Plateaus - How long on yours
I have hit a few plateaus since my surgery and they have only lasted two to three weeks at a time. I don’t remember at what weights. A few of the plateaus happened as a result of being in the hospital and off my feet for a few days but I just kept my head and didn’t panic. I just stuck to my regular routine and it took care of it’s self and my weight would start dropping again. Just this past 2 weeks I was stuck at 433 and today I weighed and was down 3 pounds for a total of 114 pounds off. I think my longest plateau lasted three weeks or maybe just a little longer. But like some say your mileage may vary. Good luck and I hope this was at least some help.
Alan Hartman
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I never really experienced a plateau until I was out 8 or 9 months from surgery, and even then it only lasted 2 weeks. Most people on OH say the stall has to last at least 3 weeks to be an offical plateau. If you go by that definition, I'm at my first one righ tnow. I've heard that many people hit plateaus at weights that they weighed at one point or another. For instance, if you weighed 300 lbs for years, then gained weight from there, you may hit a plateau at 300 lbs. Unfortunately, I've low carbed it, low caloried it, etc etc....at I'm still sitting at this weight. So I figure I'll just stop driving myself crazy and work out, and eat right, and eventually the scale will move. People expect the scale to move steadily down, but instead it actually moves down like steps, or at least thats how it's been for me. I'll be the same weight for a couple of days (in this case a couple of weeks) then all of a sudden I'll start dropping weight like crazy, then my body will stablize for a few days, and then drop again. I think it's your bodies way of adjusting to such rapid weight loss, and redistribuiting your fat reserves. Scott
Greg, 1) At what weight did you experience the plateau?? –don’t know the weight, but it was around 4 month mark for me and another at nearly 9 months. 2) How much weight loss had you experienced at that time from your highest weight. –Just guess-timating I was about 80 to 90lbs for the first one and around 160 to 170 for the second one.. 3) How long did it last for you (not what you have heard from others)? – The first lasted just over 2 weeks, the second a little longer than 3 weeks. 4) When it did break, what was your experience in loss per week after that? ---After the first one, I went back to my typical weight loss of 2 to 3 lbs a week after the first one and around 1 lb. a week after the second ‘big stall.’ Both times, I upped my water intake. And the second time I was able to add an extra mile of walking per week. I didn’t change my food intake either time that I recall. All along the way there were weeks where I lost a pound or half a pound, followed by weeks where I lost 5 to 7 lbs. No steady rate of progress for me. It supposedly only an Actual Plateau if there is NO lost for OVER a 4 week period. Track you consumed calories vs expended calories with some ‘journal’ system like Fitday.com> That’ll give you a very clear idea of where the calories are coming and going. Best Wishes- Dx
Hey Greg, I've hit a couple plateaus along the way, short ones. My weight loss has really slowed down the last few weeks though. Instead of explaining it all, I'll post the numbers so far for me. I have never tried the plateau buster diet, just stuck to my regular diet and exercise from the beginning. Hope it helps somehow.
Date.................Weight.........Loss/Wk........Total Loss 12-Aug-06 ............351.............0.................0 26-Aug-06 ............322............-29..............-29 30-Aug-06.............312............-10..............-39 6-Sep-06...............310............-2................-41 13-Sep-06.............306.............-4...............-45 20-Sep-06 ............304.............. -2............ -47 27-Sep-06 ............302.............. -2............ -49 3-Oct-06................297............. -5.............-54 10-Oct-06..............295............. -2............ -56 17-Oct-06..............292.............-3.............. -59 24-Oct-06..............288.............-4.............. -63 31-Oct-06..............285.............-3.............. -66 7-Nov-06...............281.............-4..............-70 14-Nov-06.............278.............-3..............-73 21-Nov-06.............275.............-3..............-76 28-Nov-06.............272.............-3..............-79 5-Dec-06...............269.............-3..............-82 12-Dec-06.............267.............-2..............-84 18-Dec-06.............266.............-1..............-85 31-Dec-06.............263.............-3..............-88 4-Jan-07...............259.............-4..............-92 14-Jan-07.............259.............0...............-92 4-Feb-07…………….255…………..-4…………….-96 11-Feb-07…………..252…………..-3…………….-99 18-Feb-07…………..251…………..-1…………..-100 25-Feb-07………….250……………-1…………..-101 4-Mar-07…………..250…………….0……………-101 11-Mar-07…………249……………-1……………-102 I've only lost 3 lbs. in the last month, not a plateau per se, but the loss has slowed down to a creep. I'm not that worried though. My doctor says the ideal weight for someone that's my height and size is 216 lbs. I'm 6'3" tall and am a large build. So I am 33 lbs above my ideal weight. Did you read the 5% post Dx put up a while back? It basically said to expect to lose about 5% of your excess body weight per week. I've got 33 lbs. left so I should be losing 1.65 lbs. per week. I'm below that but still not too worried. Now if my weight should start to climb, that's when I'm hopping on the plateau bustin' low carbin' diet for sure. Ronnie
here's a little different take on the subject. i was known around here as the plateau king! i lost weight a completely different way than everyone else it seemed. i would lose weight just once a month. then 5 pounds gone never to return. it could have something to do with the way you exercise too. lean muscle mass replacing fat etc. so i concentrated on inches. i did a lot of swimming like you and it made me lose differently i think. it was a little frustrating because my scale never moves. it steps down and then stops for weeks on end. i learned not to let it freak me out.
so maybe you'll lose like me with all the exercise you're doing. just know that weight never came back. i've only gained 5 pounds back due to the creatine i now take and i do actually eat more since dumping the pain pills. when i finally hit my weight, i lost no more no matter what i did except starve myself. you still have a ways to go before you're done losing anyway so be patient and the loss will come....Carbonblob
) but the scale is stuck. I hope within the next week or 2 I'll start up again 
