Plateau. Yuck.

jessoteric
jessoteric Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
So, I've lost a lot of weight this year, and am down to where if I want to lose 2lbs a week, I need to eat 1200 calories/day. This is totally doable for me, and for a few weeks it was working great - but after some great losses the first two weeks, the third week started to taper off, and this week? I actually gained a third of a pound. (how frustrating!)

A bit about me:
- I am 211 lbs at 5'5", so I still have weight to lose.
- I don't get a ton of exercise but I walk every day before or after work for about a mile at least, and have recently started doing some morning resistance work (push ups, sit ups, lunges, wall sit, tricep dip, crunches) - nothing extreme, and not enough that I should be gaining muscle weight.
- I do eat back my work-out calories usually - at least some of them.
- Yes, I am planning to see my doc next week to be sure everything is OK, I'm just impatient. :(

Is 1200 just too few calories for my body? Has anyone else run in to this?

Replies

  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
    One week =/= a plateau.

    And yes, you could stand to eat more than 1200 cals.

    From your ticker, you only have 12lbs left to lose?
  • da_bears10089
    da_bears10089 Posts: 1,791 Member
    gaining a third of a pound = nothing. your body fluctuates constantly. I'm up over a pound today than i was yesterday.

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  • suziepoo1984
    suziepoo1984 Posts: 915 Member
    I am 5'5 at 147 pounds i eat around 1700 odd calories on average to lose weight (very slow less right now- that's my aim).
    Anyway, at your weight(211?), you can aim to lose 1.5-2 lbs per week, but plan to add some exercise and eat those calories back.
    Weight fluctuation is very very normal and even i am up around 1 lb from my low weight past 2 days but i know its because of the resistance training i just started. Try to be patient, we can not lose the same amount of weight every single week. Look at the trend over a period of month and adjust accordingly. But do not go lower in any case, body needs fuel and plan to make this a lifestyle change and not a quick fix.
    Ask yourself if you can survive o 1200 calories for the rest of your life, i dont think so. So make small changes and be patient :flowerforyou:
  • lavaughan69
    lavaughan69 Posts: 459 Member
    I'm 5'5" 146 lbs. I've been dieting since the end of March and I can honestly say that I've had several weeks where I didn't lose anything and sometimes I'm up a pound or two if it's that TOM. Did you eat an extra 3500 calories, because for it to be a true weight gain you would have had to eat that many calories. It's just water weight. that can be caused from eating too much sodium or even from adding some extra exercise to the program.

    You don't necessarily need to change anything, just learn to rationalize that you are eating the calorie deficit you need to lose weight but the scale isn't cooperating and it's NO BIG DEAL. Just keep moving forward.
  • Hildy_J
    Hildy_J Posts: 1,050 Member
    Hello there,

    You definitely should have lost some weight in a week, on 1,200 - that's pretty low. It's perhaps something to do with your food logging?... if you're happy with opening your food diary, people can have a little look and see what needs tweaking.

    All the best :smile:
  • amyx593
    amyx593 Posts: 211 Member
    I'm up 2lbs from yesterday, but that's just how it goes sometimes. It's not an actual fat gain.

    You haven't plateaued. I plateaued for 3 months- one week is too little time to consider it a plateau. Just keep up what you're doing. You need to allow more time to see if it works for you! If you DO want to speed things up though, I'd add a couple hundred more calories to my allowance and add in some more exercise, personally. Patience.... I know, I know..

    Good luck!
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    I'll agree with everyone else that a week or two is too little time to determine whether or not something is working. A plateau is generally defined as 4-6 weeks without a loss. Two weeks is well within the usual fluctuations you'll see while losing.

    If you've just started some exercise your muscles may be holding onto extra water. Our bodies flood sore muscles with water to help cushion and repair them, which can mask any fat loss that's happening.
  • jessoteric
    jessoteric Posts: 4
    Thanks for the feedback, all. :) I'll keep on keepin' on!

    (PS - my ticker says I have 12 to go because I set a mini-goal at 199 lbs. I will set a new goal when I hit that one. :) )

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