Comments on: Did I Just Plateau? Why Am I Not Losing Weight?

By: Loretta

Loretta — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 02:23:09 +0000

Ok…so I went through the list and I am more than sure it’s number 5.
I was looking for this article and so glad I found it..I have hit a plateau at the halfway point!

I also want to say I mega enjoy this site! Thank you!

By: Allyson

Allyson — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 21:33:04 +0000

Erika, you’ve done it again. This is why we are friends in my head. I have been “soul searching” to say the least about the plateau and once again you are dead on. When I checked my food journal, I realized that I wasn’t drinking enough water and I allowed the sneaky salts into my daily diet. So I have decided to make some adjustments for the upcoming week. On my blog I wrote about the importance waste have on the waist. Please feel free to check it out and I welcome your comments. http://www.werknprogress.blogspot.com.

By: Beverly M

Beverly M — Fri, 20 May 2011 20:14:28 +0000

Hi Erika,
Thank you so much for this blog…it has definitely been encouraging me through my weight loss journey! I have plateau and as I look at myself I get frustrated because I feel like the weight is not coming off fast enough. With my last plateau I ate less, cut down on the carbs and I try to burn no less than 1,000 calories each workout. I guess now I have to increase my burn and eat even less. I have also tried to change up my cardio routine because my trainer said that my body adjusts. I look forward to reading more helpful hints.

Peace
Beverly M.

By: Angela

Angela — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 01:34:00 +0000

Thank you for this information. I am a slave to the scale too. It’s so hard for me not to weigh in EVERY Morning and Evening….

By: JayDee

JayDee — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 06:01:21 +0000

Thank you for this post. I just had my son 5 months ago. I get to a place in my weight loss that I get stuck at a certain weight. I’ll try to be a little more patient with myself. Be Blessed!

By: Rita

Rita — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 17:25:18 +0000

omg! I finally kicked my plateau…for the past 3 weeks I’ve let myself not workout or do light workouts instead of sticking too my routine…I found every excuse, work, weddings, funerals, sleep, pms…I even got caught up in everyone hyping me up saying they saw so much difference…but today I ran & walked my first 5k and the plateau is over!

I’d set a goal to complete the entire 5k come hell or high water and even though I’d been at plateau stage for so long I didn’t want to disappoint myself. so I just went out and did it! It wasn’t easy, it down right hurt but I started and finished it. In the end, it felt great! Once it was over a friend and I felt so good, we walked another 2 miles more and headed to the farmer’s market! I feel great, I’m back!

By: Erika

Erika — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:01:58 +0000

Thank you, Onika! And thank you for commenting.

By: Onika

Onika — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:52:16 +0000

The article mentioned above had nothing to do with plateaus at all. It was about treating OBESITY with excercise which of course cannot be the only tratment for MANY reasons but it doesn’t have anything to do with excercise promoting weight loss for people who want to be in better shape, more muscualar and leaner with a more active metabolism….which we ALL know that excercise will help you do-obviously in conjuncttion with a healthy diet. Sorry- I know this is really late but I get very frustrated by things like this. They encourage misconception and ultimately discourage a healthy lifestyle. Thanks!

By: Erika

Erika — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:13:48 +0000

Dorothea,

I can see what you’re saying, but I disagree. In fact, I almost feel like you’re talking in circles a bit. No part of this post conflicts with the original question of why one plateaus. These are four key components to addressing why one might experience a stall in progress.

Working out may not be the only part of losing weight, it is absolutely a part of losing weight – while you cannot lose weight without addressing your eating habits, you absolutely can increase your activity level to shake things up a bit for your system (which is what helps with avoiding plateauing. This is where “buzz words” like “muscle memory” and “muscle confusion” come into play.) I understand what you’re saying, but I wrote this post in October… as it is now 6 months later, addressing one of these issues helped me get past my plateau. In short, I still stand behind it.

Thanks for the article link, though!

By: Dorothea

Dorothea — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:02:55 +0000

I just found this blogpost here by accident… and thought maybe you should simply separate work-out from diet, because both don’t have much to do with each other…All new studies of the last years suggest, that you are just loosing weight with eating less, but not with exercising.
Just make the math: While running one marathon you are burning the same amount of calories like one good restaurant dinner, so do you want to run a marathon each day or wouldn’t it be easier to simply skip the dinner?
Working out is very important for your health, your heart, it brings you in shape and makes you feel good… but it won’t help you loosing weight…
There are many articles about these studies, most of them controversially discussed by people who dragged themselves over centuries to the gym and nearly religiously belief that this is the only way to loose weight..one of the best written articles is this one: “The exercise myth” http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/exercise+myth/2648905/story.html
I hope this information can help you a little bit to reach your aim.

By: Gina

Gina — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:36:27 +0000

Well written and well played. IMO, the largest goal in all of this is to stay healthy. You can lose weight by eating bread and drinking water a few times out. Since we are inclined to measure our success in pounds; we forget about the intangibles that may matter the same if not more: muscle mass, fat loss, heart rate, pulse, cholesterol count, blood pressure, etc. The overall question I think you should ask yourself is “am i healthier than I was before and am I still on track?” Tony Horton is a great trainer who brought to light “Muscle Confusion Principle.”

“A training principle that states that muscles accommodate to a specific type of stress (habituate or plateau, also called homeostasis) when the same stress is continually applied to the muscles over time, there one must constantly vary exercises, sets, reps and weight to avoid accommodation…” Per a website’s definition.

In other words our bodies become accustomed to what we are doing and will use regular routine exercises as a way of maintaining the current state or moving toward your goal at a slower pace.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:23:00 +0000

Thanks a lot for your help Erika! I just want to make it right this time. I have said time and time again that “THIS TIME WILL BE DIFFERENT!” I’m so over that statement! LOL! However, I REALLY want it to be true this time. I’ve been “serious” before, but to no avail. I just want to get it right. I feel like I’m getting there “this time.” It’s not a task or chore anymore. I actually look forward to working out. I’m serious about modifying my eating habits without jumping on the latest fad diet bandwagon. It’s just VERY discouraging to feel like you are doing something right, but you get no results. I won’t say that I’m not getting ANY. I feel muscles in places that I’ve never felt them. My clothes fit looser. People have remarked that I look smaller. But those darn numbers on the scale…

By: Erika

Erika — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:09:08 +0000

Tracy, I understand! I think we ALL face this issue at one point in time or another… shocking our body with so little food so fast, that our metabolism shuts down and stops processing the fat on our bodies… which actually produces the exact opposite effect that we want!

I suppose this could be a new blog topic, but I actually eat about six times a day. Breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner… and since I have a very late bedtime, I snack again. What should one eat during that time frame? I can offer suggestions, but only YOU will know when too much is too much. I can assure you that if you promise yourself that you’ll eat 6 times a day, seriously, you WILL hit a brick wall and eventually tailor your choice of foods because you’ll feel sick, lol. Hard lesson learned the right way.

I’ll blog more about it and see if I can help bring a little clarity to the topic.

By: Tracy

Tracy — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:54:24 +0000

Not eating enough. I’ve read a few online articles and determined that the body can go into starvation mode when the body doesn’t get enough calories to sustain daily activities. I’ve been so intent on not OVEReating, that I’ve been UNDEReating. Now, I’m trying to find the right combination of foods (or “model diet”) to eat daily so that I can stay within range.