Plateau Hater - So Close!

marigetsslim
marigetsslim Posts: 3 Member
edited November 2024 in Motivation and Support
Hello, I am new to MFP, but I have been losing weight for about a month and a half now.

I started my journey on 3rd of January weighing 61.4kg (I am 173cm tall).
First month went GREAT. I ate heatlhy, did BodyRock.tv workouts about 4-5 days a week and manage to see an amazing number of 56.8kg. This was about three weeks ago and for the past two weeks I have even gained a little weight and have been very stable 57.4kg.

I even did a little binge in the end of last week in hopes to boost my metabolism, only for the weight to go up for couple of days and to see 57.4kg again today. Besides that for the past week or so I have been rather bloated daily and don't go to toilet as often as I used to.

From yesterday I have been logging my food here and doing proper preparation not to overconsume foods. Baring in mind, I am quite slender already, but I would like to get my hips and tummy just a little bit smaller and firmer and my goal weight is 55kg. It is a magical number I have been chasing for years and this is the closest I have gotten to it.

I am now in two minds:

a) to continue obsessing about everything I put into my mouth in hopes that I will pass the plateau and will loose the last 2kg
or
b) to take it easy for a month, still eat generally healthy, but allow myself to actually have more than 1200kcal per day and get stricter after a month

Any suggestions or motivation is welcomed :)

Replies

  • cliffdc
    cliffdc Posts: 30 Member
    I would use MFP to do a "report" on your sodium intake over the last 1-2 weeks;

    it takes me 3-4 days of low sodium eating to get rid of the bloat from a high sodium day (like pizza for dinner).

    Also, you might need several days of rest. Rest is very very important for the mental game and hormones. Review your sleep quality. You may also have a monthly variation in your body comp, I know several women that do.

    That is all I got for you.

    You are 5'8" and have been stable at 126.3 pounds. You have a goal of 121 pounds. I think some rest might help.
  • billgiersberg
    billgiersberg Posts: 163
    A weight-loss plateau may be the result of your body going into starvation mode. It may be fighting to retain that last bit of fat that it considers necessary for long term health. How does your body mass index (BMI) compare to women in your height range? Are you trying to lose every bit of fat which perhaps you should not do? Tom Venuto calls these plateaus "adaptive thermogenesis" in his book "The Body Fat Solution." He says the way to break through is to be very vigilant about the calories that go in versus your BMR. A caloic deficit of 500 cal a day should cause you to lose weight at 1 pound a week. But I think as we near our ideal levels, our bodies will try to retain a fat-buffer. Consider your goals and be sure your end goal is appropriate for your height.
  • marigetsslim
    marigetsslim Posts: 3 Member
    cliffdc - I do like to add salt when I boil my vegetables, but I rather tend to cheat on sugars than salt. However this is a good idea to monitor my salt intake. However I do think that my bloating has something to do with my digesting problems or the lack of it (sorry for the details!).

    My sleep quality is great, I have no problems sleeping. I'm in bed 10pm-11pm every day and up on workdays about 6am-7am or 8am-9am on weekends. And I always sleep like a baby.

    billgiersberg - My current BMI is 19.18 and my goal weight's BMI would be 18.38, which I know is just just underweight, but I absolutely do not look that skinny. My goal is to loose some fat and build muscle to look fit and healthy, not skinny, so not to worry :)
  • almonds1
    almonds1 Posts: 642 Member
    I know that people have their opinions about cheat days but I do it once a week..... I never had an issue when doing this. I continued to lose!!!

    .....
  • marigetsslim
    marigetsslim Posts: 3 Member
    almonds1 - Cheat days have not made me gain any weight, but they have slowed down the weight loss process.

    After lots and lots of thinking I am going to give myself a little mental break for a while and not obsess about food that much. Luckily it is still winter and I can hide myself under sweaters on the days I don't feel that confident. I am going to do the best I can to maintain the weight I have achieved, still eat generally healthy, but not fuss over how many calories there are in a slice of cucumber. My current weight is still the lowest it has been for the past 6 years and may look into loosing the last 2kg before the summer as I have a wedding to attend.

    Considering that for the past two years my weight has been 60-62kg, 57.4kg is still a big difference for me. I cannot imagine that about three years ago I even weighed 65-66kg.
  • almonds1
    almonds1 Posts: 642 Member
    *After lots and lots of thinking I am going to give myself a little mental break for a while and not obsess about food that much*

    I do that every Sept-Feb... I am on VC in April so I started early this year!!!
  • glenbabe
    glenbabe Posts: 303 Member
    My thoughts are that you may be so close to goal weight that the loss will now be much much slower....pure maths will tell you what you will lose per week and even if you only lose a quarter of a pound a week you will get where you want to be ....the problem with slow progress is that most scales would not show this for weeks and then the person on the recieving end gets despondent and gives in ....the way forward is to forget the scales for awhile and just keep to your stats and only weigh about once a month from now on and see what happens if there is no movement then maybe your body is trying to tell you that you have no more body fat to lose and thats the time to maintain instead
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