Holy weight loss plateau, Batman!

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howkat122
howkat122 Posts: 15 Member
edited March 2017 in Motivation and Support
I've been losing weight very consistently since December, and have lost 39lbs so far. However, I don't know what happened! I've only lost 1lb since March 3rd, whereas I usually lose 2-4lbs per week. I started off at 222 and now weigh 183... I still have lots of actual fat not muscle to lose so I'm super confused since I'm keeping up my regular habits. Anybody have this experience? Or advice?

Replies

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    Have you been reducing your calorie goal as you lose weight (lighter people require less calories)?

    Have you slacked off in your weighing and measuring (genuine question, everyone gets a bit complacent sometimes)?
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Well, it's not a plateau since you're losing. But I echo @Alatariel75's questions. Also, 2-4 pounds a week is quite aggressive, so you should be expecting it to slow down.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,679 Member
    edited March 2017
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    You're under 200lbs now, so losing 2-4lbs a week is aggressive. Also, if you've had the same diet and routine for a good period of time, your body is adapting to the calories available. Also known as adaptive thermogenisis. Also agree that this isn't a plateau but a slight stall. One way to alter this is to INCREASE the intensity of whatever physical activity you do each day.


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  • bee_bee8
    bee_bee8 Posts: 96 Member
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    I know how you feel. I was doing great but for the last couple weeks, I've just been fluctuating up and down a couple pounds (even though I'm still staying within my calorie limits and exercising regularly). It's definitely frustrating.

    The question about re-evaluating your calorie needs is a good one; you'll want to adjust that as you continue to shed pounds. Also, you should expect to lose weight at a slower rate as you start to get thinner. Like someone else said, 2-4 lbs a week is pretty significant. Consider the foods you're eating... Are they very high in sodium, for example? Water retention can make a huge difference in the number on the scale. Make sure you're staying hydrated.

    Losing 1 lb in 3 weeks does seem pretty minimal if you hadn't changed anything about your routine, but we all hit some plateaus now and then. There have been weeks where I didn't lose a pound, and others where I'd lose 3-4. Don't get discouraged and keep going, you'll get there!
  • Dynamis600
    Dynamis600 Posts: 743 Member
    edited March 2017
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    There may be a number of reasons why your weight loss has tapered. Your muscle mass gained may be equaling your fat loss. Your body may be holding on to fat due to toxins, the body stores toxins in fat and your detoxification pathways may have got overwhelmed so your body protect you by keeping it locked up in fat. You may need to optimize these pathways. Here is a good article on it. http://www.carahealth.com/health-conditions-a-to-z/digestive-system/detox/365-phase-1-and-2-liver-detoxification-pathways60.html . Otherwise up your cruciferous vegetables and you might want to look at vitamin C and Milk thistle to support your detoxification pathways. Also sulphur vegetables such as onions and garlic help with liver detox too.

    Also make sure you are drinking your required water, taking cranberry helps the kidneys to detoxify and taking omega 3 fats ( fish oil) help your body to heal from oxidative damage. When you burn fat you release omega 6 oils which can be inflammatory to the body which will make you hold onto fluid, so omega 3's help to heal it.

    You may need to look at your calorie deficit if it has been to high you may have dropped your metabolism fast which would cause you to stop losing. If the plateau lasts for more than 6 weeks without losing you may need to shake things up a little by doing maintenance cals for a couple of weeks for your metabolism to recover and then go into calorie deficit of 10%-20% for weight loss. HTH.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    mummoid wrote: »
    There may be a number of reasons why your weight loss has tapered. Your muscle mass gained may be equaling your fat loss. Your body may be holding on to fat due to toxins, the body stores toxins in fat and your detoxification pathways may have got overwhelmed so your body protect you by keeping it locked up in fat. You may need to optimize these pathways. Here is a good article on it. http://www.carahealth.com/health-conditions-a-to-z/digestive-system/detox/365-phase-1-and-2-liver-detoxification-pathways60.html . Otherwise up your cruciferous vegetables and you might want to look at vitamin C and Milk thistle to support your detoxification pathways. Also sulphur vegetables such as onions and garlic help with liver detox too.

    Also make sure you are drinking your required water, taking cranberry helps the kidneys to detoxify and taking omega 3 fats ( fish oil) help your body to heal from oxidative damage. When you burn fat you release omega 6 oils which can be inflammatory to the body which will make you hold onto fluid, so omega 3's help to heal it.

    You may need to look at your calorie deficit if it has been to high you may have dropped your metabolism fast which would cause you to stop losing. If the plateau lasts for more than 6 weeks without losing you may need to shake things up a little by doing maintenance cals for a couple of weeks for your metabolism to recover and then go into calorie deficit of 10%-20% for weight loss. HTH.

    Wow... just.... wow.

    That's a whole lot of no.
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
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    mummoid wrote: »
    There may be a number of reasons why your weight loss has tapered. Your muscle mass gained may be equaling your fat loss. Your body may be holding on to fat due to toxins, the body stores toxins in fat and your detoxification pathways may have got overwhelmed so your body protect you by keeping it locked up in fat. You may need to optimize these pathways. Here is a good article on it. http://www.carahealth.com/health-conditions-a-to-z/digestive-system/detox/365-phase-1-and-2-liver-detoxification-pathways60.html . Otherwise up your cruciferous vegetables and you might want to look at vitamin C and Milk thistle to support your detoxification pathways. Also sulphur vegetables such as onions and garlic help with liver detox too.

    Also make sure you are drinking your required water, taking cranberry helps the kidneys to detoxify and taking omega 3 fats ( fish oil) help your body to heal from oxidative damage. When you burn fat you release omega 6 oils which can be inflammatory to the body which will make you hold onto fluid, so omega 3's help to heal it.

    You may need to look at your calorie deficit if it has been to high you may have dropped your metabolism fast which would cause you to stop losing. If the plateau lasts for more than 6 weeks without losing you may need to shake things up a little by doing maintenance cals for a couple of weeks for your metabolism to recover and then go into calorie deficit of 10%-20% for weight loss. HTH.

    Yeah, no.

    OP, please ignore all of that^^.
  • ccsernica
    ccsernica Posts: 1,040 Member
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    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Have you been reducing your calorie goal as you lose weight (lighter people require less calories)?

    Yes, this. If you update your weight via the app it reduces your calories goal automatically, but if you update it via the website - unless they've changed this since last I looked - it doesn't. You'll need to go to Settings->Update diet/fitness profile. It should already be filled in with your current weight in the appropriate spot, but double-check it to make sure and just click the Update Profile button. MFP will adjust your daily calorie goals, calories burned during cardio, etc.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    mummoid wrote: »
    There may be a number of reasons why your weight loss has tapered. Your muscle mass gained may be equaling your fat loss. Your body may be holding on to fat due to toxins, the body stores toxins in fat and your detoxification pathways may have got overwhelmed so your body protect you by keeping it locked up in fat. You may need to optimize these pathways. Here is a good article on it. http://www.carahealth.com/health-conditions-a-to-z/digestive-system/detox/365-phase-1-and-2-liver-detoxification-pathways60.html . Otherwise up your cruciferous vegetables and you might want to look at vitamin C and Milk thistle to support your detoxification pathways. Also sulphur vegetables such as onions and garlic help with liver detox too.

    Also make sure you are drinking your required water, taking cranberry helps the kidneys to detoxify and taking omega 3 fats ( fish oil) help your body to heal from oxidative damage. When you burn fat you release omega 6 oils which can be inflammatory to the body which will make you hold onto fluid, so omega 3's help to heal it.

    You may need to look at your calorie deficit if it has been to high you may have dropped your metabolism fast which would cause you to stop losing. If the plateau lasts for more than 6 weeks without losing you may need to shake things up a little by doing maintenance cals for a couple of weeks for your metabolism to recover and then go into calorie deficit of 10%-20% for weight loss. HTH.

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  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    mummoid wrote: »
    There may be a number of reasons why your weight loss has tapered. Your muscle mass gained may be equaling your fat loss. Your body may be holding on to fat due to toxins, the body stores toxins in fat and your detoxification pathways may have got overwhelmed so your body protect you by keeping it locked up in fat. You may need to optimize these pathways. Here is a good article on it. http://www.carahealth.com/health-conditions-a-to-z/digestive-system/detox/365-phase-1-and-2-liver-detoxification-pathways60.html . Otherwise up your cruciferous vegetables and you might want to look at vitamin C and Milk thistle to support your detoxification pathways. Also sulphur vegetables such as onions and garlic help with liver detox too.

    Also make sure you are drinking your required water, taking cranberry helps the kidneys to detoxify and taking omega 3 fats ( fish oil) help your body to heal from oxidative damage. When you burn fat you release omega 6 oils which can be inflammatory to the body which will make you hold onto fluid, so omega 3's help to heal it.

    You may need to look at your calorie deficit if it has been to high you may have dropped your metabolism fast which would cause you to stop losing. If the plateau lasts for more than 6 weeks without losing you may need to shake things up a little by doing maintenance cals for a couple of weeks for your metabolism to recover and then go into calorie deficit of 10%-20% for weight loss. HTH.

    Absolutely not.

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