Take a look at this chart, which plots my weight each day over
the past three months.
As you can see, the loss was more or less steady,
except for a three-week period from 25-Sep-12 to 16-Oct-12, marked by the red box. During
that period, my weight went up and down and stayed flat, and at the end of the period, I hadn't lost any weight. This happened even though I was eating essentially the
same as I did before and after that period. I believe that my caloric
intake was about the same. The interesting thing is that, during that period of no weight loss, I had to cinch my belt in
another notch and felt and looked lighter.
How do you explain this three-week period? Was I losing fat
but retaining water? Was my body adjusting to the new weight by adding glycogen
(and accompanying water) to my muscles and liver? Was my metabolic rate
temporary slowed way down? I haven't a clue.
Anyway, the take-home lesson is this: As we try to lose
weight, we will experience ups and downs and stalled weight loss periods from time to
time. It's part of the complexity of trying to lose weight.
Thanks for this, Dad. After a week of my weight fluctuating up and down, but not really moving anywhere, I've started to get discouraged. On the other hand, I feel good and think I look thinner. I'm eating better than ever, working out and can honestly say my caloric intake is the same as or less than it was been during the previous weeks of weight loss. I'm determined to stay on the program, just frustrated that I don't seem to be losing any weight now. It's good to know that what I'm experiencing is not unheard of, and that weight loss will eventually resume. Congrats on your own weight loss. It's very impressive.
ReplyDeleteI loved this chart! Although I was up 1.5 lbs this morning, I bought a smaller size jean yesterday. I don't think that the scale is the only way to measure our success.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting the chart. I have experienced the same stagnation followed by further weight loss on more than one occasion. In my case the plateau occurs after 4 to 5 kg initial weight loss and takes about two weeks, before further progress is made. One has to stick to the diet for that period without seeing any success on the scales, which is discouraging, if one is not aware of this phenomenon.
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