How many times can you hit a plateau?

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  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
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    I feel like this is a, "how long is a piece of string" question. That is to say, there is no answer.
  • fdlewenstein
    fdlewenstein Posts: 231 Member
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    A plateau can mean different things for different people. If you really are concerned about hitting plateaus I would highly recommend that you track your weight loss on the app Happy Scale. You will see your weight loss trend and it can put your weight loss into perspective.
  • scarlett_k
    scarlett_k Posts: 812 Member
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    The only "plateaus" I've experienced in my almost 3 years at this have been because I haven't stuck to my calories. I don't know if that's what you meant but there's no limit to them. It's all a learning curve, working out what works for you and what you can stick to.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
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    Depends on what is meant by "plateau".

    1) A period in which, for whatever reason, your calories have crept up to around maintenance (with or without you realizing it) and your weight loss has stopped.

    or

    2) A period in which you are precisely measuring and hitting calorie targets and logging everything, and are sure you are in the same deficit you've always been in, but for possibly supernatural reasons, you have stopped losing weight -- for a period of at least a few weeks.     (If it's less than 3-4 weeks, then it's normal scale fluctuation and should be ignored; demanding a linearity from scales that they can't and won't produce is a surefire way to end up frustrated and regaining).

    # 1 will happen pretty much anytime you start slacking, taking days off too frequently, not logging carefully, etc. ad nauseam. Sometimes maybe it's a sign that it's time to take a break.

    # 2 there seem to be many people who believe this scenario exists. I personally do not. Excepting a malfunctioning thyroid, math is math and chemistry is chemistry, and the human body does not suddenly switch to needing 250 or 500 or 750 calories less fuel each day. It just doesn't make any sense.

    The best plateau avoidance strategy is to dumbly plod along with good counting, logging, and food intake discipline, hitting that MFP goal number day after day with an occasional--but infrequent--meal off. Even then, scale weight can flatline for a few weeks or a month for no explicable reason.

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