The dreaded plateau...

[Mrs CC]

I think plateus are a real thing in that people do have times when the weight doesnt change for a few weeks. But I have to say that I dont think they are as a result of any diet not working anymore, be that SW or any other plan. As said already people get complacent and little things creep in again etc. Theres also things like seeing visible results and feeling like you dont need to diet anymore etc.

From my own perspective I know having done CC before (I'm doing sw at the moment to stay healthy while expecting and hopefully avoid too much weight gain!) there comes a point where I simply cannot be bothered to CC past a certain length of time for one reason or another. I think what Im trying to say in a long winded way is the reasons for plateuing are probably in the mind rather than physicical and maybe people for one reason or another arent quite prepared for long term sticking to a diet. I do mean all this for any diet btw not necessarily just sw.

 

[kingleds]

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.

Were you eating 1400 calories a day when you 1st started dieting, or did you gradually work you way down to that?

One of the things my consultant says is that we eat as much when we are slimmer as we did when we were larger, and our BMR is lower we're slimmer, so we don't need as much food.

 

[hollys nan]

Well for me I think the plateau does exist. I have never strayed from the plan, and have been on it since Jan 2011. I would have weeks (now at target) when I wanted to get a bit lower if going on holiday and although staying 100% on plan the weight just would not shift. I weigh and measure all my hes and stick to plan totally. But as we say, we are all different and I did take the b road to my journeys end!

 

[FionaMcd]

Where abouts on the coast to you go? I have 2 and half stone till my "ideal" weight I totally blame my baby lol x

 

[Miss_Corset]

Lol! Sounds like a great excuse to me!

We go to Arundel, which is a gorgeous little village. And it's fab and means nobody has to cook! x

 

[lilpixiesue]

interesting thread. I know i have become complacent with the plan since reaching my first target, i used to weigh and measure everything that needed it, now i just assume i've stuck within my milk allowance, i'll squirt salad cream on my dinner and think, ah that's about 2 syns, i'll grab half a biscuit and not bother to write it down etc...

but then there must surely come a point where your body won't lose weight anymore if you are eating healthily? obviuosly if you starve yourself then that's different, but surely there must come a point where eating the healthy SW way you stop losing weight simply because you don't need to lose anymore? i can't see that by following the plan 100% forever we'd all become skeletal, it's a healthy balanced diet, i have always assumed it woks to lose weight to the point where you don't need to lose anymore.

 

[FionaMcd]

I think I will agree with the complacent theory. X

 

[Legomom]

I think it often IS complacency but I do know people who have followed a plan for weeks and just not lost any weight.

I calorie counted 5 stones off at one point and no matter how low I shaved my calories, upped my exercise and cut my carbs etc the last stone would NOT GO. And scientifically I should have been losing 1.5lbs a week. (in theory you can calculate your calorie needs and intake quite precisely but the scale doesn't always cooperate!!!). Five weeks of misery on a very strict punishing regime and I lost less than 3lbs. It was soul destroying.

Yet I've had weeks on SW where I've followed the plan in theory but I haven't been eating especially healthily and I've lost 3lb in a week.

Sometimes weight loss just slows down. I personally think I big old metabolic slap in the face gets you going again. So if your plateaued and nothing seems to be working I'd try doing a JUDD week then coming back to SW. (JUDD is johnsons up day down day.....basically you half starve for a day, then eat like a beast for a day then back to starving..but obviously there's more rules than that!! Not a diet I'd want to do for long but calorie spiking is actually a real thing lol. It mimics how our ancestors might have eaten when we were evolving)

 

[hollys nan]

Well I have noticed that when I have been on holiday and gained quite a bit then come back and 100% on plan the weight falls off dramatically the first week. Perhaps that is a bit of JUDD

 

[ILoveCake]

Yes it exists. I've been on sw for 20 months but the last two months I haven't been able to get anywhere and I am on plan. I tried cutting portion sizes and then cutting carbs. I had a long chat with my consultant who said I wasn't on plan by cutting carbs. She asked me what I'd tell a new member about sw. So now carbs are back and fingers crossed I think the weight is dropping again.

 

[Shirleen]

It could be a mixture of things. My consultant says that 2 stone is where people get stuck, they've lost it feel great getting compliments and lose the drive.
But also I think the human body is very adaptable and will adapt its energy burning to suit the energy intake. I've heard some people say 'I've lost weight and got less energy than before' that'll be you body slowing you down to compensate.
Runners for instance don't run x amount of miles every day, because you don't get fitter that way, your body just gets used to the energy output. So a runner may do 15 on one day, 5 miles the next and 20 the day after, so that their body works at optimum!
I have also heard a consultant advise to have a flexi syn day to kick start things again.

 

[hollys nan]

Interesting, I did get stuck at 2 stone but never lost the drive, still 100% even though at target. It has become such a way of life for me now. I am happy at my target weight though, but if I was still trying to lose I would not do anything different than now and I would be so very fed up!

 

[Ophelia105]

It could be a mixture of things. My consultant says that 2 stone is where people get stuck, they've lost it feel great getting compliments and lose the drive.
But also I think the human body is very adaptable and will adapt its energy burning to suit the energy intake. I've heard some people say 'I've lost weight and got less energy than before' that'll be you body slowing you down to compensate.
Runners for instance don't run x amount of miles every day, because you don't get fitter that way, your body just gets used to the energy output. So a runner may do 15 on one day, 5 miles the next and 20 the day after, so that their body works at optimum!
I have also heard a consultant advise to have a flexi syn day to kick start things again.

I read a magazine article once - a uk sports journal - it recommended that when dieting having a day 'off' every ten days as the research showed that this kept your metabolism on its toes. When I was cc ing I did this if I got stuck and it seemed to work.

 

[Miss_Corset]

I read a magazine article once - a uk sports journal - it recommended that when dieting having a day 'off' every ten days as the research showed that this kept your metabolism on its toes. When I was cc ing I did this if I got stuck and it seemed to work.

That's really interesting. And actually I guess I've done this a few times (e.g. gone out to a party and gone over syns or whatever) and still managed a loss at WI - always wondered how I'd got away with it!

 

[gazter]

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 follow the EE plan 100%, it feels much much harder now than it did to lose weight and I still have loads to go. For the last three to four weeks i have cut out all the main staples of potatoes, pasta and rice (today was the first time i had had rice for about six months, I think it will be another six months until i do it again), using superfree salads and veg as substitutes for the above. Still feels slower.

I think your body gets used to things, plateaus are not just in weight, but exercise also. What worked for you before isnt a guarantee of success in the future. Gym rats and athletes will vary their exercises and intensities to stop the body getting used to a pattern, as it just adapts.