Hitting the wall

Xanthyen · March 2011

So I've just started my journy 1 month ago and have lost 15lbs so far. It's a start and I'll take every pound I can get (off).

Anyway, I know that at some point I'm going to hit the preverbial "wall" and I will battle through it. However I'm curious to find out when others hit their first wall... while on the same subject have you ever hit a 2nd or god forbid 3rd wall? If so, what worked for you, what didn't work?

Thank you all and keep up the great work!

janiedoe111 · March 2011

Keep on the exercise and eating healthy. I often add in a few more bursts of sprinting of whatever exercise I am doing. Just know if you keep up the good/hard work it will keep coming off. Staying positive is one of the best remedies.

littlemamajamie · March 2011

I hit my first wall at 30 pounds lost and my second one at 20 pounds lost I think everyone is different though especially between men and women.

littlemamajamie · March 2011

To get over the wall I would up my calories for a week then go back down. Worked for me but doesn't mean it will work for everyone.

jeremymaritz · March 2011

Honestly, at that point (from what I've read) you'll need to modify your diet and eat MORE. Your body may be kicked into a mode of storage because of the restricted calories, so take a cheat day. You'll hold onto a ton of water weight because of heightened sodium if you eat a ton of junk food, but it should snap your body out of famine mode. Again, this is all theoretical and your mileage may vary, but it seems to work...especially on a carb-restricted diet.

Cposeley28 · March 2011

I started out at 166 in November, and I got down to 152 in January. I've hit a wall since then and it's taking me FOREVER to lose anything more. I'm trying new things though with my diet. I was burning a ton of calories every single day because I was working out constantly, but I think I was working out too much so I've cut back. I'm excited to see what I weigh come Saturday morning. Hopefully it helps!
Good Luck

sbwood888 · March 2011

I am butting my head against a wall right now. Ugh.

misty1290 · March 2011

I'm battling a plateau with the 9 pounds I want to lose. I've had to step away from the scale and factor in water retention / muscle gain. My plan is just to hit the cardio that much harder and see if that gets me over the hump. I can't really lower my calories much more because I'm concerned that I'll adversely affect my metabolism. The last big thing for me is just staying positive. I don't want to fall off the wagon because I'm depressed over the numbers. I know I can do this and that the plateau is just temporary.

Good for you that you're on this journey. Hang in there and know that success is yours!

corpus_validum · March 2011

I just recently came across an excellent article (thanks to stroutman81) on Fat Loss Plateaus:
http://www.burnthefatblog.com/archives/2011/01/unexplainable-fat-loss-plateaus-explained.php

It offers great explanations and common mistakes

aplozano · March 2011

I am at a plateau also, I lost 8.5 pounds and have not lost any more weight for about a month now. EEEEK! but I will not give up. I have changed my exercises to incorporate more weights and change what I am eating also, but still sticking to the same calorie intake, so hopefully this will kick start the weight loss again.
Hang in there everyone who hits the wall!!!

DaveGlasnost · March 2011

I hit my first wall after the first week. But that was because I started calorie counting, then about a week and a half later started exercising very hard, which required me to change my diet all over again. So I waited a whole month to see any new weightloss.

Honestly, at that point (from what I've read) you'll need to modify your diet and eat MORE. Your body may be kicked into a mode of storage because of the restricted calories, so take a cheat day. You'll hold onto a ton of water weight because of heightened sodium if you eat a ton of junk food, but it should snap your body out of famine mode. Again, this is all theoretical and your mileage may vary, but it seems to work...especially on a carb-restricted diet.

While I am not a fan of cheat days, I think for many (myself included) this has some effectiveness. I'll jump up a lb or 3 when I do this, till the sodium works its way out, then next thing you know my body is all confused and I "recover" from the weight spike and start seeing weight loss again a few days later.

Eating more is a chronic issue for me. Not because I don't want to eat more, but because for me to eat what I should be I need a conveyor belt of chicken breasts, veggies, etc.,...or something. Trying to eat well + get what you need for hard workouts, on a cramped daily schedule, is harder than the workouts themselves.

Speaking to my original desire to hit some magic weight number, and my more recent desire just to drop a chunk of weight but concentrate on whipping the ole bod into shape first and foremost: It's really not all about the number on the scale. I really try to think more about how I feel, how my body is creeping toward a toned state, etc., rather than hitting some absolute scale number. I set a specific goal back in January, and now I am not sure I will hit it, but also maybe not sure I care (that is, if my muscle gains continue!). I want to get "in the neighborhood" of my original goal, for sure. But being more fitness-minded than scale-minded, plus the fact that I have picked up a lot of info since I started that has caused me to realize I will need to reevaluate my weight-loss goals as I get closer to the original Holy Grail weight, has softened the blows to my motivation when these walls crop up. I am no longer going to consider myself a failure if by X date I am not Y lbs, as long as I am working hard and making progress somewhere, be it weight, endurance, strength, body fat %, whatever. If I "give up" and go back to being a sedentary type (with no valid reason), that's a true failure.

Hitting the wall

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