Any tips for breaking a plateau?

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MariMcKeon
MariMcKeon Posts: 46 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
We all face the problem.....we have a low calorie count and are doing everything needed to lose weight, have even lost a lot, and then hit a plateau....how do you break it?

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  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    edited August 2019
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    Plateaus and fluctuations are a natural part of the process. Don't worry about them.

    No drastic measures are needed. If you want to switch things up, you can, but not necessary.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,837 Member
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    Patience and persistence. Until it lasts 3-4 weeks minimum, it isn't really even a plateau. Bodies are weird. ;)
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
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    I've kinda gotten to a point where I enjoy the plateaus, because I know a big whoosh is getting ready to drop. Keeps things more interesting than the daily grind of losing 0.2 to 0.4 per day. A month ago I had a stubborn plateau that was followed by 7 consecutive days of loss totaling 6.4 pounds. That was very satisfying and entertaining!

    Over the long term, the weight loss all adds up correctly based on CICO so I've learned to just embrace the madness and enjoy the ride, bumps and all.
  • shunggie
    shunggie Posts: 1,036 Member
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    I finally broke thru the plateau when I stopped worrying about the dang plateau. It sounds dumb but I had decided I was going to eat maintenance for a weekend. I was just so bummed out about being stuck, I had dropped 35ish pounds and couldn't move the scale. I still exercised and tracked all weekend but ate a little outside my weight loss comfort zone. Weighed on Monday prepared to be disappointed and boom - I was down. And have been consistently down (or understand why I'm not - sodium intake usually) since then. At some level, I believe it was mental. Maybe stress hormones - who knows. But as soon as I released the idea of "must lose weight every second of every day" the weight started dropping off again. Then I went back and did some math to discover I was still losing around .6 pounds per week, while my calories/exercise settings are .5 pounds per week. I was actually doing better than expected. Good luck.
  • RunsWithBees
    RunsWithBees Posts: 1,508 Member
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    I’m in maintenance now but back when I was losing weight, the thing that broke the plateaus was an 8-10 mile hike through very hilly terrain. Worked every time, the scale would start moving again a few days after all that exertion. And it’s also a good idea to double check your logging for errors that might be hindering your progress.

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