Welcome to my plateau

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Edward_christina
Edward_christina Posts: 11 Member
in Motivation and Support
Lol. Steady loss from 287 to 255, and now I'm stuck for a week at 255. On the plus side I feel a lot better and have less back pain. I'm going to get though this by mixing in some different exercises, and pushing my cardio (pulse rate) and not putting so much focus on the weight loss. Also going to tighten up my calorie count , like no more creamers in my coffee at work. Any tips greatfully accepted

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  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,527 Member
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    Not a plateau. A plateau in weight loss would be 6 or more weeks with no weight movement IF everything was truly consistent. That would mean, intake, rest, exercise, etc. didn't change at all. If you changed anything during that time, then it's not a plateau. You're in a stall (and maybe not) because you can do the same exact thing one week and the next and have different results.
    Give it a week and just stay on track.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
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    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • Xellercin
    Xellercin Posts: 924 Member
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    ^agreed

    If you expect weight loss every week, you are setting yourself up for frustration. Sure, early on it can seem like it goes that way, but that doesn't last.

    I tracked my weight loss daily down from obese to very lean, and my results *on average* were incredibly consistent whenever my routine was consistent, but I could only see that pattern over the loooong term data.

    Meaning it might look like I was not losing weight for 2-8 weeks and then suddenly losing significant weight for several weeks in a row and then it would slow, and then stop again.

    If I looked week to week, it would look like my loss was all over the place and totally unpredictable. However, when looking at the graph, the slope was totally clear. The loss averaged out to *exactly the same* amount of weight lost in average every month.

    The only real plateaus happened over holidays where I ate more. Consistently.

    Stay consistent and always give yourself at least 6 weeks of data before changing *anything* in your routine. Otherwise all of your data will be confounded noise.

    Stay consistent. A week of data is nothing with a complex biological system.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    Read this thread. It's so eye-opening!

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,178 Member
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    What they said above, 100%.

    Also, with a short stall, pushing harder can be the exact wrong answer - counter-productive. Lengthy or extreme calorie deficit can increase cortisol (stress hormone) and trigger extra water retention, masking fat loss on the scale. Cutting harder, exercising more - that adds more stress.

    I'm not on a device where I can direct link it (sorry), but I'd strongly suggest you go to the "Most Helpful Posts" part of the "Health and Weight Loss" section of the MFP Community, and read the first posts in the thread "Of refeeds and diet breaks".

    If nothing else, hang in there with your current routine, use stress management strategies, get good sleep/ hydration/nutrition. If you're at the right calorie level, the scale will move . . . on average over 4-8 weeks, not every single week.

  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    edited October 2022
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    Lots o people maintain a steady deficit/exercise with seemingly no movement on scale for up to 3 weeks. Then *bam* 3 weeks worth of loss all in a day or 2. The math always works, but it doesn't always work on exactly the schedule we want. Hold steady the course.

    https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat

    ETA spelling

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