How do you know if you have plateaued?

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  • FitForL1fe
    FitForL1fe Posts: 1,872 Member
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    hamm10.jpg
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    jezahb wrote: »
    I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis (essentially autoimmune where your body attacks your thyroid) and had my last tests in April. At the point they were ok, but the issue with Hashi's is it does tend to fluctuate greatly since it depends on how badly it is being attacked at the moment.

    I have Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid disease), and I lost more slowly than most MFPers—so be patient! But I did it just like everybody else—by learning to log everything I eat & drink accurately & honestly. I followed the advice in the Sexypants post: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    A healthy, sustainable loss is .5 lb. per week for every 25 lbs. you're overweight, but weight loss is not linear. Some weeks you do everything right but maintain—or even gain. Others you lose a whole lot in a "whoosh." Take measurements and progress photos, too. And have other metrics—like strength or endurance.
  • lazydaisy88
    lazydaisy88 Posts: 32 Member
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    victoria_1024 wrote: »
    I recently went about 2 weeks without losing any weight after very steadily losing 1-2 pounds every week for a few months. I knew I was doing everything right and just kept at it. Then I suddenly dropped 3 pounds. That seems to be happening for me more, where I hover around the same weight for a while and then drop weight suddenly overnight.

    ^^ this is me all the time! I don't move on the scale for several weeks, then, BAM! Down a couple. A few days later a couple more. Then the stall happens again. Ugh! The stalled weeks can make it difficult to stay positive, OP. Hang in there a bit longer.
  • jezahb
    jezahb Posts: 73 Member
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    It has been 3 weeks now, still no loss except my weight hasn't gone above 235 now for a few days. 235.6 yesterday and 235.2 today, so maybe it is going the right direction? Still 3 lbs over my weight at the start of June. Trendweight is saying based on my weight graph so far I am eating 500 calories a day OVER maintenance and frankly that is impossible. That would be 2300 calories which I have a hard time even hitting on those days (rare now) that I get angry and say "screw it" and eat all the things I denied myself in massive quantities (like half a box of oreos or half a pint of Ben and Jerry's...ugh). Last cheat day when I ate a TON of crap I only hit 2,100 calories and felt really sick. My body cannot handle that amount of calories without me physically feeling it. So since I am not feeling it and logging myself at around 1400 calories a day or less I don't know how it would be possible to mis-log the 3-4 meals I have a day by nearly 1000 calories. So frustrated.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    edited June 2015
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    jezahb wrote: »
    It has been 3 weeks now, still no loss. Still 3 lbs over my weight at the start of June. Trendweight is saying I am eating 500 calories a day OVER maintenance.

    My body cannot handle that amount of calories without me physically feeling it. So since I am not feeling it and logging myself at around 1400 calories a day or less I don't know how it would be possible to mis-log the 3-4 meals I have a day by nearly 1000 calories.

    Trendweight has been 100% accurate for me—I lost the weight & have maintained for a year by logging everything I eat & drink accurately & honestly and using a Fitbit to calculate my TDEE.

    If you're not losing and Trendweight is saying you're eating at a surplus, your "gut feeling" is probably wrong. Open your diary for personal advice, but it sounds like you're underestimating your food.

    Do you weigh everything—even packaged food? Do you choose verified entries whenever available, then USDA values? Do you use the recipe builder whenever you cook?

    Logging is simple, but it ain't easy. Logging works.
  • jezahb
    jezahb Posts: 73 Member
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    I log my fitbit info manually as I don't have a fitbit, so I am just inputting my weight from my weigh ins each morning. No exercise right now, besides some strength training yesterday which I am crazy sore from. So my maintenance is based off of what MFP, and a bunch of other sites say my BMR is (not my TDEE as I have my settings set as sedentary so anything I burn with daily activity which can be a lot since my job is standing/walking for 5 hours a day on weekends isn't counted). My BMR is around 1800 on every site, minus or plus a couple hundred calories. No way can my logging be THAT off, I generally eat the same things every day (one or 2 PB+J sandwiches and a protein shake, maybe a few pepperocinis as a snack or feta) so I am not even consuming enough different items to make up an extra 1000 calories A DAY (not a week, A DAY). I don't weigh my food every time I eat, I generally weight out how much a TBSP, 1/4 cup etc of whatever brand of food I am eating is and always use the same measuring spoon/cup when I make it. Less time consuming.
  • jezahb
    jezahb Posts: 73 Member
    edited June 2015
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    I also logged before I started dieting, I logged how much I normally at each day for a week just eating 100% normally for myself and wasn't even hitting 2300 calories THEN.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    jezahb wrote: »
    I don't weigh my food every time I eat, I generally weight out how much a TBSP, 1/4 cup etc of whatever brand of food I am eating is and always use the same measuring spoon/cup when I make it. Less time consuming.

    What you're doing right now is not working. Weigh everything you eat (even packaged foods), and you'll break through your plateau.

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