I’ve hit a plateau

Plateaus are normally just a math miscalculation and the fact that we aren't a closed system and the out side of the equation has many factors that are impossible to account for on a daily basis I wouldn't sweat it for now. Stick with it and take you weight everyday then average it out to compare as you go forward, and if you're still not losing any weight and if by using a tape measure you're not seeing a reduction, then it's simply a situation where you're not in a deficit.

Don't overcorrect.

I lost weight steadily over years and often had periods where the scale didn't budge for weeks on end. However, I logged my weight daily the entire time and the slope of my loss actually stayed consistent.

The objective data showed that I only *ever* had a real plateau if I ate and drank more, like around the holidays.

I just got used to those prolonged periods where the scale didn't change or even went up for weeks on end. They were always eventually followed by a period where my weight started dropping again. I referred to it as "brewing a loss."

If I had over corrected, I would have mistakenly assumed that changing something was what made the weight eventually come off, but really, it was just that this was the normal pattern for weight loss for my body.

If you expect the scale to drop consistently, you are setting yourself up for enormous frustration and over correction.

If you over correct, you run the risk of pushing yourself into unsustainable territory. Stick with what you know you can handle and stay consistent with, give it time, and then objectively see what's happening.

If you stick to exactly what was working before, consistently, with no deviation for 6 weeks and the scale still hasn't budged, then start making small adjustments and see what happens.

But at the end of the day, you can never actually "kickstart" yourself back to the rate of early scale results. Long term, substantial weight loss is a slow and wonky process where the scale usually spends the majority of the time not cooperating.

That doesn't mean you aren't steadily losing fat. It just doesn't show consistently on the scale.

Even though the data show I was steadily losing fat, I often only actually saw the scale drop for a few days at a time once every 4-8 weeks.

The scale was all over the place, but like frickin' clockwork, I lost weight *on average* at the exact same pace every month.

I am sort of excited about my plateau actually. I KNOW I'm eating at a deficit (albeit a smaller one than in the first 3 months of weight loss), but the scale hasn't budged in 4 weeks now. But I am also so sore from lifting, I can just barely take a shirt off. I'm anticipating that water shed moment. It'll be great.

I just had to google it, too, and this was the first thing that came up:

If you're committed to losing more weight, try these tips for getting past the plateau:

Reassess your habits. Look back at your food and activity records. ...
Cut more calories. Further cut your daily calories, provided this doesn't put you below 1,200 calories. ...
Rev up your workout. ...
Pack more activity into your day.


Getting past a weight-loss plateau - Mayo Clinic

I didn't click on the link to see if "how long have you been plateauing/be patient!" was in there but not that bad of advice if it's been a long time

My theory was going to be, if you google kickstarting a diet after a plateau, you'll eventually come to links to mfp threads where people will give you the advice you should have listened to in the first place