Have I plateaud early?

Anamatronic

I'm almost scared to post this as I can anticipate the response but, I've been rigidly sticking to my calories of 1250 per day. Everything is logged and measured. I got to the gym 4/5 days a week and burn about 500 cals which I maybe eat back 30% of maybe 50. So I either hit 1200 or under most days initially I lost 2 pounds my first week then I went up a pound this week. I was so disheartened I wanted to give up.

But ppl have noticed a change and are commenting that I look thinner and my clothes feel better but the scale has frustrate my me so much. And I know I'm going to get asked if I'm logging everything, yes I am, I'm a perfectionist, I even log bigger portions to keep me on the safe, and don't log exercise unless I eat some of it back.

Are some peoples bodies just like this? I am only a stone overweight, so I don't have much to lose but it feels impossible, to give extra context I visited my mum in the summer whilst she was doing some awful detox were she basically drank some stock for three days and nothing else. She convinced me to do it with her and I did reluctantly, she lost 6punds during it and I lost a half pound. We did exactly the same thing. It feels like I try really hard but nothing happens so end up giving up in exasperation.

shaunshaikh

When you are this close to your goal weight, fat is notoriously stubborn. 0.5 lbs per week is a typical reasonable goal. The problem is that hydration fluctuations are many times greater than the expected fat loss trend, so it can be very hard to see over daily or even weekly measurings. Keep doing what you're doing, take measurements, look at progress photos, maybe even toss in a skin fold measurement, and you should look for progrses over the course of months. Another thing to consider is that when starting new workout regimens or exercise, you might hold some water while your muscles heal. Stress, sodium, carbs, TOM all contribute to water weight fluctuations. Hell, I just gained a pound and a half by drinking 24 oz of water out of my yeti mug.

Nony_Mouse

^^This.

Five weeks ago I set about losing my little winter insulation layer (southern hemisphere). As of today, on the scale I am the exact same weight as I was five weeks ago. In between I have been both higher and lower. Why? Because in that time I have also restarted strength training (water retention for muscle repair), had PMS bloat, had ovulation bloat, restarted running, and now back to PMS bloat. Water weight fluctuations can very easily mask fat loss on the scale, which is why you need to look at long term trends rather than just day to day or week to week. A week ago I weighed 1.4 kg less than I do today. I have most definitely not eaten 10,500 calories over maintenance in the past week. If you know your calorie intake is on point, stay the course.

That said, when you say you measure, are you using cups, or are you weighing your food? Weighing is much more precise, and there is no reason to log bigger portions if you are weighing your food. You should also be eating 50% of your exercise calories back regardless. If not, you are under fuelling your body. That in itself can lead to fluid retention.

Anamatronic

Thanks, that's reassuring, I was thinking it could be something to do with my cycle but didn't know it affected it that much.

I weigh everything in scales, we don't use cups here so I don't even know what they are.

Nony_Mouse

Anamatronic wrote: »

Thanks, that's reassuring, I was thinking it could be something to do with my cycle but didn't know it affected it that much.

I weigh everything in scales, we don't use cups here so I don't even know what they are.

Yep, hormonal fluctuations and their pesky water weight can have a huge impact. My feet are so swollen at the moment it's hilarious, in a totally not even funny way. My even bigger joy currently is that my body has decided to pack that kilo of water on a full week or more before either ovulation or TOM (yay, perimenopause ). I basically get on the scale and go 'ha! Whatevs' at the moment, with a few days of 'woohoo!' sprinkled in every couple of weeks.

Nony_Mouse

Also, a weight trend app is your friend (Trendweight, Happy Scale, Libra). Enter your weight daily, ignoring the fluctuations. In a few weeks it will have enough data for a reliable trend line. So long as that is heading downwards, you can safely and confidently ignore the daily ups and downs.