What do you do to overcome a Plateau?

MrsLyons32 · March 2018

I have been using MFP for a month (rejoined). For the last 3 weeks. I've lost an average of 2# per week. This week, Nothing! I cannot seem to lose, even though I increased my workouts. I talked to a trainer/nutritionist & was told to
adjust my calorie intake & cheat for a day or two to "restart" my system. Has anyone else heard this? What do you do to overcome a Plateau? I'm afraid if I don't see more progress, that I will give up.
**feel free to add as a friend

L1zardQueen · March 2018

You need to keep going. Weight loss is not one straight downward line. It's a bumpy line.

malibu927 · March 2018

For a week? Nothing, as weight loss isn't linear.

For a true plateau for 4+ weeks? I tighten up my logging.

DisneyDude85 · March 2018

One week is not a plateau. Keep at it. Trust the process. Consistency is key!

YOU GOT THIS!

try2again · March 2018

Sharing this despite the misguided notion that a week is a plateau, for others who may click on the thread looking for info:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10589119/how-to-break-through-a-plateau#latest

diannethegeek · March 2018

It's only been a week and you increased your exercise. Every time you make changes to your exercise routine you should expect the scale to do wonky things for a few weeks because of the extra water you hold onto to cushion and repair sore muscles. Give your body some time to adjust and ignore any trainer who says you need a cheat day after a single week with no loss. Stalls like this are common and you'll have to get used to them. Stay the course. You've got this!

livingleanlivingclean · March 2018

Increasing your workouts likely resulted in retaining more fluid.

The only thing you should do is keep going.

braineblonde · March 2018

yeah, one week is not a plateau. i was plateaued for the last month and i just stuck with my diet and exercise routine and this week i've suddenly dropped 2 pounds in 2 days.

bfanny · March 2018

Is it TOM? It may be to blame

gm678560 · March 2018

1. You’ve lost 6 pounds in 4 weeks. That’s not a plateau.
2. Fire the nutritionist that told you to cheat to jumpstart your system. That’s not a thing.
3. Keep logging as accurately as you can and trust the process. You’ve got this!

olyamhc · March 2018

It took me to lose 25lbs in 4 months, when I've set my calorie limits to 2lbs/week. There were weeks where I felt nothing had changed, but it did. Keep in mind also that measuring various body parts with tape helps a lot. Sometimes for me the scale wouldn't move, but I lost inches. Whatever it is, keep logging, keep staying motivated, measure every food you eat with a kitchen scale (best advice I've gotten from MFP).

jennygutt · March 2018

I hit a plateu after losing 71 lbs. I went thru ot for 3mths. Lost and gained the same 4 lbs. It was soooo disheartening. I increased the intensity of my exercises and broke thru. Now im losing a little over a pound a week again. I got a Fitbit with heartrate reader. I try to keep it in the peak range while i do my hour workout on eliptical or running on treadmill each day. It worked finally broke the plateu.

Horsekeeper · March 2018

Some people do have success with raising their calories for a time - check some of the threads on "refeeds". That said, a week (though it may feel like forever) isn't a long plateau.

Sparkeysworld · March 2018

Have a low carb day (unless your Keto) try keep under say 50g carbs and see what happens.

SereneSeas · March 2018

Drink more water and don't eat more calories. Switch to a little more protein and fiber to increase the calories needed to burn that complex fuel. Wait it out, don't give in or up. I've been on 3 wk plateaus and gained weight while not increasing intake and continuing to move Your body gets "confused" wondering what is happening but will eventually "reset" your new normal lower weight and begin shedding weight again. The weight loss graph will look like a gentle roller coaster ride, but step back and it will definitely be a downward graph. It's more encouraging to draw a straight line through the center of all the months of weight loss rather than to focus on plateaus or gains. Hang tough! I'm at 28 lb loss over almost 8 months coming up. I'm not giving up either, but in it for the rest of my life.

Enthusiast84 · March 2018

Weight loss can stall sometimes, it just happens. I've had periods where iv not lost for a few weeks but then have a week where ive had a woosh. Patience is needed. ... don't give up. I started just before Jan and I'm down 1 stone 6 pounds but I haven't lost every week.

smimon2 · March 2018

As others have mentioned, your scale weight can be influenced by many things on a short-term basis - water retention, amount of food in your system, glycogen content of your muscles. You should only check it once a week, at the same time - say first thing on a Sunday morning - for consistency, and even then, you should be looking for longer-term trends over the course of 8-12 weeks.

Weight loss is about making sustainable lifestyle changes to realise results over a long-term period - a marathon, not a sprint.

Also, importantly - if you constantly take in fewer calories than you need (either by not eating enough, or by exercising), eventually your body will slow down your metabolism to match, and the weight loss will stop. You need to cycle your calories just above maintenance level at least a couple of times a week to keep your metabolism running - the concept of a "cheat day". Don't go crazy on these days though, or you'll undo a lot of your good work.

Example, if your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is 2500 calories, you could do the following:
Monday: 2000 calories (-500 deficit)
Tuesday: 2000 calories (-500 deficit)
Wednesday: 2700 calories (+200 surplus)
Thursday: 2000 calories (-500 deficit)
Friday: 2000 calories (-500 deficit)
Saturday: 2000 calories (-500 deficit)
Sunday: 2700 calories (+200 surplus)
Weekly total: -2100 deficit, or around 2/3 lb fat

ceiswyn · March 2018

Ignore the advice of anyone who tells you eat more calories to ‘restart’ your metabolism, or that dieting will slow down your metabolism so much that you can’t lose weight anymore.

Both of those things are physically and scientifically ridiculous, and have repeatedly been shown to be untrue in peer-reviewed studies. Anyone who says them is basically demonstrating a lack of knowledge about biology and weight loss.

A short-term plateau can be caused by three things:

Water retention (muscle recovery, stress, time of the month)
Natural fluctuations (expect a ‘whoosh’ the next week)
Not actually eating in a deficit.

None of those things are addressed by eating more.

malibu927 · March 2018

Sparkeysworld wrote: »

Have a low carb day (unless your Keto) try keep under say 50g carbs and see what happens.

You’ll lose water weight, which will just come back the next day when you have more carbs

Seffell · March 2018

What do I do? I wait. If I'm sure I've weighted all my food correctly and logged it then I wait.

Silentpadna · March 2018

When If you actually reach a plateau (you haven't yet), that's when you might consider making small changes. Your "plateau" should have lasted 4+ weeks before making any changes. Otherwise you would be making changes based on statistical "noise". You can't base your program on the fluctuations or the variations of random variables that all change at different rates and some at amplitudes that exceed your goal in that time window. Many of the fluctuations you experience on a daily basis (which you've experienced all your life whether you've tracked them or not) are larger than your expected weight loss over a couple of weeks.

So don't freak out if the scale "stalls" or even goes up. (Preparing you for the inevitable weeks where you've "done everything right" but the number still goes up. Be ready. It'll most likely happen). The answer in that case is to continue to do the program correctly.

What do you do to overcome a Plateau?

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