how can i already have hit a plateau?!

slickmickey
slickmickey Posts: 113 Member
in Motivation and Support
i started (this time around) 7/1/18. i lost 7 pounds in the first 3 weeks and then i've not even lost another pound in next week. i even redid my goals and took off another 30 calories from my daily allotment 1450-1420). i weigh everything, scan bags, the whole deal. if i'm going over it's not more than by 50 (and not frequently either). i dont get it!! is it common to lose a bunch right off the bat and then get stuck? so frustrated!

Replies

  • TheFutureMrsLewis
    TheFutureMrsLewis Posts: 64 Member
    I wish I could help you but I am in the same boat. however, I have not been eating the best (although still staying under maintenance except for 1 day). I lost 6 lbs and now the scale says I've gained 3 lbs. No way I could have gained 3 lbs of muscle in two weeks, so I need to be more strict.

    Hopefully someone can help you out and actually give you some insight/feedback. If you're exercising a lot more it could be your body hanging on to water. (thats what I'm hoping mine is doing). But please don't give up. take pictures if you haven't already and measure! my weight hasn't changed in 2 weeks,but my arms are showing very small differences.

    Good luck!
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    Here is a great link.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear/p1
  • slickmickey
    slickmickey Posts: 113 Member
    i think cutting out diet coke was most of that 7... stupid water weight. haha
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    slickmickey wrote: »
    i think cutting out diet coke was most of that 7... stupid water weight. haha

    Diet Coke has no calories. Cutting calories is what causes weight loss, so it wasn't cutting out the Diet Coke.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited August 2018
    Weight loss in the long term comes down to calories. If you are in a deficit, you will lose weight over the long term, as your body will burn fat to make up that deficit. Regardless of what type of food you are eating or drinking or what type of exercise you do. Calorie deficit = weight loss.

    But when you step on the scale every morning, it weighs everything in your body, not just the fat. You also have your bones and muscles and organs, partially digested food, and lots of water (among other things). The weight of all that other stuff fluctuates constantly due to all sorts of normal uncontrollable reasons in the short term. So if next week you lose 1 lb of fat, but you are carrying an extra lb of water due to a hormonal fluctuation, the scale will say your weight hasn't changed, even though you did lose a lb of fat. That's why it "seems" like changing up your exercise or cutting out a specific food breaks you out of a stall - because it wasn't really a stall and your water weight was going to even out next week anyway.

    If you know you are eating in a deficit, you just have to understand that sometimes the scale won't move for a week or two or might even go up sometimes (hello ovulation!). If you aren't sure you are in a deficit, tighten up your logging to be sure. And be patient :smiley:
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    slickmickey wrote: »
    i started (this time around) 7/1/18. i lost 7 pounds in the first 3 weeks and then i've not even lost another pound in next week. i even redid my goals and took off another 30 calories from my daily allotment 1450-1420). i weigh everything, scan bags, the whole deal. if i'm going over it's not more than by 50 (and not frequently either). i dont get it!! is it common to lose a bunch right off the bat and then get stuck? so frustrated!

    Yes, it's common to lose a bunch in the beginning and then stick for a bit. It's just your body catching up to the changes.

    A plateau is generally defined as something like 6-8+ weeks with no movement on the scale while making no changes to your routine, so it doesn't sound like you're quite there yet, fortunately.

    There are some really good threads on this in the stickied "must reads" part of the forum. If you haven't read them yet, they'll arm you with good information and hopefully some peace of mind:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear/p1

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10196160/scale-stress-syndrome/p1
  • DoubleUbea
    DoubleUbea Posts: 1,115 Member
    Yes, weight loss and then a slow down is normal. I have been within the same five pounds for almost three weeks. It will pass, your body is trying to readjust. That and you have to tighten up on your logging. I slacked off for a bit. Nothing bad but I wasn't as tight as I was.

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