Plateau - Help!

DeeDeeMee

Hi All,

I'm wondering what everyone thinks, I seem to have hit a plateau. It's not reflected in MFP all that well, but I changed my diet etc a bit over three months ago and for the first 10 weeks lost about a kilo (2.2 pounds) a week. Then I seem to have plateaued a bit and over the last month or so have only lost about 2 kilos, and nothing over the last week or so. I haven't really done anything different - my diet and exercise are pretty much the same with the exception of the occasional seasonal party at which I'm trying to eat very sparingly. I'm considering that the change could be due to either:

Eating too much at the parties etc, although my weekly calorie intake is still in deficit.

Upping my alcohol intake a little bit. This really means that I might have one or two glasses of something when at a party, as opposed to not drinking any at all. I ALWAYS log all alcohol intake.

Not actually eating enough. Have I put myself into starvation mode? On an average week I'm usually a whole day's worth of calories in deficit. But I don't feel like I'm not eating enough. If I'm still hungry and have some calories left to spare I'll have an extra piece of fruit or cheese or something.

Dehydration. Could this even be a contributing factor? It hasn't ever really been a problem for me as water is my cold drink of choice, I hardly ever drink sodas or anything. But I do drink a lot of tea and usually have a coffee or two in the mornings. I started getting headaches in the afternoons recently and so upped my water intake which seems to have solved the problem so I definitely have been dehydrated a bit lately.

Eating dessert. Could the sweet stuff after dinner be the source of the problem?

At first I thought the plateau had occurred because I was guesstimating my amounts, esp at dinner, but I've been measuring them properly over the last month and there hasn't really been any change.

My stats are: 171 cm (5"6') Female, 31 yo. currently about 88 Kilos (194 pounds) aiming for around 75 Kilos (165 pounds). I have a very dense skeletal and muscular structure, I'll never be really skinny and don't really want to be. If I got down past 70 kilos I'd be worried. I usually do about 400 calories worth of exercise a day and eat back maybe 2/3 of it. It is a rare day that my intake exceeds 1600 calories overall. MFP is set to sedentary for me at 1200 calories, so I log all my exercise (cleaning and gardening only when it's serious hard core stuff). I do have some mild blood sugar issues, which my doctor has me on metformin for. We'll be weaning me off it once I'm down to a good weight.

I'd love to be able to keep up the momentum on my weight loss so if anyone has any ideas about what the problem could be I'd love to hear them.

hwoeltjen

Starvation mode occurs when your body has burned through your fat and is now eating lean body mass and eventually organs. So don't worry about that.

Here is a general rule to follow. If you don't have a medical condition that inhibits weight loss....you are generally going to lose weight in proportion to your caloric deficit.

So you are probably looking at all of those factors contributing to your decrease in weight loss.

If you continue to see slow reductions on the scale try decreasing your calories by 200-300 per day. See if that kicks things into gear. Alternatively, continue to eat what you have been eating and burn 200-300 extra calories with exercise.

It really is a matter of calories in vs calories out. Again, this all applies unless you have a medical condition.

DeeDeeMee

Decreasing my intake was my first response, but I'm a bit leery of dropping below 1200 calories a day. Could this not be more detrimental in the long run?

hwoeltjen

I wouldn't drop calories if you are only getting 1200.

Are you actually measuring your food...or just estimating?

If you are estimating I would recommend investing in a food scale to accurately measure your portions.

You really aren't going to be able to track calories very well if you are eating food at parties/consuming alcohol. Unless of course you measure those calories.

I would say...measure your intake and see where you are in a week. After a week of accurate measurements you should see a good loss.

I can almost guarantee your problem is the result of not measuring your intake correctly. You may have eaten more than you think.

Jewlz280

Meh. If it were me I would ride it out through the end of the holidays. You don't need to drop calories right now -- especially not below 1200 since MOST people don't need to. Some do, but not most. I'd say that what you are experiencing is just a tiny stall due to your foods changing. You're eating out more, saltier foods, dehydrating foods, changing things. I don't think you are plateaued at all -- I think you're just maintaining or even just retaining. Give yourself a few weeks and then re-evaluate from there. If after the holidays pass through and your food intake and drinks go back to normal and you don't start losing again, then you may be at a plateau, but just one week of no loss is no big deal and can be from all kinds of different factors. Good luck!

DeeDeeMee

I wouldn't drop calories if you are only getting 1200.

Are you actually measuring your food...or just estimating?

If you are estimating I would recommend investing in a food scale to accurately measure your portions.

You really aren't going to be able to track calories very well if you are eating food at parties/consuming alcohol. Unless of course you measure those calories.

I would say...measure your intake and see where you are in a week. After a week of accurate measurements you should see a good loss.

I can almost guarantee your problem is the result of not measuring your intake correctly. You may have eaten more than you think.

I do actually measure my foods. When I started feeling stalled I made a point of getting really fussy about it. Apart from this my diet hasn't really changed a great deal.

hwoeltjen

If you have been measuring your food at home...I am going to say the stalling is the result of eating at those parties plus the alcohol packs some extra calories.

I would take it easy on yourself. A 2.2 kilo loss over the month isn't all that bad.

Some weeks it may seem like your weight loss has stalled completely. Just keep measuring your food and exercise. You will start to lose again.

Like Jewlz said...it's a little harder around the holidays. I wouldn't get discouraged over this. It happens.

DeeDeeMee

Meh. If it were me I would ride it out through the end of the holidays. You don't need to drop calories right now -- especially not below 1200 since MOST people don't need to. Some do, but not most. I'd say that what you are experiencing is just a tiny stall due to your foods changing. You're eating out more, saltier foods, dehydrating foods, changing things. I don't think you are plateaued at all -- I think you're just maintaining or even just retaining. Give yourself a few weeks and then re-evaluate from there. If after the holidays pass through and your food intake and drinks go back to normal and you don't start losing again, then you may be at a plateau, but just one week of no loss is no big deal and can be from all kinds of different factors. Good luck!

I'm planning on being really careful all holidays and I do tend to reach for the fresher types of foods rather than the overly processed ones.

Is it normal under the circumstances to have seen such a drastic drop in loss? It was really steady for the first 10 kilos and then just petered out.

DeeDeeMee

If you have been measuring your food at home...I am going to say the stalling is the result of eating at those parties plus the alcohol packs some extra calories.

I would take it easy on yourself. A 2.2 kilo loss over the month isn't all that bad.

Some weeks it may seem like your weight loss has stalled completely. Just keep measuring your food and exercise. You will start to lose again.

Like Jewlz said...it's a little harder around the holidays. I wouldn't get discouraged over this. It happens.

True, I probably am freaking out a little more than is justified. I was loving the loss that I started out with though, it was really encouraging. To have it stall is pretty distressing. But thanks for your encouragement!

PikaKnight

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1122891-9-reasons-fat-loss-is-always-slower-than-you-d-like

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1105036-article-on-flexible-dieting-by-armi-legge?page=1#posts-17068746

Cranquistador

I would not consider this a plateau.

Otterluv

I would not consider this a plateau.

Nor would I.

You've been losing over half a kilo a week, that's a good loss.

Cedura

I have found the Homemade "healthy" foods actually have a lot of hidden calories. Things like salt and butter as cooking ingredients are things we rarely think about. Something I thought would be about 200 cals turns out to be 500 when I later ask a relative for the ingredients list and recipe.
Alcohol also has a LOT of hidden calories. I went out the other night and had 4 mixed drinks which totaled at 1000 cals and had double the sodium I needed for one day. The sodium causes fluid retention and I had a 1.5 lb gain from that one splurge night, just from the water retention.
So just be cautious about the hidden ingredients, the unknown sodium content, and be realistic about holiday weight loss goals.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I would not consider this a plateau.

Nor would I.

You've been losing over half a kilo a week, that's a good loss.

Yup.

And yes it is normal for your weight loss to slow down. The less fat you have, the less you can lose per week.

zyxst

I would not consider this a plateau.

Nor would I.

You've been losing over half a kilo a week, that's a good loss.

Good, it's not just me. If you're losing, you're not at a plateau.

hwoeltjen

At her height and weight she is still considered obese.

She should still be able to lose 2 pounds 0.907185 kilos per week.

I am going to agree that this doesn't qualify as a plateau.

However, it's good that you are passionate about watching your weight loss and reacting to changes.

As I said before...you'll be fine. Continue doing what you are doing.

Jewlz280

At her height and weight she is still considered obese.

She should still be able to lose 2 pounds 0.907185 kilos per week.

I am going to agree that this doesn't qualify as a plateau.

However, it's good that you are passionate about watching your weight loss and reacting to changes.

As I said before...you'll be fine. Continue doing what you are doing.

^^ I agree. Just keep going and give yourself time. It's totally normal for weight to slow down and jump around. Weight loss, unfortunately, isn't linear. And during the holidays with stress and weather changes... it just throws in an extra little wrench. Just be patient with yourself and don't worry. Give yourself some time and make tweaks as you go if you see something isn't working.

DeeDeeMee

At her height and weight she is still considered obese.

She should still be able to lose 2 pounds 0.907185 kilos per week.

I am going to agree that this doesn't qualify as a plateau.

However, it's good that you are passionate about watching your weight loss and reacting to changes.

As I said before...you'll be fine. Continue doing what you are doing.

Yep, still obese. Really loving the 'shrinking' feeling I've had with the loss so far, a bit conscious of the fact that some people become addicted to that feeling so really don't want to restrict my intake too much from here. But based on everyone's feedback I'm going to:

Chill, and push my goal date out further.
Stop having dessert and all alcohol. Alcomahol makes me feel a bit icky anyway so no real loss there. Dessert will be harder.
See if there's anything else I can measure more stringently. I'll change from using volume measures to scales and see if it makes a significant difference.

Thanks for the feedback everyone, it's been really helpful.

SLLRunner

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1122891-9-reasons-fat-loss-is-always-slower-than-you-d-like

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1105036-article-on-flexible-dieting-by-armi-legge?page=1#posts-17068746

This.

QuietBloom

One week is not a plateau. Likely water retention, especially if you are eating holiday foods and drinking more, etc.