Plateau followed by a nice drop?
OAS5
Posts: 376 Member
I have lost almost 70 pounds eating right of course, exercise and using this app. I hit a plateau from hell for about 3 weeks. I was stuck between 205-206 for just about 3 weeks to the point I was getting annoyed. All of a sudden this week I'm down almost two pounds to 203.2. That is normal right? I just broke out of my plateau right? My goal 80 pounds, maybe 85 so I am very close. Close enough I can taste it. Thanks for any help or info.
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Replies
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Plateaus and sudden drops are normal, yes. The closer you get to your goal weight the slower it will be and small losses can be masked by water weight for several weeks.5
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This started for me last month as I am close to my goal. I have gone exactly ten days twice in stall and then drop. On another one now on day 7. The drops at the end are fun but tough to stay motivated sometimes in between.2
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It’s normal. As you get closer to your goal, expect that to happen regularly. Sometimes it may be 4-6 weeks before the scale goes down. Make sure you’re logging accurately and consistently, weighing all solid food, and the weight will come off.4
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You were never really at a "plateau". Your body was still losing fat, water weight fluctuation just masked it. Now that the water weight is going back down, your fat loss is being revealed.
To be honest, this is the way I tend to lose weight. A few weeks of the same weight, followed by a sudden drop.17 -
Like @MikePTY that is routine for me. I often go 3 weeks in between new low weights and it has been that way for a very long time. I find it better not to think about it and just focus on my process of staying in a calorie deficit. If I am in a calorie deficit I am losing fat weight and it will always show up on the scale eventually.9
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@Cavallaro65 - three cheers for you remaining steadfast during that frustrating hiccup in your fitness, health and wellness journey. Keep marching forward!2
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Thanks guys, really appreciate it. And today again I was down, 202.6 which is exactly 70 pounds down. After being stuck at 205-207 for probably 6-7 weeks all of sudden this week I'm down to 202.6. almost made me nervous to be honest but you guys say this is normal then I'm good. Thanks again for the help.12
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Yep, totally normal! They call it a "whoosh" if you want to look up more references to it on the boards. Great job, and congrats on your big SEVEN-OH!5
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Completely normal for me. That’s why it’s soooo important to stick with your plan even when you don’t see immediate changes on the scale. Good job!!6
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Completely normal for me. That’s why it’s soooo important to stick with your plan even when you don’t see immediate changes on the scale. Good job!!
Yes you are SO right! Every time I get into what I think of as a "rut", I say just plow through it, keep sticking to the plan. Funny you mention that. I call it, will myself right through this. Thank you for the post and kind words. This has been some crazy ride.0 -
That's awesome weight loss, congrats!
Like some have already said, I too find this to be normal weight loss with me. Nothing for 2 and a half or 3 weeks and then I suddenly "lose" 2 or 2,5 kilos overnight. But still turns out as planned on a monthly average - about a kg per week.
Cheers!
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sign_painter wrote: »That's awesome weight loss, congrats!
Like some have already said, I too find this to be normal weight loss with me. Nothing for 2 and a half or 3 weeks and then I suddenly "lose" 2 or 2,5 kilos overnight. But still turns out as planned on a monthly average - about a kg per week.
Cheers!
Thanks, I guess I should expect this going forward with being so close to my goal. I would have NEVER believed in something called the "woosh" before now, but I do now. Its kinda fun to me. At least that nice drop was.0 -
I had a 10 pound swing over a week, after a 3 week plateau (and actual gain). Weight stayed at 208 for a week, went up from 208 to 212 for 2 weeks, and then went down to 202 over a week. The human body is weird. It happens.2
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Spadesheart wrote: »I had a 10 pound swing over a week, after a 3 week plateau (and actual gain). Weight stayed at 208 for a week, went up from 208 to 212 for 2 weeks, and then went down to 202 over a week. The human body is weird. It happens.
You are not kidding.0 -
So I'm guessing I'm on another one of these bounce back and forth then whoosh things. 202.6 and just fluxing between that and 204.8. I guess expect in a few weeks to all of sudden drop. Hopefully a drop under 200. When is the question? 😁0
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I love to see the plateau fall into a beautiful drop
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So it's so strange the pattern I keep seeing. I see a new weight loss number on the scale and feel great about it but then over the next few days I bounce around between that number and a few pounds up. I guess it's just the new norm after losing 70 pounds.0
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yeah i find i trend down/stablilize then often see a blip UP before the next mini drop. it's nice when you can see the blip up and think "yay this means it'll go down).
our weight fluctuates a few pounds or more daily so the daily weigh in are strictly data points. there could be a story behind the data point (ate more salty, ate more startch, exercised more, had alcohol...) but it is a singular datapoint. the key number is your trend over time.2 -
So question on this water weight issue - if you are person to get freaked out or discouraged by these types of masked weigh ins, could you (if you noticed a stall) go very low carb (keto? ) for like 4 days, drop the water weight, and see where you are at ? Like I k,now the water weight would come back once you return to carbs but it would give you a glimpse of what's going on wouldn't it?1
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When I was actually losing weight, that happened to me all the time. I'd go 5 to 10 or so days (sometimes more) and maybe fluctuate upwards and then all the sudden I'd lose 2-3lbs. Now I'm the same weight I was 6 weeks ago despite logging every single meal and continuing my workouts. I eat around 1200 calories every day. sometimes more but the exercise will counteract that. Not sure why I have plateaued for this long but it's pretty frustrating.
On top of that the little "xxx this is where you'll be in 5 weeks" has continued to show me losing weight based on my food and activity and yet it's still not coming off. I'm over 10 lbs heavier than where I'm supposed to be and the weight loss has just stalled for a long time. Really the last 2 months has been pretty impossible. I'd be happy with 1/2 a pound a week or even a little less, but I get nothing anymore.1 -
totally normal! I've heard it said that you shouldn't tweak your diet until you've plateaued for 4 weeks. I think a lot of us panic when we don't go down everyday and cut our calories way too low.1
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Cavallaro65 wrote: »So it's so strange the pattern I keep seeing. I see a new weight loss number on the scale and feel great about it but then over the next few days I bounce around between that number and a few pounds up. I guess it's just the new norm after losing 70 pounds.
This happens to me too, we just have to stay the course.0 -
So question on this water weight issue - if you are person to get freaked out or discouraged by these types of masked weigh ins, could you (if you noticed a stall) go very low carb (keto? ) for like 4 days, drop the water weight, and see where you are at ? Like I k,now the water weight would come back once you return to carbs but it would give you a glimpse of what's going on wouldn't it?
I've done it. It works sometimes, it doesn't other times, but I would say it has a good chance to work in conjunction with a couple other things.
The thing about water weight retention when on heavy calorie deficit is your body goes into panic mode and releases stress hormones, like cortisol. This in tandem with carbs, excess salt, and perhaps low potassium, cause your body to really hold on to water.
The thing I've found to help the most is just sweating a lot. I'll do a long cardio session once or twice a week, and sauna sessions multiple times after gym workouts. I do replenish fluids, but I've seen that a day after intense cardio sessions like this, I do often lose some weight on the scale. If anything, I think this just helps get the salt out. It's helped me see more consistent loss, but I couldn't guarantee it. As I get closer to goal, water weight has been more stubborn, which would again make sense from a hormonal perspective. Your energy stores continue to deplete, your body thinks it's unsustainable (because it is) and is trying to warn you.3 -
So question on this water weight issue - if you are person to get freaked out or discouraged by these types of masked weigh ins, could you (if you noticed a stall) go very low carb (keto? ) for like 4 days, drop the water weight, and see where you are at ? Like I k,now the water weight would come back once you return to carbs but it would give you a glimpse of what's going on wouldn't it?
There is no way to measure how much water weight you are holding, and how much water you will release based on a low carb diet. Your body retains and releases water when it does because it needs to, it's the natural healthy way your body functions. Playing around with your water weight in an effort to see a certain number on the scale is a slippery slope. It's just as possible that a week when you hit a new low weight is because you are slightly dehydrated, not because you lost fat. No way to know.
Your body is 60-70% water. There is literally always water weight in your scale weight. The solution isn't to try to force your body to release water, the solution is to understand the data you have and not be freaked out by the way your body works
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yeah i find i trend down/stablilize then often see a blip UP before the next mini drop. it's nice when you can see the blip up and think "yay this means it'll go down).
our weight fluctuates a few pounds or more daily so the daily weigh in are strictly data points. there could be a story behind the data point (ate more salty, ate more startch, exercised more, had alcohol...) but it is a singular datapoint. the key number is your trend over time.
Yeah I agree. Just gotta go with the flow and plow through. I did change up my diet pretty substantiality from what I was doing which seems odd because what I was doing worked so well to this point. I'm gonna switch back tomorrow actually better I find myself really hungry after the change up. Going back to my tried and true plan. Thanks for the reply.0 -
Congrats on your whoosh!! I'm hoping for one myself. I weigh-in on Fridays, and have been seeing a tick upward the last couple of weeks (likely do to my new strength training workouts). But according to my doctor's scale I dropped 6 pounds from last Monday to this Monday, so I'm super excited for tomorrow's official weigh-in 2
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missblondi2u wrote: »Congrats on your whoosh!! I'm hoping for one myself. I weigh-in on Fridays, and have been seeing a tick upward the last couple of weeks (likely do to my new strength training workouts). But according to my doctor's scale I dropped 6 pounds from last Monday to this Monday, so I'm super excited for tomorrow's official weigh-in
Thank you and I hope you get your big whoosh tomorrow. I weigh myself every day which only started 2 months ago. I kinda like it, and kinda hate it. 🤣0
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