Plateau ??

Motownmadmann2023

What are some idea on how to get past that Plateau we all hit. Im on a journey to 225lbs and have been stuck between 248 and 257ish for a while and i dont know what im either doing wrong or how to get past that 248. looking for any ideas, words of encouragement or ideas on something that i may be missing in my journey.

Lietchi

Depends on what you mean by 'a while'? And also, that's quite a wide range (248-257).

Anything less than 4 weeks and patience is the key.

More than 4 weeks without any weight change AND also no changes in your strategy/ routine: check the accuracy of your logging, you may be eating more than you think. And perhaps go through your goal setup again if you've been losing weight for a while: a smaller body needs fewer calories, but MFP doesn't automatically update your calorie goal. If all that is OK, you may just need to lower your calorie intake a bit and/ or become more active to lose weight again.

Also, since you give such a wide range for your plateau: have you looked at your weight trend? Are you sure you're not losing weight? Or perhaps it's just slow enough to be amasked by daily fluctuations?

Motownmadmann2023

Well depending where my scale sits in the bathroom it can vary but generally for the last 2-3 months my weight has been at the lowest 248 and highest 262 at this time. well let me give you a little background. in 2021 i was diagnosed with AFib (at this time i was pushing 385 lbs my heaviest )spent about 25 days in hospital trying to get heart rate and some other heart related issue stabilized, after i got out and went home i was able to get back on my feet and return to work where i had the best boss that got me off my *kitten* and walking more then i ever did. i went from 250-300 steps a day to with in a year i was averaging 3100-3500 daily this was mostly walking at work then i came down with bronchial asthma and it knocked me on my *kitten* and when i went to the dr and did a PFT test they said i had restrictive lung disease due to being on amiodarone medicine it was one of the side effect that no one ever mentioned to me. Well over the next 6-8 months i could barely walk 10-15 feet with out being so out of breath i felt like i was gonna pas out. this effected my weight and during my short and long term disb. i gained back the weight i lost.

In 2023 when i was in the hospital in Oct i gave up and made the decision i wasnt going back to the hospital. i didnt care what happen. when i got out my dr put me on a restriction of fluids and a water pill and told me i needed to lower my sodium. This was a God send for me cause from Nov 2023 i weighted about 365-370 and now im at 257.(as of today) i lowered muy sodium, watched what i was eating and traced everything(well 95% of stuff I dont really tract fruit that is 0 sodium or powdered drink mix that is 0 sodium either everythign else i track 95% in this time ive only gone over 2000mg of sodium twice. i was so happy to be losing weight but for the last 3-5 months im stuck or plateaued between 248-262 depending on where on the floor my scale site and yes i try my best to put it in same spot everyday. I unfortunately cannot leave it in the middle of the floor where i weigh myself. i weight my self when i wake up after using the facilities before i eat.

Currently i am not working should start new job this monday but i try and get out and walk around Walmart, Meijers, or Target at least 4/7 or more days. i useally get in about 2800-3400 steps during my walks this doesnt include walking around the apartment or interacting with my cat. i try and eat healthy watching the calories and sodium. some times i go over calories but stay under sodium. its been hard and im trying to stay positinve but i dont know what to do to push past the 248 mark i wanna get down to like 215-225

AnnPT77

Given your very complex mix of health issues, your best bet would be to check in with your doctor and/or a registered dietitian before doing anything major.

In general, being weight stable for a 3-5 month time period means a person has on average been eating their current maintenance calories. "Weight stable" includes the normal scenario where weight is up and down in a few pound range, but up and down in the same range over that long a time.

A lot of people think they're in a plateau when there's a scale stall of a week or two or so. That's usually a temporary water retention effect that will sort itself out with more time, assuming they'd been losing at a reasonable rate until the scale stalled.

If a person is eating at maintenance calories, honestly, the solution is to increase activity without increasing calorie intake, or decrease calorie intake without decreasing activity, or some more modest combination of decreasing intake and increasing activity.

In your case, I hesitate to suggest that without some medical advice in the picture. Your health history suggests that you could have some atypical fluid retention tendencies. If that's what's happening over these recent months, then cutting more calories or increasing activity would put more stress on your body in ways that could be counter-productive.

I'm not an expert. I don't know what's possible or likely as an explanation in your specific scenario, and I'd view any advice you may get here with similar skepticism. Pretty much no one here is an expert. Even if there are people who have a somewhat similar health history who can give you more nuanced advice based on their personal experience, there may be important medical differences in their situation vs. yours.

TL;DR: For someone without non-average health conditions, a 3-5 month stall would mean it's time to reduce calories eaten a bit more, or increase activity a bit more, or some of each of those. For someone with a more complex medical history, I think a medical consultation is the place to start, before doing that.