The FastDay Forum

Is there anyone here who hasn't suddenly stalled with 6 or 7lbs to go? It seems I read so many posts from fellow forum member about their plateau or their ping pongs (me included).

I just wondered if anyone hadn't experienced this irritating development. I've had a look at some info online. I'm finding the theory of 'set point' to be interesting.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/25696 ... set-point/

Today I am at my lowest weight ever in my adult life, 128lbs, but I fear next week I'll be up at around 130 again. It's so frustrating. Has anyone tried the tips on lowering set point? Have they worked?

Thanks

Johanna

I'm just hitting it myself. I've had small plateaus before, so I'm not too concerned yet. Interestingly, I've lost well over the 10% mentioned in the article. The tips seem like sensible advice (except low fat. Ugh). I kept a food diary when I first started this WOE. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt me to start again!

Thanks for posting this Johanna. I had forgotten about this theory. I was surprised about consciously sticking for as long as six months in maintain mode after a ten pct loss though. I have also seen it described another way which is to shoot for one month loss, one month maintain etc in order to trick the body to lower the set point. I wonder if there are any nerdy articles around?

I've lost over 10% too MaryAnn, I've seen other theories that you plateau at around 15-17% total weight loss and this fits more with my experience.

I think I'll start keeping a strict food diary too. Karen, other articles I've been looking at seem to suggest trying to trick your body by eating 300cals more or less each day or on two day cycles. I think for me this would look like:
Monday - fast
Tuesday - 1500
Wednesday 1200
Thursday - fast
Friday - 1500
Saturday - 1200
Sunday - 1500

I honestly struggle to eat 1200 cals on non fast days through the week through so I don't know what 1500 would look like, especially when trying to 'eat clean'!

[carorees]

Yes, there are some articles in the 5:2 lab see here: viewtopic.php?f=10&t=395
I've given links to several articles about weight regain, maintenance and set points in that thread.

Thanks Caroline!

[Moogie]

Defo something for me to read up on a bit more. I plateaued at around 20% loss, and now am at about 25% and finding it really slow. I'm about my 'normal' adult weight now so suspect this may be my set point. At the moment I don't mind that I'm only losing a little as I'm quite happy at this size for now and only want to lose a bit more for some weight wiggle room!

Interesting, especially for me. Thanks for posting it.
Since I first started my weight loss in Jan 2011, I have lost exactly 56lbs, or nearly 25% of my starting body weight. Then I lost 28lbs and put 14 back on last year.
This year, since I started 5 2 in Jan this year, I have lost 43lbs and it has been slow going recently. I have 2lbs to go to my target weight.
I am hoping that the good habits I have learned this year will stick around and enable me to maintain without too much difficulty (now, I wouldn't have written that a few months ago!!)

I do record what I eat on MY fitness Pal and weigh daily, so I can see what really works for me. I am also contemplating maintaining until Jan 2014, then seeing if I can lose another half stone. (I certainly wouldn't have written that a few months ago!!)

I'm about 3 kgs off my target and have been for ages, with no particular change in habits. I've been eating all sorts the whole time I've been losing.

I'd decided a couple of weeks' ago to not worry and just concentrate on body composition. So this week I've cleaned up my diet (Paleo inspired) and stuck to 16:8 and seem to be losing again.

I was over 90kgs, stalled at 78 kg for 2 months ish and just got my lowest ever weigh-in today at 76.9.

In my quest for more information about set points I found this. I thought it was quite interesting.

http://www.bidmc.org/YourHealth/BIDMCIn ... Point.aspx

This didn't happen to me either at 10% or 6 months (the 6 month drift from trendline was down to going on holiday!), and I'm now at 15%. My target is only a pound away, but it is clear I will be continuing, as there is still alot of fat around lower abdomen.
I've just read the link, and don't know what to think?!

In my quest for more information about set points I found this. I thought it was quite interesting.

http://www.bidmc.org/YourHealth/BIDMCIn ... Point.aspx

Thanks Jo. I liked the part about R-K-O (regular reducing/keeping it off/off day). It is something that anyone could incorporate into their regime, (especially daily weighers) not just those managing to break through a plateau.

Thanks for sharing.

Hi folks, I'm not suggesting this is the gospel. I'm merely looking at data, research and theories to try to understand what is happening to my body/weight. I'm just sharing what I find interesting. I lost 16% of my body weight before I hit plateau, then I started to fluctuate on weight-ins, that's when I started daily weighing. The fluctuations started to get marginally lower and I wanted to understand what was happening. For me the science of set-point explains this better than anything else I've found to date. I totally appreciate it won't be the same for everyone, or apply to everyone as all of our journeys are so individual!

I lost 45lbs at a steady 2lb a week and then stalled for a fortnight with just ONE pound to go to my target. Obviously this was equally as frustrating as it was not really a problem but I'd set my mind on being nine stone thirteen and I didn't WANT to still be ten stone! I'd started to think that maybe my body was telling me enough was enough when it finally conceded and I hit my target. I then cautiously switched to what I thought was maintenance.... and managed to lose a further 3lbs in ten days!!!

3.5 weeks down the line, I'm learning to fluctuate in the "late" nines....

Hi kencc,

Thanks for this. Unfortunately I can't relate it to what has happened to me. I can confidently say that my calorie intake hasn't gone up and my level of activity, if anything, has risen. Since my plateau/fluctuation I began weighing food and recording cals using my My Fitness Pal and I rarely eat more than 1300cals on non-fast days. I run/exercise 3-4 times a week, with sessions lasting between 1hr to 1.5hrs and I don't own a car so spend a lot of time walking! Given the exercise I do I can't afford to drop my calorie intake to less than 1300 a day as I don't want to lose lean muscle mass. I have changed up my exercise programme in the hope that this starts to work! It's all so confusing, there's so much information out there isn't there?