Weight Loss Plateau help - found this 'help' online

I was on a plateau for over 8 weeks, after losing 40 lbs, and I did all of the research too. I tried several different methods to break out including reviewing my calories to make sure they weren't creeping up, increasing intensity of workouts, increasing frequency of workouts, cycling calories, etc. Nothing seemed to work and I was getting a bit frustrated, but I read an article that basically said you can be doing everything "right" and you may still experience a plateau as the body's way of resetting itself after a certain amount of weight lost. I understand that most people experience this at some point in their journey and it's pretty natural. I just tried to be patient and focused on how I felt more than what the scale showed. The patience paid off and I finally lost another couple of pounds, but it took time. I will say that I noticed during the plateau that my body composition changed a bit. Some of the loose skin tightened up under my arms, on my inner thighs, and on my tummy. I didn't really lose inches but I saw definition where there was none before. So I saw it as a positive rather than a negative!! Good luck on your journey!

Overcoming a Plateau
To overcome a weight loss plateau, you must further decrease your calorie intake or increase your activity level

LOL. Way to go out on a limb with that advice ehow!

I think plateau's are normal and that there is something to the idea of your weight loss resetting. What works, as far as restarting weight loss, is probably somewhat individual, but I think there might be a benefit of eating at maintenence for a short time and letting the body get used to things. I'm not saying I have science to back that up, though. I would love to see some research on this idea...

I lost weight pretty rapidly when I started in January. June 14th marked my 25 pound milestone. Since then I have only lost 5. I'm nowhere near my goal weight as I still have over 40 pounds to lose. I'm 44 and went from an 18/20 to a tight 12 and from a 2X to a Large top.

The scale plays games with me and it laughs at me behind my back like a cruel kid on a playground. I feel that I've pretty much been on a plateau since June only because of how much the weight loss has slowed down. This plus I haven't had a loss again in over three weeks.

Now with that said, I have lost 30 pounds. I'm "just about" a size twelve again squeezing my hiney into some "larger" versions and my blood pressure went from 145 over 101 as of my physical last year to 108 over 70 as of my physical this year. So my heart and body are definitely healthier.

Am I frustrated? Yes. Enough to quit and drive to Burger KIng? No

I'm praying that my body is resetting after the big loss and that whole theory isn't a bunch of horse hockey. I work out 5 days a week running and cycling. I lift weights 3 times a week. My body is tighter and I get tons of compliments.

These are the things I've tried to do to break the plateau.

- I've upped my calories to 1822 a day. (My TDEE - 500 calories) from 1400 per day. Sometimes going over on days I'm super hungry. My workouts burn between 600 and 700 calories a day so I do have some wiggle room.

- I've intensified my workouts to the point I was riding the bike at the gym over 13 miles a day. I've since stopped that choosing to jog instead although I still cycle when my hip is bothering me. (God, I sound old!)

- I've "not focused so much on the scale" for oh... maybe... 5 to 10... ya know... minutes. I'm a scale hound so I have to really try to stay off and focus more on how I feel and how my clothes fit.

So as you can see, none of these things have worked. My weight fluctuates sometimes 3-4 pounds per day and I still can't seem to break 200.

I wish I had these wonderful words of wisdom to say "Hey! Do this and like magic you're plateau will be broken!" but I can't.

What I can say is to think about all of the things you can do now that you couldn't do before. All the clothes that fit now that didn't fit before. Remember that you're next birthday, wedding, graduation or big event will come whether you continue to eat healthy and workout or not. Wouldn't it be wonderful for that to come and you to walk in there feeling great about yourself that you are consistent than to walk in feeling like a failure. I don't think anyone is a failure but I've sure felt like one from time to time.

I will continue to eat healthy, workout and be consistent. I can't imagine that this plateau could last forever so at some point, maybe I'll get on the scale and see that wonderful 199 staring back at me.

A girl can dream.

Just to add on to my previous post since jadetheif made some great points...

I've weighed and measured everything I've put in my mouth since January 1st. I've always been very honest with myself (otherwise what's the point?)

I used the BodyMedia Fit armband for the first 6 months until it stopped calculating my burned calories properly and it was throwing me off.

Since then was when I trying changing things up a few times including more intense workouts, calorie changes, etc.

I'm going to stick with my TDEE-500 calories (1822 a day) for a few more weeks and see what happens.

I'm having another issue that I noticed today. I'm feeling very flabby again.

Why?????????????????????????????????????????????

Is this the fat breaking down and getting ready to be flushed?

If not, please just lie to me... LOL

Someone else just posted on a separate thread about finally busting through a plateau by consistently drinking and upping their water intake. I'm going to give this a try and my water drinking has not been great recently. I have been sort of stuck since June...

I broke a plateau by taking a 3 week total diet break. Ate at TDEE for a while. I think a prolonged deficit slowed my metabolism. When I returned to deficit the scale started moving again, albeit slowly.

I've lost a bit of weight in a very fast period of time. I enjoy playing with different types of diets to break plateaus and to see what works better for my body. I know that everyone says calories in calories out is all that matters and I found that to be false. For some reason your body adapts well to lowering calories and there is a point I refuse to lower even more. I started playing with carbs and carb cycling and keto diets and every other diet out there. It's just what works for you and what keeps your body guessing. Keep you calories at a sustainable level and play with your macros. My body is very sensitive to carbs so I have to carb cycle and keep HIIT workouts in order to keep at a 4-6 lb a week weight lose. I know some of you are like that's unhealthy blah blah blah. It's not unhealthy and I don't have loose skin and I have lost about 60 lbs total with 20 more to go. So don't worry about plateaus and take weekly pictures and compare. Do body fat% and not lbs and just look at your pics from 3 weeks ago and see the difference. Maybe a plateau in your mind isn't really a plateau just your body changing in other ways that the scale doesn't show.

i know this is late to join this tread but i stumbled upon it aftersome late night research and thought you would like to hear about my 13 month plateau and how i got through it...so long story short...lost 2 stone in 7 months calorie counting and eating low carb then put on a few pounds on holiday as was eating bread cake etc...needless to say 3 of the 4 pounds came off when resumed normal calorie restriction again..but the last pound didnt and there i stayed from aug 2012 until october 2013..now thats either a very long plateau or "maintenance " even though i was eating clean BUT i had stopped exercising..just dog walking but my 30 day shred went out the window...not sure why? i just kinds gave up and had a few personal problems at home...anyway xmas came and went never lost a pound nor did i put on a pound...diet was still clean..activity level was rubbish..then Jan 2014 i decided thats it...im sick of staying at the same weight...if i dont win this battle now this is my weight for the rest of my life...im a 5.3 43 year old..time to change...i started 30 day shred 3 days a week...went low carb again but the one thing i realised was that eating so low (1000) cals and no exercise had slowed my metabolism to a crawl...what changed everything was reading jillian michaels "master your metabolism" i realised i wasnt eating enough or often enough..and my metabolism had adjusted to that...so now its 5 small meals or 3 meals 2 snacks..i eat every 2.5 to 3 hours...still low carb abut ,moderate fat so il eat an apple with peanut butter foe a snack say then a chicken salad with avocado for dinner etc..ive knocked alcohol on the head and bam..the pounds started coming off ....now its July 2014....i do les mills combat everyday except sunday...i eat when im supposed to eat and ive lost another 5 pounds since june...all because im fuelling my body for workouts and tve lost two inches from my tummy...most of all i feel amazing and energetic...i have 4 more stone to go..but after a year of staying the same i think ive cracked it...by not going lower on my cals...go too low and you wont have the energy or motivation i just wish i had eaten more and worked out more a year ago but hey ...ive got it sussed now

My body seems to work like this: lose rapidly, slow down, stall. Repeat. I started in April, my first stall was in June, and it lasted 4 weeks. The second stall started mid-August and just ended (6 weeks). So around two months of steady loss, I stop. I don't think I'm doing anything wrong, I think my body is just adjusting. I generally don't change anything I'm doing. I'm a very careful logger and I'm moderately active.

Weight loss isn't ever going to be a straight line. And I really think that success is measured not when the scale drops, but when you keep going in spite of the scale not dropping (or going up even).

This is, of course, my personal experience. I know how frustrating stalls are, but if you keep doing what you're doing, (IMO) they will pass.