Plateau so early?

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brittanylynne1209
brittanylynne1209 Posts: 56
in Health and Weight Loss
I feel like I'm hitting a plateau. I'm losing inches, getting toned, but the scale isn't moving. I'm stuck at 157 (weigh in first thing in the morning). I'm eating 1200 calories a day, maybe a little more depending on how hard I workout. I started 14 days ago.. Shouldn't I lose more in the beginning? I started at 164.. And haven't lost a pound in a week.. What gives if anything?

Replies

  • buttahbaby
    buttahbaby Posts: 53 Member
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    I would like to get some answers to.
  • mohawk1971
    mohawk1971 Posts: 40 Member
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    I hit my plateau at the 7 pounds lost mark as well. Was stuck there for close to a month. I changed up the intensity of my exercise, cut out all diet sodas (just drink water) and went to eating salads more often (about one a day).
  • kellyscomeback
    kellyscomeback Posts: 1,369 Member
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    Eat back majority of your exercise calories, give your body more fuel to maintain its self and burn fat.
  • phnx72
    phnx72 Posts: 47 Member
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    You've lost seven pounds in two weeks lol That's a lot!
  • rainunrefined
    rainunrefined Posts: 850 Member
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    It's typical to lose a lot 5+ lbs the first week or so and then slow for a couple weeks. Your body is readjusting. Consistency is the key. Keep it up and it'll start to move again. But don't get discouraged if you don't see big numbers, slow and steady wins the race.
  • mkingraham
    mkingraham Posts: 445 Member
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    Its not a plateau until you haven't lost any weight for at least 4 weeks. Just one week of no weight loss is fine.
  • sasysuzy
    sasysuzy Posts: 42
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    You may not be eating enough. If this is the case your body will think you are starving it and go into starvation mode.

    I did the same thing, and after talking to my dietician, she recommended that I increase my calories and when I did, the scale started to move in the right direction again.

    Hope this helps and good luck with your progress.
  • Xaspar
    Xaspar Posts: 726 Member
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    Not enough information ... and honestly 7 pounds in one week is fantastic ... don't lose heart just yet, the first major loss may have been water-related and set you up for higher expectations than your body can continue to deliver.

    How much are you trying to lose ... If you are not eating back ALL your exercise calories, are you keeping your overall deficit to less than a thousand a day?

    A realistic expectation is about 1 to 2 pounds per week and you won't see that by monitoring the scale daily, it's like, all of a sudden the scale reads 163 when yesterday it said 165.

    If you only need to lose 15 pounds or so, then it may be that you are asking too much altogether and should aim for a weight loss of closer to .5 to 1 pound per week rather than 2 or more. It gets harder to lose (properly) when you are closer to your body's healthy weight...

    You said you are only two weeks into this, so trust the system, ask for guidance and make friends ... Plenty of helpful advice from plenty of successful people on here.
  • fittertanme
    fittertanme Posts: 259 Member
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    hi there well it dont matter how long you workout its how your body is burning them as we are not all the same I know because its happend to me and I had a diet free weekend and started again on monday and I think it has fooled my body I am going easy then today I did a massive workout and its worked and have lost a 1lb not a lot but starting to move again
  • mwomack95
    mwomack95 Posts: 7
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    that is nice to know, i haven't lost in 2 weeks and it's get very frusturating....consisitency consisitency....consistency.
  • Stuartm1
    Stuartm1 Posts: 101 Member
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    If you lose inches that's good too muscle is more dense than fat hence you lose inches. However you should try to set your target at 1 to 1.5 pounds a week loss it's a healthier way to lose weight and the slower it comes off the less likelyhood is it will go back on, Vary eating back excercise calories and not eating them back what you do not want is for the body to go into starvation mode as you will not lose at all. Also try different excercise to use different muscles

    Good luck
  • muitobem
    muitobem Posts: 436 Member
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    sometimes you lose a lot in the first couple of weeks and then may lose nothing or 1/2 lb for a week or two...switch things up... intensify your workouts..Don't do your workout in the same order...Your muscles get used to that too...

    Eat your calories plus your workout calories...if you're not eating enough calories you won't lose weight either...

    Now your goal to lose should be anywhere up to 2lbs in a week...
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    Since you're not obese, or extremely overweight, you're not going to get that huge jump that folks with lots to lose get. However, I'd say your 5 pounds in 2 weeks is a great accomplishment!! The mostly healthy weight loss is at a rate of 0.5 to 2 pounds per week. I think a lot of people have unrealistic expectations after seeing some of the weight loss reality shows so please keep in mind that this is NOT a race or a competition, this is you trying to get healthier.

    It's possible that your body needs a quick break to recover after losing those pounds quickly. That's happened to me before. I'll lose a few quickly then I won't lose pounds but the inches start coming off, then the weight, then the inches, etc... As long as you're improving in one way or the other, be happy! Don't be so hard on yourself!
  • kneeki
    kneeki Posts: 347 Member
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    I feel like I'm hitting a plateau. I'm losing inches, getting toned, but the scale isn't moving.
    Ignore your weight; it's very unimportant. If you're losing body fat while gaining muscle - you're most definitely not plateaued. =]
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    You don't have a lot to lose so it isn't unusual to hit a plateau early. The body is not designed to lose weight. The body does not know that it is an unhealthy weight. We have to manipulate our bodies to burn fat. After a long period of fasting, your metabolism will slow down to conserve your weight, and it will adjust and become more efficient so it will do more with less calories. However, efficient calorie burning is not ideal. If you raise your calorie levels for just a day or two, your metabolism will speed up to adjust to the higher level. You can then return to lower calorie levels to force your metabolism to burn fat.

    Also, it helps to make changes to your cardio routines. As your weight decreases, you will not burn as many calories doing the same exercises. You need to change your cardio workouts occassionally so that you progressively burn more calories.
  • Garrett1234
    Garrett1234 Posts: 147 Member
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    I hit a plateau too early on. Thanks for the helpful comments, folks!
  • Fulminare
    Fulminare Posts: 17
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    From my own experience from hitting plateaus you need to work that much harder.....I had to up my cardio to a 1000 minimum daily(I know it sounds crazy but it works) keep your calorie intake the same looks like your doing well in that area...The Eliptical was the only machine I felt that gave me thwe gains weekly after hitting a plateau I was looking for....Hope this helps!
  • harpospeaking
    harpospeaking Posts: 8
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    I'm experiencing this too. I started at 143 and lost 4 pounds in the first two weeks. Then, I got my period and was back to 143. I've been 141 for the past two weeks. I've been diligent about sticking to my 1200 calorie a day allotment, but I've only been working out about 3 times a week. I should be working out 5 times a week. I have been doing strength training consistently about twice a week.

    I'll try working out more often (up to 5 times a week) and then see what happens. If my weight doesn't budge, then I'll think about adding more calories to my daily intake.

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