Argh! Not Losing Anymore! Topic

Rebecca 03/17/09
I'm in a frustrating situation. My first month of counting calories, I lost weight easily -- 11 pounds! Yay! But for the past 2 1/2 weeks, I've just been going back and forth within a 2 pound range. I know that 2 1/2 weeks isn't all that long, and I know that I need to be patient, but... it's difficult.

It has occurred to me that I may be eating too few calories, so I've upped my limit a bit, but... truth be told, after a month of eating less, I'm really not all that hungry for more food anymore. I've also added exercise to my routine and I'm fully aware that this could be compounding the problem if, in fact, I am getting too few calories. But, but, but.... exercise is important! Right? Of course, right!

I'd love to hear from anyone else who has gone through this "plateau phase" and has come out on the other side losing weight again. What did you do? How long did it take to start losing again?

For what it's worth, here are my stats:

5'9"
Starting weight (end of January '09): 229.8
Weight at beginning of March '09: approx 218
Current weight (on 3/17/09): 219.6
I'm going back and forth between 217.8 and 219.8
Goal weight: 150
Original daily food calorie limit: around 1300
Current daily calorie limit since about 5 days ago (and which I'm not usually hitting): around 1550
Plus, I'm burning around 700 calories per week through additional light exercise (I'm planning to increase that eventually)

Does anyone have any thoughts on any of this?

Rebecca 04/02/09
Since I'm the only one in this group besides the MyNetDiary support people, no one likely cares, but.... I appear to be over the plateau! Yay!!

In the past couple weeks, I've gone back to losing fairly steadily. Yay!!!

So, for anyone who may see this in the future, you may be wondering what I did.

I started eating MORE. Not every day, but every few days. And I added a bit more exercise to my week.

I think I was just eating too little. My body thought I was starving it, so my metabolism slowed down.

So, two things: I began using a heart monitor and doing 45 minutes on the treadmill 3 or 4 times a week at the lower "fat burning" speed. (My gym's treadmills will read your heart rate and automatically change the elevation and speed as necessary to keep you at the appropriate rate.)

Also, I upped my daily calorie intake from around 1300 to around 1450 or 1500.

It seems to have done the trick.

Push 06/16/09 replied to Rebecca
I'm late to join this group. I hit a plateau and I let it discourage me and back to some bad habits. I'm now working at my good habits again but I am so afraid of hittin my plateau and working hard on my nutrition and my activity level but not seeing the results I want. arh I hate when progress stalls.

Thebon 07/16/09 replied to Push
Me too.... I'm new to the group but have failed at weight loss in the past by letting the plateau (usually around 10 lbs!) discourage me. I lose ten lbs., people notice and compliment me, my clothes fit better and I stop losing because I am now in "goal" mindset and think, "Oh, I can eat ONE donut..." When I put the Dominoes pizza number on speed dial, I knew I needed to reel myself in.

Gaukrg 08/11/09 replied to Thebon
What knd of exercising are you doing?
Walking?
Sometimes a plateau of weight on the scale can really mean great things are happening in that you are gaining some muscle and losing some fat weight

Dblicher 09/29/09 replied to Rebecca
Fascinating, Rebecca. I will keep your story in mind. I have upped my calories as of two days ago and am actually increasing my sleep rather than my exercise (I retain fluid and get super hungry when I'm overtired). Will see what happens.

TheRamirez 06/29/10 replied to Dblicher
I've hit a plateau as well. I just started this app and in a different app it had me set at 1300 and I felt hungry all the time so of course I snacked. This app I have set at 1700 and I have so much energy. I can't wait to see if I start losing again. The body is a mysterious thing and I hope I'm not setting myself up for a gain instead of a loss.

LoadedJodie22881 04/03/11 replied to Dblicher
@Dblicher: That's really interesting that you felt that lack of sleep was contributing to your plateaux - makes sense though, I think I might make a go of that. I am keeping really strange hours at the moment, which means some nights I'm getting 3 hours sleep and others more like 10 or 11, so my body's probably a tad confused! I had'nt linked it to the pause in my weight loss though - thanks!

Desirae500 04/24/11
Sleep is an essential part of health. Scientific studies have shown that lack of proper sleep contributes to weight gain as well as poor concentration, high blood pressure and other things! Get good rest at night and if you are lucky - a short, power nap during the day. Long live the siesta!

Goragon 07/21/11
My weight lose is at a plateau at the moment. My main problem is the weekends, I lose the weight during the week only to put it all back on over the weekend, I'm going to try and go the bed earlier on the weekends to see if that's stops me snaking and putting the weight back on.

I also think my porsion sizes have increased over the last few months so I may be under estimating my calorie intake so going to lower my intake of food.

Argh! Not Losing Anymore!