although I certainly understand the frustration and the desire to see continued progress) or make any changes. If you are confident that your logging is good, keep at it. You have been losing at a very fast rate for your current weight, so it's possible that your body is just trying to catch up. If you are a person who has a period, it could also be related to that.

cmriverside

Set your Goal to "lose 1/2 pound per week."

Eat back your exercise calories. You're doing a lot of exercise and you do need to fuel up.

I would guess that you have about 15-20 pounds to lose? It will be slow going. I lost 50 pounds in seven/eight months and it took nine more months to lose that last 20.

The closer you are to goal weight, the more important it is to be accurate and have patience. Keep doing the right thing and you will lose the weight. Keep good records and be as consistent as you can.

T1DCarnivoreRunner

It sounds like you had some steep losses early on (this is normal) that were "newbie losses" related to just starting a weight loss program. You should expect to see this rate of loss slow down, but not stop entirely. However, in 2 weeks time, it is not long enough to say weight loss has stopped.

You say you changed your intake about 1 week ago - that is also too short of time to see meaningful results.

Continue what you are doing for the next 6 weeks and then come back if you are still weighing at 140-141 lbs.

DX2JX2

How often are you weighing? Two weeks isn't a ton of time to see trends develop. I would confirm that there aren't any leaks in your logging but keep doing what you're doing for another couple of weeks. Don't be afraid to eat back a portion of your exercise calories since your 'no exercise' baseline is already low - just make sure that you aren't overestimating your burns.

That said, at 5'3" and 140-ish pounds, you're right at the top of a healthy range (per BMI charts) and I wouldn't think it unusual to see your loss slow down at this level (the less you have to lose, the harder it is to lose). It could very well be that you're losing at a slower rate and that normal variation in body weight is masking the loss at your weigh-ins.

Either way, keep doing what your doing for a bit longer and you should see the results continue to manifest (though probably at a slower rate than before).

jessiejessiejessie

I am the same height and weight as you! I have found that while I can gain weight quite easily, I rarely drop below about 138lbs. That being said, the only person who weighs me is my doctor. I've found that my actual weight has little to do with how I look and feel.

I don't know what your goals are, but as a similarly sized woman (about 10 years older) here is what works for me.

I know the latest science is that diet is the #1 most important thing in losing weight, but I am a pretty healthy eater and that doesn't really get me to where I want to be.

I feel best when I am doing a mix of strength training, yoga and running. I don't really think of it as working to lose weight, but making that weight look good on me. It really is amazing how much thinner I feel when my core is strong and everything is tightened up a bit—regardless of what the scale would say. It seems like you are liking the way your body is looking right now (which is great! we really are a great height and weight), so I would suggest upping your workouts a little bit if you want to get to another level. Try pushing yourself to run 2.5 miles, or setting a goal for a faster pace. YouTube has some great pilates workouts. I've been liking the Sweat with Kayla app (it's a little cheesy but the workouts are tough and quick).

Additionally, I have found that I need to eat more to fuel my workouts. I hate setting out on a longer run just to feel like I am totally out of batteries after a mile.

This is just my experience, but I hope it is helpful to you in some way.

laurelkerickson

Thank you all for your help and guidance!

bbell1985

Our stats are the same. I'm an inch taller. It is slooooooow going baby. As long as you're using a food scale and logging accurately, trust the process.

Think about it too..let's say you raised your calories a little, probably increasing carbs which would have cause some water retention. Then think about where in your cycle you were when this happened...just before your period? You've gained even more water on top of that then. Even if you did it right around ovulation time. These things are going to start making a difference on the scale now that you're in a healthy weight range.

I literally will not start a deficit until my period has ended because I know that week of water weight is going to "set me back". I will still be losing fat, but it's not going to show up on the scale for another couple of weeks.

GemstoneofHeart

This same thing happened to me. I still lose at a much slower rate than I did the first 20 pounds. But slower is often times more sustainable depending on the person. It is for me.
I also found myself plateau when I started assuming I was experienced enough to guess my measurements. Big mistake. The eyes lie.

KristoferNeal

You could try a "refeed" day. Eat 500'ish extra calories of mostly carbs and protein. I've also found that eating to maintenance (including exercise) for a day to a couple days helps rev up your metabolism to continue losing weight.

allyphoe

You've lost 15 pounds in 51 days. That comes out to a 1,030 calorie per day deficit.

Keep on keeping on.

laurelkerickson

You're all right. I am so hard on myself. Keep on keeping on!

ninerbuff

Less than 2 months you've lost 15lbs. That's pretty "fast" and now you're body has caught up by adjusting it's metabolic rate to the calories you expend and consume.
You've likely stalled a bit, so here's what I would do first. Change the INTENSITY of your exercise and make it harder. To the point that you really notice that you can't do as well for the same duration. Then see what happens.

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