plateau

bethierose

seems i've hit a plateau with my weight loss... i started on the 3rd of january and have lost 8 pounds, which is great... BUT now it feels like i'm stuck. i've been at the same weight for the last 3 days. and my scale reads to the tenth of a pound.

how can i get past this and keep the scale moving down? i'm carefully recording all that i'm eating (which is a low-GI diet) and have gotten in plenty of water and even have exercised over the past few days which is unusual for me...

any tips would be appreciated!

lemanda

I hear ya! I've been stuck at 165 for the past month, and I have been exercising since boxing day and making a better effort at eating better but nothing is moving yet. I guess all we can do is just stick to it and hopefully things will change soon. Good luck!

trud72

hey there,try upping the exersice(i know its a pain),but really does work!

eamartin

I would suggest only weighing yourself once a week. You may be weighing too often to see any results, also I would try taking measurements to see an actual lose. If you have only been on the site for 2 weeks, 3lbs is great! Good luck! Sounds like you are right on track

mmelaniewalters

i agree , ... only weigh in weekly at the v most .. i know its tempting , as i myself am worlds worst for daily weigh ins .. u just set yrself up for disapointment .. try to find a day of the week and stick to it . (im also stuck at a weight too )

fzyfrog

Definitely bump up the exercise! And try not to weigh yourself every day! That is how you get discouraged. The scale isn't going to move every day, especially in a downward direction. Some days it may go up. This is mental sabotage. Only weigh yourself weekly (no peeking early! lol) and don't give up if the scale isn't moving as fast as you want it to. Losing weight (and keeping it off) in a healthy way is, unfortunately, a very slow process. Be patient and just keep your food diary and do a little more heavy exercising to get your heart rate up. You do can it!!!!!

MelissaL582

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

This link was given to me this morning because I'm also going through something similar.

momroe

Don't be discouraged. If your not used to exercise and recently started doing some, you are replacing some fat with muscle. Since muscle weighs more than fat, you are not seeing a change. But don't stop exercising because muscles use more calories to maintain themselves so evenatually your work will pay off. You are making progess you just can't see it right now. I also suggest you only weigh yourself once a week. Weighing every day can be discouraging and makes it harder to stick to your food goals.
Good luck
marci
ps I started this a week ago at the suggestion of my son that I be his fitness pal. I really like that this helps me to keep track of my exercise and food intake. I ride a stationary bike every morning, but don't record it until the days end, because I found if I did it in the morning it expanded my caloric allowances and I was just eating more because the system said I had earned extra calories. This way I try to stay below my calorie allowance and the exercise is bonus fat burning!

bethierose

I would suggest only weighing yourself once a week. You may be weighing too often to see any results, also I would try taking measurements to see an actual lose. If you have only been on the site for 2 weeks, 3lbs is great! Good luck! Sounds like you are right on track

i've only been on the site 1 week, but started with my low-GI plan on the 3rd..

you're probably right.... but i like to be on top of it! haha...

i do need to up the exercise too... i'm such a baby..

goron59

Weight loss is a long term thing and you should probably only weight yourself once a week at most, preferably at the same time/same day.

It's only likely to be a plateau if you're on the same weight after a couple of weeks of maintaining a calorie deficit.

Good luck and welcome to the MFP community!

spazzling21

The same thing happened to me this week! I was eating 1200 calories or less and was the same weight several days in a row (I even GAINED 1.2 pounds the day after I ate 1,070 calories!!). It was super frustrating, but I just kept trying to meet my calories goals. I lost a whole pound the last three days in a row--talk about making up for it! I don't know exactly why it happened, but women are prone to retaining water a lot more than men are, so if it's that time of the month or you ate something pretty salty, you might be losing fat but retaining water. Also, this may be TMI, but if you're eating less, your body might be trying to figure out a new bowel movement regime. If you're not going everyday, try eating lots of fiber--keeping anything in your body will affect your weight. Lastly, are you exercising? I read somewhere (Women's Health maybe?) that if you're not big on exercising, you should try walking 30-60 minutes a day for 30 days before starting any exercise regime. It helps prove to yourself that you CAN exercise everyday, and helps you gain muscle/prepare your cardiovascular system for more strenuous exercise later. People who watch calories lose some weight; people who exercise lose some weight; people who do both lose A LOT! Hope this helps! STAY MOTIVATED! It helps to have people close to you going through the same thing--ask your significant other/best friend to do it with you! Or keep posting! We'll all help!!

Also, I know everyone says to only weigh yourself one per week, but I weigh myself everyday. It's a daily reminder that I need to stick to my calories. You won't see results everyday, but I prefer the reminder...

carl1738

If you just started exercising in the last couple of days, relax. Your muscles retain a bit of extra water when you start a new exercise program, to help repair themselves because they're not accustomed to the exercise. It's only temporary, and should be gone in a couple of weeks, max. Other than that, it is normal to lose a fair bit of weight your first week or two, then the weight loss slows down a bit as your body gets used to a lower calorie diet. Eight pounds in two weeks is a lot of weight to lose. Most weeks you should lose one or two pounds, but you will get weeks where you won't lose anything, and might even be up a little bit. Stick with it. Three days is a little soon to be declaring a plateau. You didn't gain all the weight in a week or two, and you won't lose it that fast either. Keep taking body measurements. They will show your true progress.

caitlinsmum

I know how frustrating it can be ! Increasing your exercise will help. Get yourself a pedometer and see how many steps you do per day and then set a goal to do at least the same every day for a week - before setting a goal to do perhaps 100 more steps per day the next week and keep on building on it.

mkrafick

I ran into this too and got some advice from my trainer that really helped.

- If your goal is 1700cal a day, zig zag around it over a few days, don't eat 1700cal consitantly, Eat 1500cal one day, 2000cal the next, 1700 the day after that. Don't let your body predict what is coming in.

- Look at your sugar intake, if you are hitting over that 40-50g pretty consistantly (not from fruit though), that spikes your insulin and tells your body to hold on to fat stores the next few hours. In my case I would treat myself with a Coke at lunch (and be under calories for the day) but the insulin spike signaled my body to hold on to what I just ate. As a side note, he says I am a little more sensitive to sugar than most.

- If at the gym, switch routine: especially in one area. If you stick on treadmill all the time to elliptical and set it at interval training. If you work with resistance bands quite a bit, go real heavy and less reps - or switch to freeweights. In cycling all the time, do kickboxing.

- Switch to "High intensity Interval Training" - Jog 2 minutes, run 1 minute. Or if weight lifting, stop mid workout to hit the bike or elliptical for 5 minutes as hard as you can, or shorten your rest period in between sets.


You can just "pound it out" in the gyn and go longer and harder. I have seen that work. But the whole "confuse my body" thing seemed to be less effort and yield better results.

Kminor67

3 days is not a plateau. Relax. Weigh in weekly, follow the program, and results will come.