Weight loss plateau

JEMcK

I have been frustrated and finding myself giving up this last week. I lost 20lbs the last two months and it seems I have hit a weight loss plateau!!! I am still exercising and eating within my calorie range, but am not losing weight any more. Does any one have any suggestions or has been through the same experience?

cutelashawn

Do something different. Push harder on your workouts and workout for more days or longer period of time, to get your body not use to the same ole thing. You need to create muscle confusion. Lift weights and do cardio and you should see the pounds come off in no time. Good luck!

sophianova

I'm not an expert (nor do I pretend to be one!), but generally, weight loss plateaus are a message that your body has now become accustomed to your current diet and exercise routine. I would suggest switching up your workout a little, to keep your body guessing. Try something different, like Zumba, or swimming. And most importantly, do not give up on yourself! You've already come so far, just push through it! Good luck!

AmberLiscous

when i lost 20 pounds i thought i hit a plateau also...it had been a week and a half that i went without losing weight. I didn't give up at all...but i was told that a nutritionist had said that my body was thinking to itself o.k. she has lost 20 pounds...can i live with out that weight? she said it will take your body a couple of weeks to realize that you can live without that weight. After a week and a half i told my hubby to take the scales for a week. One week later i had finally gotten past that 20 pound mark....that was this wednesday and as of today (sunday) i have lost 2 more pounds...i am now at 23 pounds lost. I am not sure if this is the same for everyone but what she said was exactly what happened to me. Just don't give up...

MyNameIsNotBob

I'm right there with ya!

I've lost 16 pounds since the new year, and the scale hasn't budged for two weeks now. I measured myself and found that I've lsot 6" from my hips, and that was the first time I'd measured myself since I started. So that was really reassuring. Have you taken your measurements?

Even though I can tell the inches are coming off, psychologically, I want to see the scale go down, too.

I've decided to try a few strategies for the next week to see what happens:
--Cutting out all alcohol for a week (hard!). I had been having a couple drinks and staying within my calories, but I'm going to try going without this week.
--I adjusted my current weight, goal weight, and activity level in MFP, which gave me a new lower calorie goal
--I typically walk about 60 minutes daily at a moderate pace to & from work and walking the dog. Up until now, I've been logging that as Cardio., but I've decided to stop logging it, since it's been part of my daily life for years now and doesn't get my HR up in any significant way.
--I typically do about 60 minutes 5x / week of Cardio / Strength @ the gym (elliptical, rowing, stairmaster, weight machines, etc.) This week, when I do the machines, I'm keeping it at a nice fat-burning HR, and throwing in more swimming & yoga to the mix.

So I'm trying those strategies this week, and we'll see what Friday morning's weigh-in brings.

I'd say don't give up, just try a couple different strategies to mix things up. Good luck!

SueInAz

First off, congrats on the 20 pounds you've already lost! Plateaus may seem evil but they are actually a good thing, and here's why: your body has gotten used to the weight you're currently at. It now considers you to be "normal" at 20 pounds less than it did a few months ago. When you think about it, isn't that great?

How to bust through is the challenge but what most people will tell you is that they were able to do so by changing things up. Since your body is used to X amount of a certain type of exercising, try something different. Run instead of bicycling, add more strength exercises, etc. Also, be sure you are measure yourself because while you may not be losing weight you are probably losing some inches as you get more fit. I personally have been a bit stuck the last week or so (darn TOM!) but I've lost 1 1/2 from my waist and another inch from my hips!

JEMcK

Thank you everyone for the advice! I think the consensus is that I will be changing my work out, maybe doing running instead of biking so much and doing plyametrics instead of p90x cardio. Strength training is hard for me because I am not a member of a gym so I don't have any weights to lift, maybe do some push-up's!
:happy:

SueInAz

You might look at getting yourself a set of resistance bands. Better than weights, easier to store and much cheaper, too.

Bananagirl32

I'm having the same issue. I lost 20bls in 90 days, and nothing has come off after. It's sooo discouraging. I'm going to try the muscle comfusion!!!!

SLLRunner

I have been frustrated and finding myself giving up this last week. I lost 20lbs the last two months and it seems I have hit a weight loss plateau!!! I am still exercising and eating within my calorie range, but am not losing weight any more. Does any one have any suggestions or has been through the same experience?

A plateau is another word for not eating at a calorie deficit. My suggestion is to check out your logging habits.

Do you weight your food? Do you log everything you eat? Do you eat back only a portion of your exercise calories?

I don't know if your diary is open, but if it's not you might want to open is so that we can give more specific feedback.

SLLRunner

I'm not an expert (nor do I pretend to be one!), but generally, weight loss plateaus are a message that your body has now become accustomed to your current diet and exercise routine. I would suggest switching up your workout a little, to keep your body guessing. Try something different, like Zumba, or swimming. And most importantly, do not give up on yourself! You've already come so far, just push through it! Good luck!

No. I do the same exercise routine and I've lost 44 pounds. Your body doesn't need to guess anything.

Also, weight loss is not linear. Two weeks is not a plateau.

dawnmitchell6766

In addition to changing up what I am doing as far as workouts, I have found that it helps if I change my macros for 3-4 days. I keep the calories the same, but increase my protein intake and decrease my carb intake, that seems to get the scales moving in the right direction again. Take your measurements if you haven't - sometimes they give you the good news that you need, that the scales aren't at the moment.

Keep after it!