Hello all-
For those of you who have hit your goal or are within a few to 10ish pounds when did you plateau? I'm curious to know if it's going to be closer to a healthier goal weight or if it will start whenever it feels like starting. Does everyone experience plateau's no matter what? And lastly when you hit your plateau with only a those last few to lose were you as strict with exercise and diet or did you let up a bit? I'm terrified to plateau because seeing the scale move is definitely a huge motivator to keep going.
If someone started their weight loss journey with my current stats would they plateau differently from me since I started 7 months ago? Does it have more to do with amount of weight or the length of time you've been sticking to a plan. I'm going on a 5 week vacation and hope to pause/maintain while I'm away and to pick up where I left off when I get back. I'm hoping it will be a nice shock to my body and I will be able to start again and lose without any problems.
I'm 29 years old, 5'3" and a quarter and currently weigh 162 (started at 242). I average between 10-12 lbs. a month and I have lost 80lbs in 7 months. My workouts are still tough for me and I'm still considered overweight by at least 35lbs. So since I still have a significant amount to lose before I'm at a healthy range and before I'm even near a gw is it realistic to think my plateau will start with about 10-15lbs to go? Can some of you share your experiences with me please?
I plateau every five pounds, due to growing muscles and what not. Drives me crazy. I was at 140 for about 6 months, that is because I was working at a restaurant though and ate almost all the time. So it didn't matter if I jogged four miles or biked 2 hours both ways to work I was still maintaining the same weight. That and doing all cardio didn't help me gain the muscle I needed to make cardio more effective.
After quitting the restaurant I immediately was down to 139 then it has been steadily going down since then. I'm plateaued right now for the past month or two... but it is hard in the cold to stay active.
I started at 154, but I think some of that was water from a medication I was taking then. I plateaued big time at 145. Finally got below that and plateaued @ 130 for MONTHS. I would weigh in every week and I would be up 2, down 2...that's when I got frustrated and stopped tracking what I ate. Between that and the holidays I'm back around 140. My goal is 123.
I used to plateau around every ten pounds and now it's about five. Here are the weights where the scale remained stagnant for a while:
197 lbs
182 lbs
171 lbs
165 lbs
161 lbs
156 lbs
152 lbs
147 lbs
144 lbs - and this is where I am. I've been sitting here so long, I feel like I should build a house.
I had a great first month, lost 9 lbs. Went on vacation and decided to eat whatever I wanted. I barely had any appetite on the trip. Got back, hadn't gained, started right back up. That was around Halloween. I've lost 3 lbs since then, and now I haven't eaten on plan since mid December. I haven't gained, in fact I dipped down to 139.4. Almost all of November was on plan and the scale barely moved every few weeks.
It's really discouraging and I guess I've given up really, although I come here all the time, I try to eat fairly healthy, but I haven't really been on plan for weeks. I tell myself I am "taking a break"
Also, are you sure 127 is the overweight point for being 5' 3''? I am the same height and I really thought the cut off was 140.
Thanks everyone for your replies!! I'm so scared to plateau. When you guys say you plateau, how long does this usually last for? Is it a few days, weeks or months even. And when you are in a plateau are you still working out and eating healthy the entire time without progress? It makes no sense that we would all plateau seeing how it's calories in and calories out and especially if we're working out. So not fair.
Wildflower - I'll try to find the website i used (thought it was CDC.ORG) to calculate it, but I plugged in my numbers and it told me that I needed to be 115 to be at a healthy weight to avoid weight related cancers.
well when i plateau it doesn't last long. i usually have a cheat meal/day. i will then gain (sometimes up to 4lbs) with water weight. sometimes i have bad food and sometimes i have bigger portions of good food i'm already eating. after i gain i start losing like normal again. i guess it is similar to what people do to calorie cycle. i also did mrc, when ppl stalled they said just to stick to your regular plan. you could also be losing inches and just not pounds. mrc described it as the fat cells trying to hold on, so sometimes they fill with water but eventually flush out. that always sounded kind of wierd to me though.
and if i plateaued for 2 weeks i would do that cheat day. if i stayed on plan i could sometimes plateau for 3 weeks, but still lost inches, it usually evens out.
In the past I plateau at 133 or so - normally lasting for a month or two (going down 2 / up 2, etc). I've been off my regular schedule since the end of November so I'm not at a plateau currently but have been reading up on how to blast through it this time.
I've been mostly told to make sure I'm not 'eating back' my exercised calories - and like skinnyby25 mentioned, pay attention to inches instead of pounds when you get stuck. It will help keep you motivated to see something moving even if its not the scale
Honestly, I don't know what helps me get over the hump. More often than not, I step on the scale and all of a sudden I'm down 3 lbs and moving again. It's awesome.
As for the cals in vs cals out, we all wish it were as simple as that, right? Additionally, working out = muscle = more weight. I wish I started tracking my body fat a long time ago. Plus you have to remember to add in hormonal changes etc. It's too easy to get caught up in the numbers
I started at 154, but I think some of that was water from a medication I was taking then. I plateaued big time at 145. Finally got below that and plateaued @ 130 for MONTHS. I would weigh in every week and I would be up 2, down 2...that's when I got frustrated and stopped tracking what I ate. Between that and the holidays I'm back around 140. My goal is 123.
Same here. I started at 157 and I'm in the middle of a plateau now at 130 since the end of November. Pretty frustrating to say the least. I haven't given up, but it's hard not to. (I'm terrified of gaining any weight back though, so that fear alone does a pretty good job on keeping me on track. It was hard work getting where I am; I don't want to have to do it again!)
I started my current weight loss journey in the fall of 2005 weighing 145 pounds. Over the next three years I very slowly lost 30 pounds to 115. At this point my weight loss came to a screeching halt. My weight remained stuck at 115 for two years. Since just before this past Thanksgiving I have cut my eating down to two meals a day and I am pleased to say that I am finally down two pounds and now weigh 113.
I never actually plateaued, but I only lost 21 pounds, so perhaps there wasn't really time. In the third week I appeared not to have lost anything, but the next week I lost about four pounds, so I consider the anomalous week to be one in which my body was gearing up for a big loss, or perhaps I just masked the weight loss with water weight that week. I lost the weight in three months.
Last edited by Petite Powerhouse; 01-10-2011 at 11:56 AM.
Featherweights - at what weight did you plateau?
