what would cause this plateau?

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slickmickey
slickmickey Posts: 113 Member
in Motivation and Support
I've been successfully losing weight since last september, and suddenly in february i hit my first plateau. i tried lowering my calories (from 1350 to 1250) and nothing changed. i figured i would just lose slowly from here out and just kept at it. suddenly yesterday i lost the 2lbs i've been stuck at, plus about half a pound more this morning (i'm with omada health and weigh in daily for them - get money from employer as benefits so i'll keep weighing in daily for them).

so i have not changed ANYTHING other than lowering my calories mid february. same diet, same steps a day. why would i suddenly (seemingly) break the plateau? i finally hit 30lbs down this week because of this drop, i'd been sitting at 28.5-29 and it was driving me crazy i couldnt hit this goal! i'm just curious if a plateau can happen and then go away without you changing anything really.

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  • slickmickey
    slickmickey Posts: 113 Member
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    graph for fun
    9mmuvz5kab9c.jpeg
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
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    'i'm just curious if a plateau can happen and then go away without you changing anything really'


    Absolutely. The inches have to catch UP with the pounds. Everyone wants to keep dropping it like it's hot but there's consequences. Enjoy the ride and forget it. It will all come out in the wash like it's supposed to. You want your skin to hang like a shar-pei dog. Noooo. Let your body take care of all that internal processing and STOP trying to force your body to fit into your time schedule. Your body has a mind of its' own and it will get you there when it's ready. Respect that. Find your balance and let your body get you there when it's ready.

    Plateaus are there for a reason. Enjoy that, too. You don't want to ever have to go through this again. Let your body call the shots. It's going to... regardless if we like it or not.
  • wunderkindking
    wunderkindking Posts: 1,615 Member
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    Yeah, this is actually pretty consistently my weight loss pattern. Bounce around between a pound or two for 3weeks-2 months, then drop 3lbs. I think my body just has to decide when to let it go. Lagging results or something. Don't stress it, it'll happen.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,102 Member
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    Anecdotally, one thing that can happen is that water retention can become more frequent/persistent after a long time at a calorie deficit, or with an extreme calorie deficit for a shorter time. The water isn't fat, but it can mask fat loss on the scale for a period of time. The observed pattern would be a seeming stall for a couple of weeks or so, then a sudden multi-pound drop (sometimes called "stalls and whooshes"). The presumed mechanism would be the stress of deficit (plus maybe other life stresses collaborating with that) to raise cortisol, which can increase water retention.

    Two things to consider: Is your target weight loss rate appropriate for your current body size (loosely, 0.5-1% max of current body weight per week, unless severely obese and under close medical supervision for faster loss; lower end of that better if within around 25-50 pounds of goal weight)? Have you considered taking a diet break at maintenance calories for a couple of weeks?

    More related info:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1

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