Plateau! What now??

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Debbie12781
Debbie12781 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What do you do when you hit a plateau?? I'm really frustrated!!

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  • ImitatetheSun
    ImitatetheSun Posts: 44 Member
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    While I don't know how to beat a plateau, I do know that it's worth holding out and waiting for it to pass. As frustrating as one is when you're in it - it feels like nothing once it's behind you. And try to realize - it's better to be plateauing at your current weight, no matter what it is, than ballooning back up to your former peak weight!!
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Tighten up your logging. Generally a plateau is 4-6 weeks with no movement, and the reason is usually that you're eating more than you think. Make sure you're eating exactly what you say you are. Since you only have one day logged, it's hard to give more specific advice besides using a food scale and not choosing generic entries, but these threads will help.

    community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide
    community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1296011/calorie-counting-101
    community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
  • Arliah
    Arliah Posts: 266 Member
    edited May 2015
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    How long have you been stalling? If it's less than 4 weeks, it's not really a plateau anyway. Weight loss is not linear, and sometimes it stalls for a few weeks and then, all the sudden, the weight just drops off.
    What helped me break through my one real plateau was to adjust my macros and change my exercise routine. That may or may not work for you though, it's different for everybody, really. But maybe worth a try :) Also, your profile says you've already lost 6 lbs and only have 8 lbs to go. So your weight loss will be slow, no matter what. Can't expect to drop 1 lbs a week. 0.5 lbs is more like it, or even less, with just 8 lbs to go.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    How long has it been since you lost weight? Longer than 4 weeks? if no you are not in a plateau.

    If yes then it's because you are eating at maintenance due to inaccurate logging. Basically you are eating more than you think.

    Looking at your diary you have various inaccuracies such as

    not weighing rice
    using entries that are suspect (Homemade X) unless you made it...don't use those (Homemade Chicken breast 120grams =150 calories but no protein??????) and 120 grams of chicken has over 200 calories not 150)
    Generic X...typically not great entries to use
    Lack of logging for days unless you just started but nothing logged today

  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Weigh ALL your solid food
    Looking at your diary i see cup entrees for example rice....very calorie dense
    You could be way off and eat more calories than you think.

    And use the right entrees like indeed the chicken, that is not good. Check the usda website also when you doubt.

    See this short video about weighing or using cups and how much difference it can make. Hundreds of calories pretty fast

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
  • mathjulz
    mathjulz Posts: 5,514 Member
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    Buckle down on your logging. Make sure you are weighing everything. It's likely you're eating more than you think, and you're to a point where that is the difference between maintaining and continuing to lose. Also be careful with exercise calories, it's easy to overestimate those, and eating all of them back may remove your deficit.

    I notice you haven't logged much this week ... are you just taking a break because of frustration? (it's okay to do that for a bit, but not very long) If you really aren't logging, then that's where to start.

    I also notice a 1200 calorie goal. Combined with how little you have to lose (8 pounds to go I think your profile said), I'm guessing (read: GUESSING, don't take offense) that it's only been a short time since you stopped losing weight. A week or two without seeing a loss isn't really a plateau. Weight loss isn't linear, and especially at the last few pounds it will fluctuate. Don't give up, keep logging accurately, and next week may bring things back into line.
  • jnv7594
    jnv7594 Posts: 983 Member
    edited May 2015
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    I've had two plateaus in the past year. The above advice about tightening up your logging is good. I would start there first. But I know what helped me both times is taking a bit of a break and going into maintenance for a week. The first time I hit a plateau, I went into maintenance out of frustration, lol. I just got fed up and wanted to be able to eat more for a while and take a bit of time off. When I dropped my calories back down the next week, I started losing again. So when I hit a plateau again months later, I did the same thing. I went into maintenance for a week. Then when I started eating at a deficit again, I started losing again. I'm not sure why it helped me, but it did. Maybe it was a fluke. I don't know, but it's worth a try. At the very least, you won't lose anything for the week you're in maintenance, which won't be much of a switch if you are in a plateau anyway.

    Also, as others have said, a true plateau is when weigh loss has stalled for about 6 weeks. If it's only been a week or two, you're not really in a plateau. Weight loss isn't linear, so if that's the case keep doing what you're doing for a while and see what happens.
  • blue_eyes1978
    blue_eyes1978 Posts: 127 Member
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    Great stuff I am so happy to see all this helpful info! I have found myself in this exact predicament. Time to buckle down. I would love to know where I can go to see sample food diaries I would love great eating ideas that are good to keep me in check. Some news letters I get have a lot of great plan I just don't really see myself eating a lot of the dishes and the expense of putting some of them together really don't fit in my food budget.
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
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    blue_eyes1978 wrote: »
    Great stuff I am so happy to see all this helpful info! I have found myself in this exact predicament. Time to buckle down. I would love to know where I can go to see sample food diaries I would love great eating ideas that are good to keep me in check. Some news letters I get have a lot of great plan I just don't really see myself eating a lot of the dishes and the expense of putting some of them together really don't fit in my food budget.

    you can add me if you want i log and pre-plan every day and make picture of what i eat/menus on my food page.

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