Plateau busters?

kimberleyblantonhudgins

What do you do when you hit that block? You k ow what I am talking about and it is not just mental cause I went to Dr. I was anemic and low on protein (following all the guidelines honestly) Taking vitamins. But I am digressing, I got to the point of no energy & although I was so hungry no real desire to eat. I have lots of trouble sleeping. Just now have appetite back & want to eat everything, have to be careful, still can’t sleep well. Maybe 3 hours at night. Not sure how to overcome this do not want to gain weight back and want to keep on my loss journey!

xbowhunter

Just a? but do you ingest alcohol on a regular basis?

I had similar issues as you described.

Eliminated all alcohol and bam 2 weeks later everything cleared up.

Knowing what I know now no more booze of any kind for this guy.

Lietchi

Depends on what is causing the plateau, I'd say.

'Plateau' short-term (less than a month - a stall) while doing what I should be doing: I do absolutely nothing, time will sort it out. (even more so if there are reasons that I might be retaining water such as new/more intense exercise)

Plateau long-term:
- if I'm doing everything I should, I'd look at the accuracy of my food logging first. if that seems in order, I'd revise my calorie goal.
- if I'm in a plateau because I'm not adhering to my calorie goal, my first step would be to find the cause and address that. For example, is it due to stress eating? Find a way to manage stress without eating (for example running does that for me). Is it because I'm just indulging too much? I recently had the issue where my BF brought home a 2lb box of premium chocolates. I increased my days working at the office versus working from home to get away from the temptation and because I have less access to food at the office (only what I bring myself). Is it because of craving due to a lack of sleep? Work on getting more/better sleep. Etc.

AnnPT77

So how fast were you losing weight before the plateau, and over what time period? Some of the symptoms you're describing can happen when a person cuts calories way too far for fast loss: There's no way to get adequate nutrition on too-few calories, and the stress of under-fueling (inadequate calories) just complicates the situation.

Even if that's not part of the cause, you're describing a scenario where many people's bodies would hold onto extra water weight. Water retention can mask fat loss on the scale for a surprisingly long time, causing a weight stall, even though fat loss is still moving along fine behind the scenes.

Honestly, if it were me, I'd make restoring health job #1. That would mean eating at/near estimated maintenance calories, working on getting really excellent nutrition every day for a while. Just my amateur opinion, though.

tomcustombuilder

Your weight plateau could very well be water bloat due to stress and cortisol. Stop dieting and just eat normally for awhile to restore your baseline health. In time go back to a reasonable weekly deficit and proper nutrition.