Convince me that a plateau exists
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I stay under my calorie limit, always have. I workout HARD 7 days a week.... always have. Yet I've hit about 3 plateaus. Not changed my food at all, changed my workouts so they were MORE intense.
Just because you think it does not exist does not mean that its right.0 -
Oh they exist. I've been in a plateau for 11 months now and I have done EVERYTHING to bust through.0
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also i think it's possible that people who experience plateaus have either been slacking off on their exercise efforts or havent been pushing themselves. of course you're going to plateau fitness wise if every day you do 30 minutes on the treadmill at level 3.5. i met someone at the gym a few months ago who was doing that, then i saw her again recently and she was still doing the same workout. she was telling me that she didnt understand why she wasnt losing weight even though she eats below her maintenance. i was like maybe you need to challenge yourself more in your workouts?
Slacking off? I went from a simple 20 min zumba at the start to now running 6 miles or more a DAY. I've hit 3 plateaus by UPPING my calories, putting them down & exercising MORE & doing completely different workouts ALL of the time. I think perhaps just because SOME don't hit one they think everyone else is faking it or not working hard enough.0 -
Why should anyone prove to you it doesn't exist? Don't mean to sound grumpy but from the tone of your thread you come across very much 'I can do it so easily, anyone that can't is just sucky and not trying'. Maybe you didn't mean to sound like that but, hey I'm just being honest, you sound very judgemental and hollier than I.
This ... the following is not to convince ANYONE that plateaus do or do not exist. I know I have plateaued before myself and have really struggled with my weight all of my life. When it strikes, I will drop calories, then I will up calories, I will up carbs, lower carbs, up protein, lower protein, up exercise, lower exercise, strength train, back off strength training, use a trainer, etc., all the time drinking tons of water ... then it will finally break. It is very discouraging and I am happy that the original poster and some others here never had to experience it. Good for you, because it is horrible and makes you want to give up ... but I REFUSE to let the plateaus get me this time around ... this time it's for good.0 -
My body reacts quite strongly to the hormonal shifts to do with monthly cycles. Nothing to do with more chocolate or less exercise at that time of month, but at around ovulation every month my weight goes up, and I lose again the following 3 weeks.Just steady and slow weight loss.
I guess my body doesn't believe in steady and slow weight loss like yours does.0 -
i do not know wht will u think my body type as.........
i have been exercising for past 2 years and had a good weight loss of about 20lbs........ my diet was around 800-900 calories......... then i started gaining weight with the calorie intake to be around 800-900....... and then suddenly my weight stopped increasing past 6 months ...... i have increased my weight from 900 calories to 1300 calories ........... but still my weight is not decreasing........... i havr changed my exercise pattern from rigorous one to light one......... and then back to rigorous one..... i keep on changing my exercise pattern....
but alas still not able to break my plateau
i am 167cm height with a weightof 160lbs0 -
thanks,that makes me feel better about this.I know I am ok on some level but then on another on get discouraged.0
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I personally don't care if plateaus exist or not, because they have minimal impact on my own lifestyle choices. I won't quit just because of the numbers on a scale.
I shall use myself as an example.
If someone were to look at my numbers for the last 3 months, that person would think I was in a plateau. That person would be wrong. I intentionally upped my calories to maintenance because of a surgery that I was not healing from, and then upped it an additional 150 calories before I started to heal adequately. This resulted in a really consistent scale of the exact same number, with almost no variation. I have only in the last 2 weeks been working on losing again but I have not dropped my intake down to the 1200 calorie diet I was on previously when I was losing between 1.5 and 2 pounds a week. Instead I'm at about 1450 calories, and therefore I won't lose the weight as fast, even though I'm still losing. However, I definitely prefer the extra calories in a day, and on exercise days I usually reach 1450 net (and ensure I at least net 1200). I'm a special bird, when I exercise I am *NEVER* hungry after.0 -
A plateau means a period of time where you aren't losing weight. It's called that because if you graph it, it looks like a plateau. There can be many causes for it, but whether or not it exists is not up for debate.0
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In the past, I never experienced a true plateau, either. It seemed that every time my weight bumped up a little, it was because I had gotten sloppy about weighing/measuring/logging. So I'd get back to it, and my weight would go down again. I did have maybe 2 or 3 weeks in a row when the scale said pretty much the same thing and I was doing everything as "right" as I possibly could. I thought of it as a plateau then, but maybe it wasn't a true plateau. My WW leader said that the body was just making a few adjustments in how it metabolized food, and if I would be patient and keep doing what I was doing, I'd start losing weight again. I did. I really never had to lower my calories or increase my exercise, except - of course - as you become more fit you can handle more exercise, so perhaps I did bike further and faster; can't remember.0
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I have so many friends on here that tell me about the plateaus they have hit along their weight loss journey. I'll admit to being a huge skeptic when it comes to most things and this is no exception.
I'm carefully monitoring my MFP friends' activity and diet to be a support and accountability partner along the way. I see what they eat. I see how they work out. And I also see a pattern when they hit the said "plateau". It's usually that they've kind of fallen off the "within my calorie limit" wagon and then they get back on. Consequently, their weight goes up, then down, then up, then down. I don't call that a plateau. I call that consequences.
And in all honesty, when I chose to lose weight myself on MFP, I stayed within my calories consistently for 6 months and lost the weight consistently (almost exactly the amount MFP predicted) until I reached my goal. No plateau. Just steady and slow weight loss.
So convince me that a plateau really exists. Tell me your stories. The only reason I care is that if it truly exists, I want to know so that I can have more sympathy, kindness, and understanding towards those facing it. I don't want to be unfairly judgmental and just dismiss the struggles that people are facing.
Here's my story:
It was steady and slow the first 40 lbs.
The last 20 was chunky for me with plateaus and I came up with this:
Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.
Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.
The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.0 -
I lose about 2 pounds a month. Some people would call that a plateau, considering I've been under my calories just about every week for the entire time I've been on MFP. However, I've lost 5% of my body fat in that same time. That is just under 1% bodyfat a month since May. That is a lot for someone who was already in the "healthy" range of BMI when I started. I was at 28% bodyfat and with a BMI of 24. Now I am 23% body fat with a BMI of 22.
I also went from a size 12 or XL to a size 4 or Med.
Some folks may be calling a fall off the wagon a plateau. Others may think that no weight loss for 2 weeks is a plateau. I suspect that now I am at my half-goal mark that weight loss is going to get a lot trickier. Is that a plateau?0 -
any time you are dieting down or in a caloric defecit the metabolism slows down hence the plateau... which is why its important to not cut calories as quickly and have re-feed type days along with strategically monitoring calories and macronutrients.0
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I'm not sure if you would classify my 'progress' as a plateau or not but here goes.. I started in Jan. of this year and lost 40lbs by April. Since then, I haven't lost one pound. I am 5ft3, was 179 and I'm down to 141. However,, I have built a LOT of muscle, have no fat on my legs, I measure a LOT smaller - down to an 8 from a 12 and I look a lot better in my swimsuit. In fact, I didn't go to water aerobics all summer from May until Nov and when I got there, my friends were all saying, omg, you are so tiny! You look awesome, etc., and I hadn't lost one pound since May. I don't think they believed me! Some people may call that a plateau because the scale isn't moving but I'd disagree. I think that real plateaus happen because your body has adjusted to your change in diet and exercise. I'd say if you have one, mix up your types of exercise and re-evaluate your diet.0
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I lost steadily 1.9 pounds a week for several months, then gained 1.5 pounds, then got stuck for almost 2 months. For 3 days I paid very careful attention to my logging, and ate around 200 calories less than my limit each day and lost 5 pounds in a week, and I'm stuck again. I do suspect that plateaus are just sloppy eating.0
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Just because you have never experienced one doesn't mean that they don't exist. I'm glad for you that you never had to deal with having a lot of weight to lose, doing everything right, and the scale just won't budge. It's frustrating, believe me.
This time around I haven't experienced one yet, and as a result it's been much easier to stay motivated. 12 years ago I had one that lasted over a year and a half and I ended up bailing on. I had lost 30 pounds, very slowly, and still had 130 pounds left to lose. It turns out that I had an undiagnosed thyroid issue (it stayed undiagnosed until recently, ugh) that was causing it.
Working through a plateau is very challenging and the people dealing with it deserve your compassion and encouragement. What they don't need is "I lost 21 pounds and never experienced one, therefor they don't exist".0 -
Why should anyone prove to you it doesn't exist? Don't mean to sound grumpy but from the tone of your thread you come across very much 'I can do it so easily, anyone that can't is just sucky and not trying'. Maybe you didn't mean to sound like that but, hey I'm just being honest, you sound very judgemental and hollier than I.
I got the same impression reading through the comments and responses. It's a very, "I do this perfectly" tone.. =/0 -
Why should anyone prove to you it doesn't exist? Don't mean to sound grumpy but from the tone of your thread you come across very much 'I can do it so easily, anyone that can't is just sucky and not trying'. Maybe you didn't mean to sound like that but, hey I'm just being honest, you sound very judgemental and hollier than I.
I got the same impression reading through the comments and responses. It's a very, "I do this perfectly" tone.. =/
I definitely do not do this perfectly. Heck, the other day I had Halloween candy and red wine for dinner, went over my calories, and didn't even bother to log any of it. I screw up all the time. I'm human and no better than anyone else. I may have just been entirely fortunate that I never experienced the plateau. I don't know. That's what I'm trying to understand.0 -
I definitely do not do this perfectly. Heck, the other day I had Halloween candy and red wine for dinner, went over my calories, and didn't even bother to log any of it. I screw up all the time. I'm human and no better than anyone else. I may have just been entirely fortunate that I never experienced the plateau. I don't know. That's what I'm trying to understand.
Speaking just to the physical side, there are differences in how people's bodies react to weight loss. From what my endocrynologist/neurologist tells me, sometimes obese people metabolize food differently. It's a very complex system. They aren't completely sure how it all works, there is new information coming out all the time. While the basics: energy in energy out, is true, there are big differences between what the energy requirements are of one person versus another person's needs (ie: someone with a thyroid or pituitary issue). Also, sometimes through this journey your own caloric needs can change, your body can become either more or less efficient, which will impact your weight losses. Sometimes it can feel like a moving target.
There are differences between men and women as well.
Now that I know what my physical roadblocks are (thyroid), if I hit a plateau I know that I need to get my rear into my endo and have my levels checked. Plateaus can happen for other reasons as well.
When we get into the emotional reasons for plateaus it also gets very complicated. Sometimes people just get tired of logging everything. Sometimes you start slacking a bit. But, there are a lot of people with big issues around food and weight. It can be a reaction to abuse, it can be biochemical, or learned. One of the reasons that my friends list is pretty much confined to women who either have a lot to lose, or have lost a lot of weight, is that they understand that it's pretty complicated (physically and emotionally) and tend to give support and encouragement without judgement. I am not saying that there aren't people on the boards with less to lose that are also compassionate to these struggles, but it can be a totally different mindset.0 -
I've never had a plateau either. When I'm on plan I always lose an average of 1.5 pounds a week. I'm not saying plateaus don't exist for some people, but I think for the most part when people think they are in a plateau the truth is that they're off on their numbers. Either their TDEE has gone down or their intake has gone up.0
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Well, if you're a skeptic you understand the pitfalls of anecdotal evidence, but I can tell you that I stalled out for 3 months once. I was told by what I consider to be reliable sources that I needed to take a break from dieting. So went to maintenance for awhile and when I went back to a deficit I started losing again. My experience has been that the body eventually adjusts to whatever you're doing, whether that is diet, exercise, or both, and you have to change it up at some point. If I had just dropped my calories more that might have worked, but I didn't want to get into the constant cycle of eating less, stalling, so eating even less than that, etc.
Well, true. And you could get into a big pitfall if you had to keep dropping and dropping your calories to lose weight. How would you ever go back to maintenance calories without gaining?
I know for me, I never dropped lower than where I started. In fact, I found I had to gradually increase my calories and my exercise until I reached maintenance. But still, I don't work out like a mad woman or anything. Everything I do is very maintainable.
^I did the same thing. I lost most of my weight averaging 2000 calories, so that if I ever stopped losing I could drop my calories pretty easily. I really think this is a big factor in never plateauing.0 -
I definitely do not do this perfectly. Heck, the other day I had Halloween candy and red wine for dinner, went over my calories, and didn't even bother to log any of it. I screw up all the time. I'm human and no better than anyone else. I may have just been entirely fortunate that I never experienced the plateau. I don't know. That's what I'm trying to understand.
Speaking just to the physical side, there are differences in how people's bodies react to weight loss. From what my endocrynologist/neurologist tells me, sometimes obese people metabolize food differently. It's a very complex system. They aren't completely sure how it all works, there is new information coming out all the time. While the basics: energy in energy out, is true, there are big differences between what the energy requirements are of one person versus another person's needs (ie: someone with a thyroid or pituitary issue). Also, sometimes through this journey your own caloric needs can change, your body can become either more or less efficient, which will impact your weight losses. Sometimes it can feel like a moving target.
There are differences between men and women as well.
Now that I know what my physical roadblocks are (thyroid), if I hit a plateau I know that I need to get my rear into my endo and have my levels checked. Plateaus can happen for other reasons as well.
When we get into the emotional reasons for plateaus it also gets very complicated. Sometimes people just get tired of logging everything. Sometimes you start slacking a bit. But, there are a lot of people with big issues around food and weight. It can be a reaction to abuse, it can be biochemical, or learned. One of the reasons that my friends list is pretty much confined to women who either have a lot to lose, or have lost a lot of weight, is that they understand that it's pretty complicated (physically and emotionally) and tend to give support and encouragement without judgement. I am not saying that there aren't people on the boards with less to lose that are also compassionate to these struggles, but it can be a totally different mindset.
Thank you. This response was actually very helpful to me.0 -
I lose about 2 pounds a month. Some people would call that a plateau, considering I've been under my calories just about every week for the entire time I've been on MFP. However, I've lost 5% of my body fat in that same time. That is just under 1% bodyfat a month since May. That is a lot for someone who was already in the "healthy" range of BMI when I started. I was at 28% bodyfat and with a BMI of 24. Now I am 23% body fat with a BMI of 22.
I also went from a size 12 or XL to a size 4 or Med.
Some folks may be calling a fall off the wagon a plateau. Others may think that no weight loss for 2 weeks is a plateau. I suspect that now I am at my half-goal mark that weight loss is going to get a lot trickier. Is that a plateau?
A plateau to me is no progress at all for at least a month. No inches lost, no weight lost, while still eating under your calorie goal.0 -
I weighed 183.2 on Tuesday. Despite a 2 hour work out and eating aprox 1200 calories I weighted 183.2 on Wednesday. I didn't get to exercise on Wednesday I weighted 183.2 on Thursday. Didn't get to exercise on Thursday but kept the calories aprox 1200. So i weighed 183.6 on Friday. Exercised two hours on Friday. Saturday I was back to 183.2. I didn't get to exercise yesterday but today I weighted 183.0.
Since October first I have lost between 1.6 and 2.6 pounds a week. I have 2 1/2 more days to go and i've only lost 0.2...
with out all those words:
6-Nov 183.2
7-Nov 183.2
8-Nov 183.2
9-Nov 183.6
10-Nov 183.2
11-Nov 183.0
so there you go. The proof of a plateau. hardest 0.2 pounds I've ever tried to get rid off. I'm hoping i'm over it now.0 -
I weighed 183.2 on Tuesday. Despite a 2 hour work out and eating aprox 1200 calories I weighted 183.2 on Wednesday. I didn't get to exercise on Wednesday I weighted 183.2 on Thursday. Didn't get to exercise on Thursday but kept the calories aprox 1200. So i weighed 183.6 on Friday. Exercised two hours on Friday. Saturday I was back to 183.2. I didn't get to exercise yesterday but today I weighted 183.0.
Since October first I have lost between 1.6 and 2.6 pounds a week. I have 2 1/2 more days to go and i've only lost 0.2...
with out all those words:
6-Nov 183.2
7-Nov 183.2
8-Nov 183.2
9-Nov 183.6
10-Nov 183.2
11-Nov 183.0
so there you go. The proof of a plateau. hardest 0.2 pounds I've ever tried to get rid off. I'm hoping i'm over it now.
I think the OP is thinking of a plateau being something that lasts for months rather than days. Weight loss takes time. Ages in fact if your working on the last deposits of fat.0 -
To be honest it doesn't sound like you need 'convincing.' I get your point that it's probably variations in calorie intake and exercise (i.e. lapses) that account for plateaus, but I think you can still legitimately define these phases as plateaus since the progress graph does indeed level out.
It's nice for you that you found it easy to stick to the exact energy balance you needed to lose weight steadily for 6 months, but most people aren't quite so rigorous in their efforts. Diet and exercise is not an exact science for most people. The important thing when someone on your friends list is 'plateauing' is to be encouraging. Chances are they have already lost some weight and are making positive lifestyle changes. Forgive me if I misunderstand, but from the tone of your original post it seems a little bit like you feel superior to some of your friends on MFP who have plateau'd, and fair enough if you feel proud of your self-control, but it shouldn't be at others' expense.0 -
I think that people go through periods of recomposition. I also have noticed that after losing a decent amount I really had to kick up intensity at my workouts including wrist and ankle weights. SImply, when you don't weigh as much- you don't burn as many calories.0
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Forgive me if I misunderstand, but from the tone of your original post it seems a little bit like you feel superior to some of your friends on MFP who have plateau'd, and fair enough if you feel proud of your self-control, but it shouldn't be at others' expense.
I have always tried to be encouraging to my MFP friends. I care about them a great deal. They supported me along the way and I want to do the same for them.
But also, I don't want them to lie to themselves. Not because I feel superior, but because it's not helpful to their end goal. I'm not saying every single MFP friend of mine who has hit a plateau is lying to themselves. But when a friend tells me they've hit a plateau and just can't lose weight and I see evidence of bad eating on their diary, I question their perspective. Sometimes telling the truth to someone is the loving thing to do even if it hurts.
But back to my original intent, I really just wanted to hear real stories of struggles with this since, my examples all seemed inaccurate. And the thing is, not all of my friends losing weight are on MFP. I can't track what they do. So, I don't want to assume they are lying to themselves if there's something more to it. I wanted to hear REAL stories. I'm sad that many people have mistaken my "tone". But I am thankful for those that were kind enough to actually share their stories with me.0
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