Weight loss has stopped. What is going on?

12-11-2019, 10:43 AM

On November 7th, at 5’11” 270 lbs I began a simple calorie counting + charting my exercises via an app and getting at least 10,000 steps a day. I set the maximum goal of 2 lbs per week and strictly charted everything I ate and did. For the first three weeks the weight just rolled off. To the tune of 18.4 lbs in the first 3 weeks alone.

Since then, the scale has literally not budged by more than .2 lbs from 251.6 for 10 days now.

I’m not eating more and I’m drinking the same amount of water each day now as I was the first three weeks, I routinely finish each day under the calorie count I’m supposed to stay under, but the weight just will not go away. Physically I am feeling more fit, able to walk long distances without being tired. A recent whole day at an amusement park (where I charted all food and stayed under calorie goal again) ended with me still fully energized at the end of the day. I do not feel lethargic, I have recently revved up my workouts (there about 90 minutes each, 4-5 times a week) and including HIIT.

And the scale won’t budge.

The scale isn’t broken, I recently got on at 251.6, grabbed two water bottles and got back on at 253.8 so it’s accurately measuring weight.

Given my height and that I am not a muscle bound body builder, I cannot be at a “healthy stable weight”... and days when it goes up by .2 lbs seem to defy the laws of physics.

This is getting so frustrating, I do not want to settle at ~250, I want and need to get back to the low 200’s at worst. But this makes me want to just stop. I can’t squeeze any more workouts in. I can’t cut out any more food.

What is going on?

12-11-2019, 12:02 PM

Hi Gopel,

The problem is with the type of foods that you're eating and not the number calories. You may be so convinced that a certain type of diet is great for rapid weight loss that you don't suspect there's a downside. That must be the case because you didn't say a word about the type of diet you're on.

12-12-2019, 04:00 AM

I second what he said. You've plateaued and probably need to adjust what you are eating.

12-12-2019, 05:17 PM

You also have to take into consideration that everyone drops the most weight in the first 3 weeks...its water weight from counting calories. Your body rids itself of toxins in the form of water.

Then, you have to remember that muscle weighs more than fat...so although you are counting calories, if you are building muscle, you will not lose weight. Any weight loss counselor will tell you inches are more important than pounds. Start measuring your thighs, calfs, stomach and chest every week. If you add any additional inches or even centimeters- you are building muscle and you are going to either gain or remain at the same weight.

Maybe you want to consult a dietician who can work out a better type of meal plan for you which takes into consideration what your body needs vs. what you are trying to eliminate.

Good luck!

12-13-2019, 08:07 AM

I'd tell ya to eat more protein (bacon and eggs are good to), keep up the water drinking and ya gotta get that heart rate up. Don't kill yourself, but get it up. It can sometimes be hard to get over the plateau of loosing the water weight and get the body burning the fat. Keep your diet low carb. Make you body burn itself instead of what's in your gut. I do walks but they're up steep hills. Gotta train your body. I'm 6' and 207 and 61. I gotta really get down to about 185 because that'd be right for me. I'm not gonna pump Keto, but do it religiously for about a month and see how ya feel. It had a tendency to plug me up some, so maybe take some fiber. Don't cheat cause it will set you back. Buy some Keto sticks to check to see if you get into ketosis. Good luck.

07-13-2020, 09:28 AM

So, the plateau was brief. Only lasted a couple days after this initial post.

I continued on.

I am now down 71 pounds from the start point, under 200 pounds for the first time as an adult.

Hit several more plateaus, they seem to occur every 15-20 pounds of weight loss.

I expect there isn’t much left to lose, from here, based on the mirror but portion control/calorie tracking is finally a diet I can stick with.

07-13-2020, 09:36 AM

Didn’t change a thing since nobody addressed the issue as described. The plateau broke a few days after this post.

Now it’s 71 pounds gone. A diet *I* can actually live with (portion control/calorie counting, instead of depriving of types of foods).

For the time some since I was 17 I’m under 200 pounds and feeling great.

For anyone else reading this:

There were several plateaus. Seemingly every 15-20 pounds. They lasted up to 3 weeks sometimes (the physics of how mass can remain stable despite entropy still doesn’t really add up.) but just sticking with it got me through it.

Weight loss has stopped. What is going on?

Sign Up Today!

Join Our Newsletter

Whoops,

Thank You