The three week stall

I, too, am at a stall. Worse, I actually GAINED a couple of pounds! I was freaking out about this until I measured myself again. Lo and behold, I actually lost inches. Guess I'll have to be patient for the weight to start dropping again...

Sheeesh... get moving already LOL
Most of us who have lived thru this discovered that when the scaled stalled, the inches fell off.
 
I have gained 5 pounds this week but I have discovered what I believe to be the cause: the swelling in my feet, ankles, and calves is back with a vengeance after disappearing for a couple of weeks following surgery. My feet aren't too bad right now but you can definitely see it in my ankles and lower legs. That definitely accounts for the extra weight... sheesh. At least I know it's not a DS thing - this is an on-going issue for me. My faith in myself and the DS is hereby restored :)
 
I have gained 5 pounds this week but I have discovered what I believe to be the cause: the swelling in my feet, ankles, and calves is back with a vengeance after disappearing for a couple of weeks following surgery. My feet aren't too bad right now but you can definitely see it in my ankles and lower legs. That definitely accounts for the extra weight... sheesh. At least I know it's not a DS thing - this is an on-going issue for me. My faith in myself and the DS is hereby restored :)

Up your protein. To get the swelling gone. Dr. K just told me the swelling of the legs I had was because of low protein
 
A "stall" at this point is inevitable, and here is why.

Our bodies use glycogen for short term energy storage. Glycogen is not very soluble, but it is stored in our muscles for quick energy -- one pound of glycogen requires 4 lbs of water to keep it soluble, and the average glycogen storage capacity is about 2 lbs. So, when you are not getting in enough food, your body turns first to stored glycogen, which is easy to break down for energy. And when you use up 2 lbs of glycogen, you also lose 8 lbs of water that was used to store it -- voila -- the "easy" 10 lbs that most people lose in the first week of a diet.

As you stay in caloric deficit, however, your body starts to realize that this is not a short term problem. You start mobilizing fat from your adipose tissue and burning fat for energy. But your body also realizes that fat can't be used for short bursts of energy -- like, to outrun a sabertooth tiger. So, it starts converting some of the fat into glycogen, and rebuilding the glycogen stores. And as it puts back the 2 lbs of glycogen into the muscle, 8 lbs of water has to be stored with it to keep it soluble. So, even though you might still be LOSING energy content to your body, your weight will not go down or you might even GAIN for a while as you retain water to dissolve the glycogen that is being reformed and stored.


I had a 4-6 stall and it totally freaked me out. Part of it was bad eating choices on my end but still... thanks for posting this!!!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top