Why Does Our Body Plateau?

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OMGeeeHorses
OMGeeeHorses Posts: 732 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am wondering why bodies plateau? I have been having issues with my body plateauing. Which is shocking to me as I weight 286lbs!! I could see when I get into Onderland numbers, but 268!?! Like what am I doing to piss my body off? I seem to plateau after every 10lbs. And when I do start to lose weight, up to the 10lbs come off really quickly! I have been just watching what I eat and making sure it fits into my macro, three days ago I switched myself to a high protein diet and want to see if this will help me any. Also even when over I log everything and weight everything with a scale! My exercise is horse back riding ( a huge perch/QH with MASSIVE tree trunk legs and short small sturdy back. Don't worry the owners of the barn know my true weight and said I could ride him.) and I walk as much as I can. I am also going to be adding in squats, lunges and Pilates ( to the best of my ability as I have an injured right leg that will never be the same :( ). I guess I am wondering what I can do to get this WEIGHT OFF!! I am 100% serious about losing this weight, but I know I AM DOING SOMETHING WRONG!! Any advices would be amazing :).

I am 5'3 and 26 years old. Female.

Replies

  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    A plateau, if there is such a thing, is an extended period of time with no weight loss. Usually someone plateau's because they're eating at maintenance by either not being accurate with food intake or over estimating exercise and eating calories back. Lots of people lose large amounts of weight without ever having an issue.

    Not losing for a week or two can just be your body taking a bit of a break or getting used to the level of calories and exercise that you are at. Some people believe that eating at maintenance for a week then returning to a calorie deficit will get weight loss moving again.
  • mammakat0830
    mammakat0830 Posts: 117 Member
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    I've had several plateaus in my journey. Although I am sure some food measurement issues have had an impact, I believe that sometimes it has to do with other varibales such as macros. I had an RD friend look at my log after a stalled for 6 weeks... recommendation was to increase protein, increase fiber and water intake... did it for a week and lost another 2.5 pounds off the get go...

    One thing I have taken away through my plateaus (which btw usually last about 5 weeks), is don't give up! Keep moving, keep logging, keep motivated... try different activities and different foods, use a scale and drink plenty of water.

    Keep you chin up, you started this, now just remember why and dont give up :)

    Best of luck!
  • Railr0aderTony
    Railr0aderTony Posts: 6,804 Member
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    Read these, your BMR can change.

    Here is good info:
    on Adaptive Thermogenisis:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1077746-starvation-mode-adaptive-thermogenesis-and-weight-loss

    http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/567126_
  • OMGeeeHorses
    OMGeeeHorses Posts: 732 Member
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    thanks :). I use a bodymedia armband for my exercise that goes off my heart rate and all that extra special stuff. So I know that is 100% accurate. So I am going to then have to look closure at my food. I weight everything I consume. I guess I will have to get a better scale or something because I just don't know what else could be doing it.
  • OMGeeeHorses
    OMGeeeHorses Posts: 732 Member
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    Read these, your BMR can change.

    Here is good info:
    on Adaptive Thermogenisis:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1077746-starvation-mode-adaptive-thermogenesis-and-weight-loss

    http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/567126_

    thanks!!
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    thanks :). I use a bodymedia armband for my exercise that goes off my heart rate and all that extra special stuff. So I know that is 100% accurate. So I am going to then have to look closure at my food. I weight everything I consume. I guess I will have to get a better scale or something because I just don't know what else could be doing it.

    Opening your diary may help with suggestions.
  • Spiderkeys
    Spiderkeys Posts: 338 Member
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    They are not true plateaus, more like stalls, even though they are frustating, in a way it's a good thing, it gives your body time to readjust, and maybe helps reduce excessive skin, I've stalled twice in my 10 week diet, one at 106kg, and more recent one at 96kg (seems to stall every at 10kg, coincidence?), then my weight drops quickily as the scales just moving again, too quickly in fact, but i'm glad its moving and keeping me motivated.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    thanks :). I use a bodymedia armband for my exercise that goes off my heart rate and all that extra special stuff. So I know that is 100% accurate. So I am going to then have to look closure at my food. I weight everything I consume. I guess I will have to get a better scale or something because I just don't know what else could be doing it.

    A heart rate monitor that doesn't use a chest strap isn't going to be very accurate. And even an accurate HRM is only really accurate for steady-state aerobic exercise. There's no way any exercise estimate is 100% accurate. The best way to calibrate your HRM is to use a month's worth of calorie logs and compare results with estimates.

    As for plateaus, water retention can be a culprit. If you're weighing only once a week, it could just be fluctuations. I weigh daily but update MFP only on Mondays. My MFP record shows several fake 3-4 week plateaus due to the vagaries of daily fluctuations.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
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    I have never plateaued.
  • Otterluv
    Otterluv Posts: 9,083 Member
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    thanks :). I use a bodymedia armband for my exercise that goes off my heart rate and all that extra special stuff. So I know that is 100% accurate. So I am going to then have to look closure at my food. I weight everything I consume. I guess I will have to get a better scale or something because I just don't know what else could be doing it.

    If you are logging accurately, my guess would be one of 2 things:

    Your calorie burns are overly high (yes, this can happen with a bodymedia device/heart rate monitor).
    If it's only been a short amount of time (weeks not months), you have some water retention issues. That happens to everyone.

    My only plateau, which lasted for about 4-6 months, ended up being due to: my not being totally honest with myself about my logging (nibble here, nibble there), eating out quite a bit, so those numbers are never totally accurate; overestimating my burns; having my net goal set a bit high for my decreased weight. While not one of those issues would have stalled me out by itself, put them all together and it added up to enough to wipe out my deficit. Woopsies.
  • Siansonea
    Siansonea Posts: 917 Member
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    Because math. :drinker:

    /thread
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    I have never plateaued.

    that's awesome. to my knowledge i never have either.:drinker:

    i have however maintained. and then fallen off the wagon. i agree with theperson who said that a plateau can just be sketchy logging and weighing in disguise. in my case it's been no surprise or disguise i knew i was screwing up and just acted DGAF about it (due to personal prioritizing and surprise responsibilitties). be honest with yourself if this is the case and you can accept that, you can then know that youcan get back at it instead of having this mysterious puzzle to solve. really think about it. dig deep.

    knowing you can get back at it, is a MUCH better feeling than the helpless feeling of being puzzled by something that seems beyond your control. make sense?
  • joepayer
    joepayer Posts: 59 Member
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    As your body weighs less you will require more exercise to maintain the same weight loss rate because you are not carrying around the pounds anymore. You could get a weight vest with how much you have lost and wear that all day long and the scale should start moving again.

    Sometimes if you change your activity level then change it back to what you do it will "see" the loss and adjust your calories. It will give you less but you don't need as many calories to survive.
  • jennifierrice
    jennifierrice Posts: 18
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    I experience a plateau almost with every 10 lbs, which happens to coincide with my menstrual cycle. I lose almost 10 lbs (about 2.3 lbs a weekx4) then I gain like 6-8lbs; I start my period and I lose that weight in like 3-4 days then it starts coming back off.

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