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grward612
grward612 Posts: 72 Member
in Social Groups
How long do you plateau before you make changes? I'm nearing a three week plateau and wonder how long I should keep forging forward before I make changes.

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  • cinsuccess
    cinsuccess Posts: 333 Member
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    It depends on the plateau. If I have been doing the same thing for more than 8 weeks but nothing has changed for the past 3, then I start to make some changes. If I made some changes recently, then I wait at least 4 weeks before making new changes. I hit a long plateau and then realized that I wasn't eating enough to fuel my workouts. After I incorporated more protein and less sodium that helped me break my last plateau. Best of luck to you... it does get more difficult as you get closer to your goal and according to your ticker, you only have 6 pounds left to goal so it may go much more slowly at this point.
  • grward612
    grward612 Posts: 72 Member
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    Thank you so much for the good feedback! Adding in protein may be a good solution for me. I did try to add in calories at one point but I started to gain weight. It freaked me out so then I back them down right away. Instead of adding calories, maybe I'll add on protein only type calories.

    I know weight loss is tough overall, but I have to agree that these last stubborn pounds ARE THE TOUGHEST.

    Again, thank you! :)
  • AliceNov2011
    AliceNov2011 Posts: 471 Member
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    I've been basically plateaued since SEPTEMBER! I've tried adding calories, subtracting calories, exercising, not exercising, blah, blah, blah. The last pesky 20 pounds (especially during the holidays, especially when you're over 50) are really tough!

    I'm down 4 pounds this week by dramatically dropping my calories (under 1000 for a few days), and eating 100% healthy, nutrition-dense foods (which satisfy longer). Next week I'll inch back up to "normal" levels again and get back to calorie cycling, which worked so well for me for the first 50 pounds. I'm hopeful that this will finally break me through.

    That said, I took a look at your diary, and you might consider replacing things like Subway with your own fresh wraps or healthy sandwiches on whole grain, low sugar bread. Restaurant food is FULL of sodium and refined sugar, both of which you should be tracking, if you're not already.

    FYI, I set my sodium to 1500mg and my sugar to 24g a day.

    Good luck! Keep us posted!
  • grward612
    grward612 Posts: 72 Member
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    Great suggestion on the subway! I have some of the worse eating habits ... which is a huge hurdle for me. Subway works to satisfy a craving or when I'm on the go and don't have the pre-prepared foods to grab. And both of those issues seem to be a common problem for me.

    I can't imagine plateauing that long! Kudos to you for forging on with your mission! That helps motivate me, no doubt! I plateaued for 3 weeks and started to panic. LOL! I think you just proved to me that 3 weeks is nothing!

    I appreciate your time and that you looked at my diary! MFP is great and gives us all so many tools ... but nothing is better than support from others! Thank you!

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