I've Stopped Losing... Now What?

lorimor80
lorimor80 Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello. I've been losing for 9 weeks now, and the first month was great. I lost about 16 pounds that month. However, for the past 4 weeks, I've only lost a little over 2 pounds for the entire month. I've had losses of 0.5, 1, 0, and 0.7. I know weight loss slows down after awhile, but this is a sudden and drastic drop off and I'm not sure why. I still have a LOT to lose, so it's not an issue of those "last few pounds." In the first month, I was just using diet to lose and I wasn't even tracking anything. Since then, I've added daily tracking, I've started exercising regularly, and I've started drinking my 8 glasses of water a day. Each of these has been added gradually and none has made a difference for the weekly result. I'm getting discouraged - not to the point of wanting to quit - but I just don't know what to do to make it change. Does anyone have any advice for when you've stalled out like this, especially this early on? It seems too early to be a typical plateau, and I'm not sure how to handle it. Thanks!

Replies

  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    16 pounds in one month is extremely excessive.

    My guess is you're slightly deceived. Most likely a good portion of the 16 was water weight, so it seemed like a lot. But still some fat loss and you are still losing.

    Sometimes things like this happen...

    Week 1: Lose 1lb fat 2lb water (3lbs total)
    Week 2: Lose 1lb fat, regain 1lb water (0lbs lost)
    Week 3: Lose 1lb fat, regain 1lb water (1lb GAINED)

    So... the water got evened out after adjusting to the new diet, but it SEEMS like you stopped losing or has slowed down.

    Give it time, aim to lose exactly what you expected to lose. So, if you've set MFP to lose 1lb a week, do not be worried if you aren't losing 4lbs a week anymore.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    are you losing inches? that still counts as loss since you'd be losing fat
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    Hello. I've been losing for 9 weeks now, and the first month was great. I lost about 16 pounds that month. However, for the past 4 weeks, I've only lost a little over 2 pounds for the entire month. I've had losses of 0.5, 1, 0, and 0.7. I know weight loss slows down after awhile, but this is a sudden and drastic drop off and I'm not sure why. I still have a LOT to lose, so it's not an issue of those "last few pounds." In the first month, I was just using diet to lose and I wasn't even tracking anything. Since then, I've added daily tracking, I've started exercising regularly, and I've started drinking my 8 glasses of water a day. Each of these has been added gradually and none has made a difference for the weekly result. I'm getting discouraged - not to the point of wanting to quit - but I just don't know what to do to make it change. Does anyone have any advice for when you've stalled out like this, especially this early on? It seems too early to be a typical plateau, and I'm not sure how to handle it. Thanks!

    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.

    Some people will say you need to eat more. Some people will say you need to eat less. Only you can decide or check with your doctor. But what would make the most sense? Taller people have more room in their calorie budget to go up or down. Shorter people like me have less room and get frustrated with "eat more" because that typically does not work for us. If you are confused about it don't just listen to any of us, do some research and get approval from your doctor, then just do what you need to do and tune the rest of us out.

    It really depends on your RMR. If you are short like I am then your RMR is really just above the 1200 limit so you really don't have much room for a calorie deficit and going up is less likely to work. If you are taller you will have a higher RMR and can go up or down and still be in a deficit so you can lose no matter what. All that matters is a calorie deficit. If you are short it can be hard to have a deficit at 1200 or above so your only option is to check with your doctor. I did and he agreed and had me go down.

    Exercise is to make your lean body mass pretty, strong, and healthy (especially lifting weights).

    A calorie deficit is to lose fat. A calorie budget keeps your fat level where you need to be, either losing fat or maintaining.

    Nothing else really matters much.
    The Theory of Fat Availability:
    •There is a set amount of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
    •The more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
    •The less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
    •Towards the end of a transformation, when body fat is extremely low you
    may not have enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

    At the extreme low end, when your body fat cannot ‘keep up’ with the energy deficit
    you've imposed on your body, the energy MUST come from SOMEWHERE. This is
    when you are at risk of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to
    as ‘starvation mode’). This happens at extremely low levels of body fat, under 6% in
    men and 12% in women [Friedl K.E. J Appl Phsiol, 1994].

    -Brad Pilon and John Barban (from The Reverse Taper Diet in The Adonis Index and Venus Index manuals)

    This is what worked for me: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/740340-i-lost-60-lbs-at-age-51-anyone-can-any-workout
  • cheninaerin
    cheninaerin Posts: 86
    You may need to change up your fitness routine. The body gets used to repeated activities and they start to become less and less challenging. You also may need to readjust your calorie intake. Unless you have a medical issue, the key for weight loss is truly simple. Burn more than you consume. Don't get discouraged, this is totally possible.

    So things that could be getting in your way: too high or too low calorie intake. Find a TDEE calculator online to find out how much your body burns daily, and eat 10 - 15 percent less than that number. Also, if you're logging your calories burned from exercise based on MFP's estimations-- they're usually grossly overestimated. Don't eat back all of your exercise calories in that care.

    Keep drinking lots of water, and don't get discouraged! You can do this, you just have to find out the problem and be the solution :)
  • lorimor80
    lorimor80 Posts: 13 Member
    16 pounds in one month is extremely excessive.

    My guess is you're slightly deceived. Most likely a good portion of the 16 was water weight, so it seemed like a lot. But still some fat loss and you are still losing.

    Sometimes things like this happen...

    Week 1: Lose 1lb fat 2lb water (3lbs total)
    Week 2: Lose 1lb fat, regain 1lb water (0lbs lost)
    Week 3: Lose 1lb fat, regain 1lb water (1lb GAINED)

    So... the water got evened out after adjusting to the new diet, but it SEEMS like you stopped losing or has slowed down.

    Give it time, aim to lose exactly what you expected to lose. So, if you've set MFP to lose 1lb a week, do not be worried if you aren't losing 4lbs a week anymore.

    Thanks for your response. 16 pounds in a normal month would be excessive, but it's not really unreasonable for my first month considering how heavy I am and how much I have to lose. That said, your point about water loss is probably true and could definitely be a big part of the difference from month 1 to month 2. Thanks again for taking time to respond. :)
  • lorimor80
    lorimor80 Posts: 13 Member

    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.

    Some people will say you need to eat more. Some people will say you need to eat less. Only you can decide or check with your doctor. But what would make the most sense? Taller people have more room in their calorie budget to go up or down. Shorter people like me have less room and get frustrated with "eat more" because that typically does not work for us. If you are confused about it don't just listen to any of us, do some research and get approval from your doctor, then just do what you need to do and tune the rest of us out.

    It really depends on your RMR. If you are short like I am then your RMR is really just above the 1200 limit so you really don't have much room for a calorie deficit and going up is less likely to work. If you are taller you will have a higher RMR and can go up or down and still be in a deficit so you can lose no matter what. All that matters is a calorie deficit. If you are short it can be hard to have a deficit at 1200 or above so your only option is to check with your doctor. I did and he agreed and had me go down.

    Thanks for the information. You're right... and from past experience, I should expect the weight loss to come as you said in "chunks." I guess I just keep waiting for the chunk to happen and after a month, it starts to feel like it isn't going to. I just need to give it more time and keep making healthy choices. Like you, I'm short - 5'3 - and probably don't have a lot of wiggle room in my calorie intake. I'm planning on reducing the amount of calories I eat from what I gain back in exercise and see if that helps. Thanks for all the advice and taking time to help me. :)
  • lorimor80
    lorimor80 Posts: 13 Member
    are you losing inches? that still counts as loss since you'd be losing fat

    I'm not sure. I haven't been measuring inches, but maybe I should start. Thanks for the tip!
  • lorimor80
    lorimor80 Posts: 13 Member
    You may need to change up your fitness routine. The body gets used to repeated activities and they start to become less and less challenging. You also may need to readjust your calorie intake. Unless you have a medical issue, the key for weight loss is truly simple. Burn more than you consume. Don't get discouraged, this is totally possible.

    So things that could be getting in your way: too high or too low calorie intake. Find a TDEE calculator online to find out how much your body burns daily, and eat 10 - 15 percent less than that number. Also, if you're logging your calories burned from exercise based on MFP's estimations-- they're usually grossly overestimated. Don't eat back all of your exercise calories in that care.

    Keep drinking lots of water, and don't get discouraged! You can do this, you just have to find out the problem and be the solution :)

    Thanks for the encouragement! I have been eating back a lot of what I burn in exercise, so maybe that is part of the problem. I'm going to try to cut down on that. As far as variation, I have not really been doing any one thing consistently enough to think that is the issue, but I'm also going to branch out and try some new things. Thanks for the advice.

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