What now?

ARosmini
ARosmini Posts: 1 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
A little over a month ago I weighed ~206 lbs, the heaviest I've ever been in my life. I have never been athletic, and I have a good deal of stomach and hip fat. I started biking 30-45 minutes a day in a hilly part of my neighborhood (lots of high-intensity uphill biking), working out (2-3 times a week bench-press and bicep curls), light core/abdominal work. I started dieting – healthy, less and balanced. For the past 2+ weeks I have been down to 192 lbs, plateaued. I'm thrilled of course to have lost ~15 lbs, but it's not enough, and I seem to have stopped making progress in terms of losing fat. The only change I have made within the past 2 weeks is to have varied my exercise more: not doing the same thing every day but maybe biking for 2 days in a row and then strength-training for 2 days in a row, etc.

Any idea what I can do to continue losing? My rule of thumb has been to challenge myself daily, but in a balanced and sustainable fashion.

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Keep going. Two weeks is not a plateau, just a stall, and if you’re increasing your exercise you’re likely retaining water from that. Give it another 1-2 weeks and if you haven’t started losing again then you’ll want to take a look at your food diary to see what you can tighten up.
  • PixelPuff
    PixelPuff Posts: 902 Member
    edited October 2017
    Are you actually calculating how many calories you are intaking, as well? I recommend a digital scale. They can sneak up on you when something seems healthy (I love me some roasted peanuts /sob).

    PS: The beginning is always the quickest loss due to some water weight shedding. I agree with malibu, give it a bit more time for actually worrying on a plateau. I started at ~200lbs, myself.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,488 Member
    Welcome to MFP.
    I see you have just joined.
    Tracking your calorie intake by using a food scale and logging your food will help keep you in a calorie deficit.

    Read the posts in the link below. They should help get you started.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-diet-and-weight-loss-help-must-reads#latest

    Cheers, h.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    If anything, you're losing too fast (even with the initial water weight loss 15 lbs in 1 month is a lot). Be patient. Sometimes weight stalls and then continues after a few weeks. If after that you continue losing too fast you may want to consider increasing your calorie intake.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    I wouldn't call it a plateau at this point. People often begin losing weight after seeing a number on the scale that is higher than they've ever seen, but that number often includes some extra water weight that goes away quickly. After things start to settle down weight may stay the same while fat loss continues.
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