Weight Plateau - Please Help!!

Take a diet break for a couple of weeks and then go back to it. Break does not mean binge or all you can eat, just eat higher calories than in diet mode.

Or take a couple of days out to eat more calories per week...

There is a ton of great information on this site. Click on search in the message boards and type in plateau. Read it all and remember what works for one person, may or may not work for you. Try what you think you can sustain and if that doesn't work (it might take a few weeks for your body to adjust), try something new. Depending on what you are eating now and your current level of activity, I would definitely try upping your calories a bit.

Good luck with your plateau. Stay strong and you'll break it.

Honestly I would say 2 weeks isn't really a plateau. Weight loss doesn't always happen week after week and it may be that if you continue doing exactly what you have been then next week you might drop 2-3lbs.

I wouldn't worry too much if I didn't lose for 2 weeks. If it was 8 weeks I would try shaking things up a bit. But what you have been doing obviously works for you.

Have been using My Fitness Pal for 7 1/2 weeks and have lost 5.6kg (12lb). But I have reached a plateau with my weight - have been the same for about 1 1/2 to 2 weeks. What do I need to do to move past this and keep losing weight? Currently my main forms of exercise are walking and stationary bike riding. Is it as simple as adding some strength training to my routine? All ideas gratefully received!

Try a 10 day juice fast...sounds drastic, but with the right things it has tremendous health effects, and is over before you know it.

What has worked for me as well as many others i have helped. Set your account to maintain for 2 weeks. Try to eat lots higher protein foods (to help your body to repair) and concentrate on eating whole natural foods and try to stay away from fast foods. Once you come off the break, set your account to a more moderate "per weight loss" goal (if it was at 2 lbs per week, set it at 1.5 or even 1). Also, if you are exercising and have not been eating exercise calories, start eating 50% of them. This will help fuel your body.

Additionally, alter your macro's. Do around 35% carbs, 40% protein and 25% fats. This site is low on protein as it's based on the US standard.

I think you've done really well in seven weeks! I wish I'd lost as much as that!!!

I recently hit a plateau too - I have been at MFP since 1st August and about 4 weeks ago I stuck at the same weight for around 3 weeks (irrespective of what I did.) and even managed to gain a couple of pounds. I then began drinking a lot more water and all of a sudden things began to move, now I have lost the couple of pounds and a couple more on top.

Other things to check:
1. Make sure not too many refined carbs / sugar
2. Mix up the exercise
3. Minimise coffee
4. lots of fresh leafy green veg
5. Omit alcohol

Hope that helps

Minimize coffee? minimize coffee? Where did you get that from?

Sometimes it's time to "change it up" - add something different to the exercise routine, do something different with your menu's, whatever. If you always walk a path that's pretty level, then change your route to add a few hills. (Part of the premise for things like P90X and Insanity is to not let your body get used to the routine....or get in a rut.)

One thing that I've noticed with my weight loss (I've lost 103.6 pounds) is that it goes in waves....I'll go for 3 weeks with 1.5 pound losses, then go for about 3-4 weeks with 0-1 pound losses. I just hit 1.4 pounds this week after a few weeks of .2 or .4 pound losses a week. I just knew I was in that mode, and that if I kept doing what I was supposed to do, the scale would eventually catch up with me.

The other thing to do would be to get a Fitbit. It monitors your activity, and syncs with MFP. (They're coming out with a new one in a couple of weeks that'll sync with your iPhone/iPad.) It'll give you a chart of "calories burned" vs. "calorie intake" - as long as you make sure you burn more than you take in, you're going to lose weight. That part I've found definitely to be true.

It doesn't matter how much a week I lose, as long as it's going in that direction!

Glad to here it is only weeks, try months!! I have changed everything I know and still in search. Will not give up, if I die with the extra 10-15 pounds I will then quit. Not until. Just so you know you are not alone.:flowerforyou:

I have hovered around the same weight since June! Then my birthday came and I thought forget it, ate LOADS and afterwards thought right im going back on it and now I'm losing again so maybe take a break, or mix things up. Cheese can stall some peoples weight loss too, I know about 5 people that as soon as they limited cheese their weight loss started again and when they started having it again their losses stalled again (not sure why but just a thought, no harm trying!).

Strength training would be a great idea to incorporate. Also take a closer look at you macros, make sure you are getting enough protein, make sure your calorie intake isn't too low/high. Maybe invest in a HRM if you don't already, to log more accurate burns, and food scales to calculate more accurately in your diary. Just a few things to look into, Good luck!

Thank you to all who contributed ideas to my question. I was really excited to see so many responses to my first question! I have read all with great interest and done some research myself. Interesting reading on Weight Watcher's web site (http://www.weightwatchers.com.au) - search for "plateaus and physical activity". Their article talks about breaking a plateau by increasing your exercise time, increasing the intensity of your exercise and varying your exercise type.
Thanks also to those who thought I wasn't really experiencing a plateau after 1 1/2 to 2 weeks. After further thought you are probably right.
Here's to us all successfully continuing on our weight loss journey:happy:

My main issue with this is, WW doesn't care if you lose fat or muscle, their success is fully based on what the scale says. If you care about your lean body mass (that little that try drives your metabolic rate and provides so many benefits) then I wouldn't suggest what WW is saying. Beside, IMO, you should always be striving to push harder as you lose weight so you can get stronger and more fit. That is also why I suggested taking a break so your body can repair.

I recently hit a plateau too - I have been at MFP since 1st August and about 4 weeks ago I stuck at the same weight for around 3 weeks (irrespective of what I did.) and even managed to gain a couple of pounds. I then began drinking a lot more water and all of a sudden things began to move, now I have lost the couple of pounds and a couple more on top.

Other things to check:
1. Make sure not too many refined carbs / sugar
2. Mix up the exercise
3. Minimise coffee
4. lots of fresh leafy green veg
5. Omit alcohol

Hope that helps

This is good advice,lots of water and lots of fibre will get things moving again.And try doing different exercises.No alcohol and try decaff coffee and tea.Caffeine is in my experience bad.I hold onto water when i have a lot of it x

Look at the first page... There is no issue with alcohol or caffeine. In fact, caffeine is a stimulant which can help you push harder during a workout. And some alcohols (like wine and spirits) can lead to lower body fat as demonstrated by a link on the first page I wrote.