Stuck on a plateau

dawnfolks5612

I’m 52 yr female. Started 9 weeks ago. 1200 calories. I do intermittent fasting, 16:8. I work out by riding stationary bike 4-5/ week. I track everything and drink my water 64+ oz. In first 7 weeks I lost a whopping 5 lbs. now entering 9 weeks I am same weight 2 weeks in a row. I have a lot of weight to lose! 5ft 1in 210 lbs. Have had all blood levels checked all fine.
I’m so frustrated and looking for ideas?

sollyn23l2

I know it's frustrating, but it's very normal to have a couple weeks where you don't see a loss on the scale. Stick with it, make sure you're being as accurate and consistent as you can with your logging. You'll get there.

Lietchi

2 weeks in a row is just a stall - it's a plateau after more than 4 weeks of zero progress (and no changes to your routine). If you're only weighing once a week, you might even have had a lower weight on days where you didn't weigh yourself - with weekly weigh-ins it's even more important to be patient.

fruitsnaps

Try eating 1600-1700 calories a day and lots of fiber! You should still be in calorie defecit, just gentler. Your body doesn't know that you are trying to lose weight, only that something is "wrong" (drastic reduction in calories!?! ok now I will hold on to the weight I have in case I am about to starve) 1200 calories a day + that amount of exercise is simply not enough food for someone of your age and weight. It's barely enough for a toddler!!!

Sounds counterintuitive, but trust me. If I try to eat at my very lowest calorie amount I will not lose weight (and I am more likely to binge, but that's a different issue) if I eat to lose .5- 1 lb per week and I exercise I see consistent weight loss. I've lost over 50 lbs... So far.

I would also not recommend intermittent fasting but I also realize everyone's metabolism is different.

Lark13

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48678197#Comment_48678197

Actually, it’s exactly the same issue. 😉

PAV8888

You potentially have a few issues going on!

And yes, the correct answer IS to keep on keeping on!

But now let's sort through some potential pain points!

What's your goal? Based on what you're describing, it sounds like you want to lose some weight and exercise for health.

How much water you drink and what time of the day you eat matter relatively little in terms of your weight loss efforts. They matter a lot, in a good way, if they help you keep to your Calories. And they matter a lot, in a bad way, if they make it harder for you to keep to your Calories.

Your long term weight level will be determined by your long term Calories in vs Calories out balance.

And yes, eating nutritious Calories In does provide bonus points in the health department. But bonus points are bonus points. The game score depends on the actual Caloric balance and how it tilts to either create a deficit or surplus over sufficient time.

Your other issue has to do with measurement and sampling.

You weigh once a week. And you may also have a hormonal cycle. Plus you intermittently fast and drink lots of water.

Whatever goes in.... stays in till your either burn it or excrete it!

I could have loads of fun with the scale gaining and losing weight just by manipulating what and when I eat vs when I weigh myself.

So, for all we know, you may be losing tickety boo... but not fast enough to overwhelm natural scale fluctuations.

That said, 5lbs over 7 weeks is nothing to snear at. But it also sounds like you were expecting more.

A lot of people show up. Work really really hard expecting to be rewarded 1:1 or even 1 to 0.5 for the hard work they put in. Then they discover that the hard work doesn't always appear to bring the rewards they expect. They get discouraged (to be honest many seem to be more angry than discouraged) and give up in disgust/despair/anger and return to what they have always known.

Don't be that person!😎

Grab a bowl of oatmeal or some bacon and eggs and keep on reading.

You're 5ft 1" and 210lbs. I don't know if that means your starting point is higher or lower than when I started logging on MFP at ~5ft 8" and about 245-250lbs or higher or lower than before I started logging when I was closer to ~290+. All I know is that my first "valid" scale results were at around 280 (top of the analogue scale dial without circling past 0) and that's when I was able to once more button up my largest pants (after having graduated to exclusively using track pants)

That's a roundabout way to say that you have a long path ahead.

And long paths require forthrightness with one's self and not trying to make life too difficult.

They require exploration and experimentation and a remaking and reinvention of your life from one that promoted and facilitated obesity to one that promotes and facilitates normal weight.

They require you to take every decision point where short term expediency indicates damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead, I will power through everything through strength of will. And to consider whether you can finesse things and create a long term playing field that will encourage long term behaviors that promote long term lower weight levels instead.

Basically continuing long term compliance and finding long term effective strategies is the goal. Not just short terms power through everything by sheer willpower.

90% of your weight level results will come from controlling your long term caloric intake.

Exercise will absolutely support this. And make you feel way healthier and energetic. But neither exercise not water nor timing will make you lose weight by themselves or as the primary drivers.

Being as un hungry as you can be while consistently creating a reasonable deficit (not too large and not too small)... yup, that will help you get there. And hopefully it will also allow you to collect a bag of tricks along the way and help your remake and tackle enough long term issues so that the total package of your daily life ends up promoting the new lower weight.

You're thinking in weeks. I encourage you to start thinking in months instead. And soon after that in years.

Sure. Especially in the beginning there will exist an element of challenge. But you can't spend the next couple of years continuously on edge. Not the next five when you maintain.

So work smarter not just harder!👍🏼

Re measuring, recording, and size of deficits.

When I started on MFP I definitely benefitted from weighing everything and recording it BEFORE I consumed it.

Both from the recording aspect of not forgetting or being caught by surprise by what I had consumed and from the behavior modification aspect of looking through the tally and making choices in terms of what I was choosing to consume at the time.

But at the same time deficits that exceed 25% of one's tdee are aggressive. And after a few months unlikely to be complied with.

So at 61" I am having a hard time seeing a much faster than 1lb a week loss rate long term while ensuring adequate nutrient intake.

A reminder: TDEE includes all activities: rest, exercise, and (non exercise grade) active living.

I hope this gives you some things to consider and perhaps even helps a bit.

Create something you can live with long term and which encourages the weight you want to be instead of the one you're at.

ddsb1111

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48678197#Comment_48678197

When’s the last time you checked your sources? Have you ever checked your sources? Do that real quick and let us know what you find.

ddsb1111

Let’s try to look at it from a distance. A 52 year old woman who is 5’1” and weighs 210 lbs eating 1,200 calories a day could expect to lose around 1.2 pounds per week if she’s mostly sedentary, and up to about 1.7 pounds per week if she’s lightly active.

Here’s an easy graph to explain. If you’re not losing at 1200 calories a day, at your weight, you’re not counting calories accurately. It’s a challenge many of us have to learn, it just takes time.

Sedentary	×1.2	~1800 kcal/day
Lightly active	×1.375	~2063 kcal/day
Moderately active	×1.55	~2325 kcal/day
Very active	×1.725	~2590 kcal/day
Extra active	×1.9	~2850 kcal/day