Plateu

nancyvazquez7796

I’ve reached a Plateu. No weight is coming off at the moment. A bit depressed because I know I am not over eating. Got to figure this out. But it will happen.

tiptoethruthetulips

How long since you have actually lost weight? Have you been gaining at all or the weight fairly stable?

callsitlikeiseeit

LyndaBSS

Fluctuations and plateaus are a normal part of the process of losing weight.

Typically, all it requires is patience.

How much weight have you lost and how much do you have left to go?

If you haven't already, read the stickies at the top of the getting started forum. Very informative and helpful.

starpeppper

When this happens to me it’s so frustrating. Your diet stays the same, but you stop losing. I have found though that if I don’t focus on that and keep following my diet, in a week or so, I’ll suddenly lose a few pounds all at once. So my advice is to hang in there!

LyndaBSS

The excitement of the woosh far outweighs the frustration of the plateau. 😀

Justin_7272

Weigh your food.

lgfrie

I've found that people have two completely different (and actually opposite) ideas in mind when they use the word "plateau"

• Shorthand for "yes, I'm still losing fat in accordance with CICO, but for whatever reason, my body is storing some water, leading to a frustratingly long flatline on my scale readings that I wish would end already.

or

• My body is currently operating outside the realm of physics, because I have been taking in less calories than I burn for an extended period of time and yet am no longer losing fat.

The former is just part of dieting. You retain water; then it drains off. You have a so-called plateau, and then you get a whoosh that fully delivers the correct weight loss for the entire period in which the plateau-whoosh cycle occurred. Where the "plateau" is frustrating, the satisfying whoosh more than makes up for it. Just a lil delayed gratification is all.

The latter does not, and cannot, exist. It is outside the realm of physics and biological systems as they are known to work to say that you are taking in less energy than the body requires and yet are not burning fuel reserves -- i.e. fat.

If you take in less calories than you use, you are burning fat. If your CICO is the same now as before the plateau, you are burning exactly the same amount of fat per day as before the scale flatlined.

My experience with plateaus is that in most cases, diet discipline has flagged. In fact, I was just speaking with a house guest a few days ago who was bitterly describing a month-long plateau. A few quick questions confirmed that she'd watched the scale flatline, got demoralized, stopped counting calories, and was just coasting for a while. She thought she was dieting but wasn't really, or in any event not enough to lose additional weight. And lo and behold, she stopped losing weight, because her caloric intake had increased. Seems so obvious, and yet she was (and remains) convinced that her body just magically stopped losing fat for a while even though she was dieting. Like there's some evil Plateau apparition that just shows up in your body and causes you to diet and diet with no weight loss. It makes no sense.

All a plateau is or can ever can be is a sodium rebalancing that instead of taking place over the usual 3-5 day time frame occurs over a long enough time frame for the dieter to notice and get annoyed about it.

The Plateau Apparition has an uncanny knack for showing up right as a person is getting tired of dieting and isn't paying as much attention to the kitchen scale, portions, etc. Amazing coincidence.

Anabirgite

So sorry Nancy, I totally understand. I have been plateauing for several weeks too. I know I am hormonally challenged right now and am dealing with my doctor not for weight loss but dealing with these hormonal issues. Coincidentally I have been suffering from insomnia now for 3 weeks and a bad migraine too. Yesterday after a frustrating and busy day I had to purchase takeout, had a glass a wine, and for the first time in months ate all my exercise calories back and then some. I was prepared for an ugly number on the scale this morning. I fell a sleep on the couch last night at 8, crawled into bed at 9 ( I believe I brushed my teeth but can not be sure) and had a good night sleep. I broke thru my plateau this morning and saw a number on the scale I have not seen for 7 years. I am not suggesting you need sleep, I do not know your answer but I think there are a multitude of small factors, retaining water being a big one, but small factors too that when you continue plugging along the numbers will follow later rather then sooner. Good Luck to you.

AnnPT77

lgfrie wrote: »

I've found that people have two completely different (and actually opposite) ideas in mind when they use the word "plateau"

• Shorthand for "yes, I'm still losing fat in accordance with CICO, but for whatever reason, my body is storing some water, leading to a frustratingly long flatline on my scale readings that I wish would end already.

or

• My body is currently operating outside the realm of physics, because I have been taking in less calories than I burn for an extended period of time and yet am no longer losing fat.

The former is just part of dieting. You retain water; then it drains off. You have a so-called plateau, and then you get a whoosh that fully delivers the correct weight loss for the entire period in which the plateau-whoosh cycle occurred. Where the "plateau" is frustrating, the satisfying whoosh more than makes up for it. Just a lil delayed gratification is all.

The latter does not, and cannot, exist. It is outside the realm of physics and biological systems as they are known to work to say that you are taking in less energy than the body requires and yet are not burning fuel reserves -- i.e. fat.

If you take in less calories than you use, you are burning fat. If your CICO is the same now as before the plateau, you are burning exactly the same amount of fat per day as before the scale flatlined.

My experience with plateaus is that in most cases, diet discipline has flagged. In fact, I was just speaking with a house guest a few days ago who was bitterly describing a month-long plateau. A few quick questions confirmed that she'd watched the scale flatline, got demoralized, stopped counting calories, and was just coasting for a while. She thought she was dieting but wasn't really, or in any event not enough to lose additional weight. And lo and behold, she stopped losing weight, because her caloric intake had increased. Seems so obvious, and yet she was (and remains) convinced that her body just magically stopped losing fat for a while even though she was dieting. Like there's some evil Plateau apparition that just shows up in your body and causes you to diet and diet with no weight loss. It makes no sense.

All a plateau is or can ever can be is a sodium rebalancing that instead of taking place over the usual 3-5 day time frame occurs over a long enough time frame for the dieter to notice and get annoyed about it.

The Plateau Apparition has an uncanny knack for showing up right as a person is getting tired of dieting and isn't paying as much attention to the kitchen scale, portions, etc. Amazing coincidence.

Generally, I agree with this post.

But there are a few other things a plateau (as perceived by the plateau-ee) can be. Without trying to be exhaustive, some are:

* Person has lost enough weight that what used to be a deficit level of calorie intake is now a maintenance level of intake. (This one would usually appear gradually, but normal fluctuations could obscure that.)
* Person has changed daily routine in some material way without realizing the profound effect that can have on calorie needs. This might be something like moving to a smaller home without flights of stairs, or a significant job change. (Some people think exercise is more influential than daily life, but for many of us, the reverse is true.)

That's without even getting into inaccurate logging, or common misunderstandings about the potential effect of "cheat days", inflated exercise estimates, or what happens if one uses a TDEE calculator but reduces exercise below what one told it.

You're right, though: Water weight is likely (not necessarily just from sodium), or flagging attention.

lgfrie

AnnPT77 wrote: »

lgfrie wrote: »

I've found that people have two completely different (and actually opposite) ideas in mind when they use the word "plateau"

• Shorthand for "yes, I'm still losing fat in accordance with CICO, but for whatever reason, my body is storing some water, leading to a frustratingly long flatline on my scale readings that I wish would end already.

or

• My body is currently operating outside the realm of physics, because I have been taking in less calories than I burn for an extended period of time and yet am no longer losing fat.

The former is just part of dieting. You retain water; then it drains off. You have a so-called plateau, and then you get a whoosh that fully delivers the correct weight loss for the entire period in which the plateau-whoosh cycle occurred. Where the "plateau" is frustrating, the satisfying whoosh more than makes up for it. Just a lil delayed gratification is all.

The latter does not, and cannot, exist. It is outside the realm of physics and biological systems as they are known to work to say that you are taking in less energy than the body requires and yet are not burning fuel reserves -- i.e. fat.

If you take in less calories than you use, you are burning fat. If your CICO is the same now as before the plateau, you are burning exactly the same amount of fat per day as before the scale flatlined.

My experience with plateaus is that in most cases, diet discipline has flagged. In fact, I was just speaking with a house guest a few days ago who was bitterly describing a month-long plateau. A few quick questions confirmed that she'd watched the scale flatline, got demoralized, stopped counting calories, and was just coasting for a while. She thought she was dieting but wasn't really, or in any event not enough to lose additional weight. And lo and behold, she stopped losing weight, because her caloric intake had increased. Seems so obvious, and yet she was (and remains) convinced that her body just magically stopped losing fat for a while even though she was dieting. Like there's some evil Plateau apparition that just shows up in your body and causes you to diet and diet with no weight loss. It makes no sense.

All a plateau is or can ever can be is a sodium rebalancing that instead of taking place over the usual 3-5 day time frame occurs over a long enough time frame for the dieter to notice and get annoyed about it.

The Plateau Apparition has an uncanny knack for showing up right as a person is getting tired of dieting and isn't paying as much attention to the kitchen scale, portions, etc. Amazing coincidence.

Generally, I agree with this post.

But there are a few other things a plateau (as perceived by the plateau-ee) can be. Without trying to be exhaustive, some are:

* Person has lost enough weight that what used to be a deficit level of calorie intake is now a maintenance level of intake. (This one would usually appear gradually, but normal fluctuations could obscure that.)
* Person has changed daily routine in some material way without realizing the profound effect that can have on calorie needs. This might be something like moving to a smaller home without flights of stairs, or a significant job change. (Some people think exercise is more influential than daily life, but for many of us, the reverse is true.)

That's without even getting into inaccurate logging, or common misunderstandings about the potential effect of "cheat days", inflated exercise estimates, or what happens if one uses a TDEE calculator but reduces exercise below what one told it.

You're right, though: Water weight is likely (not necessarily just from sodium), or flagging attention.

Indeed, many people these days start off a new diet not only with a calorie deficit but also low carb. They are quickly rewarded with stunning weight loss for the same reason as the keto folks - carbs cause water retention; cutting out the carbs releases water, sometimes an amazing amount of water. In my case, I went low carb at first; I'm not doing keto or anything like that; I just wanted to break an insane carb gorging habit once and for all, which I did; and I lost 19 lbs in my first month, then it immediately switched to a slower and steady 2 lbs per week in accordance with MFP's estimates around Day 27. In other words, I dropped 11 pounds of water in the first month reducing the carbs. So it can be a LOT of water rebalancing for carb lovers when they start a diet, leading to unrealistic expectations for weight loss beyond the first few weeks. Anyway, a while goes by and said person gets tired of low carb, because let's face it, carbs taste phenomenally good. He/she might still be fully meeting a calorie target, but now the body is soaking up water to cover the higher carb intake. Voila - a scale plateau while, in fact, actively dieting and still losing fat.

But it's just water. Fat is still being burned during the plateau.

I agree with your post - weight loss will slow down while losing weight just due to a changing TDEE; I've been experiencing that lately, unfortunately. It's hard to accept that the "reward" for losing all that weight is to get less food everyday, but that's the way it works.

I think, though, that when most people use the word "plateau" they're generally referring to a period early in a diet when the scale is flatlining and they might still be dieting (just taking in more carbs or sodium or something like that) or loosening up their discipline, but either way are of the mistaken belief that the laws of physics stopped applying to them and they are no longer losing fat.

Inability to distinguish between losing fat and losing scale weight has led to a lot of unnecessary stress for a lot of dieters, I think.

nancyvazquez7796

Thank you for all the responses. I have to do some rethinking here and there. I can say I have not eaten all my calories...most days I am under. I cannot do vigorous exercise due to an issue, so I do use a Stationary Bike. I do have a Scale and have been measuring...maybe it is some of the foods. Gonna hang in there. I have not stopped. I’ve cut back on so many things. I really appreciate the help. I do feel encouraged.