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What the plateau??

38F 5ft 0in. SW126 CW116 GW106. Started this adventure back in October to lose 3 pregnancies worth of weight. Was steadily loosing about 1 lb per week for the first 10 weeks and was super psyched to get to the -10lbs milestone. Unfortunately since the start of December I’ve been stuck around 116/117 with no obvious explanation. I don’t count calories but I keep to a 4-6 hour eating window most days and limit carbs and sugar. I do 10-20 minutes of HIIT 5 day/week and walk between 2-5 miles daily on a walking desk (slow pace). My physical activity hasn’t changed. My eating hasn’t changed (as far as I can tell without tracking). Why has the weigh loss stopped? What should I do to kick start it again? I don’t think I can reasonably handle a smaller eating window. I’ve tried OMAD and it just makes me frantic to eat and I end up stuffing myself. Is this typical for people who don’t start out obese or significantly overweight? Help!

Answer

I notice this at the end of my cycle (luteal phase). I think I retain more water. And I have a bigger appetite. It’s really frustrating. Last week I didn’t lose any weight (gained half a pound actually) but the 2 weeks prior I lost 2-3 pounds each week. All while keeping to the same habits and calorie counts. I started adding Tabata to my workouts (I do cardio 4x/week) since that’s supposed to help burn fat efficiently. Just keep at it!

Answer

OP, I am 5-1”. I went 22 days fasting w doc supervision, on veg broth 2x daily ( about 200 kCal total per day), and with basically pure no eating fasting, I only lost .25 to .33 lbs of bodyfat per day. Just want to say being petite means your weight loss numbers look smaller compared to tall people but no less mighty! You’re winning, really!

Answer

Perhaps it’s time to change up your fasting protocol, at least for a little bit, to see what happens. Maybe your body has adapted to the pattern you have set and you’d benefit from a feast/fast pattern like 5:2 or 36 hr fasts. I would also suggest checking out youtube videos from Dr. Eric Berg or Dr. Jason Fung - their channels cover a lot of ground.

I do agree w/ other posters about cycle phases having an impact on plateaus and that weight loss isn’t linear. I also found tracking waist, hip etc. measurements (vs weight) more informative of my progress but to each their own. Good luck!