Have I plateaued? Or could it be something else? Please help :(

S

s9mc9

New member
Hey guys,

A short back story, at 5'3 i weighed 85kg, I started my weight loss journey beginning of April, now weigh in at 73.4kg.

I've been doing HIIT (also includes some weight lifting) 5 days a week along with walking everyday for 30-60 minutes, eating 1,200 calories a day without fail.
I've hit a rock where my weight has gone up and is not budging!


I've heard I would either need to eat more calories or do more exercise, but I'm really not sure
Would you guys know what can be going on?

Really disheartening, putting in so much effort and hard work all of this coming to a halt at a weight that is not my goal, its making me worry

Am I plateaued? Or could it be something else

Thank you everyone
 
Welcome to the forum. How long has it been since you lost any weight at all? I doubt more exercise is the answer.
 
Losing 12 kg in two and a half months is pretty awesome, congratulations! Knowing how long the scale´s been stuck for would be helpful as it´s quite normal for these things to go in fits and starts sometimes. If it´s been more than two weeks I´d start wondering what might be going on. Changed your birth control? Upped the exercise intensity in the past couple of weeks? Ate more salt? Sleeping badly/stressed? Drinking a lot of diet soda? Those might be things that´d make you retain water, which the scale of course can´t tell from fat. Of course it´s always possible you´ve just been less diligent with counting calorie but you´d be the person to know so I´m not going to comment on that :p
 
Cate said:
Welcome to the forum. How long has it been since you lost any weight at all? I doubt more exercise is the answer.
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Thank you for replying,
its been around 2 weeks since i haven't lost anything and where i've put on 2lbs even thought my diet has been the same maybe even more strict, odd because for the 10 weeks i've lost 1-2lbs each week
 
LaMaria said:
Losing 12 kg in two and a half months is pretty awesome, congratulations! Knowing how long the scale´s been stuck for would be helpful as it´s quite normal for these things to go in fits and starts sometimes. If it´s been more than two weeks I´d start wondering what might be going on. Changed your birth control? Upped the exercise intensity in the past couple of weeks? Ate more salt? Sleeping badly/stressed? Drinking a lot of diet soda? Those might be things that´d make you retain water, which the scale of course can´t tell from fat. Of course it´s always possible you´ve just been less diligent with counting calorie but you´d be the person to know so I´m not going to comment on that :p
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Thank you for replying,
Thank you so much! Its been a long tough road but im getting there
I couldn't agree more, nothing has changed since i've started so thats why i'm so confused as to why i've put on 2lbs the past 2 weeks even though im working so hard, also been strict on the cals haha ;)
 
Is it possible that your body is exhausted from the amount of exercise you do? I don´t know what your plan looked like before April but assuming you were relatively sedentary and you´ve been upping the intensity all this time you could genuinely be retaining water. Are you sore a lot?
 
LaMaria said:
Is it possible that your body is exhausted from the amount of exercise you do? I don´t know what your plan looked like before April but assuming you were relatively sedentary and you´ve been upping the intensity all this time you could genuinely be retaining water. Are you sore a lot?
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Yep!! the exercise i do now is very intense, before I hardly even moved! especially when I've got a office job wheres its mostly sitting
Don't feel as sore as I did, also i do agree it may be water
 
At your current calorie intake and exercise level you ought to be losing fat*. So water weight is simply the most logical explanation. It must be very frustrating to not see the scale budge when you´re working so hard but being even stricter with yourself doesn´t sound like a long-term solution to me. You could try skipping exercise (except for gentle walks) for three days in a row and see if you get a drop when your muscles are all rested up (that weight would be likely to come back when you start almost daily intense workouts again) but unless the laws of nature are getting bent here you should see the scale go down again within another week or two anyway. I´m sorry I can´t be more helpful but from the sound of it you´re doing everything right and the only thing you might be missing is a bit more rest.

* Provided you don´t have specific medical issues, all of which as far as I know would leave you feeling too exhausted to exercise as much as you´re doing
 
the others have covered most questions and 2 weeks means little when it comes to a stall.

but more details about diet are needed and it would me good is you could be more specific about exercise.

2lb is within normal range for daily fluctuations..
 
you're on the same track i was on about 4 years ago. often starting when i wandered into the mid-220's, for years i was around 208-210 (BMI = where you are now, only a different height), having tried time and time again to get back to ~190... still overweight, but the best i thought i could do. but i kept stalling at 210. of course i was doing the basic "eat less, move more" dieting.

then i discovered intermittent fasting. in 4 months i not only dropped down past 208, but when i hit 190 things just didn't stop. after about 4 months i hit 175 and over the next 6-8 months i seem to have bottomed out at about 165 (BMI = 23). today... for over a year now... i have stuck with IF (a little more relaxed than when i was losing, but still basic IF) and i've maintained that weight.

the only dieting change i consciously made was severely cutting out sugar/ added sugar. this means i rarely eat any processed foods. as far as exercise, i have a bit of arthritis and 3 joint replacement so the only exercise i get is walking.

...just sayin'. maybe time to try something different?
 
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LaMaria said:
At your current calorie intake and exercise level you ought to be losing fat*. So water weight is simply the most logical explanation. It must be very frustrating to not see the scale budge when you´re working so hard but being even stricter with yourself doesn´t sound like a long-term solution to me. You could try skipping exercise (except for gentle walks) for three days in a row and see if you get a drop when your muscles are all rested up (that weight would be likely to come back when you start almost daily intense workouts again) but unless the laws of nature are getting bent here you should see the scale go down again within another week or two anyway. I´m sorry I can´t be more helpful but from the sound of it you´re doing everything right and the only thing you might be missing is a bit more rest.

* Provided you don´t have specific medical issues, all of which as far as I know would leave you feeling too exhausted to exercise as much as you´re doing
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Thank you so much for your help LaMaria, it is true maybe a halt in intense exercise for a few days may jog it along! I will give it a try hopefully that works :hurray:
 
Trusylver said:
the others have covered most questions and 2 weeks means little when it comes to a stall.

but more details about diet are needed and it would me good is you could be more specific about exercise.

2lb is within normal range for daily fluctuations..
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Well my diet consists of whole foods, salads and veg, keeping my protein to eggs, fish and occasionally quorn chicken fillets and fruits which would be berries and apples. I do include some sauces and seasonings here and there but not much as i dont want them to go over my sugar content. I do agree, just a little frustrating :banghead:
 
overlandflyer said:
you're on the same track i was on about 4 years ago. often starting when i wandered into the mid-220's, for years i was around 208-210 (BMI = where you are now, only a different height), having tried time and time again to get back to ~190... still overweight, but the best i thought i could do. but i kept stalling at 210. of course i was doing the basic "eat less, move more" dieting.

then i discovered intermittent fasting. in 4 months i not only dropped down past 208, but when i hit 190 things just didn't stop. after about 4 months i hit 175 and over the next 6-8 months i seem to have bottomed out at about 165 (BMI = 23). today... for over a year now... i have stuck with IF (a little more relaxed than when i was losing, but still basic IF) and i've maintained that weight.

the only dieting change i consciously made was severely cutting out sugar/ added sugar. this means i rarely eat any processed foods. as far as exercise, i have a bit of arthritis and 3 joint replacement so the only exercise i get is walking.

...just sayin'. maybe time to try something different?
Click to expand...

Thats amazing!! I've heard about intermittent fasting, I haven't tried that as of yet I'm glad that had worked for you.
Because it worked so well for you how long did you do the fasting? are you still doing it or have you gone back to a normal diet but maintaining too

Thank you for the response
 
there are a few strings on IF you should look at or you could scan through my diary pages... (not that taxing... i tend to use a lot of pictures).

somewhere on my pages there are links to Dr Jason Fung (intermittent fasting) and Dr Robert Lustig (sugar) talks... good place to start.
 
overlandflyer said:
there are a few strings on IF you should look at or you could scan through my diary pages... (not that taxing... i tend to use a lot of pictures).

somewhere on my pages there are links to Dr Jason Fung (intermittent fasting) and Dr Robert Lustig (sugar) talks... good place to start.
Click to expand...

Fantastic thank you i'll have a read through :)
 
You are amazing! You definitely put in the work, what I think could be the case is maybe after losing all that weight (most likely fat) you could just be putting on muscle weight? Of course I'm not entirely sure, but I know there's really educated people here to help out!
 
I'm sure that after 10 weeks of intense workouts you're feeling stronger (and you are! Muscles can get more efficient quickly) but you're not going to suddenly put on measurable-by-scale muscle mass in two weeks. Especially as a woman. And even more so when in a caloric deficit. Sorry about that :confused:
 
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