Stuck at weight - try something new or keep on truckin'?
What the title says. I've been stuck at this one weight for a week and a half, despite being on a daily calorie intake of 1200-1300 and doing Jillian Michaels workouts, and keeping carbs lower. So, is my body just building muscle, etc, and I should keep doing what I'm doing, or is there something I could change to help shift a pound or so? It's incredibly frustrating!
In the beginning the body loses weight fast. You can lose or see losses nearly daily. However, our bodies adapt. It gets used to eating less. It gets used to doing more with less food etc. PLUS, the smaller you get, the less deficit you are creating. Does that mean you should lower calories and up activity? No. It means you need to be patient and do it properly so that you can keep at it and keep the weight off.
In the beginning, I was losing 10-15 pounds a month. Now I'm happy with 3 pounds lost in a month. I'm just as active, eating the same, but I have less to lose and it just takes longer, but I'm OK with that as I am losing - slowly and steadily.
Check other things too - are your measurements going down? are your clothes fitting better? That all means things are happening and the scale will drop soon.
Then, some people have monthly, cyclical fluctuations. some people gain weight during TTOM and/or ovulation. Some people lose steadily all month long, others in starts and spurts with whooshes - see if you have a pattern. Once you recognize it, it's easier to deal with when a stall happens again.
Why don't you pick another objective to focus on than weight for now?The more we fixate on weight the less weight we lose, I learn't that. Tighter stomach, better cardio vascular endurance e.t.c are examples of other goals. Pick whatever you feel compliments your overall goals and you might actually be amazed that your goal might be reached when you are not thinking about it so much. Good luck
I agree with the others and just stick with it. This can get annoying - trust me, I know. Perhaps try alternating the days you do your workouts. Maybe that will help!
Stick with it! It took 3 weeks last time for my scale to move. Just because it doesn't move as fast as you want it, doesn't mean you are doing something wrong.
Through my whole weight loss I had large periods of time (1-3 weeks) when nothing happened.. then WHHOOSSHHHHH.. off went a bunch of weight and it would keep moving down till I got stuck again.
Maybe you should start measuring yourself. During the weeks I lost no pounds on the scale I DID lose inches.
Thanks everyone, I feel really encouraged to keep on at it!
Jules, what you said was a good idea - to concentrate on something other than the scale for a while. I do want io increase my endurance in cardio exercise, so I think I'll concentrate on that, keep doing what I'm doing, and hopefully it'll happen!
Thanks to everyone, I really appreciate the support.
Stick with it and if it really plateaus for longer than a few weeks, try changing it up (e.g. calorie cycling/cheat day)! I've found that a cheat day stops me from plateauing although it's scary weighing the next day and finding your weight go up.
I've been reading about calorie cycling actually, Kayriel, and wondering how it works! I think, as you say, the prospect of the scale going up has prevented me from trying it, haha!
I've been reading about calorie cycling actually, Kayriel, and wondering how it works! I think, as you say, the prospect of the scale going up has prevented me from trying it, haha!
I personally do a refeed/cheat day once a week and my weight goes up by average 1-1.5lbs the next day. It's mostly water weight and gone within 2-3 days and I usually go on to lose about 1lb before my next one.
I record my weight on myfitnesspal daily so it's reassuring looking at that chart and knowing that the general trend does go downwards! Although for the first couple of months, I'd have my refeed day on Saturday and wouldn't weigh myself until Wednesday so as not to freak myself out.
Stuck at weight - try something new or keep on truckin'?
