Plateau

Hey, all

I am new to the weight loss challenge.....started in earnest on Sept. 10, and in the last 5+ weeks, I went from 257 to 239.

Now, things are slowing a bit....I am monitoring intake, keeping a log, and walking 3.5 miles DAILY, without exception.

Seemed to level off a bit.....how does one get past the "plateaus"?

thanks, and looking forward to learning and losing with your help!

Well, if you've lost 18lb in ~5 weeks, that's actually faster than you'd want to be going. But the beginning loss probably included some water weight. So now it's perhaps slowing down to the more reasonable 1-2lbs, or simply recovering from the quicker loss.

Make sure you aren't carrying a deficit of greater than 1000 calories, and let your body equilibrate, so to speak, before you decide something needs to be changed.

Thanks for the quick reply.    Understand about the initial water loss...so I am to deduce that the fat loss is more challenging than the water loss?

What happens if I exceed the 1000 calorie deficit consistently? 

Also, what signs will my body tell me if my metabolism is slowing?

Thanks in advance for the great info!

I don't know that it's more challenging... just that water weight can just kinda drop off in the first week or so when you change up your diet (but can also come back due to an evening of eating salty food, etc). It's more random, whereas fat loss will be a function of calories in vs calories out.

The recommended 500-1000 cal deficit is just that, a recommendation. But it varies by person how much of a deficit they can actually carry. I don't lose weight if I try to have a deficit about about 500cal.  Another rule of thumb is 1% body weight lost per week. So if you are 200lb, you could potentially lose 2lb/week (1000 cal deficit/day). But if you are 150, you'd only want to aim for at most 1.5lb/week, although most people I know who are in that weight range aim for a 1lb/week loss and lose better that way.

Basically the body can only metabolize a certain amount of fat per day, and trying to force it to burn more will only yield disappointing results. People have different experiences, but many find that trying to go too fast, and lose too much has the opposite of the desired result - their weight loss stalls. Slow and steady tends to win out rather than the more aggressive attempts.

Off the top of my head, some signs of metabolism slowing are lethargy and lack of appetite.

I agree with Amethystgirl.  Also, it may be difficult to sustain a 1,000+ daily deficit.  If you subscribe to the mentality of denying yourself the fuel that your body needs, you may go off the deep end and binge.  Just keep the weight loss slow and steady.  After all, you didn't get to 257 overnight and it is going to take some time and effort to get to your goal weight. 

I've been on that dreaded plateau for over five months.  I just consider it great practice at maintaining.  You've done a great job so far and at least you know you can do it!  Good luck! 

Thanks for the insights.

Another question regarding the calorie deficit.

When you say "defecit", are you referring to your BMR, or the number from the burn meter?  my BMR should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 2085, with the burn meter, I see a number of 2640.  That would not include a 400 calorie burn daily from my 3.5 mile walk, which I do every day without fail. 

So, the deficit is calculated from the burn meter...I should take in approx 1600 calories a day....the calories burned from the walk would mean I am actually burning 1400 a day?

Can you clarify for me?

thanks again in advance

Deficit = Total Burned minus Total Eaten.

BMR is essentially what you'd burn in a coma (www.phord.com/cc has a good calculator), and in general I recommend not eating less than that. So if your BMR is 2085, and you burn 2640 being sedentary, plus ~350 from your walk (subtracting a little, since the 2640 assumes sedentary for 24 hrs, and so whatever time was spent on the walk wasn't sedentary), you'd burn close to 3000 in a day.

Which means you should be eating around 2000 cals a day, which would both allow you to eat your BMR (apprx), and have a deficit of 1000.

ok, that makes sense.

I have been eating no more than 1500-1700 calories a day since I started this in September...(about 5 weeks)....and I know how much food it takes to get to that level of intake....cant imagine how much I was eating all those years to gain as much as I did.   Alot of it is WHAT I ate, too, I suspect...

so, you are generally recommending that I not consume less than my BMR daily.....that is interesting.

Thanks much for the insights!

Just the simple act of writing down what you eat (esp if it means that the number of calories pops up next to it) can make people reduce how much they are eating.

Plus, making better choices can also get rid of a lot of calories you had no idea you were eating.

When you realize that a snickers bar has almost as many calories as your breakfast, you realize that it isn't an appropriate post workout snack (of course, I never did that - nope, not once...), and so you replace it with something else. Small decisions (even just deciding that you don't care enough about the cheese on the burger, so you'll skip it or deciding not to get that second slice of pizza) add up without necessarily having to drastically change what you are eating. And then if you actually replace that burger with 4 oz of chicken and a side of veggies... well, you've completely altered how many calories you're taking in.

yes.....you are correct.  Substituting a salad at lunch instead of a cheeseburger,......new input...new output 

I am excited about my initial success...and am highly motivated to achieve my goals.  I will be a regular reader and visitor here moving forward

Sounds good :) Best of luck!

Original Post by tciherr:

 Also, it may be difficult to sustain a 1,000+ daily deficit.

Additionally, restricting caloric intake too much (1000+ and more; or less than 1,200 for typical adult women, or 1,400 for typical adult men) may prompt the body to go into famine mode -- a deliberate slowing of the metabolism to conserve fuel and energy because the body isn't getting the bare minimum it needs to operate and perform daily activities.

The very reason starvation diets don't work.

In the first month, you've made huge changes to your body, well, now your body is getting used to those changes!  When your body gets accustomed to a certain amount of exercise combined with a certain amount of food, it will frequently plateau.  The first recommendation I'd have to you is A) don't expect on a going forward basis to lose the amount of weight in a month that you do in the beginning.  Doesn't happen, and it sets unreasonable expectations.  B)increase what you're eating.  Amathyst girl is right, and you are likely undereating, so your metabolism is slowing down.  I know its counter intuitive, but your body needs fuel to lose weight!!!  But, another nice trick to jump start the metabolism is to change up your exercise.  Start to cross train a bit, if you can.  Metabolism can also be jump started a bit by eating to your burn one day, not your BMR.  that's a scary thing to do if you used to be a binge eater though.  I'd also highly recommend keeping a close eye on your fibre levels, and if you're not check your daily analysis every day, and make sure you're getting the right amounts of protein.  I found I plateaued when I undershot my protein for some reason.  No matter what happens, don't get discouraged.  Plateaus can last a week, two weeks, three months.  Don't let it stop you.

As others here have said, increasing your calories for a bit might help.  I hit sort of a plateau, and several suggested I up my calories, which I did.  A couple of days I had almost no deficit.  All of a sudden, I've lost four pounds in the past two weeks.  I was amazed, but it really does work!!!  For the past couple of days I've gone back to my 1200 a day.  When I need to, I'll increase again.

Interestingly, after writing this post a couple of days ago, I have dropped off just under 3 lbs.....it took me 22 days to get from 245 to 240.....and stay there...and all of a sudden, I went down to 236 this morning.   I have increased my intake a little bit the last few days....and whammo...off it came.   Now THAT is counterintuitive.

My goal is to hit 235 by end of October, and then 15 more by the end of December.  I am motivated, focused, and liking the fact that I have already shed 21 lbs since I started this journey.

Original Post by qualityman:

I have increased my intake a little bit the last few days....and whammo...off it came.   Now THAT is counterintuitive.

My goal is to hit 235 by end of October, and then 15 more by the end of December.  I am motivated, focused, and liking the fact that I have already shed 21 lbs since I started this journey.

And yet we hear it on here again and again :) Eat a little more, and you start losing weight again.

Congrats on your progress!