Help avoiding plateau

lynda1164
lynda1164 Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss

I have been losing regularly until last week. I think I might be hitting a plateau. Not sure if I should lower my calorie intake but I am at 1200 right now. Or increase my exercise, I already walk 3 miles a day. I do the 3 miles in 55 minutes and speeding it up is not an option I have bad SI joints but increasing my miles? Not sure if that is what I should do. Anyone have any suggestions?

Best Answers

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 19,271 Member
    Answer ✓

    ^^ all of this. A plateau is weeks and weeks without loss. A week without is a blip. Weight loss isn't linear, bodies are complex, and there's a hell of a lot more going on with the number on the scale than fat loss and calorie deficits. Last week I "gained" then "lost" 9lbs over the course of 7 days, due to water retention, a huge amount of exercise, and an excess of carb and sodium consumption. Hormones also have a field day with scale weight. Don't go tying yourself up in knots what you are doing something wrong because you're not seeing consistent weekly drops, you'll just mess with your own head.

Answers

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 7,329 Member

    +1 for patience, one week is nothing really.

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,756 Member

    Everything under a month is not a plateau. If you have a menstrual cycle and there's a bit of boating at some point it's not a plateau. If you don't have a full bowel movement and there's more stuff in your intestines it's not a plateau. If you ate a bit more salt and your body holds more onto water it's not a plateau. If you started a new exercise and your body holds a bit more onto water for healing it's not a plateau. And there are dozens of other reasons why weight loss seems to stall for a moment, and neither of them have anything to do with bodyfat.

    You should certainly not eat less. You're already on the lowest possibly calorie amount considered healthy for an adult. And you could likely eat a lot more than that and still lose. Unless you're very petite and old. Remember: weightloss winner is not who punishes themselves most, but who loses weight in a sustainable way and keeps it off.

  • rms62003
    rms62003 Posts: 248 Member

    I also will put my vote in for patience. I'm one that hates plateaus, and every time I hit it, I have to talk myself through it - you body fights weight loss, that's natural.

    Personal experience - I only lost 4 pounds in June, plateaued at 230 for 2 weeks. Then, beginning of July, went down 7 pounds in 10 days! Then, stayed at 223-225 for the rest of the month (weigh in today was 223). Our bodies don't like linear loss.

  • lynda1164
    lynda1164 Posts: 9 Member

    thank you everyone. I just really needed hearing from all of you. I just know myself too well and like many times before when I did hit a plateau and did not see results I have “cheated” and gave up tracking. I guess I am just so afraid of hitting a plateau since I have been loosing steadily for months now. Had my weigh in with my dr today and I was down 2.2 lbs. from last week. I am just happy when I see any loss!
    Thank you all again for your support

  • ddsb1111
    ddsb1111 Posts: 1,087 Member

    There are different levels of deficit:

    • 250 calories less per day = about 0.5 lb fat loss per week
    • 500 per day = 1 lb per week
    • 750–1000 per day = 1.5–2 lbs/week (this is aggressive and harder to stick with)

    2.2 lbs per week is more than aggressive. Adjust expectations. Not every week will be the same so rely on averages and be safe.

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