plateau??

shellma00

I know I will probably sound really dumb for asking this, but I just think I need to see if anyone else has or is experiencing this.

Is it possible to plateau really early in your weight loss?

I am only down 13-15 lbs of the 50 that I want to lose. I am 175-177 lbs depending on the day/week and I have been at a stand still for almost 3 weeks. My clothes are not fitting any better and I do not really see much of a difference in my body. I have been "dieting" on MFP since December 26, 2011 (almost 2 months). My starting weight was 190 lbs. It just seems like at 15 lbs my body just stopped. I really did a great job losing for the first month, this month is just not doing anything.

BTW - I do exercise regularly and I stay under my daily calorie goal pretty much every day. I have only been over a couple of times since Dec 26. As soon as I am done writing this I will try to open up my diary if you guys need to see that.

Thanks in advance for your responses.

mamamc03

Change your calorie intake. Shock your body!! Last week, my weight would NOT budge. Then I dropped it from 1630 to 1350 for a few days and that did the trick. You sometimes have to stagger up or down sometimes to "reboot" your body!! Remind it that YOU are in control this time!! Best wishes on moving that scale....BTW...13-15lbs in 2 months is AWESOME!! Keep up the good work!! Also up your water intake if you havent already! Watch your sodium and keep everything in balance!!

,
Amanda

shellma00

Thanks Amanda, I actually did go back and look at my daily calories and noticed I pretty well stay the same on a daily basis, I think I will try to shock my body.

hummingbird71

After taking a quick peek at your diary I did notice on several days last week you were over quite a bit on your sodium intake. This could have something to do with being stuck. Your carbs look good- these are the 2 things I watch closely, other than the calories. I have been stuck at same weight since before Christmas!! Frustrating for sure! However one of MFP's suggested that I may be getting too many carbs so I now make sure I am under on that one along with the sodium. Maybe strive to be under your sodium for a week or more making sure to drink your water and see if that gets the scale to move...?? I didn't look at your exercise diary but someone also suggested to "change up" the exercise routine. If you walk, then walk longer one day and maybe add in some weight lifing or add another exercise to your routine to "shock" your body and let it know you are doing something different. Just hang in there and don't give up! I do believe I am gonna be able to log a loss this week after so many weeks of NOT being able to! You can do it!

TinaLTaylor79

I lost 83lbs and i have hit a block a couple times during it....All i did to get over it was..change my workout routine. One week instead of doing cardio, i walked 30min each day..and then the next week i did Hard cardio again for the week and then on the 3rd week i did not workout for 5 days straight...I always stayed within my calories though, and you should always make sure you NET 1200 cals, never ever under that. It worked for me anyways both times....It can take a few weeks for you to get past a plateau. Just keep trying to figure out what works best for you, and never give up! Happens to all of us at some point and the scale will move again!:)

stephanie8625

I have the same problem......I have lost 13, at a very slow pace !!! I can go 6 weeks w/o losing anything, I do not gain, but nothing lost and it is so frustrating !!
I am interested to see what people say, I have heard alot of these ideas because I have posted this ....change up exercise, "shock" the body and yeah it does work, but it seems like I gain it right back the next week ---

So any and all advise would be helpful !! I have been on a plateau for about 3 months, I have pneumonia for 4 of those weeks, and had a really hard time getting back into the swing of things, I started back in the gym last week, and I could tell that my body needed it.
I am looking for ways not to get discouraged, and everyone on here helps, but sometimes I just need that extra push....when I know that I need to go work out and end up NOT going, that makes me so mad the next day, but in the moment I do not care !!

VickiMitkins

Most people will plateau, sometimes several times. I actually read an article about it today. As you lose weight your body needs fewer calories to maintain your current weight. The article I read suggested using a tool to get an idea what it really takes to lose and maintain weight loss. I just tried it and found it very interesting. I also found it really tracked what I have experienced during the last 18 months. The URL is http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov/ below is the text of the article I read. It was on YAHOO!

Everything you know about dieting is wrong, say US scientists who have devised a new formula for calculating calories and weight loss that they hope will revolutionize the way people tackle obesity.

Obesity rates have doubled worldwide in the past 30 years, coinciding with a growing food surplus, and the ensuing epidemic has sparked a multibillion dollar weight loss industry that has largely failed to curb the problem.

Current standards in the United States, where two thirds of people are overweight or obese, advise people that cutting calories by a certain amount will result in a slow and steady weight loss over time.

But that advice fails to account for how the body changes as it slims down, burning less energy and acquiring a slower metabolism, researchers told the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Vancouver.

The result is a plateau effect that ends up discouraging dieters and sending them back into harmful patterns of overeating.

As an example, researcher Kevin Hall offered up his large vanilla latte, purchased at a popular coffee shop. When he asked, the barista told him it contained about 240 calories.

"The notion was if I drank one of these every day and then I replaced it with just black coffee no sugar, then over the course of a year I should lose about 25 pounds, and that should just keep going," Hall told reporters.

"People have used this sort of rule of thumb to predict how much people should lose for decades now, and it turns out to be completely wrong."

Hall, a scientist with the US National Institutes of Health, said his work aims to "come up with better rules and better predictions of what is going to happen when an individual changes their diet."

He and colleagues said their scientific model is aimed to help doctors and policymakers, while a "back-of-the-envelope calculation" for consumers means cutting small amounts of daily calories, but expecting to cut more over time.

"If I want to lose 10 pounds of weight eventually, I have to cut 100 calories per day out of my diet," Hall explained.

"You'll get halfway there in about a year, and then you will eventually plateau, (reaching the goal) after about three years," he added.

"For folks abroad that works out to about 100 kilojoules per day per kilogram. The contrast is the old rule of thumb predicts twice as much weight loss after a year, and it gets worse after that."

The new model gives dieters one calorie goal for short term weight loss and another for permanent weight loss. Exercise is also calculated in to help set realistic goals.

Tests on small numbers of adults who were fed strictly controlled diets showed the model was accurate, though real-life situations are harder to predict.

Study co-author Carson Chow, also with NIH, said the daily calorie cut needed for weight loss was actually smaller than researchers anticipated.

"It is essentially one cookie different a day, so a 150 calorie cookie leads to a seven kilogram (15 pound) difference in weight. That is huge in my opinion," Chow said.

Their model was first published in The Lancet in August 2011, and a link is available at http://bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov.

"People can plug in some information about their initial age, their height, their weight, some estimate of their physical activity level," Hall said.

Add in a goal weight and the "model will simulate what changes of diet or exercise that person would have to do to achieve that goal weight, and then even more importantly what they need to do permanently maintain that weight loss."

Since The Lancet article appeared, the notion has not exactly taken the world by storm, in part because it's not primed for public use, but is mainly aimed at doctors and researchers with adult American patients for now.

Also, if a dieter enters an extreme weight goal, the number of calories the model returns may be much too low to be realistic or healthy, so it needs an expert's interpretation.

"It's not particularly user friendly... but it is still relatively informative," said Hall, who maintains hope that some day his message will be heard.

"There is a lot of inertia behind these old rules of thumb," he said, adding that he was heartened by an editorial in December in the journal of the American Dietetic Association that commented on the idea of a weight loss plateau and mentioned the new simulator.

"It's going to take some time to get the public and the professional community aware that there is a new way of doing things, and we actually have some tools that weren't available before."

@yahoonews on Twitter

LilBelieve

Thank you so much for this question! I was wondering the same thing. I lost 15 pounds quickly but have stalled and not lost anything for 3 weeks. I'm routinely eating 1200-1400 calories/day, but I think I'm going to try the advice of others on this thread and "shock" my body. For those who know - how many calories do you use to reset your weight loss? Is it a couple of hundred or is it higher? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

EatClenTrenHard

I hit plateau once during my 15lbs in 1 month loss. Thats when i ate close to 7000cal in one day

http://i.imgur.com/FS0qd.png

as you can see that weight QUICKLY dissapeared

it was all water and poo poo weight.

EatClenTrenHard

Thank you so much for this question! I was wondering the same thing. I lost 15 pounds quickly but have stalled and not lost anything for 3 weeks. I'm routinely eating 1200-1400 calories/day, but I think I'm going to try the advice of others on this thread and "shock" my body. For those who know - how many calories do you use to reset your weight loss? Is it a couple of hundred or is it higher? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

7000 worked for me

http://i.imgur.com/FS0qd.png

a_stronger_steph

I hit plateau once during my 15lbs in 1 month loss. Thats when i ate close to 7000cal in one day

http://i.imgur.com/FS0qd.png

as you can see that weight QUICKLY dissapeared

it was all water and poo poo weight.

Out of curiousity, where is the "plateau" in your graph?

shellma00

I hit plateau once during my 15lbs in 1 month loss. Thats when i ate close to 7000cal in one day

http://i.imgur.com/FS0qd.png

as you can see that weight QUICKLY dissapeared

it was all water and poo poo weight.

Out of curiousity, where is the "plateau" in your graph?

I was trying to figure out what he was talking about also, but I just thought I would leave it alone.

EatClenTrenHard

Plateau is just before the jump in the middle of the month. I stopped losing weight for couple days. Not sure if its plateau or not. Sorry for confusion , if any

Iamkim73

You may want to consider getting in more protein. MFP sets protein too low. Try changing to 30% protein 30% fat, 40% carbs. Just a thought

shellma00

@yevgheniy -- I am sorry there was a misunderstanding> I definitely must have the definition of plateau mixed up. I thought that a plateau was when you are at a standstill for a long time and are having a hard time getting any results.

@Iamkim73 -- That is a good idea. I will have to go in and manually change that in my settings. Thanks!

psuLemon

What is your weight loss goal set at? 1 lb per week? Also, generally there are a few things that have helped people break plateaus. First, take a week off from exercise and set your goal at maintenance as this will allow you body to "re-feed" your body and allow your muscles to repair. Additionally, if you haven't lost, minimize your deficit to .5 lb per week. Your body might just need the additional calories to drop the weight. One thing I did notice, your diet is a bit high in carbs. Set it at 40% carbs, 40% protein and 20% fat. The additional protein will allow you to maintain lean muscle mass.


Next, what is your exercise routine? Do you have weight training? If not, you should drop some cardio and lift some heavy weights. This is what I have used on myself and used with a lot of others on this board with success.

a_stronger_steph

@yevgheniy -- I am sorry there was a misunderstanding> I definitely must have the definition of plateau mixed up. I thought that a plateau was when you are at a standstill for a long time and are having a hard time getting any results.

@Iamkim73 -- That is a good idea. I will have to go in and manually change that in my settings. Thanks!

Actually, that sounds like the definition of "plateau" to me, so I think you're understanding everything just fine.

There's been some good advice in this thread. I know some people are enthusiastic about "calorie cycling" or "zigzagging", wherein you mix high calorie and low calorie days. I tended to do this by accident, as my weekends were usually higher calorie than my weekdays, but it usually evened out to the right deficit (or close to it) over a weeklong period. Perhaps something like that might work for you?

Other than that, I second the strength training suggestion! If you aren't currently into a weight-lifting routine, "The New Rules of Lifting for Women" is a book that was a great resource to me. It's basically geared towards making women more comfortable in the weight room.

Good luck! Hope you get the results you're after!

shellma00

What is your weight loss goal set at? 1 lb per week? Also, generally there are a few things that have helped people break plateaus. First, take a week off from exercise and set your goal at maintenance as this will allow you body to "re-feed" your body and allow your muscles to repair. Additionally, if you haven't lost, minimize your deficit to .5 lb per week. Your body might just need the additional calories to drop the weight. One thing I did notice, your diet is a bit high in carbs. Set it at 40% carbs, 40% protein and 20% fat. The additional protein will allow you to maintain lean muscle mass.


Next, what is your exercise routine? Do you have weight training? If not, you should drop some cardio and lift some heavy weights. This is what I have used on myself and used with a lot of others on this board with success.

My weight loss goal is set at 1 lb per week. I did reset my carb %, I do realize that I eat a lot of Carbs, but I am a little bit of a picky eater as I do not like any types of seafood (except for tuna and flathead) and there are only a handful of veggies that I like.

I do almost all cardio exercise, I do not think I can add weight training. I have bursitis in my shoulder and have been in physical therapy. My checkup with the orthopedist is not until the middle of March. Not to mention, I do not have a membership to a gym as they are out of my budget here in this tiny town and I do not have time to go there. Therefore I do not have access to weights or weight machines. I have 2 children and my husband works out of town more than he is home, so I pretty much consider myself a single mom who works full time. I pretty much have to stick with exercising in the comfort of my own home where the kids are.

Lindamack5987

I am having the same problem. I haven't lost any weight in a month even though I'm exercising and eating less calories. I've lost 21 pounds but only 2 pounds since I joined MFP 35 days ago.

LoViNlIFe0225

The first time I tried to lose weight I hit a really frustrating Plateau early on. I asked the same questions and most of the advice I got was to underestimate calories burned during workouts. So if my heart rate monitor said I lost 200 I would only enter 125. Also, to make sure your body isn't going into starvation mode...eat enough calories so that your body knows its surviving on not starving. I took everyone's advice and was at my goal weight by my wedding! Good luck!