Plateau After 2 Weeks?

danielmarksaunders
danielmarksaunders Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all! Im kinda new to this and I have a situation for you all..

I've been limiting my net calories to about 1500 a day and hit the gym 3 times a week for 45 minutes and work out in my dorm for about 20 minutes 3 other days a week. The first two weeks of this program I lost a bit over 10 pounds total (which I thought was crazy). Now after my third week, I have stopped losing weight and even gained about 3 pounds. Is this normal?
Could it be that I am gaining muscle? Or maybe my sodium intake is too high? How can I overcome this?

Thanks so much!

Replies

  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    A plateau is generally considered to be closer to 4-6 weeks without a change on the scale. Small stalls happen, especially early into a diet. Your initial drop likely included a lot of water weight, which is good but tapers off very quickly. If you're just started the exercise routine you may be holding onto some extra fluid in your muscles to help cushion and repair them. This can mask whatever fat loss is happening. I'm sorry, but there's just no way you gained 3 pounds of muscle in 3 weeks.

    Give your body some time to adjust and the scale should start to move in the right direction soon.
  • PinkCoconut
    PinkCoconut Posts: 655 Member
    I agree with diannethegeek, a plateau usually takes several weeks of not losing to be considered a plateau. I can say from experience that there WILL be weeks where you won't lose and then your body might jump and you could lose a bunch in one week or even just start up again. Every body is different and responds in different ways. I remember not losing for over a month but everyone was telling me how much leaner I was looking and then without changing much it just restarted again! It was so weird but that happened a few times! :) Keep being consistent in what you're doing and try not to worry! :)
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
    ^^What they said. I like to refer to this time as "wtf mode".. which means your body is trying to figure out wtf is going on.

    Patience and consistency will go a long way. Keep working at it.
  • danielmarksaunders
    danielmarksaunders Posts: 4 Member
    Great! Thanks everyone :D

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