plateau
 

I'm a little confused on why so many people are upset when they "plateau"..

What does that mean exactly? It means that you are neither loosing nor gaining mass. In other words for the moment you are maintaining ...
What is so bad about that?

Because we don't WANT to "maintain" -- we want to lose weight and are working our butts off toward that goal!! We know the plateaus are there and we get through them... but that doesn't mean we like them or that they are not sooooooooooooooooo frustrating!! :carrot:

I'm with Misti in Seattle. I want to lose not maintain. I hit a plateau last month at 270 lbs and it was soooo frustrating to work my butt off and not lose even 1 lb in a whole month. I had only been losing for a month so when I hit my plateau I didn't know what was happening, it really almost ended my dieting and exercise because I almost gave up. Now I know pretty much what to do when this happens again and it won't freak me out as bad. :carrot:

i'm sure plateaus have their purpose...but we don't have to like it. unfortunately, we may say we are doing this to get healthy...we will even say we don't care how much we weigh as long as we look good...but in reality...the numbers count almost more than anything. It is definately a mental thing. I hate plateaus!!

Yeh... what Lumi said :) Except I don't think it is just a mental thing... I DO think it matters that the scale says I am waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay overweight. But maybe it depends on just how overweight we are.... I know I sure don't want the scale to say this and I don't think it is just mental. I want both... to be healthy AND to be thin.

Yea, plateaus have a purpose. Your body knows what it's doing.

Here's a link that explains it a little better than I can.

http://www.weightlossforall.com/weight-loss-plateau.htm (hope the link is okay to post)

Plateaus are frustrating, yes. But if you continue to do the right things, your weight will start moving again. Your body is basically saying, "Whoa, hang on, I need time to adjust to this new weight." It just sort of puts things "on hold" for a while.

On the flipside, yes, I'd much rather maintain than gain. But when we're trying to lose weight and busting our butts exercising and eat the right amount of calories, we want to see that scale move DOWN. I know, I've been there more times than I can count. And when the scale stops and stays there for about 3 weeks (they say it can't really be considered a true plateau until you've been stalled for 2-3 weeks at least) you start ripping your hair out because you can't figure out what you're doing wrong. Do you up your calories or cut them back even further? Do you exercise more? Or are you exercising too much? Blah blah blah. All kinds of stuff goes through your brain.

Weeeee! Been on that trip more times than I care to admit:dizzy:

I'd say you can consider yourself in 'plateau mode' if you're going on week 3 with no loss. After one week? That's nothin. Lots of people don't budge in one week. Two weeks? Okay, bordering on frustrating, but it's still nothing to worry about. Three weeks? Yep, you can start throwing tantrums, lol.

i have a certain little mini goal i am trying to hit and my plateau was very frustrating to me cuz i was doing everything i could to lose weight. plateaus are the very reason so many people give up .. they are hateful little diet sabotagers!

Yes they are and that's why it's so important to understand the plateau and why it happens.

The next time any of you hit the dreaded plateau, just keep telling yourself, "Okay, my body knows what it's doing, it's just taking a little break for now but it will cooperate again eventually."

That's how I got through them. I did countless hours of research on the stupid plateaus and knowing how and why they happened is what kept me from giving up.

Even though we all hate plateaus and they're incredibly frustrating, Jayde's making an important point. When you plateau, the scale isn't going down - but it also isn't going up. And that's a GOOD thing! You're keeping off the pounds that you've already lost. People, that's a HUGE accomplishment!! Rather than focusing on 'grrr, the scale isn't moving', take a moment and savor the achievement. :D

You all know the horrible statistics about weight loss and regain, right? That 95% of people who lose weight end up regaining it?? When you plateau, you're maintaining your loss - and beating the odds. Sure you want the scale to keep going down - and it will - but there's a LOT of success in staying in the same place for a while.

Once you get to goal, the scale doesn't go down any more. Let's say you're eating 1400 clean calories and doing 90 minutes of exercise every day and your reward is ... seeing the same number on the scale every day. :dizzy: So you're forced to define your success in other ways -- and I personally think maintenance of ANY pounds lost is an enormous success. :D

Amen.

I just can't be happy about maintaining, not when there is soooooooo much more to lose. Not when I'm doing everything "right" and still not getting the results. Nope, no sir. Not happy at ALL.

If I do everything that's expected of me, I feel entitled to a loss. I feel I've earned it. And I feel cheated if it doesn't happen. If there were a good solid reason, if I'd eaten doughnuts and ice cream, THEN I could accept it. But if I'm doing the things I should be doing, I should get a payoff commensurate with that effort.

In the past 4-5 weeks, I've gained and lost the same 2ish pounds in half pound increments. And I'm durned ticked about it! Actually, I'm way more than ticked but that's about as PC as I can say it on these boards. It seems the only thing I've lost is my enthusiasm.

It's as if my body is conspiring against me.

Ok, I read the link about plateau's in Linda's link. I've heard about zig zagging before but never used it. Do any of you out there use it? What do you think about it?

I hit a plateau for my firt 5 weeks. I lost for a couple and hit another. That is why I hate them. It wouldnt be so bad if I had at least lost an amount of weight to brag about or if my cloths at least fit different. Argh!

As frustrating as palteaus are, I'm learning to deal with them - that just seems to be how my body loses weight. It is frustrating to go to the gym all the time, skip the treats, live really healthy, and not see the numbers budge for a few weeks. For me, though, it seems like I hit a plateau for a couple weeks, then drop 3 pounds all at once. On the other hand, my mom only hit one plateau during her whole weight loss. Frustrating, irritating, but I've still lost an average of 1.25 pounds per week since I started, which is what i was aiming for, and i haven't once gained since i started (although... after that hot dog at 3 am after the bar on Saturday night... :) ) so I really can't complain.

GREAT post LLV- thanks for the link, very helpful!

You're very welcome :)

I've done it and it worked for me. Sometimes I up my calories not intentionally but sort of 'accidentally'. Like over Easter weekend. I ate a ton of food (well, more than I normally would) candy and all kinds of stuff. I wanted to cover my eyes getting on the scale a couple of days later because I fully expected to be up a pound or two and instead I had lost.

Eating a few more calories than normal for a couple of days, in my opinion, 'upsets' the balance your body is used to being stuck in and causes things to move again. At least that's how it's worked for many others. When you eat the same amount of calories day in and day out, your body gets stuck in that routine and settles. If you up your calories a little bit, your body goes, "Weee! Food! More calories to burn!" and it gets the metabolism revved up some. So then when you drop your calories back down, your metabolism is still 'up there' from the extra calories it's had to burn off and you're going to burn more than you're eating. If that makes any sense, lol.

That's the best way to explain it, I suppose. Do a search on zig-zagging or calorie cycling and read up on it. It's pretty interesting.

Thanks Linda for the link..


I absolutely agree, Meg.

I think what it would be like say if I were overweight in the 1800's when personal scales were not the norm in households. I know in Anitbellum times weight control was measured in inches around the waist for women.. this was not always healthy as young beauties all wanted 19 inch waists!

Anyway, I just find that waiting for a number on the scale to move down when it won't seem to budge and being frustrated because of it is strange.

As you keep at your plan,.. eating, exercising, enjoying life..all of that YOU have to be getting closer to your goals even if the scale "seems" to be stuck. You can be the same mass yet still be getting thinner and healthier. Or as Linda and Meg say your body could just be adjusting to what you've recently put it through.

If I ever reach a plateau and change my mind about how I feel, I'll be sure to come back and tell everyone I understand.

In the meantime.... keep doing what you know you need to do.. I will be.

I got into a plateau for a month then the following month kept going up and down a little lower than my stall the month before. This has allowed me time to adjust (mentally) to my new size. I no longer have to shop in the plus section of stores (although right now I'm only shopping for clothes at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or Target). I can actually fit into an XL shirt and some Larges. I bought bikini underwear for the first time in my life and it fits good! :D

Now I'm losing again and I'll have to adjust to a new lower weight and smaller size soon. I've been overweight all my life and this plateau or adjustment period is actually nice. Yes I want to lose weight and I want it now... but I also need time to accept my new body and get used to it in small stages.

This isn't to say I didn't get frustrated during that time. Because I certainly did. But in hindsight, it was actually something good. Eating this way and working my butt off is something I have to do every single day for the rest of my life. I need to get used to it, because it's here to stay.

Wow, Brandi. Though some might think it strange, I am almost glad it will take me awhile to lose significant weight. I need the time to adjust also and figure things out. Especially maintenance and awareness of how I let this happen in the first place.

One thing I've had to adjust to is weighing myself daily. For myself I know it is the key to keep me from falling into bad habits and denial. On the other hand, now that I watch the scale every day I wonder if it will have a negative impact on my patience. I am trying to be proactive to make sure I don't get that mind set.

Whenever I get into the "poor me" mindset when I hit a plateau (like now) I remind myself that I've been overweight for 30 YEARS!!! Even if I only lose 10 pounds A YEAR, I'll reach my goal in just 4 years! Of course, I'm hoping it won't take THAT long! If I've got another 30 years left on this earth, I don't want to be overweight for the rest of my life and I am the only one who can do anything about it.

I know I'm doing the right things (most of the time) and even if I am on a temporary plateau, the way I see it is that I'm not gaining and soon I will l be losing again. So there's hope if I just hang in there and not have a big pity party and start consoling myself with food.

I've related my plateau experience before, but it's fairly applicable to this topic so I'll post it again :) I started losing weight at 195+ lbs in July 2004. By March 2005, I weighed 140 lbs with a goal of 135 lbs. I stayed at 140 for 12 weeks. It was very frustrating to be stuck at 140, I hadn't seen 13something since the early 90s. I ate more, I ate less, I did more cardio, I did less cardio. I got on the scale 3 times a day. It was a pretty miserable 12 weeks where I felt like a big failure.

Then, around June, I realized - hey, I haven't gained any weight! I realized that I looked pretty damn good at 140, that I fit into cute size 10/medium clothes. I went into a shopping frenzy and decided to quit wasting time being miserable over 140 lbs when I looked and felt fabulous. I decided to start maintaining and slowly (over June, July, August) raised my caloric intake from 1600 to 1800+ (this was a very scary thing to do). Sometime during July/August (can't remember) the scale dipped down to 137. So happy! Under 140 at last.

In October, I went on a 4 week business trip to Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. I tried to eat well, but it wasn't always easy and there were lots of rich dinners out and glasses of wine. I also did a ton of walking. Imagine my surprise when my pants felt looser when I got back. I got on the scale expecting to see a higher number and I weighed 135. I met my goal weight 8 months after I started plateauing in March 2005!

The scale kept creeping downward through December, January and February and my weight finally stabalized around 127. I normally swing between 126-130 during my monthly cycle (I only weigh once a week).

So, it took me 7 months to lose 52 lbs. Then it took me 9 months to lose 5 lbs and another 3 months to lose 8 lbs. The last little bit really really comes off slowly! I definitely credit my increase in daily calories with busting my plateau. I was eating just under maintenance - a small caloric deficit was a big win for me!

The reason Plateaus are so frustrating and we dont like them is because we feel like all are hard work is for nothing. Plateaus are also the one reason so many people give up on diets and trying to lose weight. I know I just hit one 2 weeks ago. It was a 4 week plateau and I was so frustrated it seems like all my efferts where for nothing. I need to lose weight not maintain.

Exactly, Jtjoray! I can understand them... and put up with them... but I will NEVER like them LOL

Wow! 12 weeks is a LONG plateau. I bet you are glad you hung in there and tweaked your calories to achieve your goal. I think I'll try increasing my calories just a little - it might be the boost my metabolism needs to shake things up and get me going again.