Plateauing 8 pounds above my goal

[corgigal]

Hi! I have managed to lose 18 pounds since November 2023, and I am only 8 pounds away from my goal. I started at 146lbs, and I am now 128lbs and I am 5’1” and a vegetarian. I am just stuck, and I have been stuck at 128 for about 2 months now. Before this I was losing about 4 pounds a month, and then… it just halted. My weight fluctuates down to 126 but is more often than not closer to 128 lbs. the point of this is to ask how you all got passed this? I have been slacking on tracking my food and need to get back to doing that, but even so I have been watching and limiting what I eat, no more than what I did when I was tracking from what I remember. I need to exercise more but I have been dealing with some health issues that make staying active very difficult lately. So besides getting back on the calorie tracking train, what can I do? I really want to lose these last few pounds for the summer and I know it’s possible but I feel stuck. I’m happy with my progress but I want the progress to keep going and just need some advice.

 

[angelonline]

@corgigal For me it comes down to tracking. Running did speed the process along slightly, but it was harder to gauge progress because it made the scale less reliable when I put on inevitable water weight from “the pump”.

 

[butterfly2222]

@corgigal I recently wrote a pretty complete post about plateaus. It’s in my history if you want to check it out.

 

[inthepottershands]

@corgigal did u take any maintenance breaks? it can help. for every ~3 months of deficit, take 1-2 weeks break when u will be eating maintenance calories. then weight should continue to gradually get down. also u will gain few pounds initially as u will likely eat more carbs while maintaining so don't be freaked out.

but being petite, it's miserable to lose weight without exercising - the calories are low, progress slow, so if u have any interest in some cardio activity or weightlifting, it would surely help. just choose something u enjoy, to be able to stick to it

 

[phillyflash]

@corgigal If you can, increase your steps or incorporate yoga (45 minutes-60 minutes) it's gentle but will still burn calories. Tighten up your calorie tracking as you mentioned. I eat mostly vegetarian and reducing my carbs and increasing fats helps shifts things a bit initially. Also trying not to eat past a certain time at night (usually 6pm) helps me as well.

Good luck!

 

[lalalady11]

@corgigal Ugh. Tell me about it. I need to lose 10 pounds to achieve my goal. I’ve been stuck with it for the past 4 months. I lost a good 20 pounds over 6 months. It just won’t move. My nutritionist suggested upping my caloric budget while I also raise my TDEE through movement and exercise. Currently, I’m consuming 1600 kcal. She wants me to slowly increase 100 cals every few days until I get to 1900 cals and raise my TDEE accordingly. I dunno. I have yet to try it though.

 

[jacquelinejean]

@lalalady11 Oof. Three hundred calories is a lot to burn through additional movement.

 

[strugglingsoul89]

@corgigal Let it settle a bit. Let this feel natural for a while. Recuperate and come back to it in 4 months.