Plateau already? Or broken scale?

KF1216
KF1216 Posts: 175 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone,
I've been on this road to change since Jan 1st and have lost 17ish lbs. The month of January was pretty slow because I was havin trouble not splurging. But since I got my groove in February I've lost about 2lbs a week consistently. I'm an every day weigher, which, I know, I know...shouldn't do. But up until now it's given me great motivation because it's usually down .2ish lbs every day and if it's up I can usually say, oh well that's because of xyz.

Last Saturday I was down to 193.2 and I think that's a very accurate # as the scale had been sliding down slowly all week. But then Sunday it was up to 193.6 - which, fine, normal fluctuation. Then Monday, 193.8. Yesterday, 194.6! Today? 196.4!??!?

You can look at my journal, I've been doing everything right...I've had some hard workouts this week but I eat all but 100-300 of my exercise calories (I don't eat all of them usually because I know MFP overestimates calories burned). The last few days I've eaten about 1600-1700 cals total so I can't imagine the answer is to eat more...

FTR, I'm 30yrs old, 5'9". Thanks for your help, this is really frustrating!

Replies

  • akiramezu
    akiramezu Posts: 278 Member
    Can't see the diary!
  • KF1216
    KF1216 Posts: 175 Member
    oops, sorry, try now! I had it set to friends only. Thanks so much!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,458 MFP Moderator
    Weight loss isn't linear so you can't treat it like that. Your body will have ups and downs.I would recommend dropping your carbs to 40% and up your protein to 40%. This should help with some of the water retention.
  • Jade17694
    Jade17694 Posts: 584 Member
    Have another look at your diet settings, it may be that you're eating too few/many calories for your current activity level... i didn't realise i wasn't eating enough until i had another look at my settings and realised i had to change my level of activity....
  • KF1216
    KF1216 Posts: 175 Member
    woah, I did go WAY over sodium yesterday! I haven't been tracking that on my journal...will keep an eye on that from now on, yikes.
  • akiramezu
    akiramezu Posts: 278 Member
    Okay, i've viewed your diary. So here are some tips for you
    1) Decrease carbs. I notice it's sitting around 200-250g, Try aim 150
    2) Protein, try to aim 150 as well, protein is more thermogenic than carbs, so your body actually uses more energy to digest it
    3) with your coffee, keep it black. it's zero calories and having 100-200mg of caffeine per day, can aid in fat loss, caffeine has been shown to increase lipolysis, which is essentially the break down of fatty acids.
    4) Your calorie intake is fine, so leave it as it is
    5) Watch your sodium levels, salt retains water
    6) Just be patient, don't expect to lose weight every week at a constant pace. You will have weeks and perhaps months where you don't lose anything at all.
  • KF1216
    KF1216 Posts: 175 Member

    3) with your coffee, keep it black. it's zero calories and having 100-200mg of caffeine per day, can aid in fat loss, caffeine has been shown to increase lipolysis, which is essentially the break down of fatty acids.
    .


    aww I love my coffee:(
  • KF1216
    KF1216 Posts: 175 Member
    the other tips sound very doable though. I've been having such good success so far that I haven't paid any attention to carbs/fat/sodium, etc. just trying to eat healthy foods and stay under calorie goals. I've always known in the back of my mind that at some point I'd have to work a little harder to continue seeing results....didn't realize that someday would come so soon, but I guess I need to pony up!
  • akiramezu
    akiramezu Posts: 278 Member
    I love my energy drinks =P but they are a no no haha xD so i take caffeine pills. or black coffee. Also, please cycle your caffeine intake, which means, have your caffeine for a month, and stay off it for a week. You will have a tolerance for it, and the fat burning benefits of caffeine won't be as effective. So at the moment, i am on 400mg of caffeine a day for 4 days, and i am off it again for 3.
  • KF1216
    KF1216 Posts: 175 Member
    I was drinking 2 cups a day, every day, and have cut it back to one cup...is that good? Or I should cut it out completely? I have some "total control" pills from Herbalife (which I used to do a year ago) they have quite a lot of caffeine in them, I guess I could try them in the morning for a few days instead.
  • kristy6ward
    kristy6ward Posts: 332 Member
    Can't call it a plateau after only a few days! My official weigh in day is Saturday mornings, but I weight myself whenever I'm at the gym just to see progress. Thursdays are awful, I'm usually up two whole pounds! But come Saturday, I'm right where I hope to be, at least a pound and half down since my last official weigh. I just chock it up to a recovery period after lifting heavy on tuesday. Fluctuations happen, but they're not permanent if you do well on your diet and exercise.
  • akiramezu
    akiramezu Posts: 278 Member
    Caffeine is a stimulant, your body over time will build up a tolerance. Most likely you are either immune to the affects of caffeine or you are dependent on it. Prefer that you create your own 'caffeine cycle' Perhaps 2 day coffees and the next day no coffee and the next day 2 coffees and the next day no coffee and so forth and so on. Or 1 week coffee and 1 week no coffee, whatever suits you. However, 2 cups of coffee a day is probably only 100-200mg of caffeine and there's no need to cycle it, just something to think about that's all haha.
  • moonsforeyes
    moonsforeyes Posts: 228 Member
    Easy, don't weigh yourself everyday. Weight can fluctuate for me around 8 pounds. It's just not a good idea and you can become over obsessive. Wouldn't worry about it dear! As it is definitely not weight you are gaining. Could be water weight. I only weigh in once a month and that is great motivation for me!
  • KF1216
    KF1216 Posts: 175 Member
    Easy, don't weigh yourself everyday. Weight can fluctuate for me around 8 pounds. It's just not a good idea and you can become over obsessive. Wouldn't worry about it dear! As it is definitely not weight you are gaining. Could be water weight. I only weigh in once a month and that is great motivation for me!

    see, I'd like to get into once a week weighing, but then I'd worry that what if my weigh-in day ended up being a day where I got some flukey-up-two-pounds weight? Then I'd be so discouraged for the whole week, but weighing every day I can see that it goes up one day, down the next.....I guess the catch is it's great until you start obsessing, which, hello - that could be today. :(
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