This is what a plateau looks like - how did you cope with yours?

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  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    Lets make things clear. There is no such thing as a weight loss plateau. There is no wall or biological force holding up your weight loss that you just have to put up with until it goes away

    It is a make believe term made up by people who are simply eating at a maintenance level and not at a calorie deficit, contrary to their beliefs...
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    edited October 2014
    A plateau is 6 weeks or more of no weight loss, and it means you're eating at maintenance. Unless you have some medical issues, or medicines that can interfere with weight loss (or for women, irregular cycles).

    Anything shorter than that, and you'll probably see the scale go down soon.

    /thread
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
    fluffyasacat wrote: »
    Cool, here's mine. The plateau is the last bit. I like to throw a trend line in there.

    r9uwxh5fzmxu.png

    If I'm reading the OP's progress chart correctly it shows that OP is BELOW 90 lbs?!! :s

    Or perhaps I am just reading that wrong?

    If OP is truly topping out in the high 80s and OP is not below 4'10" I think there's more of an urgent concern than plateau because I'm 4'10" at 94 lbs petite frame - which is right on par for me.

  • jbse26
    jbse26 Posts: 39 Member
    Surely she is talking kilos? We#re not all American you know :)
  • RaspberryTickleChicken
    RaspberryTickleChicken Posts: 629 Member
    jbse26 wrote: »
    Surely she is talking kilos? We#re not all American you know :)

    WHEW - I surely hope its kilos not pounds! LOL

  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
    fluffyasacat wrote: »
    jgnatca wrote: »
    This is what a year's weight loss looks like.
    r9ovy4rskcyy.jpg

    The long view means don't pay attention to the freaking scale! NOW it looks like a long and steady downward trend; very encouraging.

    If someone asks how much I have lost, I round it up to the nearest five and say "give or take".

    Cool, here's mine. The plateau is the last bit. I like to throw a trend line in there.

    r9uwxh5fzmxu.png

    I'm not seeing a plateau on this graph. Two weeks does not a plateau make. Two weeks isn't long enough to tell if its water weight vs. too many calories.

    Keep logging consistently (although I agree with Stef that you should look at your accuracy) and if you're in a deficit it will start moving again. You're probably just seeing a water weight fluctuation.
  • girlonfire2913
    girlonfire2913 Posts: 17
    i hit one for 3 months! i keep finding excuses and realize i got a little to cocky after losing 58 lbs and stopped weighing and measuring and needing to change up my work outs..
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    fluffyasacat wrote: »
    Falcon wrote: »
    I tend to hit plateu every ten pounds. Seems the body has trouble dropping below the next number. Sometimes it takes alittle convincing your body to drop the weight. I tend to have a high calorie day when I hit a platue then I drop like a rock the following week.

    I've got to keep an eye on the numbers to see if this bears out for me too. I've been waiting to hit 86 for weeks... every time I get close I bounce back up.

    Hopefully not 86 pounds?
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    LOL, see her profile, it's kilograms.

    Speaking of, fluffy... it looks like you've had some non-scale victories recently so I'd ignore the scale for now. :)
  • kristen178
    kristen178 Posts: 1
    jgnatca, thank you for posting your chart for the past year... I am almost six months into this weight loss adventure and for the first time not encouraged by my results. But, when I took a good look at your chart for the year, I can see the overall picture a little better. This does encourage me because I see that while I haven't lost any weight these last three weeks and even gained one pound (wth?!?) that as I continue, the weight will start to drop off again and by the end of this year of dieting, my goals will be that much closer to being met.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    You are welcome, kristen. Yup, the long view is worth it. Fluffyasacat, I love your trend line.
  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
    Mine was about 8 months and it finally cracked because I realized that although I THOUGHT i was doing everything I could without progress, that wasn't the truth. I was completely out of balance, not following any kind of organized program, not aiming correctly and not as honest with myself as I could have been about my food logging - especially calories in beverages.

    Once I realized I needed to eat a bit more and add in strength training, I broke that plateau in half and skidded past my goal weight to an even lower weight.

    I don't think of a couple months or less as a plateau, just a phase where you have adjusted to your new lifestyle and its time to level up because you can handle more now.

    I think that Plateau should be another word for 'take a harder look at your realistic and well-thought out plan'.
  • fluffyasacat
    fluffyasacat Posts: 242 Member
    To previous posters, yes I'm Australian not American, and I'm 87kg, not 87lbs! That's 191.8lbs.
  • annanaidoo
    annanaidoo Posts: 34 Member
    In 6 months I'd lost 20kgs and since my body had been losing it so quickly I hit a plateau at my 7th month and the weight loss slowed but I decided to change up my exercise and did a HIIT workout and then weight started coming off again more slowly but it came off! Just have a look at what needs changing either in your eating or exercise! Good luck with it :). Just keep positive, ignore any negativity and keep working hard at it!
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Someone posted a thread detailing how they lost like 200 pounds. They said they had a plateau of five months. So, take heart! :)

    I tend to lose my weight in bursts. Minor ups and downs for weeks, then a bunch of pounds in quick succession...usually after a period. WHOOSH! Love the whoosh. :)
  • fluffyasacat
    fluffyasacat Posts: 242 Member
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Someone posted a thread detailing how they lost like 200 pounds. They said they had a plateau of five months. So, take heart! :)

    I tend to lose my weight in bursts. Minor ups and downs for weeks, then a bunch of pounds in quick succession...usually after a period. WHOOSH! Love the whoosh. :)

    Would you say you were doing the same thing (diet and exercise wise) during the minor ups and downs as when you have the whooshes? Would you categorise the time you're not losing weight as times when you were slacking off on the logging or not exercising as much?
  • lautour
    lautour Posts: 89 Member
    fluffyasacat wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Someone posted a thread detailing how they lost like 200 pounds. They said they had a plateau of five months. So, take heart! :)

    I tend to lose my weight in bursts. Minor ups and downs for weeks, then a bunch of pounds in quick succession...usually after a period. WHOOSH! Love the whoosh. :)

    Would you say you were doing the same thing (diet and exercise wise) during the minor ups and downs as when you have the whooshes? Would you categorise the time you're not losing weight as times when you were slacking off on the logging or not exercising as much?

    I'm a stairstep loser and I understand your frustration with those suggestions.

    Are you tracking measurements?



  • fluffyasacat
    fluffyasacat Posts: 242 Member
    lautour wrote: »

    I'm a stairstep loser and I understand your frustration with those suggestions.

    Are you tracking measurements?

    No, I haven't been.

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