[HadEnough]

Is it possible to never plateau and just keep losing? Just curious if this has happened to anyone. Or even if you only had a few, I would love to hear your story and what you did to bust out of it.

[Meg]

Hi HadEnough (cute name ) and welcome to Maintainers!

I guess it all depends on how you define 'plateau'. For some people, a plateau is no change in a week, for others it's several weeks or a month.

During the year that I was losing, my weight rarely stayed the same for more than 3 or 4 days at a time (I was/am an everyday weigher). But I can remember one stretch of two weeks with no change and I thought I'd go ! I didn't do anything different though, since my plan had been working so well up to that point. I just tried to be patient and yep, eventually my body caught up.

My weight loss wasn't steady, though, by any means. I tracked my measurements every four weeks and this is how the losses ran:

4 weeks: 16 pounds
8 weeks: 11 pounds
12 weeks: 11 pounds
16 weeks: 12 pounds
20 weeks: 7 pounds
24 weeks: 9 pounds
28 weeks: 11.5 pounds
32 weeks: 16 pounds
36 weeks: 4.5 pounds
40 weeks: 7 pounds
44 weeks: 8 pounds
48 weeks: 8 pounds
52 weeks: 2 pounds

Pretty much all over the place!

I see a lot of people panicking when the scale doesn't move for a few days and I just want to say -- be patient! Give your plan a chance to work! Your food and exercise plans are things that you're going to be doing forever, not just for a few weeks or months. So give your body time to respond.

In addition to patience, for me, consistency was the key to a successful weight loss. I never cheated and only had two or three planned treat meals during that year (Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthday). I probably was in the gym at least 360 out of 365 days that year (and the next year, and the next ... that never changes ).

I guess that means my bottom line on plateaus is patience and consistency. If you've found a good plan that's been working for you and that you can comfortably live with for the rest of your life, then try not to panic if the scale isn't moving. So long as you haven't gotten lax or sloppy with your eating and exercise, don't abandon ship right away. Our bodies are mysterious and sometimes they just need to adjust and regroup before they continue losing.

More than my two cents!

[WaterRat]

I, on the other hand, had a plateau that lasted for several months. I'd go up a pound, down 1/4, up 1/2, down 1, etc. wandered up and down this 3# range (i.e. maintained ) BUT I lost 2 sizes during this time, so while the scale was frustrating me, my clothes made me happy. Eventually I lost more, but still very slowly.

[lucky]

I hit a couple of plateaus (which, at the time I considered to be about a month without any weight lost). I always tried switching things up when I did. Either I changed my workout, incorporated new foods, changed my calorie level, etc. But, I didn't do those things to get the scale moving again. Rather, it was to keep from getting bored since I didn't have the scale to excite and entertain me. Of course, if the scale DID start moving again in conjunction with one of my changes that was fine by me!

Now, with that said, I can look back over the past year a little more objectively and see that I haven't had any REAL plateaus. My weight loss may have stalled but my measurements still went down during the same time period. I've got a couple of months where my measurements and weight stayed the same but I lifted heavier and ran faster and farther so I know SOMETHING changed for the better during those months - even if it wasn't what I was gauging my success by at the time. So, I've changed my definition of "plateau" and now consider it a month of eating and exercising on plan and seeing no change whatsoever - scale weight or otherwise. And, no, I haven't actually had a month like that yet.

[GonnaLooseitagain]

I am on my second plateau now and it is annoying. But at least I am not gaining, and in another month when it warms up more, i'm sure I will start losing again. I think it is just that time of the winter for me...lol

[YP1]

My longest "plateau" has been about three weeks, which I wouldn't really call a proper plateau to be honest. I've felt myself getting thinner during it until I finally broke past the place where I was stuck. There have been times where I've felt like I'm plateauing because I've slowed down, but the loss is still happening, just slower.

[Tani]

I never really had any plateaus when I was actively trying to lose weight. At most I'd stay the same for 2 weeks. I did however take a long break during the middle of my weightloss where I wasn't trying to lose.