Weight loss plateau
Luckily for the Lonely Goat Herd, he has company this week.
I am the same weight as I was last week, nothing more, nothing less. Stuck up here with the goats nibbling on the grass (or the trees!), on my tiny plateau my biggest relief is that I wasn't stressed about it.
I didn't throw myself into a tantrum involving fries and a milkshake (that's been done before) or decide I need to cut back and wipes out dinner (that's been done before too!)
No - this week I remembered that this is what my body does sometimes, relaxed and knew it won't be too long before I begin my descent down the mountain.
I think part of the problem with weight loss programmes is they build inside us an expectation that we will lose every week. I need to drop thirty kilograms, and that's a big change for my body.
Any rest it gives itself is good with me - so I'm ok with it. I've got a friend in the States who has lost thirty kilograms already, and has had periods of up to a month where she hasn't lost, but then will steadily lose two kilograms a week for a little bit after that.
I know my body does a very similar thing. Overall, if you look at my weight graph, it does a big drop, then a rest, then repeats. It isn't a smooth line. Is there anyone out there who does lose the same amount every week, no matter what?
This is one of the reasons why I'm glad I have an eating plan I can live with. I like all the food I eat. I look forward to every meal. I don't feel I'm missing out, or suffering. Even if I stopped losing weight for a month, I would still have the same breakfast, the same lunch, the same dinner. I know it's good, healthy food in the right doses.
As an aside, here's another reminder that weight isn't our only measure. I lost a total of five cm this week. Sometimes the scales do lie.
Rachel Goodchild is on Twitter
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Totally agree......been there, done that! I lost just over 20kg and it took me a year. It felt like forever sometimes but I got there in the end. As you rightly said it helps if you don't let the plateaus get to you.......when you start losing again you will probably lose a fair bit (from personal experience anyway). Keep up the great work, it's definitely worth it!
I dropped 600g exactly a week for about 6 weeks. Last week I had a bad week and put back on 500g, but I expected that for various reasons (including a cold, and various functions that certainly didnt encourage healthy eating!). I'm curious to see whether I can get back to my 600g a week average sometime in the next couple of weeks - this week I'll be happy if I even drop 100g, what with a wedding to go to and all!
I'm waiting for the plateau to hit. I personally expect that once I get to about 82kg its going to get really really hard. The last time I got under that weight, it took spending 3 weeks at Outward Bound to do it, and it all crept back on over less than 6 months.
Oh well, gym class tonight, perhaps a dance class too, walk tomorrow avo, see about squeezing in a swim on Saturday before a hairdressers appointment and I should then be able to eat anything I feel like at the wedding on Saturday avo. Fingers crossed :)
So start yodelling.
AAARGH, now I have yodelling stuck in my head! Curs you "The Sound of Music"!
Mine tends to drop for no reason at all, plateau for a while and then start to creep back to where it was....hoping my next measure at the gym will prove me wrong though....
Hey, does anyone else find that the plateau or minor gains tend to come at certain times?
Hang in there - a plateau is a good thing - it was explained that this becomes your body's place where your weight will sit (you know how you tend to stay at a weight for ages when you're not dieting), so your plateau is now your new ceiling! Not such a bad thing now ay?
You have a great attitude to the plateau Rachel, I think it's going to help with your success. I often find the plateau is when your fitness and muscles have built up but just before you start loosing fat again. And i think your 5cm loss is evidence of that!
I find that my weight fluctuates within a kilo during they day or day to day anyway. Does anyone else find that? How do you count your weight loss, do you always measure at the same time and go with that?
Congratulations on your journey! Plateauing is common when changing ones eating regime. Because I haven't followed your blog right from the get-go, I don't know if you're following a commercial programme, or trying this "alone". But you might want to consider tweaking your programme ever so slightly to accommodate a "roller coaster" approach to your weekly calorie intake. e.g. one day you eat 1800 calories of food; next day you eat 2000; next day you eat 1700. As long as your weekly calorie allowance isn't exceeded. You might also want to consider eating smaller but frequent meals, every 2 - 3 hours - so you'd divide your lunch in 2 and eat half at 10.30am and the rest at 12.30/1pm. The aim to is make sure your body doesn't think you're starving it. And, if you haven't already started, make sure you build in weight bearing/resistance exercises into your programme. Nothing culls excess kilos like pumping iron!
PS contrary to popular belief, it's very very hard for woment o build muscle.
Good luck!
I have finally left my plateau! Was super excited it discover scales showed a 500g loss. Had been sitting on my plateau for a while *pout*. Sometimes it nearly feels worth it cause once you leave it you feel like doing cartwheels *grin*
Ok, I haven't plateau yet, as I'm yet to lose ANY weight or ANY centimetres after a full month of healthy, conscientious eating and I exercise five times a week. Two days of weights and three of cardio. Also eat six meals a day (very good portion sizes). You guys seem to be having more luck than I am ... what am I doing wrong??
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I'm with you! I'm in the same boat right now, having done all the right things and eaten food I enjoy but makes me feel good (as opposed to the food that I think I enjoy that makes me feel terrible afterwards) and exercised etc... but sitting on a bit of a plateau right now. And I've lost cm too. I think I've reached a turning point too. This week I've felt fantastic, I've been in control and eaten healthy whole foods at regular intervals. So even though I haven't lost any weight, I'm not panicking and I'll keep it up and see what happens next week. Or the week after that.