Plateaued weight loss

warby1876

Hello, thank you for the invitation to ask you questions on a great job. My question for you? I have plateaued my weight loss over the last 3 weeks, although I have matched the calories Irvine in a little less. Have you experienced this and what tips would you share with me? Thank you.

MargaretYakoda

Three weeks is annoying, but common.
I wouldn’t change anything just yet. Hold firm. The needle might be stuck for a variety of reasons.
Water weight from some higher than normal sodium days.
Some muscle building, maybe.
If you’re doing extra hard workouts there may be water retention from minuscule muscle tears.
So. Hold firm. Don’t give up hope yet.

If you go two more weeks with no loss, then it’s probably time to reevaluate how closely you’re measuring your calorie intake.

I’m sure others will have better insights than I have shared.

Lietchi

How long ago did you start your weight loss journey?
How fast were you losing weight before your 3 week stall?
How many calories are you consuming?
Did anything change in your routine the past three weeks: a new exercise routine, increased frequency of exercise, changes to your diet,...?
How accurate is your calorie counting: are you weighing all of your foods and making sure your using accurate food database entries?

Generally speaking a stall of three weeks can be perfectly normal and it can pass simply with patience. But your answers to the questions above might shed a different light on the matter.

FABRICWOMAN

I think ever so often during the course of an extended weight loss your body wants to hold back, especially when you reach weight levels that you have never been at before. Just hold steady, and it will start to drop off again. I went through a whole month once. Nearly drove me crazy. I am down 115 lbs. since July 2020. We all go through it eventually. You are not alone.

A_New_Creation

Just here to say, me too. Being stuck in a plateau has been so discouraging.

cutcarbs2lose

You could try cutting your carbs back a bit, esp at lunch and dinner, and drink more water. It seems I retain less water when I drink more of it. Re carbs, I read somewhere we store 2 or 3 grams of water for every gram of carbs we take it, and it can add up. This is what I found: "For every one gram of carbohydrate stored in the body (as glycogen) there is approximately 2-3 grams of water retained."

I too am stuck at 170.8, and it's also been 3 weeks, so frustrating! My next goal weight is 169.9, I'm so close, come on scale, just give me that number! But it's only a number. In the mirror I see progress, but still have a lot of weight to lose on my waist, back, and inner thighs.

Lietchi

cutcarbs2lose wrote: »

You could try cutting your carbs back a bit, esp at lunch and dinner, and drink more water. It seems I retain less water when I drink more of it. Re carbs, I read somewhere we store 2 or 3 grams of water for every gram of carbs we take it, and it can add up. This is what I found: "For every one gram of carbohydrate stored in the body (as glycogen) there is approximately 2-3 grams of water retained."

Personally, I don't see the point of cutting carbs. You're just manipulating water weight, not actual fat loss (fat loss is what we're aiming for, I would presume).
If cutting carbs makes it easier to stay in a calorie deficit, great, go for it. But just for losing water weight? Pointless IMO.

MsCzar

Despite faithfully eating at deficit and exercising daily, sometimes the numbers on the scale move at an agonizingly slow rate - sometimes stalling for days and days. When I first started deficit eating, I was seeing extremely satisfying almost daily progress. 80 lbs later - it's taken me almost 30 days to lose 4 lbs.

It really doesn't bother me much anymore. For me, the biggest achievement has been the mind-shift from 'being on a diet' (which implies a beginning and an end) to 'this is the healthy way I eat now.'

YvonnePM

I hit a plateau about a month ago and decided to not change my goals but to rearrange my meals. I moved morning snack to first thing in the morning with my coffee. Breakfast was closer to lunchtime. Moved my main meal to lunch and had a small dinner no later than 5:30. Plateau was gone and I've lost more weight.

GCAsMom

My stalls usually last a month. One time I stalled out for two months. You have to be more stubborn than your body. After the two month stall, I did a strict zig-zag for about a month, and now I'm doing a loose zig-zag. That is as long as my weekly average is within perimeters, I'm okay with it. For me, I don't change my calories, workouts, or diet, I just change up the how and when: zig-zag and/or IF times. This seems to work very well for me.

Beautyofdreams

I started losing weight March 2020. Over June, July and August and first half of September, weight loss slowed to a crawl. Evidently I tend to retain fluid in the summer and it disguised any fat loss. Also, I did not take a diet break until October and diet break helped with weight loss. This year, my weight loss is again stalled out this summer but I kind of expect it is excess fluid again. I

If you have not been dieting long, then you might initially experience large drops in weight. These tend to be mostly water weight and less food in transit in your body. As your diet continues it is normal for weight loss to slow or even stall before picking up again because of reduced non exercise activity levels. Just focus on other areas of progress like fitness, body measurements and accurately weighing and logging all food. Try to increase non exercise activity. There is a thread devoted to increasing NEAT, if someone could post a link. The scale will eventually come around.

On the other hand, if you have been dieting for an extended period of time and lost significant weight, your calorie deficit may be less than you think and it is time to go back into settings and readjust current weight, to get a more realistic calorie count. Or, if calories are correct for your current weight take a two continuous day or two week diet break where you eat at your current maintenance weight if scale doesn't move in SIX WEEKS. Diet breaks lessen the stress on your body and provide a mental break. I have found that they do not effect my adherence but I look forward to returning to diet and that they are good practice for maintenance eating.

ninerbuff

Plateaus are RARE. In weight loss it's defined as 6 weeks or more of no weight movement IF you've stayed totally consistent with eating, exercise, rest, stress, and other factors. And that HARDLY ever happens 6 weeks in a row.

Stalls are common. Can be 2-5 weeks long because of some small inconsistency in your regimen as you steadily lose weight. Weight loss isn't linear.

Also depending on HOW LONG you've been on a moderate or higher calorie deficit, body may need a refeed just to kick back into a higher gear.

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

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