HELP! Broke My Plateau, But Going The WRONG Way!!!
 

AHHHH! I was stuck at 149 for such a long time and then just in the past few days, I seemed to GAIN several pounds:( What to do? I'm trying to exercise more, eat less. I mean, I can see where it came from.. I'm sick and eating more, plus my niece's birthday was the other day, so there was a lot of candy and cake around... but I can't believe how much I gained in just two days!:( I've managed to lose 2 lbs of it, but GOSH! Someone help me!:( Now I have to change my ticker too...:(

MrsLovett

I once had a terrible case of plateau. For 4 months it would stuck then go up 2 lbs then go down to where it was before then back up 2 lbs. It was a pain.

Ok that said, take a deep breadth and relax instead of in panic. You lost 20 lbs so far, you gained but you started dropping. Consider what happened as your body taking a small vacation and step up with us back to the wagon. It is a marathon but we can do this!

Mrs Lovett, you know what to do...stop the off-plan thinking and return immediately to your plan, which you know works for you. Who knows? This might have been enough to get you past your plateau, but you won't know until you get back on plan and start heading down again, right?

No panic, no guilt, just an immediate return to what you know works.

You Should Go Ask A Doctor

I agree with Mandalinn, get back to being perfectly on plan.

I've stuck in this 160's rut for a while now, but if I gain it's usually because I though this pizza and beer or something wouldn't count. Woopsie. Get yourself back on and see what happens. Gooooood luck!!!

Plateaus are tough. I was expecting one when I broke the 25 pound mark, but it seems I'm at one at 18 pounds gone. They creep up at the most unexpected points.

You can't gain a ton of weight that fast. You're probably bloated up, water weighted and just retaining all sorts of junk. Maybe you could try a short (less than 48 hours) water fast, until everything has been flushed out of your body? There's a ton of salt and water retaining additives in commercial products. It won't help with the plateau, but it will help you honestly assess the damage.

I would think that drinking more water is the best way to flush the water out. Not drinking water, even for two days, creates a build up and it's not good for your kidneys. In my experience, not drinking enough water makes me retain more water.

I agree with Altari that a lot of the added weight you are seeing is probably water. Whenever I eat off plan, I gain several lbs of water. Heck, sometimes I gain several lbs of water for no apparent reason at all (if I've been eating on plan, I know that any gain I see is water).

It sometimes helps me to add up the calories of what I ate, just to reassure myself that a lot of the gain has to be water. Just as it takes a 3500 calorie deficit to lose a lb, it takes an excess of 3500 calories (that's above your maintenance level, not the level you've been eating at to lose weight) to gain a lb. I doubt you ate that much.

When I eat off plan, I am also often constipated. Not sure if this is the case for you, but if it is, there's another lb or so right there.

So give it a couple of days of on plan eating and you should see the weight come back off.

I also agree with Archy--you want to drink more water, not less. If you are retaining water, the last thing you want to do is stop drinking water. That's only going to make your body more dehydrated and the body's natural response to dehydration is to retain as much water as possible (when you think about it, this makes sense). If you are constipated, drinking more water will help with that too.

BTW--in terms of breaking a plateau, what has helped me time and again is to change my exercise routine. Not necessarily exercising more, just doing something new.

A water fast means you take in nothing but water. ;)

Ooh, now that makes sense!

Oh, yes, the dreaded plateau!! This article always lifts my spirits when the needle is stuck on the scale:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Diet-Plate...es!&id=1208495