Plateau Again - I think I know the answer but hopefully something shows up

oakster69

I have a question on the plateau again. This is my second effort into weight loss after I took a few months off in between. Each time, when I have lost about 30 pounds I hit a plateau for at least 3 weeks, actually I never really break through. I have wondered about calorie count catching up to progress but the weight loss doesnt really slow down like that. I lose a very steady 2 - 3 pounds per week and then a week or two where I lose a pound, and then nothing..... This can go on for a month or so. Currently I am going on 3 or 4 weeks where I have lost maybe 2 pounds.

I can try to get better with my logging but what I really want to know is should this be normal? It is very depressing when the progress was going so good and it stops. How do you break through? Is it more activity, or less calories than suggested? Just struggle through? I hate wasting time and I have a lot of weight to lose, sitting still on the scale numbers bother me.

I have currently dropped from 408 lbs to 380 lbs in pretty steady, 2 pound per week increments. Then over the last month I have lost only 2 pounds. That seems too drastic to no longer be in deficit and too drastic for my counting not to be effective.

cmriverside

I wouldn't say it's normal when you have so much weight to lose, but if you're female and not eating at much of a deficit it could be hormonal.

Definitely tighten up your food logging. You should be able to be losing quite a bit faster at your current body weight.

tomcustombuilder

Your new weekly maintenance is catching up to your new weight so time to drop a few hundred daily calories

oakster69

I am male. Probably should have had that in my post. It was falling good, then just stops

oakster69

tomcustombuilder wrote: »

Your new weekly maintenance is catching up to your new weight so time to drop a few hundred daily calories

I would have thought I would see a gradual trend of slowing weight loss, not a sudden stop

poodle_whisper

if you are on plan, you may be due for a whoosh and you have to stay the course and not get discouraged. google it for more info. its not usually possible to trigger that whoosh, it will come when it comes. but do some research and see if you have any of the signs that lead up to one.

tomcustombuilder

oakster69 wrote: »

tomcustombuilder wrote: »

Your new weekly maintenance is catching up to your new weight so time to drop a few hundred daily calories

I would have thought I would see a gradual trend of slowing weight loss, not a sudden stop

after a month it’s best to lower calories when in doubt otherwise you’re just wasting time that you could be losing. Whoosh is more likely with people that are carrying less fat.

Water retention is usually just your homeostatic system trying to balance out the fat loss with water but at your weight it’s highly unlikely that’s what’s happening however bodies are funny and you really never know what to expect.

AnnPT77

If it stopped suddenly, I think it is more likely to be some temporary weirdness, not that you've reached maintenance calories. (That's assuming your energy level has stayed strong, you're not feeling weak, cold, etc.)

There are some potential strange bodily reactions to stress, and a prolonged calorie deficit is a stress, even though we expect it to be good for us in the long run. While not absolutely everyone experiences such plateaus, I do think they're normal/common.

Even though the thread titles might not seem to be what you're asking about, I think you might get some useful insights from reading these two threads:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1077746/starvation-mode-adaptive-thermogenesis-and-weight-loss/p1

Both have some good discussion beyond the first post(s), and I got a lot out of reading (at least skimming) the whole thing in both cases, even though they're long. The second one, for sure read all of the first few posts that are by the initial person who posted the thread.

In your shoes, I'd either stick with the process as is, or take a month or so eating at estimated current maintenance calories then get back to a deficit. If you do the latter, expect a little scale jump at first: It's not fat, it's increased water retention (to digest/metabolize the added food) and more food in the digestive tract on the way to becoming waste.