Eating more to break plateau - week 1 results & questions

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mogz36
mogz36 Posts: 38 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
After losing 40lbs, I hit a nasty plateau and decided to join MFP for help breaking hit. I learned on this site that plateaus can happen if calories deficits are too large for too long. Metabolism slows and tada: plateau.

So I decided to eat an extra 500 calories a day to lower my calorie deficit from 1500 to 1000. After a week, I weighed myself this morning using my Withings scale and much to my dismay, I gained a pound. However, I then looked at my fat % and it fell from 38% to 34%. That's a ton of fat loss for a week.

I've also read on this site to initially expect an increase in weight after starting to diet correctly, but to expect weight loss to eventually continue. How long should I expect to wait before I start to lose overall weight again? Is fat loss in the first week normal?

Replies

  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
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    You have not lost 4% fat in a week, but there is every chance you have gained a pound of water by refuellling your muscles, hydration status affects bodyfat readings on everything but high end medical machines. 1000 is still a huge deficit.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    When I upped my calories I saw gains for 2 weeks. Try what you're doing for at least a month before you change anything. One of the best things that has happened for me is that I learned to trust that if I'm not going over my TDEE then I am not gaining fat. Water weight happens, you can't let it mess you up.

    That said, make sure you're logging accurately and weighing/measuring your food.

    If you're using the scale to measure your body fat it has a 3% margin of error and it's really sensitive to things like how much you've eaten and had to drink. It might just be a bad reading.
  • mogz36
    mogz36 Posts: 38 Member
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    When I upped my calories I saw gains for 2 weeks. Try what you're doing for at least a month before you change anything. One of the best things that has happened for me is that I learned to trust that if I'm not going over my TDEE then I am not gaining fat. Water weight happens, you can't let it mess you up.

    That said, make sure you're logging accurately and weighing/measuring your food.

    If you're using the scale to measure your body fat it has a 3% margin of error and it's really sensitive to things like how much you've eaten and had to drink. It might just be a bad reading.

    @AngelAmberL - Got it, thank you. This helps.

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