Getting over the humps at round weights 16st, 15st etc...

Hitby

Good morning all, I've been lurking here for a few months but I've not posted before. I hit 17stone and 28+%BF on 21st Jan (238lbs, 6'2" male, 44) and realised it was time to sort myself out. I put my kit on and went straight to the gym. Since then I've been going consistently at least 5 times a week and at the beginning on March I started counting calories with the help of MFP.

I'm happy with my progress, currently 13st (182lb) with 17% BF and my original target was 12st12lb and 13% BF. I will drop below that weight though to get the fat off so I'm not sure what the current target is.

Anyway, I digress. My question is - what's up with the stall you get around the milestone weights - I feel like I stuck at 16, 15, 14 and now 13 stone for longer than I did at any intermediary weights. Not forever but it's dead frustrating when you're waiting for that next lower number on the scale

I do just stick with it and it happens but does anyone else experience this? It's like your body is messing with your mind

AstralCrazy

Genuinely! The in between stuff feels like nothing, but those round numbers are tricky lol

AnnPT77

I didn't experience that, actually. Apparently some others besides you do, though.

I see that you weigh in stones. Maybe consider weighing in pounds or kilos and see where you stall that way? (<=== I'm joking! ).

More seriously: Do you use a weight trending app? This might help with the psychological side of this, i.e., make it less stressful.

Those apps are not a magic crystal ball, but they use extra-fancy statistical averaging methods to make a mathematical guess about one's weight loss trend. (They kind of dampen down the effect of random day to day water/waste fluctuations.) Some people find that helpful.

There is Happy Scale for Apple/iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight (which requires a free Fitbit account but you don't need a device, Weightgrapher on the web, and probably lots of others. Many of them are free.

I use Libra. It was especially helpful during loss, but as also helped during the years of maintenance since. In rare cases, even the trend line in the app can be misleading, but it's usually helpful compared to just looking at a graph of scale weights that tend to fluctuate up and down randomly, even when the overall longer-term trend is down. (Daily weights during loss can look like small peaks and valleys on a downhill mountain slope, during loss.)

Another consideration: Some scales have a hidden memory. Usually it's not a long term thing, but is designed in to keep people from freaking out about normal measurement variability in these only semi-precise home devices.

Without scale memory, if someone is right on the cusp of some particular weight boundary, they could step on the scale one moment and be (say) 132.5 pounds, and step on moments later and be 132.7 pounds or 132.3 pounds. That can rattle people. Therefore, some electronic scales will give the same reading for a bit if whatever hits the scale next is close to the previous reading. Usually it's only a few minutes. I've seen some people here say that theirs can be longer, though.

What a person can do who suspects that is weigh themselves, then take something heavy (dumbbell, stack of books, kettle of water, whatever) and get on the scale again to get it to reset, then repeat the weigh-in without the heavy thing.

Though the initial comment about weight types truly was a joke, I wonder if people who weigh in pounds might be more likely to experience "stickiness" of scale weight at the 10-pound intervals rather than the 14-pound intervals that would equate to a stone, for example. If the scale designs have something to do with the situation, the weight type being used might be a factor. We pound-people might not even notice if we stuck at 14-pound intervals, though. 🤷

Best wishes!

Hitby

Thanks for the comments. I have the apple app set to kilos and my scale app set to stone/lbs. I set my mini targets in lbs. I don't mentally get hung up on the jumps as I know they happen - up a bit today after celebrating yesterday with a 3-4000 calorie parmo (local delicacy ) but I'm back being sensible today. The treats help make it all worthwhile.


Glad to hear it's not just me though