The Plateau from Hell!

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geminirooster
geminirooster Posts: 34
in Health and Weight Loss
This stinks.

I started a brand new job this week. Pretty much shocked my system. Before hand I had been unemployed since May, which means fairly sedentary. In August, I started to really knock off the pounds, having lost almost 40 pounds in addition to the 30 I lost before. I had been walking for an hour three times a week.

I am now a food prep cook at a major national steak house. I lift heavy boxes, stir massive loads of home made salad dressing, chop lots of veggies, etc... all while standing on my feet for hours a day.

I currently consume 2300 calories per day. If I look at my diet as sedentary, I calculate out my calories accordingly from the exercise of cooking/food prep which end up burning an additional 2-3k calories... which I do not consume.

I typically come in at about 2100 calories per day + exercise over the course of this last week.

I also went to Oktoberfest, didn't drink anything and walked the entire thing for 6 hours... and I went to a walking event in our town for the Halloween season.....

According to my calculations, between reduced caloric intake + exercise burned calories, I burned through almost 20,000 calories this week alone.

Yet when I stepped on the scale, my weight didn't budge even an ounce.

Most of the things I've read say that you should change your exercise routine - well this job is a complete shift in my exercise routine. Reduce caloric intake - I'm already eating less than is required of me...

I don't know what to do - how did I drop 69 pounds and stall? What do I do??!

Replies

  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
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    Well, 70 pounds is quite a bit and often times the body will try to stabilize its weight before losing more. It's recommended to take a break from dieting for a week or so when you plateau so that you can reset your metabolism and return to you weight loss calorie amount and resume losing.

    Your body wants to make sure that it isn't going to die if it continues to drop weight. Stalls happens but they are temporary. I say to raise your calorie intake near maintenance for a week and then reduce them to your current intake.
  • karenbobaren
    karenbobaren Posts: 127 Member
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    Taking a break has always helped me when I hit a plateu.
  • RachelJE
    RachelJE Posts: 172
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    I have lost 140 pounds and have noticed a pattern in the scales. I tend to have a LONGGGG plateau every 6-8 weeks that will last 3 weeks or so. I lose and gain the same 2 pounds again and again and again until I feel like I'm going to lost my mind & shoot the scale. It's maddening. Then all the sudden I will lose 6 or 8 pounds in a week. Then I go back to the plateau. I don't change anything diet or exercise wise. I don't know if its hormonal fluxuations or what. But I'd encourage you not to give up!! You are doing a great job! Scales are evil, and they like to toy with your head. So stick them in the closet for a month or so and focus on how you FEEL, not what the number says. Just make sure you are eating ENOUGH. If you are burning more than you eat, your body might be in panic mode trying to hold on to everything you consume. That will stall your loss as well. Best wishes!!
  • MelissaGraham7
    MelissaGraham7 Posts: 405 Member
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    I tend to the same as Rachel - except my plateaus in between are a lot longer....like 6 months. Then I'll drop 5-6 pounds, then 6 months of plateau again. It happens. I just hang i there.
  • geminirooster
    geminirooster Posts: 34
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    Quiting is definitely not an option for me, its just really irritating. I have heard that taking a break works. I think I'm going to try reducing caloric intake for this week see if that jumpstarts it... if it doesn't, I'll go on maint for a week to see if that triggers it back. :)

    keep telling me your ideas! What did you do to power past it?
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    Going from being unemployed to working on your feet is, as you already know, a HUGE change. You must account for this huge change in your calorie consumption. Have you changed your activity level on this site? You are definitely not sedentary any longer and you need to change that setting to accommodate your new job.

    I work on my feet 4 days a week - 9 hours/3 days and 6 hours/1 day. I wasn't taking my job into account and needed to up my caloric intake. Once I did, I lost again. Your body will adjust to your new job, but that doesn't mean you won't still burn a ton of calories at work. I am in constant motion at work and I consume 2200-2500 calories a day. I am a 145lb female - who, according to most calorie charts, should only be consuming around 1800 calories.

    Your job is demanding - make sure you're fueling your body to keep it trucking along on the weight loss journey. :)
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,708 Member
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    This stinks.

    I started a brand new job this week. Pretty much shocked my system. Before hand I had been unemployed since May, which means fairly sedentary. In August, I started to really knock off the pounds, having lost almost 40 pounds in addition to the 30 I lost before. I had been walking for an hour three times a week.

    I am now a food prep cook at a major national steak house. I lift heavy boxes, stir massive loads of home made salad dressing, chop lots of veggies, etc... all while standing on my feet for hours a day.

    I currently consume 2300 calories per day. If I look at my diet as sedentary, I calculate out my calories accordingly from the exercise of cooking/food prep which end up burning an additional 2-3k calories... which I do not consume.

    I typically come in at about 2100 calories per day + exercise over the course of this last week.

    I also went to Oktoberfest, didn't drink anything and walked the entire thing for 6 hours... and I went to a walking event in our town for the Halloween season.....

    According to my calculations, between reduced caloric intake + exercise burned calories, I burned through almost 20,000 calories this week alone.

    Yet when I stepped on the scale, my weight didn't budge even an ounce.

    Most of the things I've read say that you should change your exercise routine - well this job is a complete shift in my exercise routine. Reduce caloric intake - I'm already eating less than is required of me...

    I don't know what to do - how did I drop 69 pounds and stall? What do I do??!
    It's not a plateau. Chalk it up to water retention. Because you actually did physical work for a longer period of time you put some extra stress on your muscle that you didn't used to. Just like starting a lifting program, you'll retain water. Also I would reset my profile now to NOT being sedentary. You should be eating more now.
  • iheartyarn
    iheartyarn Posts: 141 Member
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    I agree with ninerbuff. When I started working out I didn't lose for like two weeks, it was very discouraging, but I was also very sore and I knew my muscles were retaining to heal themselves. Change your activity level, and relax :)
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    I would not reduce calories yet. Since you are tracking food intake I presume you didn't make any diet changes, you just increased activity and your weight loss stalled.

    I would wait one more week at the same intake. It's either odd coincidence that you hit a plateau at the same time as your work increased, or it's water retention. The latter seems more plausible but the former isn't out of the question.

    I think you need to give it another week minimum before adjusting anything. If you increased calories OUT (which you did), you shouldn't also reduce your intake.

    Slow and steady wins the race.
  • NicoWoodruff
    NicoWoodruff Posts: 369 Member
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    I agree slow and steady and keep at it.

    I've found sometimes I plateau at surprising times when I've been doing everything right for awhile.

    I think it's because of, like some stuff I've heard/read, about how..

    When you're working hard, sometimes the body seems like it doesn't really believe your serious yet so it puts off progress for a time to see if you stick with it. The signals/messages between brain and muscles end up with some "yea yea we'll get back to you on that" when there's a need to really *burn* and work and build.

    If you stay serious the messages do get through and answered more efficiently.

    I find it fascinating that even our underlying physiology can be like lazy office workers that way. :D

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  • geminirooster
    geminirooster Posts: 34
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    PLATEAU CONQUERED! -5.5 lbs this week!

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