staying positive during plateau

MensEtSalvere2013 · July 2013

Hey all,
What do you do to stay postive during a plateau? I have been fluctuating between 148- 150 the past 2 months. I have been travelling a lot though so that can be a factor too. I have also lost so much weight so far, 66 pounds!

Any advice for me? It has been frustrating.

spicyginger2006 · August 2013

wondering the same thing!

Dittomom · August 2013

I have a co worker who is really into her weight management and has the body to prove it. Her husband is also a personal trainer. They both recommend upping your calories for a few days to help break the plateau. I recently hit a plateau and was so scared to up my calories. I upped them a little but it wasn't enough. A back injure put me on the couch for three days and I was bored so I ate. Eating 200-500 calories a day above what I burned for three days made me gain a pound, but when I went back to eating approximately 500 calories below what I burned per day gave me a weight loss of 2 lbs in three days. I seem to be back on track with losing 1 pound a week with a 500 calorie per day deficit from what I burn. I use the Fitbit to measure calories burned.

During the 3-4 weeks of plateau I looked back over my weight loss over the previous weeks, stayed happy about the fact that I am now two sizes smaller than when I started. Looked at pictures of myself when I was heavier and pictures now to validate I was being successful. I've been keeping a spreadsheet of calories in, calories out, total deficit (or over heaven forbid) and weekly weights as well as notes about any struggles or events during the week that were stresses. It really helps me to be able to look at this and see that maybe I didn't lose a whole pound in a week and yes, I wasn't quite meeting my calorie goals so I need to clean it up a little.

Hope this helps. Best wishes!

ehenningsen · August 2013

I have lost 67.4 pounds since March 1st (6'0" from 269 to 201.6). I have not yet plateued once and I will explain my habits.. Albeit doing different things have caused my weight loss to range from 1.2 loss a week to 6.8 with the vast majority within 3-4 a week (except the beginning when I was losing about 2-2.5 a week)..

I have a personal goal set here on MFP with a thousand calorie deficit a day (2pounds a week).. However, the math ends up different than just trying to match that daily..

here we go..

Monday - Thursday, I will eat about 800-1300 (twice a week up to 1800) with an average daily burn of 500-1000 calories a day
Friday - same exercise, but will go out and have a good dinner at a mexican resteraunt or something good. I will have nearly a wash as far as calorie total versus maintenance or I will go over..
Saturday - Sunday, I will eat about 0 - 1500 above my calorie goal (1400 - 2800) and I may burn some calories or I may not

Overall, I end up several hundred calories below the expected goal for two pounds lost a week, but I actually seem to burn about a pound more a week than MFP projects..

Example:
Monday: 1150 consumed, 800 burned
Tuesday: 850 consumed, 1100 burned
Wednesday: 850 consumed, 850 burned
Thursday: 850 consumed, 950 burned
Friday: 2,700 consumed, 750 burned
Saturday: 2,100 consumed, 0 burned
Sunday: 1700 consumed, 700 burned

Another example:
Monday: 850 consumed, 1,300 burned
Tuesday: 850 consumed, 720 burned
Wednesday: 1,450 consumed, 580 burned
Thursday: 850 consumed, 720 burned
Friday: 3,100 consumed, 510 burned
Saturday: 3,350 consumed, 0 burned
Sunday: 2,100 consumed, 0 burned

With most weeks in that general area, I have never plateaued.

herblackwings39 · August 2013

Depending on how much more you have to lose have you considered lowering your per week loss goal to 1 or .5 lbs? It will give you more calories to eat, while still being in a deficit.

staying positive during plateau

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