The dreaded plateau...

Miss_Corset

Miss_Corset

Target? Bring it on!
Hey everyone,

I was hoping it wouldn't happen to me, but sadly it has - I think I've hit the dreaded plateau!

In my first 8 weeks, I lost 18lbs, which was amazing! But then I had 2 weeks mostly off plan, because of work commitments (they sent me to South Africa, then a conference in London), and since then, although I've managed to shift the small gains I made when I was away, I haven't lost anything since. I hoped if I trusted the plan, I would start to lose again, but I've given it 3 weeks now, and my pesky scales still haven't moved.

I've been doing EE, which has worked really well for me, and I've been averaging out at about 8/9 syns a day. There's a link to my food diary in my signature.

I know lots of you lovely people will have been through the same thing so I was hoping you might be able to give me some advice. I'm thinking about going to green/red to kick-start the losses - would that be a good idea?

Sarah x
 
I find reds are good when I need a swift boot up the bum. Somehow I managed to put on 3.5lbs in 3 days in France and the red days sorted me out in double quick time :) I can't do them full time though but the 2 more healthy extras are good two x
 
Thanks Fiona - I will definitely give that a try. I'm having a green day today (need to use up the bacon and eggs in the fridge, so making SW Carbonara!) but have planned 3 red days into this week so really hope that will give me the push I need :) x
 
Oooh that sounds yummy. I need meat more than carbs that's why I always tend to try reds more. I started this week try success express but well that didn't last too long I'm gonna try again after I weigh on Thursday. X
 
Well I weighed in today and lost 1lb, which after several weeks of STS, I'm really happy with! I've done a mammoth trolley dash and stocked up with SW friendly food to last 'til the weekend so hopefully I'm on for a good loss next Tuesday!

I like the fact you get extra HEXs on red/green - looking forward to those :)

Good luck for Thursday, lovely lady xx
 
That's the spirit!!! I on the other hand had two days completely and utterly synful!!!! The actual meals and day snacks were 100% but hit the evening and well oh dear is all I can say lol. So if I sts or lose half I'll be over the moon. Fingers crossed xxx
 
Aww fingers crossed for you lovely! Sometimes it's really easy to fall off the wagon, isn't it! All you can do is climb back on and give it 100% from here on in :) xx
 
I actually only do red and green plans, always have done as not good with veg, hate salad. I too find that red days boost my loss. I am at target but just a couple of naughty days send my weight sky high. I have had a weekend away, then it was my birthday so I had another gain this week. I am now on red with a vengence! Feel slimmer again today. By the way, melons are lovely at the minute and are a superfree and superspeed food. (They just make you wee a lot, but I suppose thats a good thing) Good luck this week and well done on your pound loss :)
 
Thanks Holly's Nan! I brought myself a lovely looking melon yesterday, funnily enough! It's not quite ripe enough yet, but I will be enjoying it over the next couple of days. I've got peaches and strawberries today instead.

Interesting to hear what everyone's saying about red days. I suppose cutting the carbs down would increase losses so it makes sense. I'm really looking forward to the meals I've got planned for the week on both my green and red days so hopefully they'll be super tasty and I'll get a good loss next week :)
 
The SW Plateau Myth?

I see people talk about plateaus and wondered what peoples thoughts are? My consultant is absolutely adamant that there is no such thing as a plateau. Rather she says that the longer you do something, the more complacent about it you get. So, for example in the SW vernacular, you'll not always check the syns on something you always have, assuming they are still the same. You'll guess how much 30g of cheese is rather than weigh it, and you will eat the same amount of food as you did when you were 3 stone heavier, even though you don't really need.

It kinda makes sense to me, but I wondered if anyone had any actual scientific knowledge or information about it?

PS to MODS - sorry if this should be in Off Topic
 
Good question and will be interesting to hear everyone's thoughts. I can't comment as I have only ever stuck to sw properly for few weeks at time and never had that many losses to compare. What do you Think yourself? Maybe mix of both? I have read threads where people are trying and trying but still no movement but after a while of going back to basics it starts the ball rolling
 
I guess I agree with her Debtin. But am willing to be convinced otherwise by science! I know that if I stick to plan it works. I rarely even STS if I stick 100% to plan. So it makes sense to me that even 18 months in, the reason I don't loose some weeks is entirely down to not following it 100%, rather than plateau
 
I'd say it was complacency (hard to admit as someone who has STS for 2 months!). You do ease off a bit from when you first started - I never weigh stuff as I 'know'. Yeah right I do. I reckon if I weighed my cheese now I'd be shocked.

Even saying this has given me the kick I need to actually weigh it you know! From being on here it looks to me like those who are still as rigid as at the start are the ones still losing x
 
Here's something based on research in The Lancet:

But according to new research published in The Lancet, the scale's homeostasis has less to do with your body composition and more to do with slipping into old eating and exercise habits.

"It would take the body three years to reach a metabolic plateau," says lead author Dr. Kevin D. Hall from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. "If you stick to a diet exactly, you should expect your weight loss to continue for years, albeit not at the same rate."

While it's easier for our psyches to blame a waning metabolism than a lack of willpower, Hall's findings showed that most people who experience a weight loss plateau six to eight months into a diet are reverting back to pre-diet behaviors.

In fact, Hall even found that dieters begin to regress as soon as a month after they begin their diets. "When people are seeing their plateau—which is also their greatest weight loss success—their habits are practically back to where they started."
Within 10 months, not only have people come totally full circle and readopted their pre-diet habits, but they're beginning to put back on the weight they lost and, here comes the worst part, they still report that they're actually dieting.

"After more than a year of dieting, they're typically a little heavier than their minimum weight and slowly creeping back up," says Hall. "But if you ask them what they're eating, most will say they're still on a diet."
 
dudette2001uk said:
Here's something based on research in The Lancet:

But according to new research published in The Lancet, the scale's homeostasis has less to do with your body composition and more to do with slipping into old eating and exercise habits.

"It would take the body three years to reach a metabolic plateau," says lead author Dr. Kevin D. Hall from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. "If you stick to a diet exactly, you should expect your weight loss to continue for years, albeit not at the same rate."

While it's easier for our psyches to blame a waning metabolism than a lack of willpower, Hall's findings showed that most people who experience a weight loss plateau six to eight months into a diet are reverting back to pre-diet behaviors.

In fact, Hall even found that dieters begin to regress as soon as a month after they begin their diets. "When people are seeing their plateau—which is also their greatest weight loss success—their habits are practically back to where they started."
Within 10 months, not only have people come totally full circle and readopted their pre-diet habits, but they're beginning to put back on the weight they lost and, here comes the worst part, they still report that they're actually dieting.

"After more than a year of dieting, they're typically a little heavier than their minimum weight and slowly creeping back up," says Hall. "But if you ask them what they're eating, most will say they're still on a diet."
Click to expand...

Funny that as I find that whenever I lose weight its as if I have given myself the green light to sabotage myself by eating whatever and whenever then before I know it I am back at few pounds heavier. I agree that the body needs a shake up too.
 
This is an interesting thread although my own experience tells me the plateau does exist. I was cc ing and lost 4 stone. Then it stopped. I watched and weighed everything as I was desperate. I was on 1400 a day but nothing. For about six weeks. Eventually I gave up and put a stone and a half back on now I'm trying to get rid of it through SW. There is a possible argument that my body had reached it's 'natural' weight lthough my BMI was still considered overweight at 27.

I'm sure that the complacency theory is absolutely true but I am not sure it can be applied to all cases of unintended weight maintenance.
 
I'm really gonna try hard for a success express week from thurs as that's weigh day. Today is extra easy day.. I joined the six months to sexy challenge on here as well as the walking challenge so few things to keep me focused!! Whew I'm exhausted lol. X
 
Lol! I'm in six months to sexy too - hoping to be in the 9s by Christmas. We go away to a Hilton down on the coast every year so it'll be amazing to see people I haven't seen for a year having lost 2 1/2 stone! Just got to shift the last 18lbs!!

Good luck with your Success Express week - I think that's definitely something I'll be having a crack at just before holiday when I've got the last few pounds to shift. I guess you just have to be extra organised to make sure you've got enough superfree in the house at all times!! x
 
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