Overcoming a Plateau - Help! :(

Shadowpaws

Well, since March I've lost 20 pounds; which I'm extremely happy for! But unfortunately, I've hit a snag.

For about a week or two, I've hovered around the 242 lb mark. I'm glad I'm maintaining... but I desperately want to get back to losing again! Is there any way to jump start the loss again?

Shadowpaws

Well, since March I've lost 20 pounds; which I'm extremely happy for! But unfortunately, I've hit a snag.

For about a week or two, I've hovered around the 242 lb mark. I'm glad I'm maintaining... but I desperately want to get back to losing again! Is there any way to jump start the loss again?

chrissyh

change up your exercise routine - maybe add in extra cardio or some weights...

If you've been at a minimal 1200 calories - adding a few may help too.

artschoolgirl

I agree with Chrissy, but it's only been a week or two you said. The first month and few weeks you will drop weight fast because it's primarily water weight. A week or two really isn't a "plateau". If this continues for a couple more weeks then you will want to step back and evaluate your diet and exercise routine. I find staggering your calories by 300 calories each day also helps in preventing a plateau. Keep up with the healthy lifestyle and your body will reward you! :flowerforyou:

purrrr

i've noticed a lot of people with a good amount of weight to lose as a whole (including myself) plateau at about 20 lbs after a kick start... i guess at this point the body is very alarmed that you are depriving it from its precious fat resources and unwilling to shed them... my advice is just stick to it, maybe try the things chrissy suggested, the scale is due to move sooner or later and the good news is once u break this plateau the weight will start melting off and you will most probably "catch up" on the pounds you missed to lose during the plateau weeks :flowerforyou:

AJCM

I hit a serious plateau myself (at the last 10 lbs) and I go over it by increasing my calories by about 200-300 and my exercise to ensure that I burned about 600 calories, 6 days a week.

Good luck, and stick with it! If you 've only been the on the plateau for a week or two, keep at it, and you will probably see a drop next weigh in.
:flowerforyou:

sonjavon

I think I've hit my first mini-pleateau too... last night I reviewed my past food diaries and exercise diaries and this is what I found:

I'm not drinking as much water as I did when I started.
I'm exercising more
I'm eating less

So - this week, I'm going back to drinking at least 10 cups of water a day.
I'm adding an extras snack to my day and I'm changing my exercise up a little.

I honestly think that the water drinking is underestimated...

AJCM

I think I've hit my first mini-pleateau too... last night I reviewed my past food diaries and exercise diaries and this is what I found:

I'm not drinking as much water as I did when I started.
I'm exercising more
I'm eating less

So - this week, I'm going back to drinking at least 10 cups of water a day.
I'm adding an extras snack to my day and I'm changing my exercise up a little.

I honestly think that the water drinking is underestimated...

This is interesting - because I think I did the same thing - your body gets used to eating less, and then instead of wanting to snack, eat more, etc, you sort of just forget about it, and you can risk eating too little.

Great idea to give yourself a review, evaluation, feedback, and make changes!
:flowerforyou:

jchudon

I've hit several plateau and I've got over them by simply doing nothing special. You can try whatever you wish but in due time your body will adjust to your new reality and you'll start losing fat again. It usually takes me between 1 or 2 weeks and it usually happens when I increase my calorie intake. (I've started at 1200, then 1330 and so on. The idea is that when I'll hit my target I won't have to suddenly go from 1200cal to 2000 a day.)

Be patient, I know it's frustrating
It's mathematics, if you keep eating less then you spend, your body will lose it's reserves

Wish you determination

JC

MyaPapaya75

Well, since March I've lost 20 pounds; which I'm extremely happy for! But unfortunately, I've hit a snag.

For about a week or two, I've hovered around the 242 lb mark. I'm glad I'm maintaining... but I desperately want to get back to losing again! Is there any way to jump start the loss again?

How have you hit a snag when its only April? dont consider anything a plateau if it hasnt been a full 4 weeks..also make sure your being 100% honest in regards to what your eating and 110% effort in your workout intensity...also every 10-20lbs you should increase intensity of workouts if you can and change it up a bit...expect to lose 1-2 lbs a week and sometimes only a half a pound....fight fight fight and dont give in or think just because the scales havent moved that your in a plateau..a lot of times if we look at our last few weeks of excercise and eating we will find we havent really been 110% like we were the first few weeks...dont dwell on the dreaded plateau your doing this for more reasons and benefits than what the scale shows...keep everything as is regarding calories try and increase workout intensity and stick with it for a few weeks..the weight will come off..ALSO if you havent already start taking measurments...Ive never hit a plateau BUT I am always changing my workouts and challenging myself and every week I do a check to make sure I am 100% with my food intake

purrrr

I think I've hit my first mini-pleateau too... last night I reviewed my past food diaries and exercise diaries and this is what I found:

I'm not drinking as much water as I did when I started.
I'm exercising more
I'm eating less

So - this week, I'm going back to drinking at least 10 cups of water a day.
I'm adding an extras snack to my day and I'm changing my exercise up a little.

I honestly think that the water drinking is underestimated...

there's another case of hitting the 1st plateau (or whatever you call it) at about 20 lbs lost... but this is an interesting approach to view it as changing your eating/excercising habits by the time you reach 20 lost... i haven't noticed this when mine occurred... it lasted about 10 days altogether and when i looked back a couple weeks after that i realized it wasn't really a plateau but rather the scale didn't show the loss for a while and i lost more weight than i normally do the weeks after that... that's what i meant that you will "catch up" on the weight loss so just what mya suggested unless it's 4 full weeks it's not really a plateau but you can still try and "break" it using some of the advice the guys mentioned here :flowerforyou:

Ripgirl

This is great - THANK YOU! I'm stuck at this last 8-10lbs place and getting so frustrated. I was sticking to 1200 net calories/day - I will try increasing the calories a little and increasing the exercise intensity.
Any other suggestions for the stubborn last 10lbs AJCM?