Take a break and restart to break a plateau?

[Heartofgoldheadofcabbage]

On Mounjaro. Good suppression, religious about tracking food, within calories/portion control, water intake. 5 weeks I have stayed the same. Only change, 3 weeks ago I joined the gym. Minimum cardio, mainly resistance and weights. Half of exercise calories added to daily calories allowance. 4 stone lost since mid June.
Has anyone done a restart? Did it work to break a plateau?

Don't eat your exercise calories, not even half. That is likely where you are going wrong. They are always massively overestimated.

I was in a 5-6 week plateau as well, until a week or so ago. It just happens sometimes, especially when you get close to goal. I haven't changed anything, and I have just started losing at a reasonable rate again (which is less than a kg a week at this stage. I only have 2.5kg to go)

Yeah, don't eat back the exercise calories. It's impossible to know how much you're really using when strength training but generally it is nowhere near as high as people think.
And don't let anyone tell you you're gaining muscle. You may be but it's a very very slow process in a deficit and is very unlikely as a beginner lifting quite low weight levels.
It's a great thing to do for your health though so don't stop.

Agree with pp. the only time my weight loss stalled was when I added my exercise to My Fitness Pal.

As soon as I stopped eating the extra calories it gave me, the weight fell off.

I don't think stopping and starting will help with a plateau but agree with others, don't eat extra calories. Also bear in mind you'll be retaining more water for a while after starting a new exercise routine.

My advice is to trust the process and not stop. 5-6 weeks is nothing in the grand scheme of things, and maintaining is better than gaining.

I've had a few long plateaus. I've stuck with it and come good in the end each time, without fail. Plateaus have started as I have gotten closer to goal - presumably it's not taking much to flip from loss to maintain now.

4 stones since mid June is a big , fairly quick loss. It was probably going to slow down at some point. I wouldn’t change anything. Let your body catch up, let the exercise tone you. Don’t eat any of the exercise calories if you can help it. Everything will catch up sooner or later. Stopping and starting is more likely to cause problems with your metabolism than help. Hold your nerve and stick with your good habits.

Thanks all. You know when you know…but you just need to hear it from others🙄My shape is changing, and I enjoy the gym, endorphins etc. I would love to break the hold the scale has over me…maybe i’ll move to monthly weigh-ins! I will remove the exercise cals.

I think a lot of us are also unhealthily glued to the scales. I had a couple of sticky scales weeks, but my measurements changed drastically too, and it boosted my morale, so it’s good to keep track of them too.

22kgs down since mid July, now 8kgs away from goal and my loss has slowed right down. I’ve recently had a 4-5 week plateau where the scales weren’t budging but the tape measure still did! Slowly losing again now but I’m expecting this 8kg to take nearly as long as the first 20kg tbh…

I’m not sure I’d move to monthly weigh ins, you’re just hiding from it. You’re eating at maintenance, so if you want to lose weight, drop your cals. Stopping and starting isn’t going to help you. Move up a dose if required and you’re not on 15.

I don’t eat back exercise calories BUT still put on weight when I workout as muscles retain water when they repair and grow. Also your blood volume increases. It always whooshes off me eventually and a much nicer physique is revealed

I am eating at the appropriate deficit for loss (set and tracked on My Net Diary) As I said in my OP I have suppression so do not need to increase my dose.

I will stop adding my exercise cals. I did take into account EIMD and fluid retention and my shape is changing, didn’t realise about increased blood volume…thank you…*off to do some more research xx

But you’re not or you’d be losing weight, honestly it’s not blood or fluid, you’re just eating to maintenance,

I have lost more than 4 stone and I have never eaten back my exercise calories. Not that I really count calories but I eat the same basically nearly every day regardless of whether I am in the gym and walking a lot or at work and much more sedentary and I have steadily lost weight over the year. Trying to maintain now but still not quite got it right.

I also weigh myself daily and use the happy scale app. I’m used to the ups and downs of daily fluctuations now and it doesn’t phase me anymore. Today I’m apparently 2lb heavier than yesterday which clearly isn’t fat but scales go up and down due to so many things and it doesn’t bother me anymore.

If you’re new to lifting there couldbe a couple of pounds of water retention. Stick with it and start to shift your attention from the scales to tape measurements and gains 💪

Go away…

My weight has more or less plateaud for about a month now, but I am continuing to get slimmer. It's weird.

When I do a particular challenging workout I can put on as much as a lb a day of water without eating any more. Once I have a break or my muscles get used to it the water wooshes off.