Weight loss plateau

laurahrv89

I've been doing relatively well with my weight loss, I've lost approx 1 stone since 1st january. I have just over another 2 stone to go. I have been sticking within my calories and been doing 30 mins zumba 5 or 6 days a week as well as long walks with my youngest child as often as I can (roughly 2 or 3 times a week)

I seem to have hit a weight loss brick wall and haven't really lost anything for the last few weeks.

I can't seem to pin point what is causing it and can't seem to break through the brick wall and start losing again.

Should I up my excercise? Decrease my calories (I have been sticking to my basic calories most days but have eaten into my calories remaining some days, though usually still have a fair few remaining)? I already drink at least 8 glasses of water a day and have done so before even starting my weight loss..shouldn't increase my water intake?

Any tips or advice very much welcome. I was doing so well and don't want to get demotivated by this plateau!!

Lietchi

I would start by eliminating potential logging errors:
- are you weighing everything you eat (not using cups, tablespoon,...)?
- are you logging everything you consume, including cooking oil, drinks,...?
- are you verifying that the food entries you are using are correct?

laurahrv89

Thank you! I do measure most things by weighing, but at evening meal time I tend to just use cups/tablespoons etc, as its quicker with 2 hungry kids running round! I do log everything including any drinks and oil etc, so I'm guessing it might be the measuring I'm going wrong with!

I will start weighing ALL my food for a while and see if it makes a difference
Cheers

ninerbuff

In weight loss, a plateau is no weight movement after 6 weeks, IF one has been CONSISTENT during that time. In other words, a plateau is actually a rarity because there are very few people that if they looked at their eating and exercise habits ACTUALLY stick to the same exact regimen for 6 weeks straight. If you add extra calories in any form (dessert, a drink, etc.) on any day during the 6 week period, then you've disrupted the regimen. So it's NOT a plateau. You can have STALLS along the way because of disruption though. All that means is you need to get back to being diligent and weight loss should continue.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Strudders67

I assume you are logging your exercise and eating those calories too. You should be eating some (perhaps 50-75%) of them, but are you sure that what you're logging is accurate? How are you tracking your exercise?

You also shouldn't have a "fair few" calories remaining at the end of each day. If you're seemingly under-eating (not something that's recommended) but you've plateaued, the likely scenario is that either your logging isn't accurate and you're eating more than you think or you're over-estimating your burn and are eating more than you think.

Also when you say you haven't really last anything, do you really mean you haven't lost anything or you haven't lost a lot? Consider the positive - you haven't been gaining! As others have suggested, tighten your logging - weigh everything but also check that the database entries you're using are accurate as there's a lot of old / incorrect entries out there.