On a 6 day plateau

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mc62412
mc62412 Posts: 195 Member
in Motivation and Support
WHY ! Lol. I know it’s “part of the journey” I’ve looked back at my weight trends. And usually 3 days max then it drops. Not this time ! I’ve been UNDER calories every day since logging. It’s really quite frustrating. I’m re evaluating my eating today and will up my water intake and see if that helps.
How long did your plateau last. What did you do to bust through it ?

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  • gallicinvasion
    gallicinvasion Posts: 1,015 Member
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    I hear your frustration and I’ve been there!! If it’s under 3 weeks or so, the good thing is that it’s probably not a plateau (or at least, you can’t at all tell with certainty at this point). It’s more than likely a water weight fluctuation that’s lasting a little longer than you’re used to seeing. I’m in the midst of one right now, actually, because my boyfriend made the lunches this week, and he used a HUGE AMOUNT of regular soy sauce in it. So our sodium levels are up, and so is our water weight retention.

    There are so so so many things that could cause a temporary pause in seeing fat loss on the scale due to water weight. New exercise, air travel, high sodium food, higher carb intake than normal, hormones (especially period-cycle-related), stress, illness...the list goes on.

    If I were you, I would stick to my regular plan (no harm in drinking more water) for at least another week, better two. If by then you are still not seeing any loss, then it might be that you are unintentionally maintaining your weight due to a calorie in/calorie out balance. At that point, it would be worth it to re-evaluate how you are measuring your food (food scale is way more accurate than cups and spoons), re-evaluate how carefully you’re choosing MFP food diary entries (so many are inaccurate), and ensure MFP has re-evaluated your goal in light of you having lost weight since the beginning of your journey (if you weigh less, on average you will burn slightly less calories going about your day, so MFP should adjust your calories downward when you update your weight. Sometimes it doesn’t do that automatically, so if you go through goal set-up again to kind of “refresh” it, MFP will recalculate your calorie target based on your current weight.)
  • mc62412
    mc62412 Posts: 195 Member
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    I’ll keep at it for a few more days. I do measure my food with scales. However I do use measuring cups as well.
  • Redordeadhead
    Redordeadhead Posts: 1,188 Member
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    6 days is not a plateau.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,287 Member
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    This is why I don't weigh myself. I try on tight clothes..and try not to do it more than a few days a week. that way if I'm not losing actual pounds I don't get discouraged and I keep the course. I always get to back into my green shorts..or little black dress. My two clothing items that fit when I'm at my best.
  • mc62412
    mc62412 Posts: 195 Member
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    NovusDies wrote: »
    I have never had a plateau in over 2 years. I have lost weight each day that I was in a calorie deficit. It has not, however, shown up on the bathroom scale that way. Often or more like VERY OFTEN it has taken 3 weeks to show up. This is annoyingly normal.

    https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

    That was a good read
  • mc62412
    mc62412 Posts: 195 Member
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    Redordeadhead wrote: »
    6 days is not a plateau.

    Well you know what I mean
  • avtlove
    avtlove Posts: 82 Member
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    NovusDies wrote: »
    I have never had a plateau in over 2 years. I have lost weight each day that I was in a calorie deficit. It has not, however, shown up on the bathroom scale that way. Often or more like VERY OFTEN it has taken 3 weeks to show up. This is annoyingly normal.

    https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

    Thank you, for saying this. The first few sentences of your post made me want to punch you, then the last three sentences made me want to high five you, lol. Seriously, I am glad you posted this. I have seen this article and it helps, but it helps even more to hear it from a real person on a real journey. I have much the same experience and since I"m new at this, I keep trying to reevaluate. Which is good, but the truth is, it might just be the way it is. I say in my deficit, lose a pound and sometimes two in week-week and a half period, then stay the same weight on the scale for three or four days. Then i'm down a pound again. SO SO slow. But I still think it's worth it.
  • thelastnightingale
    thelastnightingale Posts: 725 Member
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    I had one of those a few weeks ago. Or maybe a month ago. Time is hard to track in these quarantine times...

    What worked for me was sticking to same calorie limit, but mixing up my diet a bit. I mean, maybe it had no effect and it's all coincidental, but it made me feel better to be 'doing something', and losing weight is a mental game as well as a physical one.

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