Plateau followed by a nice drop?

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  • ericadcruz32
    ericadcruz32 Posts: 48 Member
    When I was actually losing weight, that happened to me all the time. I'd go 5 to 10 or so days (sometimes more) and maybe fluctuate upwards and then all the sudden I'd lose 2-3lbs. Now I'm the same weight I was 6 weeks ago despite logging every single meal and continuing my workouts. I eat around 1200 calories every day. sometimes more but the exercise will counteract that. Not sure why I have plateaued for this long but it's pretty frustrating.

    On top of that the little "xxx this is where you'll be in 5 weeks" has continued to show me losing weight based on my food and activity and yet it's still not coming off. I'm over 10 lbs heavier than where I'm supposed to be and the weight loss has just stalled for a long time. Really the last 2 months has been pretty impossible. I'd be happy with 1/2 a pound a week or even a little less, but I get nothing anymore.
  • giancarlov1191
    giancarlov1191 Posts: 493 Member
    totally normal! I've heard it said that you shouldn't tweak your diet until you've plateaued for 4 weeks. I think a lot of us panic when we don't go down everyday and cut our calories way too low.
  • giancarlov1191
    giancarlov1191 Posts: 493 Member
    Cavallaro65 wrote: »
    So it's so strange the pattern I keep seeing. I see a new weight loss number on the scale and feel great about it but then over the next few days I bounce around between that number and a few pounds up. I guess it's just the new norm after losing 70 pounds.

    This happens to me too, we just have to stay the course.
  • Spadesheart
    Spadesheart Posts: 479 Member
    edited June 2019
    jelleigh wrote: »
    So question on this water weight issue - if you are person to get freaked out or discouraged by these types of masked weigh ins, could you (if you noticed a stall) go very low carb (keto? ) for like 4 days, drop the water weight, and see where you are at ? Like I k,now the water weight would come back once you return to carbs but it would give you a glimpse of what's going on wouldn't it?

    I've done it. It works sometimes, it doesn't other times, but I would say it has a good chance to work in conjunction with a couple other things.

    The thing about water weight retention when on heavy calorie deficit is your body goes into panic mode and releases stress hormones, like cortisol. This in tandem with carbs, excess salt, and perhaps low potassium, cause your body to really hold on to water.

    The thing I've found to help the most is just sweating a lot. I'll do a long cardio session once or twice a week, and sauna sessions multiple times after gym workouts. I do replenish fluids, but I've seen that a day after intense cardio sessions like this, I do often lose some weight on the scale. If anything, I think this just helps get the salt out. It's helped me see more consistent loss, but I couldn't guarantee it. As I get closer to goal, water weight has been more stubborn, which would again make sense from a hormonal perspective. Your energy stores continue to deplete, your body thinks it's unsustainable (because it is) and is trying to warn you.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    jelleigh wrote: »
    So question on this water weight issue - if you are person to get freaked out or discouraged by these types of masked weigh ins, could you (if you noticed a stall) go very low carb (keto? ) for like 4 days, drop the water weight, and see where you are at ? Like I k,now the water weight would come back once you return to carbs but it would give you a glimpse of what's going on wouldn't it?

    There is no way to measure how much water weight you are holding, and how much water you will release based on a low carb diet. Your body retains and releases water when it does because it needs to, it's the natural healthy way your body functions. Playing around with your water weight in an effort to see a certain number on the scale is a slippery slope. It's just as possible that a week when you hit a new low weight is because you are slightly dehydrated, not because you lost fat. No way to know.

    Your body is 60-70% water. There is literally always water weight in your scale weight. The solution isn't to try to force your body to release water, the solution is to understand the data you have and not be freaked out by the way your body works :wink: :smile:
  • OAS5
    OAS5 Posts: 376 Member
    Panini911 wrote: »
    yeah i find i trend down/stablilize then often see a blip UP before the next mini drop. it's nice when you can see the blip up and think "yay this means it'll go down).

    our weight fluctuates a few pounds or more daily so the daily weigh in are strictly data points. there could be a story behind the data point (ate more salty, ate more startch, exercised more, had alcohol...) but it is a singular datapoint. the key number is your trend over time.

    Yeah I agree. Just gotta go with the flow and plow through. I did change up my diet pretty substantiality from what I was doing which seems odd because what I was doing worked so well to this point. I'm gonna switch back tomorrow actually better I find myself really hungry after the change up. Going back to my tried and true plan. Thanks for the reply.
  • missblondi2u
    missblondi2u Posts: 851 Member
    Congrats on your whoosh!! I'm hoping for one myself. I weigh-in on Fridays, and have been seeing a tick upward the last couple of weeks (likely do to my new strength training workouts). But according to my doctor's scale I dropped 6 pounds from last Monday to this Monday, so I'm super excited for tomorrow's official weigh-in :)
  • OAS5
    OAS5 Posts: 376 Member
    missblondi2u wrote: »
    Congrats on your whoosh!! I'm hoping for one myself. I weigh-in on Fridays, and have been seeing a tick upward the last couple of weeks (likely do to my new strength training workouts). But according to my doctor's scale I dropped 6 pounds from last Monday to this Monday, so I'm super excited for tomorrow's official weigh-in :)

    Thank you and I hope you get your big whoosh tomorrow. I weigh myself every day which only started 2 months ago. I kinda like it, and kinda hate it. 🤣

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