This is probably a silly question but I just cant shake it out of my head.

Im confused why some people will stall for over a month or for months & months on end doing all the right things ((& after trying different ways to get it moving again))...& some like me that wont stall for more than 4 or 5 days til it gets moving again. There are so many times when I see a thread about a really long stall & I feel bad & I just dont know what to say or what to offer to it except to wait it out...honestly I just start to feel bad cause I havent encountered it ((yet)) & they are...especially when someone has a very long stall in their 1st 30lbs lost.

Ive been thinking about this lately....why can some chug along without difficulty & some cant even when they stay on plan & active?

Why can some people eat non stop for days on end without gaining an ounce? Why can my husband run for miles without breaking a sweet and I jog a mile and feel like I'm going to pass out?

Because all of our bodies are different. No two people are the same. Your body is so much more complicated than an equation.

Sorry I asked....never mind. I felt silly for asking it to begin with but now I just feel totally stupid.

But it's not at all a dumb question...it's something everyone needs to be aware of (and we often need reminders of!)

Here's an example. Right now, I'm on painkillers (have been for a while, in fact) for a major shoulder/neck injury. They stall me, and I have to FIGHT not to gain while on them, even with behaviors that resulted in loss or maintenance before. Something in my body physiology makes that "calories in/calories out" equation go wonky when you add in the painkillers. I'm not eating more, I'm exercising more, but I'm maintaining. It's just how it is.

Our bodies are different, and not only that, they change as time goes on. And everyone needs to be aware of that so that, when they hit a stall or have a slowdown, they know that sometimes, that's just how it is, and it's not necessarily a personal failure of any kind.

So thank you for asking the question, because sometimes, we all need the reminder!

No, I think it's a very valid question, and I think the classic "everyone is different" is a cop out answer. Don't feel stupid

Obviously every one is different but WHAT makes us different? I'd like to know too why one person's body is wired so heavily to resist losing fat, and someone else's can drop it like a hat. Is it genetic? Hormonal balance? Something chemical?

I don't think even modern science could fully answer this question, but I'd like to know... other than just "everyone is different" I'd like to know WHY and HOW (specifically, not in broad terms) we're different. Maybe some people can enlighten us with their own personal experiences, and if they had to do anything special to smash their plateaus...

I exercise with interval circuit training heavily and eat as clean as possible and my weight moves super slow. I wish it would go faster sometimes..>I get impatient. Other times I just let nature take it's course... I know my body is healthier for the decisions I make. I feel because my weight it should be melting off...but not so!

I've been wondering about that, too. I've been thinking that one factor is the different choices we make about how to approach our weight loss. In particular, our starting calories.

Some people, like me, start losing weight at the highest amount of calories that will get it going. So, if I were to use one of those calculators, I'd put in my height and current weight and start with the calories advised to lose a pound or two a week. I know, for sure, that as the weight goes down, I'll have to lower the calories. But, the gradual approach gives me confidence that I can do it step by step.

Other people, I understand, put in their goal weight and start their weight loss journey eating the number of calories required to maintain that eventual weight. If all goes well, they won't have to lower the calories as they go along. And, I assume, the weight loss is faster at the beginning and less likely to stall.

Both methods have advantages and disadvantages. The biggest factor to success, in either case, is sticking to the weight loss journey for the long haul. So, the choice is less about speed or the potential of stalling and more about what each of us believes will work for us over time.

Does that make sense?

Thanks for all responses!! I didnt run off crying...I do my laps at night & had to run off to the pool. Cant disappoint the mosquitoes that depend on me for their feast ya know...

So many factors to think about that were mentioned...some I thought about...some I didnt...all make sense. I know for me for now...my body poops out a bit when it keeps getting what its expecting & then I have to manipulate it with a day increase. Not sure how long that will keep working for it though before it once again outsmarts me. Been through plan A...on plan B...have no plan C yet. Sometimes not knowing what turn it'll take makes me feel nervous....maybe Im just letting this get to me since Im pre TOM right now & more emotional than usual...((that I am!!!))

I havent been on birth control for a couple years & I dont plan to get back on it yet cause Im not going to put myself out there to start dating again til Im in a 12. Im still pretty jaded & fearful of the dating scene cause when I dated at 308 some guys I met had no shame in calling me fat..or big...& one took off out the door on me never to be heard from again when I was mistaken the date was going good....my aha moment. Still working through those psychological dents I got from it... anyway...Im a bit fearful of the birth control affecting my loss...but I know I cant avoid being on it unless I plan to stay asexual forever...lol... I know...will suck it up...just voicing a concern. My mind is going to overheat from all these thoughts lately...

I hope I can word this right.....I cant remember the years they say a womans body chemistry changes...isnt it about every 5 or 7 years it changes?? Also how much does someones chemistry change from drastically gaining or losing ((and how...in what ways)) compared to someone who never has....would that null & void out ((or interrupt)) the general change of the approx "5 or 7 years" we go through??? Was wondering about that when swimming... not looking for facts unless you know...interested in thoughts & maybe what you noticed in yourself from then to now??

My brain needs an off switch....

I'm so glad you asked the question that is honestly on everyone's mind.

I think I may have brought on most of my stalls by changing things too quickly. I didn't think about that until you posted this, but I just realized I haven't had a good stall in a while. I figured out that my body's natural pattern is to lose for 2 weeks and then maintain for 2 weeks and there's no fighting it. Once I realized that I stopped increasing my effort like a madwoman and the month long stalls quit. I just know if I'm patient and keep on doing what I need to do my body slowly but steadily loses pounds. And with all my activity, I'm very certain it's all FAT!

As far as body chemistry goes, mine has changed 180 degrees since I started this: my insulin and testosterone levels used to be off the charts on the high end, (42 and 91) and now they are almost off the charts from being so low (5.6 and 30). I am having regular spontaneous periods for the first time in my life. My whole system is working and it's amazing how comfortable I feel in my body. So yes, weight loss will alter your body chemistry. Or rather, weight gain has altered it and weight loss can restore it.

I had two longish stalls (just under a month, and just shy of six weeks) fairly late in my weight loss. Both times, however, I dropped a bunch of weight really quickly as soon as the stalls ended. I was on plan, and I knew it, and the only explanation I can come up with is that I had lost SO MUCH weight at that point, and in the case of the second stall, I was just on the right side of 'normal," that my body was just taking a rest. I did visibly shrink a bit in that time, but the scale was not being terribly friendly.

I know a lot of people say a calorie is a calorie... but I can't believe that if I eat 140 calories of doritos it is going to have the same affect on my body as 140 calories of veggies or beans. I think that plays into it, too. I think there is such a huge variety of diets that different people are going to lose differently.

As far as body chemistry changing... I don't doubt it. I have noticed a HUGE change in my body since I had my son. (he is about a year and a half now). I am 31. but, I have heard other women who have NOT had babies who have turned 30 feel like their bodies have changed, too.

My brain slowed down a bit today!! Dont you just hate when thinking moods hit ya???

shmead: Happy you mention TOM!! For 2 yrs I thought I was starting to go into early menopause ((with no other signs))....each time TOM came it would move up a week...it never failed. Now since March ...Ive noticed its been coming more timely except last month it did move up a week earlier like in the old pattern but I just thought it was from heavier exercise I was doing. I never gave it a thought the weight might've had something to do with it.

Eliana & Catherinef: Thats the patterns my son has in his loss so far...either good 2 weeks...then a stall 2 weeks.......or........just like the month long stall he came off of the beginning of July & 12lbs fell off him since as of yesterday. He didnt change anything either just kept doing what he normally did.....& with so much patience too.

Don't be afraid of birth control I've done my research on it, and the MAJORITY of the time, weight gain due to birth control is simply because it increases appetite. So if you're counting calories, it shouldn't be a problem. And if you're counting calories and the scale is still going up... then just switch for a different birth control.

I want to add that.... I seem to stall when I exercise! I feel like I lose a lot faster when I don't exercise. It's almost frustrating. BUT I know when I'm not exercising, my body is munching on the muscle tissue.

I read about this girl who had a similar issue. She said that she didn't lose much, if anything, the first six weeks of exercising. Then eventually, her body went "AH HAH!" and it learned to start burning fat instead of muscle. So maybe (hopefully) my body is trying to learn to default to burning fat instead of muscle!

I agree with you on that......a calorie is definitely not a calorie...but to me a carb is a carb. I already did the a calorie is a calorie diet when I gained lol....& the "if I measure my cheetos by the size of my palm Im good on portion & its healthy!!!" Wish I could be more lenient on what calories in my mouth but I cant & wont...I treat some bad calorie foods as if Im allergic to them cause I know what they do to me. I just figure that'll be my excuse when I have to pass on something offered that tempts me..."Im allergic..." No one wants to break up a party to call the medics.....