Plateau problem

anphi14
anphi14 Posts: 57 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys - I'm back on this and have been for two months now. The first month and a half I dropped 10-12 lbs by just dieting since I injured my knee last month and cannot do a lot of high impact exercises. The past two and a half weeks however I've been at this plateau (CW: 142 SW: 152 GW: 120-125 & and I'm 5'1" 22 yrs old) that doesn't seem to be budging. I tried to up my cals to 1400 a couple days a week but it still won't budge. I know I'm not overeating and I've been very diligent. Any suggestions? I read many on the board but since I have limited exercises to incorporate that won't damage my knee further, and with my height and weight...was wondering what any experts out there think? I have majorly cut down on sugars, carbs, etc and was once an avid soda drinker and now only drink water and nothing else.

Thanks!

Replies

  • anphi14
    anphi14 Posts: 57 Member
    Bump lol - really need help
  • anphi14
    anphi14 Posts: 57 Member
    bump again D:
  • mschicagocubs
    mschicagocubs Posts: 774 Member
    First off, you don't need exercise to lose fat. So you not being able to workout a lot isnt the reason you aren't losing.

    2 weeks you say? Well that's not really that long. Are you taking measurements? Sometimes it takes the scale a few weeks to catch up to what your body is losing. I would start taking measurements as that is a better way to tell if you aren't losing in addition to the scale.

    Plateaus don't really exist. You stop losing because you aren't eating at a deficit. But like I said ... 2 weeks ... I'd wait it out longer than that before you start worrying.

    Plus 10-12 lbs in a month is a lot! So maybe your body lost quicker and now it will lose slower....you just don't know.
  • SecretAgent27
    SecretAgent27 Posts: 57 Member
    Where were your calories before?

    If they were too low, your body could've compensated and slowed down your metabolism, balancing out your calorie deficit. It basically takes whatever your dieting calorie intake is and makes that your maintenance level instead, meaning that you're no longer operating at a deficit. The body doesn't like change and wants to hold on the fat in case of emergency (like a famine).

    I recently went through something similar. Despite my diet and exercise, I stayed the same weight for 3 weeks. I hadn't been counting my calories and when I looked into it, I realized I'd been eating too little. On the 3rd week, I intentionally ate above my maintenance calories. Not a lot, but a little. Also, I'd been running a lot, but I ran less that week because I was saving my energy for a 5K that weekend. More food, less exercise. My scale went up a lb or two in the middle of the week. But on Monday, I was down 2 lbs. overall. I lost 2 more on top of that the rest of that week, so down 4 lbs from where I'd plateaued. Voila! My metabolism was back on track.

    I'd tried to simply eat a smaller deficit but that didn't work. Eating a little above maintenance did.

    So that's something you might try. It's unfortunate, but if your metabolism has slowed and is what is causing the stall, you might need to take one step back in order to take 2 steps forward.

    Something that helps fool the body when you're dieting is calorie cycling. I did it the last time I lost 30 lbs (before I got injured and gained a lot of it back) and I never plateaued. I should've done it this time too but I didn't. I started using it again though. Basically, instead of eating the same number of calories everyday, you eat high on some days and low on others in order to confuse the body and hide the fact that you're actually eating an overall calorie deficit. Here's a calculator. http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

    But you have to rev your metabolism back up first.
  • anphi14
    anphi14 Posts: 57 Member
    First off, you don't need exercise to lose fat. So you not being able to workout a lot isnt the reason you aren't losing.

    2 weeks you say? Well that's not really that long. Are you taking measurements? Sometimes it takes the scale a few weeks to catch up to what your body is losing. I would start taking measurements as that is a better way to tell if you aren't losing in addition to the scale.

    Plateaus don't really exist. You stop losing because you aren't eating at a deficit. But like I said ... 2 weeks ... I'd wait it out longer than that before you start worrying.

    Plus 10-12 lbs in a month is a lot! So maybe your body lost quicker and now it will lose slower....you just don't know.

    Thanks so much! Guess I just got frustrated after losing very fast and then suddenly not losing lol
  • anphi14
    anphi14 Posts: 57 Member
    Where were your calories before?

    If they were too low, your body could've compensated and slowed down your metabolism, balancing out your calorie deficit. It basically takes whatever your dieting calorie intake is and makes that your maintenance level instead, meaning that you're no longer operating at a deficit. The body doesn't like change and wants to hold on the fat in case of emergency (like a famine).

    I recently went through something similar. Despite my diet and exercise, I stayed the same weight for 3 weeks. I hadn't been counting my calories and when I looked into it, I realized I'd been eating too little. On the 3rd week, I intentionally ate above my maintenance calories. Not a lot, but a little. Also, I'd been running a lot, but I ran less that week because I was saving my energy for a 5K that weekend. More food, less exercise. My scale went up a lb or two in the middle of the week. But on Monday, I was down 2 lbs. overall. I lost 2 more on top of that the rest of that week, so down 4 lbs from where I'd plateaued. Voila! My metabolism was back on track.

    I'd tried to simply eat a smaller deficit but that didn't work. Eating a little above maintenance did.

    So that's something you might try. It's unfortunate, but if your metabolism has slowed and is what is causing the stall, you might need to take one step back in order to take 2 steps forward.

    Something that helps fool the body when you're dieting is calorie cycling. I did it the last time I lost 30 lbs (before I got injured and gained a lot of it back) and I never plateaued. I should've done it this time too but I didn't. I started using it again though. Basically, instead of eating the same number of calories everyday, you eat high on some days and low on others in order to confuse the body and hide the fact that you're actually eating an overall calorie deficit. Here's a calculator. http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

    But you have to rev your metabolism back up first.

    Thank you! I really appreciate your help and will try the calorie cycling definitely!

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