only in my third week should i plateau already?

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jensothermail
jensothermail Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So frustrated, the last two days I have felt like I hit a wall. My workouts don't feel productive and I gained two pounds! What the heck? Should I really be hitting a plateau this soon into my weight loss? It just makes me feel like all my hard work is for nothing.
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Replies

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    It is not a plateau. It is only one week. Weight loss is not always linear, and the scale may not be dropping due to added exercise, nearing ovulation or your period, and general water retention due to a high sodium day. Make sure you're logging accurately and see what happens next week.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
    edited February 2015
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    Stopping concerning yourself with day to day weigh ins. They are meaningless. A million and one things affect day to day weigh ins (sodium, hydration, food in stomach, timing of last bowel movement, etc). A good technique is to weigh daily at the same time each day and record the result. At the end of the week, average the results. At the end of the month, compare the averages. There should be a downward trend (not necessarily a linear drop). If after 4 weeks or more you are consistently maintaining or gaining, consider reducing calories.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    Most people lose a fair amount of water weight in the first couple of weeks, then either stop losing or even gain a little as their body takes back the extra water they lost but the body actually needs. After a week or two of this, they start losing at a normal rate. Give it 4-6 weeks before you start thinking you are plateauing or stalling or whatever. If you are in a deficit, you are losing fat.

    It always is a good thing to double check your weighing, measuring, and logging for accuracy. If you are good with that, just let your body do what it needs to in order to run optimally.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Weight loss is not linear, especially day to day. You have to consider sodium intake, increase in activity, hormones (especially if you're nearing TOM), and other factors that can mask loss.
  • kxrhsmit
    kxrhsmit Posts: 1
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    I have stayed the same weight fir past 2 weeks. Frustrated bcuz I am not going over calories. What's up?
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited February 2015
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    kxrhsmit wrote: »
    I have stayed the same weight fir past 2 weeks. Frustrated bcuz I am not going over calories. What's up?

    How many weeks ago did you start losing? If it has been anything near 5 or less, look at my answer upthread.

  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    kxrhsmit wrote: »
    I have stayed the same weight fir past 2 weeks. Frustrated bcuz I am not going over calories. What's up?
    2 weeks isn't a ton of time to make any definitive statement about whether you are eating too many calories or not. I'd give it a month. In the meantime it never hurts to examine how accurate you are counting. Are you weighing your food on a scale, using measuring cups/spoons (these are meant for liquid only), or just estimating portion sizes? Do you take regular cheat days/meals? If so how much over on calories are you going?
  • karldomrose
    karldomrose Posts: 10 Member
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    2 weeks is not enough time. Give it another week, or 2. If it was me I would even lock that scale up for the next few weeks. Don't even step on it. Let your body adapt to the new you who is working out. You might be pleased after a few weeks what you find. Weight loss IS NOT linear. you will have gains and losses. The overall trend should be downward. Don't rush it.
  • Fayeworth
    Fayeworth Posts: 60 Member
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    Don't weight yourself daily, it will become an obsession. Weigh yourself on a morning after using the toilet and before eating/drinking anything and stick to that same day and time each week. You will see more weight loss this way and it will make you feel better. A plateu is many weeks of staying at the same weight, not day to day. I have been doing this for 3 years and I'm now in my final 10 pounds. The last 3 weeks has been tough with only losing 0.8 or 1 pound each week but this week I upped my game exercise wise and lost 3.2 on my weigh in today so don't be disheartened, keep it up :)
  • ruggedshutter
    ruggedshutter Posts: 389 Member
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    vismal wrote: »
    Stopping concerning yourself with day to day weigh ins. They are meaningless. A million and one things affect day to day weigh ins (sodium, hydration, food in stomach, timing of last bowel movement, etc). A good technique is to weigh daily at the same time each day and record the result. At the end of the week, average the results. At the end of the month, compare the averages. There should be a downward trend (not necessarily a linear drop). If after 4 weeks or more you are consistently maintaining or gaining, consider reducing calories.

    Thank you, I needed to reevaluate at my past month's stats and realize that I have lost 5 pounds and not to be concerned with the last 2 weeks of little/no loss.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
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    Two days? If this only took two days, or two weeks, everyone would be thin. Just keep doing what you're doing, weigh and measure everything and it will come.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    MrM27 wrote: »
    Patience grasshopper, 2 days is nothing.

    Very true. In my 14 months I have had 2 stalls that lasted 3 weeks each and one stall of 4 weeks. Changed nothing and the losses started up again (90 lb. total so far)

  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
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    Fayeworth wrote: »
    Don't weight yourself daily, it will become an obsession. Weigh yourself on a morning after using the toilet and before eating/drinking anything and stick to that same day and time each week. You will see more weight loss this way and it will make you feel better. A plateu is many weeks of staying at the same weight, not day to day. I have been doing this for 3 years and I'm now in my final 10 pounds. The last 3 weeks has been tough with only losing 0.8 or 1 pound each week but this week I upped my game exercise wise and lost 3.2 on my weigh in today so don't be disheartened, keep it up :)

    Actually, for me it's worked to do the exact opposite. (But with the same end result of giving fewer fs about the numbers on my scale) I weigh myself last thing at night, right before bed, and then in the morning after visiting the bathroom. That alone has shown me overnight losses of up to FOUR POUNDS, clearly all water and digestion related. (Nobody loses a measurable amount of fat in an 8 hour period, LOL!) After a week or so, you get pretty good and determining the midpoint of all those fluctuations, that's what I use for my "official" MFP weigh-in number. But, really, the numbers on the scale are an imperfect indicator. Just keep on keeping on and notice how much better you feel, how your clothes fit, etc.

    You're only 3 weeks in. Patience. Rushing only makes it more likely that you'll gain it all back as soon as you hit your "goal."
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    BFDeal wrote: »
    I'd give it a month.
    This is the most frustrating nonsense advice people give to people who are stalled. I've been stalled for months. All people say is give it time. OK. Like how much time? Forever? "Are you weighing your food." Yes. "Are you sure?" Um, yes. I have a scale. I set things on it. It gives a weight. "Maybe you should eat more for a while. Or less. But not too much less because you don't have to starve yourself and you'll lose muscle. Or maybe your body composition is changing. But you're not gaining muscle because you can't in a deficit. Or it's water. That's been there for months. Yeah" Blah blah blah. No one ever has any real practical advice for people who are stalled. They just throw out feel-good-pseudo advice. "Be patient." Lame. New rule. Stop telling people who have been trying hard for months and even years in some cases to wait longer. Start ponying up with some actual decent practical useful advice.

    Actually for someone who is complaining of a plateau that's less than 6-8 weeks it is the only advice because a stall is a result of weight loss not being linear

    and if you have been 'stalled for months' there is something wrong with your CICO equation, so either you're not logging properly, which is easily done even if you are weighing your food, or you're over-estimating calorie burn or you have an underlying medical issues which is affecting your personal CICO equation

    and anybody advising someone who isn't losing weight for months to eat more is clearly ignoring the laws of physics
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    BFDeal wrote: »
    MrM27 wrote: »
    BFDeal wrote: »
    I'd give it a month.
    This is the most frustrating nonsense advice people give to people who are stalled. I've been stalled for months. All people say is give it time. OK. Like how much time? Forever? "Are you weighing your food." Yes. "Are you sure?" Um, yes. I have a scale. I set things on it. It gives a weight. "Maybe you should eat more for a while. Or less. But not too much less because you don't have to starve yourself and you'll lose muscle. Or maybe your body composition is changing. But you're not gaining muscle because you can't in a deficit. Or it's water. That's been there for months. Yeah" Blah blah blah. No one ever has any real practical advice for people who are stalled. They just throw out feel-good-pseudo advice. "Be patient." Lame. New rule. Stop telling people who have been trying hard for months and even years in some cases to wait longer. Start ponying up with some actual decent practical useful advice.

    Don't project your anger you have towards yourself at other people.

    I'm not angry with myself. I'm angry people's main goto weight loss advice is "be patient." Huh? I don't want to wait to make progress. I'd like to actually make progress. Advice on how to make progress is what people need. Not, "umm, wait a month and evaluate."

    So, you want advice even if it is bad advice? OK: "get off a plateau by doing a juice cleanse for 30 days." How's that?

  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    BFDeal wrote: »
    I'd give it a month.
    This is the most frustrating nonsense advice people give to people who are stalled. I've been stalled for months. All people say is give it time. OK. Like how much time? Forever? "Are you weighing your food." Yes. "Are you sure?" Um, yes. I have a scale. I set things on it. It gives a weight. "Maybe you should eat more for a while. Or less. But not too much less because you don't have to starve yourself and you'll lose muscle. Or maybe your body composition is changing. But you're not gaining muscle because you can't in a deficit. Or it's water. That's been there for months. Yeah" Blah blah blah. No one ever has any real practical advice for people who are stalled. They just throw out feel-good-pseudo advice. "Be patient." Lame. New rule. Stop telling people who have been trying hard for months and even years in some cases to wait longer. Start ponying up with some actual decent practical useful advice.

    Then go see a doctor/nutritionist. Work with someone on a personal level who can have more meaningful interactions. There are zillions of things that can influence weight loss and you expect us to be able to diagnose them all over the internet based on whatever you choose or not choose to tell us???

    I get that you're frustrated, I've seen some of your other posts, but ranting like this isn't going to help anyone, including yourself.

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