Weight loss Plateau, What to do?

[borch915]

So I got my force back in December, and started seriously stepping and eatting better in January.  In January I lost 15lbs, which was great while averaging roughly 13K steps a day.  Now in February, my avg steps and eatting have not changed from January but I have now only lost 3lbs for the entire month, even though my calorie differential per day is around 1000.  On Feb 1 I did start P90X, which is the only real thing that has changed from one month to the next.

I know muscle weighs more than fat, and my body is probably retaining more water due to the changes in my muscles I did not use as much before, but is there anything else I can do to help with the weight loss?

My next "step up to my fitness" starting on March 1st, is to start running a few days a week in addition to the walking I am currently doing.

Any thoughts/suggestions are greatly appreciated and what i could possibly due to increase my weight loss, or should i just not worry about it since overall i am still becoming healthier with working out now?

[shanab]

I wouldn't worry about it. Your body is probably still adjusting to the new routine 🙂

[aliciak80]

Did you take measurements? 1lb of muscle vs 1lb of fat weigh the same, but take up different amounts of space. So you may be staying the same weight but losing inches now.

[gerrymcd]

Sounds like you are doing great.  I wouldn't worry about only seeing a smaller loss in Feb compared to January.  Your body is adjusting to a new regime.    

Whilst its tempting to think 'how could I lose weight faster' its worth remembering its not about dropping Xlbs in a few months, its more about losing those lbs and not gaining them back......ever.  In which case, slow and steady is usually the best policy. The faster people lose weight, the more likely they are to gain it back.  

[borch915]

Thanks everyone for the reminder that this is a marathon and not a sprint to my weight loss goals. 

[Diane87]

The exact same thing happened to me when I was losing weight. The first 15 pounds came off pretty quick, and then the last 15 came off really slow. I just kept up the same eating changes I had made and switched up my exercising a little (I do dvds, so I bought a couple different ones to challenge different muscles), and I found slowly but surely those last pounds came off.

For me it was quite discouraging when I seemed to hit a weightloss wall, but I'm happy I stuck to it 🙂 

[dnelson46]

 Be sure to drink lots of water.  The lbs come off faster when you "flush" your body clean each day.

[KJV]

You may want to check out Jillian Michael's book " Making The Cut".  It was written to help people who have reached their plateau. 

[addibt123]

i faced the same problem and after doing a lot of research, i followed a new routine, called carb cycle. you might have over-trained or your body might have adopted to your routine, so surprise your body by changing your routine, workout a little less for couple of weeks, cut it nice. change your food plan, eat 0 carb a day, eat a little more next and eat load of carb the day after. your body won't adopt to it and you'll start loosing again. also do more of compound exercises like squats and HIIT. also do cardio but don't overdo it.

[josephz2va]

Check your trainer and ensure you're meeting the quotes. Calories Burned goal reached for the day is the hardest point to reach. I have to do 60 minutes to 90 minutes of treadmilling every morning, if I get break time climb 5 flights of stairs per break, and Focus T25 with 15 pound dumbbell weights. But soon enough I have to add another 60-90 minutes of treadmilling as my calorie burn is raised per week.

I also have to fill up two canteens of whey protein per day now to meet the -1000 calorie deficit.