Plateauing!!!
 

I'm about to rip my hair out. I've been on IP for almost 11 weeks now, and done great (52 pounds lost).

But for the last 8 days? No change. Or even worse, up and down the same 1/2 a pound, then today? UP!!!! I now weigh one pound more than last week.

I haven't cheated AT ALL! I've been drinking my water, exercising... and still, I WON'T LOSE!

I have people (non-IP people) telling me I need to take a break, to reset my metabolism. Or that I need to eat some fat, to restart loss.

But I DON'T WANT TO DO THAT!

I *am* at 20% weight loss since I started IP... maybe a plateau is normal now? Maybe my body is resetting, and if I just wait, it will start coming off again? I mean, with the low calories, low carb, and exercise, how can it not?

I just need some reassurance. Anyone else gone through this? Or have advice?

I think Carla is the right person to respond to this... let's see if she takes the bait! :D

BTW, you HAVE done brilliantly on IP!

Carla kind of addressed this on her recent post on the weeklythread

I think YOU are DOING great.... I think sometimes it takes your body a bit to catch up... have you measured yourself? If you havent cheated then it is still working its just not showing on the scale yet... but it will. You have lost a fantastic amount of weight very quickly and I think we get used to that and then if that stops we are like wth??? When this happened to me I went back to day one.... pretended like I was new all over again.... no restricted anything... measured weighed you name it and then I started losing inches like crazy, like a size a week it seemed. I also started using a tsp more oil and made sure I got in everyday. I am still getting smaller but weigh the same..... dont stress and dont pull out your hair... wigs are far to expensive ;) and you have beautiful hair...

WOW!! Carla's so good, she answered your question before you even asked it!! :D

Good counsel, Wannabe! :hug:

You are doing great, but I feel your frustration. As pointed out, Carla explains it all :) I had the same thing happen at week 11. Just keep doing what you are doing and things will be fine. Of course, I'm a "scale hopper" which added to the frustration. Check your measurements to see if you have lost inches. The only other "low" weight loss week I had I lost 2 inches off my waist. To prove it happens and then gets better here is my 17 week data. You CAN do this! You WILL do this. We'll be here to support you!


1 10
2 6.5
3 7
4 3
5 6
6 4
7 4.5
8 4.5
9 4.5
10 3.5
11 2
12 4
13 3.5
14 2.5
15 4
16 3.5
17 4

Great post I wish I had of tracked better, that is a perfect example....

:rofl:

You all crack me up! LOL.. I think I may talk too much!

Sgorny,

I agree with Novak, WannaBe gave you great advice.

First, relieve yourself of the idea your are stalled or plateaued. It causes unnecessary stress. A weight loss stall/plateau is when you lose nothing for 30 days. That will not happen.

I know, we all started this for the weight loss. BUT, and this is a reminder for me too, try to think about this as stages of a weight loss process. Different things are always taking place and some are not by the "measure" we are using. Our body heals, loses weight, changes its chemistry, loses inches, restores the skin to an appropriate place and so much more. Sometimes we have to trust that the work needing to be done is being done and not look only to the scale as validation that we are doing well.

I think this week we will see a few people who are in that 11 to 16 week window mention several things. Some of what can happen in that time frame are: feeling different physically, feeling different emotionally, more headaches, dizziness, hair loss, wanting to sleep more, nausea, stalled weight, up and down weight, hungry a lot more than normal but not craving, or finding a craving for a food you never liked before. AND, the best part happens in that window too. People suddenly find they are losing large amounts of inches, changing clothing sizes quickly, and getting many more compliments than before.

You certainly can talk to your coach and phase out if that is what you want to do. It may be easier for some to do that and come back to phase 1.

You are completely able to stay at phase 1 as long as you need too. IF you stay in phase 1 and are in ketosis, you SHOULD NOT be experiencing the starvation effect that other people worry about on strictly low calorie diets. YOUR body is not starved on this diet. It is getting plenty of fuel from a source that is biologically designed/available to us. We all store fat for future energy. THIS is how that energy is tapped. Unfortunately, we don't live the primitive life that utilized this means as it once did and, our bodies haven't forgotten how to save the fat "just in case". We are FORCING a process to begin to tap into available fuel resources. IF you stay in the fat burning mode, ketosis, your body is NOT on starvation. Your metabolism should not drop significantly as a result. (this is a key reason why it is best not to cheat or cheat too often on this diet. for it to remain healthy you must stay in ketosis.)

It should be noted that our metabolism will adjust and drop according to our size/weight as your lose. I can't recall exactly, I have it somewhere but, for every pound you lose your body adjusts its "caloric need" down by a specific number. Our caloric need is suppose to be able to take care of our normal body functions and any added demands we place on it. As we lose weight it is easier on our body. Even exercise results change as our body drops weight because, in effect, instead of doing everything carrying a 200 pound weight it is carrying a 150 weight. That means we have to, eventually, add in more activity to compensate for that shrinking spread between how much we eat and how much we should eat.

I think you will be fine. Drink the water so you don't become dehydrated which, only adds water weight. Rest, we lose more when we sleep a full 8 hours at night. And, like WannaBe says, go back to day one. You finished the first cycle of phase 1, it is time to start a new one.


If you are not yet exercising, now is the time to slowly start adding back a light to moderate exercise each day. DO NOT elevate your heart rate out of the 50-65% heart rate zone. Light easy walking or swimming will do.

Read the exercise thread and Elizabeth's posts. They give a great reason why we actually can lose more while exercising if we exercise in a more efficient heart rate zone for this program.

This program is great. It can get boring for those of us losing significant amounts of weight or for others who lose more slowly for their own reasons. It will keep working if you keep following it. To do so, you may need to temporarily set aside your early established expectations and set new ones.

Given my personal experience, I PROMISE you, the diet has not stopped working. :)

:hug:

Once again (and as always!) you hit the nail on the head with this post, Carla!!

I am in week 13 and you described me almost to a T -- feeling different physically/emotionally, lethargic, HUNGRY but not craving... Unless you count salads - I want salad with oil and vinegar all the freakin time now (who AM I?). It's really quite odd. I started exercising around week 2 or 3 so I'm actually scaling back right now because I simply don't have the energy for it. I know it will return; I just have to let my body finish doing whatever it's doing right now! :dizzy: I'm another one who weighs daily and even the pattern is different this week: -1.5, 0, +1, -2, 0. I usually don't see variances of more than a pound from day to day.

Thanks, Carla. Your response is helful and reassuring!

I love that this is how you prefaced your response (which was not exactly short). You express yourself very well without being redundant or saying anything irrelevant. Keep it up! :D

:o Thank you!

I plateau every week. I know I shouldn't but I step on the scale every morning and for most of the week it doesn't move at all. But every 5-6 days it drops 3-5 lbs and then we repeat the same thing over every week. I don't know why it works that way for me but it does. I would assume the same thing would happen if it took 8 days for me. All I know is that every week at except for 1 I have great loses and have been really happy with it. You have done great so keep with it and listen to all the great advice from the ladies and gentlemen here. Its priceless.

That's remarkable. Is there some sort of auto-switch on your body that ratchets down your weight every few days? :D

There must be. Its a good thing I can't find the button to make it work otherwise I might have to tape it down :p