What do you do if you plateau?

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m_keezy35
m_keezy35 Posts: 19 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 5"5, curently at 147lbs. I've lost 8LBS since i started using MFP last month and i have 12 lbs to go. I've been pretty on point with counting and staying within my calorie intake. I've been stuck on 147 that past 2 weeks? What do you guys do if you plateau?

Replies

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    What to do? Adjust your expectations. You're not going to lose every week. Research water weight. Continue eating at a deficit and you will lose weight over time. Over time is the key point. Beyond that, its about accuracy & honesty & patience.
  • EddieHaskell97
    EddieHaskell97 Posts: 2,227 Member
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    Stick with the plan and wait it out. Physics always wins.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    If I'm at a plateau, which is 4-6 weeks minimum, then I tighten up my logging. Two weeks without a loss is just a normal stall, but it would help to make sure you are logging everything with as close to 100% accuracy as possible.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    edited March 2016
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    No weight loss for 3 weigh-ins --> I drop calories by 50-100.
  • selina884
    selina884 Posts: 826 Member
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    several methods

    Bump up calories to maintenance for a few weeks
    increase activity - pick up a new hobby
    Reduce type of cardio (eg, start doing HIIT)
    change strength training programme
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    This is my really generic plateau advice:

    1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.

    2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.

    3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.

    4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.

    5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.

    6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.

    7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.

    8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.

    9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.
  • LivLovLrn
    LivLovLrn Posts: 577 Member
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    Your first 8 pounds in a month were just changing diet and possibly water weight. Now is when you really start to lose the weight; stick with it and be patient. You want this to be permanent, right? If so then don't worry if it doesn't come off right away, eat healthy, live healthy and you will be right where you want to be weight wise in time
  • m_keezy35
    m_keezy35 Posts: 19 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Thank everyone ! just need some motivation through this patch i'm going thru, so i can keep at it and reading all this really helps ! :)
  • Kathleen_Presnell
    Kathleen_Presnell Posts: 38 Member
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    I too have been on a plateau - but my body is getting smaller. I encourage you to take measurements. I have done that and have found that inches are melting away. I have to say that I am building muscles and the fat is slowly leaving me. Just because the scale is not going down don't worry. At least it isn't going up! I have noticed from my hubby and friends that they see the weight loss. I get discouraged but when I tried on other clothes I see that I have been losing it! Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!
  • lml852014
    lml852014 Posts: 243 Member
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    I felt like I was at a plateau for twoish weeks too. Weighed in yesterday morning after not weighing in since the 19th of feb and I was down two lbs! So I've realized to just keep going at it

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