[FunSize]

....and what finally broke it?

Struggling to understand if I am under-eating, or over-eating. I upped my calories over the weekend to over 2,000 to see if that would snap me out of my 6 week stall but the scale has just gone up. I do feel thinner than what I did 6 weeks ago, however, at some point the scale has got to start moving, right!?
Just curious what has helped people break a long streak of not losing.

[mirax3]

Have you been weight training? I stalled between 170-174 for at least 3-4 months because I was lifting really heavy weights. I finally dropped down to the 160's but like you said I kept feeling smaller and smaller even when I wasn't actually losing weight. I cycle my calories usually, have you tried that? It helped give me the push out of the 170's and I never felt deprived or like I was eating too much.

[LaceyCen]

A year. Not even exaggerating. After buying a bodymedia recently I discovered that I burn a lot less than most calorie calculators say I do, which is (I'm guessing) the reason for the plateau, since I would count my calories to the T, and add in my calories for exercising (which were a lot more than bodymedia says I burn).

But about a month ago I started lifting weights and have "gained" five pounds, despite eating great and healthy. I was expecting that gain, but what I wasn't expecting is that I've already lost a few inches. It'll work itself out, eventually. Hoping to break out of this plateau by the end of the year.

[BlackBarbieKiss125]

At one point I was going to the gym at least 3 times a week (running) and was on 1000 cals a day and losing only 1 lb a month. I lost 15 lbs that whole year, I consider that a platau given how hard I worked on a dialy basis.

I used to cry. Because I felt like there was nothing else in my power I could do in my power.

Then after that year I quit and gained 100 lbs over next 2 years.

Makes no sense right? It is better to be at a platau then be the weight you started at, at least your doing SOMETHING.

I have learned to embrace plataus as your body is confused on only knows to be obese, so that is why it is fighting.

Staying the same is better than gaining.

[ValRock]

18 months... but it was a mental health break.

I hit "healthy" weight and decided to take some time off for my sanity, and to ensure I could maintain and not gain it all back right away.

Back at it... coming off slow, but losing inches a lot faster .

[kelly315]

My longest plateau- when I was actually on plan- was just under a month. In reality, I think my weight loss slowed because I was having more and more higher calorie days, and was averaging eating more than I needed to be.

[alitorry]

I just recently got off my first plateau. It lasted about 8 weeks. the first month of my plateau I still lost lots of inches, but second month, not so much. I switched my workouts, I changed my eating (upped cals, upped protein, etc), but I kinda agree with kelly315, I think it was the same issue for me, more high calorie days. I've just read a lot about being patient during your plateau. I know patience isn't the key for everyone though Good luck!

[Prim2012]

Originally Posted by ValRock

18 months... but it was a mental health break.

I hit "healthy" weight and decided to take some time off for my sanity, and to ensure I could maintain and not gain it all back right away.

Back at it... coming off slow, but losing inches a lot faster .

I did something similar. I stayed in a plateau for about 3 months. I figured my body was telling me something so I decided to just focus on maintaining for the next 12 months and now my head and body seem back in the game. I have lost 7 pounds over the last couple of weeks.

[TheVikingNinja]

For new years I started trying to lose weight, got down to 275 relatively quickly, and was stuck there until May. 4 months the scale would go up and down but always returned to 275. So I cut calories drastically. It probably wasn't healthy but it gave me a needed push. Now I hover around 1200 cals min 1500 max. It varies from day to day exercise etc. But I have an extremely slow metabolism.

[sontaikle]

About 4-5 years. I got down to around 200 just by exercising but I wasn't watching what I ate. When I started watching what I ate the weight came off.

I learned a lot in those 4-5 years of maintenance though; exercise became a habit so it was much easier to just start watching what and how much I ate. I wasn't changing so much at once.

[carter]

Originally Posted by kelly315

My longest plateau- when I was actually on plan- was just under a month. In reality, I think my weight loss slowed because I was having more and more higher calorie days, and was averaging eating more than I needed to be.

This has always been the case for me as well. I have never had a real plateau - a time where I was really strictly on plan without seeing losses on the scale - that lasted longer than 3 weeks or so.

I have had on-plan, 3-week periods in which my body sort of rearranged itself and my measurements changed, without change on the scale. And, as I've gotten closer to a healthy weight, I've had on-plan 3-week periods with no change at all in measurements or weight. At this point I'm losing slowly enough that a couple of days of bad fluid retention can easily mask a full month's worth of fat loss. That's just how it is.

But if I am truly honest with myself, I have to acknowledge that any time I have gone longer than 3 weeks with no change at all, it's because I've become lax about following my plan.

[freelancemomma]

I've never had a plateau when I was on plan, and I've done A LOT of yo-yoing in my life. With me it seems to be pretty simple: I get results in direct proportion to my effort.

F.

[JossFit]

Originally Posted by freelancemomma

I've never had a plateau when I was on plan, and I've done A LOT of yo-yoing in my life. With me it seems to be pretty simple: I get results in direct proportion to my effort.

F.

Ditto

[ValRock]

Originally Posted by freelancemomma

I've never had a plateau when I was on plan, and I've done A LOT of yo-yoing in my life. With me it seems to be pretty simple: I get results in direct proportion to my effort.

F.

Gosh... I freaking WISH my body worked like this. I'm disciplined to a fault. I drive everyone crazy. But it doesn't always translate to the results I want. *sigh*

[caramelkitty]

7 months was my longest, but in all honesty, after the first 2 months I decided to just take a "break" and maintain.

Once I got back into it, I dropped 15 the following month. Ha! who knew?