How do you plateau if in calorie deficit?

[morningtrain]

Theres lots of posts from people who are plateauing and I think I am a bit too as no scale losses for 2 weeks & measurements aren’t budging much either. Yet I’m tracking calories & eating 3-400 calories below my TDEE every single day, exercise hard 3-4 times a week & walk lots, drink litres of water & sleep well.. all the things they say you should be doing. Has anyone else been in this situation and still plateaued? How long do these plateaus last?!! Or are those saying they’re stuck actually eating more?

You dont, it’s not possible. But cal requirements reduce as weight reduces, so you need to keep eating less and people miscalate how much they burn and consume.

I’ve recently just got over a 3 week plateau.

I think it’s because weight comes from many things- fat, muscle, water etc

I was doing everything right, no losses for 3 weeks then all of a sudden I lost 2.5lb.

You don't plateau if you are in calorie deficit.
How recently did you work out your tree? Obviously it goes down as you lose weight.
If you are eating 300 less than you burn, it will take you about a fortnight to lose one pound.

Sorry TDEE!

Scales are blunt tools, fat loss can happen without obvious changes for a bit then show up. 2 weeks is a really short time frame especially with a low deficit.

Then there are natural fluctuations - water retention, muscle inflammation from training, eating something salty/carby, needing a poo even!

Sounds like you are doing all the right things, just need a bit more patience.

Thats a good point. So, as long as I’m checking my TDEE regularly & adjusting calories as weight reduces, I’ll stay on track? I know I’ve been ‘eating’ some of my calories burnt by exercise which perhaps are not as high as my app records.. that could account for my slow down.

3-400 under isnt that much really so would be very minimal change plus the exercise calories are notorious for being over calculated, 250 cals to lose half a lb generally but it is still very individual. Personally I have never counted exercise calories in my allowance although may eat slightly more those days then less on other days.

I have lost 2 stone and I was originally losing on 1300 cals, now am about 900 for similar weightloss. That is within 2 months.

I only weigh myself once a month because I won't lose anything for 2 weeks and then I'll lose 4-6 pounds a week for the next 2 weeks. So over a month my weight loss could be half a stone to 10 pounds but it's not consistent across the week's within that month.

A lot depends on what you’re eating, not just calories.

I cut out UPFs and lost nearly a stone in 2 weeks. If you eat more salt than usual or certain food additives, your body can hold on to weight for longer during that period.

When I plateau, I usually increase how much I eat for a few days. Still eating my protein and veg, just larger portions. Maybe a dessert or 2.

Then cut down suddenly for a day or 2.

Seems to work for me.

Also a bout of intense cardio, like a 10-mile hike or a night out dancing, seems to move the needle.

But everyone is a little different.

Do you mind me asking your current weight? 900 seems really low..what happens when you come off it, will you need to keep eating at that level? I want to lose slowly but equally don’t want be paying for something that is not helping.

Never EVER eat my exercise cals, they're almost incidental, exercise is great for toning and health but don't count them in your daily allowance. Work out tdee regularly.

Current weight is 9 stone 13, I started at 12 stone on 1st November, i am 5ft 4 and 46 yo. That is calorie deficit for around 2 lb per week hence why its so low. Sometimes I am over, sometimes under bit mostly under. My exercise is low currently due to a number of reasons. Lowest I have lost is 1.4lb in a week, mostly its around 2lb. To maintain I will find out my rough TDEE but will add the calories on gradually (reverse dieting) to find out my actual maintenance calories. Its probably around 1650ish if I get to my goal weight of 9st.

Its a bit of trial and error to find the calories that you maintain at.

I may consider increasing calories soon to start losing at a slower rate, unfortunately even on 2.5mg of MJ I have hardly any appetite so its really hard. I know that doesnt sound like a problem but I feel that it could hinder me once I am trying to maintain.

Being short is a but rubbish as calories have to be low to lose, I couldn't have sustained it without the jabs.

A real plateau is longer than 2 weeks. As a pp said, you might have a slow couple of weeks and then a whoosh.

Ime the loss gets less even as you get closer to goal. I lost a steady 1kg a week for about 20 weeks and then it was less steady, more affected by eg menstrual cycle, travel, exercise.

It also slowed because I didn’t keep cutting calorie intake. That was deliberate; I wanted to slow to reach goal gently and slide into maintenance, not have a sudden change of diet. What I eat to maintain (or actually very slowly lose a little more) is only slightly more than in the first loss phase, because I’m so much smaller.

This
It’s shocking how little calories I need now

I’ve been plateauing for 4 months now. No change at all (+- 1kg). I don’t think it’s just about calories though. My mother follows a strict carb free diet and tracks calories and always goes over her ‘allowance’ (by quite a lot), but is steadily losing weight. She’s a doctor and very accurate with weighing and logging. I couldn’t do that sort of diet as she rarely eats any vegetables as too carb heavy and any fruit she occasionally has is always with double cream (I forget the reasoning for this)! She regularly has a large fatty steak for breakfast and I can’t stomach eating anything before 12!

I’ve just spent 3 days in hospital, eaten less than 1600 calories in total whilst in there, plus very little in the few days prior as I was extremely ill, and come home 7lb heavier! Can’t work that one out at all!

It definitely isnt just about calories, generally it does matter what you are eating specifically within your calories for maximum fat burning, hence why high protein diets work so much better to lose weight quicker rather than too many carbs.

If I am ever in hospital I seem to swell up so I reckon it is water weight.

Must be. They were pumping me full of fluids whilst I was there.

It’s not linear - some weeks I did exactly the same things and lost nothing and then I’d have a whoosh.

Maybe try weighing monthly - I’m at goal now and only weigh monthly to make sure I’m not gaining. It really is best to take a “marathon not a sprint” approach and don’t get obsessive. Do you plan to stay on the jabs? I think sometimes people who are just taking them as a quick fix to lose a couple of stone and then come off seem to want to lose it overnight and are too impatient.

It needs to be a lifestyle change if it’s going to be a long term weight loss (I’m sure you know this - not trying to be patronising).

You absolutely can plateau even in a deficit. If weight stays the same for longer than 4 or 5 weeks (if you are a weekly weigher) then you should adjust your calories but otherwise it is totally normal!

There can be so many reasons for a plateau which have nothing to do with CICO. Hormones, water retention, constipation etc.

I've lost 9 stone in 12 months and had 3 x 4 week plateaus. At the end of each of those I had "whoosh" and the weight seemed to all come off at once.

I weigh daily and my weight can fluctuate by upto 4lbs each day! If you weigh weekly then you can easily miss a new low weight, like if you ate something really salty the day before or your period is due or you upped your exercise.

Personally I wouldn't worry about the scales staying the same until the 4 week mark.

So helpful to get everybody’s experiences. Patience, commitment & belief seem to be in order!

I find posts like yours so worrying. You're barely fuelling your body enough to perform basic functions, you're under ten stone but still aiming to lose 2lbs a week. Yes you'll be thin but at what cost?

OP 2 weeks isn't a plateau. 2 weeks is no time, and the body can easily gain and lose several lbs worth of water in a 2 week period which will mask any loss on the scales. If you're in a calorie deficit you'll be losing, but maybe too slowly to see a drop every single week.

They were pumping you full of fluids but you couldn't work out why your body is weighing more?