Well, Hello there, Plateau...

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Pyr0catalyst
Pyr0catalyst Posts: 22 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
In the last nine months, I have lost 29 pounds...

During those nine months, I struggled; it was really tough. And I am still faced with challenges, even now.

Lately, there's just been so many celebrations at work. So much food in so many days!
A little bit of this, a little bit of that won't hurt, right?

Wrong.
If you've got a good food and exercise routine going, please try to avoid indulging. Even a little bit or something sweet/starchy/salty can throw things off and the longer you take in getting back on track, the longer it will take you to get to your goal.

So, here I am... It's been almost two weeks of plateau.
I started working out again today and kept my calorie intake within appropriate range.

Let's see how long this lasts - Pessimistic Me
You're about 6 lbs away from your weight goal - Optimistic Me

Maybe one or more of you can relate to this post. :p

Replies

  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    I eat sweet/starchy/salty things every day, and I lost 79lb/36kg in the past year.

    I just stuck to my calorie limit, and ate back most of my exercise calories.

    I had alcohol and chocolate basically every day, in moderation. If you deprive yourself, you'll just crash and burn.

    Moderation is the way to go. Best wishes.
  • Pyr0catalyst
    Pyr0catalyst Posts: 22 Member
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    Yeah... Unfortunately, that doesn't always work for us all. That's actually what killed my routine, lol.
    Thanks for the input though.
  • Pyr0catalyst
    Pyr0catalyst Posts: 22 Member
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    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    Yes, sneaky nibbling can add up pretty fast. If you want to eat something sweet/salty/starchy, or anything for that matter, it needs to be logged. I learned that the hard way. A few walnuts here, a couple of almonds there, and there is only a little bit left of that cheese so I better eat it to throw away the empty package. A little bit extra won't hurt right? Well, wrong! Very very wrong. One day I decided to start logging my random nibblings and I was looking at 300-600 calories of extra food that was not being accounted for.

    Have your sweet/salty/starchy, just make sure you log every bite of it.

    I totally get it... The thing is, I never went over my calorie intake... I just plateaued from everything and posted this in efforts to reach out to people who are going through or have gone through the same thing.
    I know about not exceeding daily calorie intakes and that weight loss depends mostly on consumption.

    I Didn't lose or gain weight on the last two weeks of my burnt out phase or from the last time I did my last weigh-in.

    I just got burnt out. That's all.
    Thank you for the feedback.
    :)
  • Pyr0catalyst
    Pyr0catalyst Posts: 22 Member
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    Yes, I just realized that. Should've been under a different category.

    And since I've plateaued, having maintained this weight since has been a good sign for me.

    Also, I thought plateaus are different for every person?
  • justrollme
    justrollme Posts: 802 Member
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    Two weeks can feel like a long time for things not to progress, but really, it is not a long enough time at all. Normal fluctuations due to water/hormones, etc. can often make things seem like they're at a stand-still, when they are not. The above advice to make sure you're still logging everything accurately is what I'd advise, too. That, along with an annoying amount of patience. Staying the course will get you there, you're just on a stretch of road that feels arduous. ♥
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    Pyr0catalyst wrote: »
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    Yes, sneaky nibbling can add up pretty fast. If you want to eat something sweet/salty/starchy, or anything for that matter, it needs to be logged. I learned that the hard way. A few walnuts here, a couple of almonds there, and there is only a little bit left of that cheese so I better eat it to throw away the empty package. A little bit extra won't hurt right? Well, wrong! Very very wrong. One day I decided to start logging my random nibblings and I was looking at 300-600 calories of extra food that was not being accounted for.

    Have your sweet/salty/starchy, just make sure you log every bite of it.

    I totally get it... The thing is, I never went over my calorie intake... I just plateaued from everything and posted this in efforts to reach out to people who are going through or have gone through the same thing.
    I know about not exceeding daily calorie intakes and that weight loss depends mostly on consumption.

    I Didn't lose or gain weight on the last two weeks of my burnt out phase or from the last time I did my last weigh-in.

    I just got burnt out. That's all.
    Thank you for the feedback.
    :)

    Oh I must have misunderstood you. This is not a real plateau if you really did account for the calories. There are hormones, and there is also the fact that sweet and starchy foods top up your glycogen (and the water that comes with it) and salty foods are very well known for causing water retention. If you take a few days off of sweet, salty and starchy foods you will notice a very quick drop in your weight proving that you really did lose, but it was masked by water. Alternatively, you can just keep doing what you are doing and trusting the process. You are guaranteed to lose weight if you are counting accurately and are at a reasonable deficit.
  • Pyr0catalyst
    Pyr0catalyst Posts: 22 Member
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    justrollme wrote: »
    Two weeks can feel like a long time for things not to progress, but really, it is not a long enough time at all. Normal fluctuations due to water/hormones, etc. can often make things seem like they're at a stand-still, when they are not. The above advice to make sure you're still logging everything accurately is what I'd advise, too. That, along with an annoying amount of patience. Staying the course will get you there, you're just on a stretch of road that feels arduous. ♥

  • Pyr0catalyst
    Pyr0catalyst Posts: 22 Member
    edited May 2016
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    justrollme wrote: »
    Two weeks can feel like a long time for things not to progress, but really, it is not a long enough time at all. Normal fluctuations due to water/hormones, etc. can often make things seem like they're at a stand-still, when they are not. The above advice to make sure you're still logging everything accurately is what I'd advise, too. That, along with an annoying amount of patience. Staying the course will get you there, you're just on a stretch of road that feels arduous. ♥

    You get it! Thank you!
    :)
  • Pyr0catalyst
    Pyr0catalyst Posts: 22 Member
    edited May 2016
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    Pyr0catalyst wrote: »
    justrollme wrote: »
    Two weeks can feel like a long time for things not to progress, but really, it is not a long enough time at all. Normal fluctuations due to water/hormones, etc. can often make things seem like they're at a stand-still, when they are not. The above advice to make sure you're still logging everything accurately is what I'd advise, too. That, along with an annoying amount of patience. Staying the course will get you there, you're just on a stretch of road that feels arduous. ♥

    You get it!

    This app seems buggy sometimes.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    2 weeks is not a plateau.....
  • jardincita
    jardincita Posts: 2 Member
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    I find that every few weeks I plateau for a couple weeks and then immediately drop 2-3 pounds. It freaked me out at first but now I have learned to expect it and know that as long as I am staying on track, the weight will come off. When I look at the past 5 months as a whole I have continued consistently losing a pound a week, even though it's often 3 pounds every three weeks, if that makes sense. Head up high!
  • Pyr0catalyst
    Pyr0catalyst Posts: 22 Member
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    jardincita wrote: »
    I find that every few weeks I plateau for a couple weeks and then immediately drop 2-3 pounds. It freaked me out at first but now I have learned to expect it and know that as long as I am staying on track, the weight will come off. When I look at the past 5 months as a whole I have continued consistently losing a pound a week, even though it's often 3 pounds every three weeks, if that makes sense. Head up high!

    Thank you! That's exactly what happened to me! Really appreciate the kind and encouraging words.

    Very helpful <3
  • girlgroves
    girlgroves Posts: 235 Member
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    Tell Optimistic You that they're in charge, and don't let Pessimistic You win over!

    You need to keep in mind two important things:

    1) you've indulged a bit lately... but you haven't gained any weight - which has got to be a good thing :)
    2) you've done so well so far, why wouldn't it continue to work if you carry on doing what you've been doing over the last 9 months?!

    I'm very close to my ultimate goal weight as well, and I'm sort of in the same situation. I can tell Pessimistic Me is gaining ground - I'm getting tired - tired of constantly counting, constantly being wary, seemingly constantly waiting for it to work... but it does work. And you know it works. Even if it happens slowly, it happens. The worst thing we could do is feel like we've reached an impossible plateau, get pessimistic and give up completely. Keep going - we can do it! (that's optimistic Me telling pessimistic Me as well as You!)

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