Do you believe in plateaus?

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  • TheEffort
    TheEffort Posts: 1,028 Member
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    I believe in plateaus...it's an indication that the body has adapted to the current calories and/or exercise. In my opinion, it becomes maintenance when people accept the situation and longer make adjustments to continue the progress.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    Changes in water weight, etc. can make you believe you've stalled for a while even when you haven't. I guess you could call it a plateau since there's no apparent change in weight for a month or so.

    That's how I lost the last 8 or so pounds, decreasing my deficit as I went
    - lost 1 lb a week (500 cal deficit)
    - one week with no change and losing a lb the next week (250 cal deficit)
    - three weeks with no change and losing a lb the 4th week (125 cal deficit)

    So, in reality I lost as expected, but waiting the 4 weeks to see the scale change was mighty annoying.
  • hoyalawya2003
    hoyalawya2003 Posts: 631 Member
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    And as for the people who swear they hit one and upped their calories to break it (because of "starvation mode" and what have you) I think it's just the act of changing your goal prompts you into logging more accurately and paying more attention again.

    I totally agree! My DH was on a "plateau" because he had his goal set too low. So he would hit it a few days, go way over b/c he was really hungry other days, and just couldn't get consistent. I told him to up it and be more consistent, and I think it worked. If your goal isn't realistic (too aggressive a deficit), you are setting yourself up to fail.

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