How often do you plateau?

[BPM 0]

How often do you guys hit a "plateau"?

I seem to have hit my first one. Two days in a row with no weight loss despite minimal calories and strong exercise.

I did have sushi last night....not a lot of it....but maybe the soy is holding Water?

I have had measurable weight loss nearly every day since I started 3 weeks ago...so this has me perplexed.

[Elisabethsew 50]

Do yourself a favor and ONLY weigh once a week in the AM after you pee. A plateau is considered 2-3 WEEKS of staying the same weight so you're doing fine.

[christa94 0]

i am experiencing the same thing. EVERYDAY since i was banded my scales have gone down by a half a pound or more. all of a sudden, this week they have remained the same or flutated up by half a pound. it is seriously depressing! and this week i have exercised more than i did at other points in the banded stage. i figured maybe i needed to quit drinking Water since it must be "water weight". i know i don't take in crazy amounts of calories. i don't graze. i have good restriction so i just don't get it. it makes me wonder if i just spent $9,000 in vain!!!

[lisah25 3]

i am experiencing the same thing. EVERYDAY since i was banded my scales have gone down by a half a pound or more. all of a sudden, this week they have remained the same or flutated up by half a pound. it is seriously depressing! and this week i have exercised more than i did at other points in the banded stage. i figured maybe i needed to quit drinking Water since it must be "water weight". i know i don't take in crazy amounts of calories. i don't graze. i have good restriction so i just don't get it. it makes me wonder if i just spent $9,000 in vain!!!

I've been told that 1-2 pounds a week is a good, reasonable target.

If you are retaining Water, the best way to get rid of it is to drink a lot more. Not drinking any will just make you dehydrated and after all, don't we do this to be more healthy!?

I have to remind myself that I want to lose body fat, and that the scale flucuating due things like water don't count. I know we aren't supposed to weigh daily, but I have a hard time with that.

[Wheetsin 714]

I guess it depends on how you define a platuea. For me I don't consider myself in a plateau until I hit 4+ weeks of no loss in weight OR inches. If you're losing either, you're not in a plateau.

You guys need to be very careful about your rationale during weightloss. Not losing pounds for a week, then thinking that not drinking Water is a solution, is *not* healthy. 2 days of now eight loss isn't a stall, it's "normal". Did you expect to lose weight every day until you hit goal? scale obsession is a bad thing. Weigh once a week. Weigh once a month. Ideally, don't weight at all and go by measurements or FFM.

Christa - you've lost nearly 18 lbs in 22 days. Do you REALLY think the cost of your band was a waste?

[Alexandra 55]

Wheetsin said absolutely everything I was thinking. You go, girlfriend!! :clap2:

[Yoda 0]

I completely agree with Wheetsin & Elizabeth....a few days, even a week or two is NOT a plateau!!!!

I also agree...it is best (mentally) if you only weigh once a week...too many variables going on otherwise that can detrimentally affect your mental state and then your motivation factor!!!

[Wheetsin 714]

Another thing to keep in mind - not very many people get enough restriction from the band itself to experience weightloss. Our bands are not really designed to work until they're properly filled. I know one of you is bandless, but the other is not. I don't know what your pre-op psychologist did or didn't indicate, but mine made a lot of effort to make sure I (and everyone else who saw him) understood that maintained loss between surgery date, and the date of proper restriction, was very unlikely. Basically - you can't really expect to lose weight until you're properly filled, so if you do - GREAT! Celebrate it!

Something else - this is kind of becoming my mantra - but the scale tells you the weight of your skin and everything inside of it, as well as anything on the outside of it. It does NOT tell you how much fat is on your body, or how much fat you have lost. You can gain 8+ lbs overnight, just because your body decides it wants to hold on to some Water. You can probably lose 3 - 4 lbs just by varying how you stand on the scale. It's so, so, so subjective.

Anytime that a decent amount of weight is lost within 1 - 3 weeks, it's VERY normal for your body to hit a "stall"... it's kind of your body's way of saying, "Woah, wait a minute - what the heck? What's going on?" Your body needs time to adjust, to kick into fat burning mode, and to equalize its processes. For me, this happened about 3 - 4 weeks after banding, and lasted nearly 5 weeks during which I lost & gained the same 3 lbs. When I was on Atkins it also happened, about 4 weeks into the program and lasted about 3 weeks. You may be experiencing something similar.

[juliegeraci 7]

I plateau or even out my weight loss at least once a week. You are correct on the sodium in the soy sauce. Drink a lot of Water. Also, if you are exercising a lot your body is rebalancing lean muscle to fat. Lean Muscle weighs more than fat. I would think within a week you should see some movement again. Goodluck.

[christa94 0]

wheetsin--i believe i have proper restriction. i have 3ccs in a 4ccs band. 3 ccs was placed in the band at the time of surgery. did i expect to lose everyday until i reached my goal? no. but i don't think i am being off the hook by being a little disappointed now that it has stopped. as far as the Water is concerned, pre surgery i drank at least 72ozs of water a day to help alleviate water retention. it didn't work. but thanks for the advice anyway.

[BPM 0]

I guess it depends on how you define a platuea. For me I don't consider myself in a plateau until I hit 4+ weeks of no loss in weight OR inches. If you're losing either, you're not in a plateau.

You guys need to be very careful about your rationale during weightloss. Not losing pounds for a week, then thinking that not drinking Water is a solution, is *not* healthy. 2 days of now eight loss isn't a stall, it's "normal". Did you expect to lose weight every day until you hit goal? scale obsession is a bad thing. Weigh once a week. Weigh once a month. Ideally, don't weight at all and go by measurements or FFM.

Christa - you've lost nearly 18 lbs in 22 days. Do you REALLY think the cost of your band was a waste?

4 weeks to be considered a plateau? No way....that just won't cut it. I can give a day or two here or there....and if I were cheating I could understand but not when I am being nearly perfect with strong exercise.

I could also understand as much as a week or so...once I am deep into the loss...but this early....I expect and I will drop weight at least 2-3 lbs a week.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.....as for water.....drink it like a fish. I would never cut back on Water to try and lose weight.

I am going to ride my bike.

[Maryland 0]

BPM, you are going to be very disappointed very often, then! Nature doesn't calculate things by hours or by days -- the human body adjusts weekly, monthly, and yearly, on its own natural schedule. Losing weight will happen the same way you gained weight - unevenly and over time. Most women, for example, will go through a part of each month right before their period where they won't lose any weight. Plus, the more exercise you do to build muscle, the less you are going to lose in pounds. However, you WILL lose inches. Pounds are only ONE way of measuring weight loss.

You will find over the course of the next year that you will have short and long periods where you don't lose many pounds. Your body is going to go through adjustment periods every few months. Almost every experienced Bandster has experienced this. You just have to keep doing all the right things. If you hold yourself to such an impossible standard of losing the same amount every day, you are going to place a terrible pressure on yourself, and you will be disappointed.

[BPM 0]

BPM, you are going to be very disappointed very often, then! Nature doesn't calculate things by hours or by days -- the human body adjusts weekly, monthly, and yearly, on its own natural schedule. Losing weight will happen the same way you gained weight - unevenly and over time. Most women, for example, will go through a part of each month right before their period where they won't lose any weight. Plus, the more exercise you do to build muscle, the less you are going to lose in pounds. However, you WILL lose inches. Pounds are only ONE way of measuring weight loss.

You will find over the course of the next year that you will have short and long periods where you don't lose many pounds. Your body is going to go through adjustment periods every few months. Almost every experienced Bandster has experienced this. You just have to keep doing all the right things. If you hold yourself to such an impossible standard of losing the same amount every day, you are going to place a terrible pressure on yourself, and you will be disappointed.

Well...a couple of points.....I am a man...so the period thing probably doesn't apply. :guess (Thank GOD)

I don't expect to lose 2-3 lbs a week the whole time....what I said was this "early" on in my process....I expect to....and I will. I can't set my goal to anything but high....if you aim low...then you hit low. If you aim high...then you hit high. It's been my mantra in my career all my life and has worked so far.

If I burn more calories than I consume...then I will lose weight. I don't expect to build much lean mass while in a calorie deficit...it is nearly impossible. The best I hope to do is not lose any of my current mass and make what I have harder and more efficient.

I completely expect to have plateaus....just not yet. :heh: