How Soon to Plateau?

emcohen

I was wondering if and when people have hit a plateau on their weight loss. I've been doing MFP since Thanksgiving, have lost about 12 pounds (from 230 to 218). This past week I was under my calorie goals every day and worked out four times, but GAINED a half a pound. I will add that I also did not lose any inches in my measurements...I can't explain it away with muscle gain.

Anybody else experience this? What was your strategy to overcome it?

CMmrsfloyd

1 week does not make a plateau - it has to be something like at least a month or two before it can really be considered a plateau. Weekly fluctuations in weight loss/gain can be explained by a lot of things, including how long it's been since you last had a good poop and whether you're retaining water. ;-)

gregpack

It's hard to know without knowing your calorie count and level of physical activity. But if you think you should be in a true caloric deficit you could have some issues Your body will respond physiologically to counteract weight loss after a a while. Google Leptin, spike day, and carb refeeds for more general information on the topic.

shakybabe

I haven't had a plateau yet.. I vary my calories and diet going on what my body tells me it needs. As I'm female I get cravings every month so that week I up my carbs and as I have to take few days rest due to cramps etc I guess they could be considered spike days as I'm eating extra and not actively burning it back off. Once they're over I usually find I have lost a few pound extra on top of the water that comes off and go back to low carb and exercising.. some days do 300-500 cals, other days I try and do 500-800 (60mins +) if I got nothing else on.

I'm expecting these last months to be harder as I'm down to my last 13lb before I reach my goal, but as long as I'm losing at least a pound most weeks.. I consider that still on track.

Try shaking things up a bit, try a new activity, exercise routine or a couple of high cal days in a row.. or high cal one day, low carb the next etc

keeponkickin

Plateaus will happen along the way. 1 week with no loss isn't really a plateau. I've been stuck longer than that at times. I would suggest wearing a HRM while working out to get an accurate calorie burn. Eat back some exercise calories if you workout a lot. Also, zigzag your calories. This is a great website for calorie calculation and zigzagging....freedieting.com Have a spike day to break a plateau will sometimes help. Just keep doing what you're doing and the scale will move once again.

MOS3

You said last week you were under your calorie goal - I would suggest eating all your calories - including your earned calories from excercising. Honeslty - this works! Good luck