Mark Stone

The title says it all - For the past three months, I've lost size but have not lost any weight. I'm frozen at 233 pounds. However, my waist is still shrinking, I'm feeling more and more mobile, etc. But the scale is stuck on 233 and has been since October or so . . . The only difference is that I'm riding my bike with much greater frequency and more distance. But honestly 233 is not a bad weight for me at 6'5" tall, so maybe I've hit my ideal scale weight? My goal weight on WW was (is) 210.

contango 

If you're losing size but not weight the chances are it means you're losing fat and gaining muscle. Muscle is much more dense than fat so you end up the same weight but smaller.

It happened to me for a while, I started riding when I weighed around 280-290 and people kept saying how much weight I'd lost even though the scale said I'd lost nothing. Even now I'm still around 250, but my quads are much bigger than they used to be and I've lost six inches off my waistline.

Neil_B

I had that happen in 2007 when I hit 240. My doctor said 225 was a good weight for my build, and I was carrying loose skin around, so I declared I reached goal.

cplager

Ideal weight depends on a lot of factors - how much muscle you have, yada yada yada. If you're still losing size, then that suggests (as mentioned above) that you're gaining muscle and losing fat.

Just keep doing what you're doing.

krobinson103

Dropped to from 110 to 85kg 34 inch waist (192cm), upped the training intensity and I have stayed at the same waist line, but way more definition and much larger legs. weight went ip to 87kg and just stays there. I'm faster, stronger, feel lighter, but weigh more. I can only think that I'm gaining muscle.. and if thats the case then perhaps 87-90kg is right for me. I'm certainly not fat. Loose skin by the bag full, but no fat to be seen.

digger531

Tricky time. It is hard to stay the course when the scale freezes. I have been there many times. Sometimes I make it sometimes I don't. I don't buy into the "muscle weighs more than fat" blah blah blah. While it does, it is by such a small percentage. I do believe and have experienced that the body has different places to store fat and each individuals balance is different. Some people have spare tires while others have big bottoms ect. When I lose weight it seems as though I lose a lot of fat from one area and then over a little while it kind of evens back out. Then I can lose weight again. There is so much BS out there about weight loss and exercize it is hard to know what is true and what isnt. I would wager before this post dies there will be at least three conflicting ideas. That being said I think everyone would agree that THE DEFINITION OF INSANITY IS TO CONTINUE TO DO THE SAME THING AND EXPECT DIFFERENT RESULTS. Well,...maybe not..but I would change something.

PLEASE READ MY SIGNATURE BEFORE ATTACKING ME!!!!

Mark Stone

Isn't that true!!!

adrien

Do you look different, to yourself or perhaps a significant other who takes interest in such things? If so, the theory is likely correct. Muscle is heavier. I hit a floor weight-wise at 205, but my body has continued to change while at roughly that weight -- my neck and waist measurements, in particular, are still falling, albeit much more slowly.

Based on lifestyle, calories in and calories out, I've seen my body settle into certain sweet spots. 250 (too much), 238 (I was there I kid you not for 8 months!?), 220 (3 months) and now 205 (been a year -- I think this is the new normal). You are at one of yours. You need to decide whether a more lean / muscular 233 is what you want. If it's not, then do more -- and focus on more cardio and less anaerobic. This can be as simple as spinning in a higher gear.

DiscTruckerMF

your fine, your 6'5" I'm 6'3 250 most people think I'm 225 because I'm muscular.

howsteepisit

Its been my observation over the years that are some weights that your body just seems to want to hold. So you hit that weight, and then things kind of redistribute, water balance changes, weight loss stalls but thats when you lose inches. Stick with the plan, and sooner or later, as long as you are eating less than you need to maintain that weight, weight loss will start again. I have read that its caused by set points where your weight has previously been for an extended period of time, not so sure I buy that but it sounds good. I do know on the way back up in weight there are also places you kind of stick no matter how much you eat.

cplager

I think this statement isn't helpful in this case (or in many cases). The OP is clearly better off now than he was before. And, particularly importantly, weight is NOT the metric that he ought to be using to decide on progress (if he's getting smaller, he's losing fat regardless of what the scale says). And while it's true that different people put on fat in different places, from the OP's description, it does not sound like he's putting on fat in new places.

For what it's worth, muscle is more dense than fat. That's why dunk tests work for measuring body fat.

Cheers,
Charles

Myosmith

The scale is just a small part of the big picture. Check back with it once in a while, but focus on training and nutrition. How you look, perform and feel are far more important than the number on the scale.

Myosmith

Agreed but the OP is getting results, just not the result of moving the number on the scale.

I suggest to the OP not to focus on goal weight but on goal body composition. If anyone even mentions BMI to you, you have my permission to backhand them. Weight is not bad, excess fat is bad. More muscle, bone and connective tissue is a good thing as is proper hydration.

Bill Kapaun

I had similar results, so I just redid my thought process. As long as I was losing INCHES, I was doing good.
My highest mileage month was July, 2011, doing a bit over 600 with a 50 mile day on the 31st.(on the 1st of the month, my highest day to that point was about 15 miles)
I GAINED 5 lbs. for the month! I knew I was MUCH fitter/slimmer, so that's when I decided inches was my new scale.

bbeasley

Non science based opinion on plateaus: I started at 252 lbs, at just 5'7", that's huge. 220 showed up like a brick wall. I made several attempts and could not break through it. What I noticed was, I felt great having lost ~30 lbs, I could do things that had been impossible, folks told me "Gee you look great", it seemed like I was barley eating to maintain 220.

I quite trying to lose weight and focused on increasing my fitness level. Over time, I became bored with my 220 fitness level and dreamed of what 200 would be like. I got used to the amount of food I ate and began to internalize how much I over ate. I had my wife take pictures of me and I was thoroughly disgusted with them. 220 became my new "I'm disgusted with myself" weight. I started trying again to lose weight and presto I punched right through that wall and cruised down to 200 where I've found my next wall. I expect 200 to put up a bigger fight, I think the toughest pound I'll ever lose is from 200 to 199.

I've hung out for months between 200 and 213. I'm now disgusted with 200 and I'm going to punch through it.

The downside to this process is it's taken me 2.5 years to go from 252 to my current ~207.

Make any sense? Resonate with anybody?

Mark Stone

Oh my yes, it resonates with me. The only difference is that I am happy with what I see in the mirror at 233 pounds, and even though the scale is frozen I'm still losing size. Maybe what you said is "unscientific", but it's my experience also.

goldfinch

18% denser. But muscle also doesn't muffin top you or jiggle around.

islandseas

Congrats on your riding and your weight loss. I too am in a plateau where I'm not losing weight but am getting smaller. A lb of fat weighs the same as a lb of muscle but the muscle takes up so much less space and I like being fit and smaller. If you (me) keep following your new lifestyle of healthy eating and activity eventually they will catch up together. Keep up the great work.

Karen

k_randomfactor

Several years ago, I decided I wanted to be a shape other than round. I was 6' 220lbs (not huge, but bigger than I wanted to be), and started going to the gym 3-4 times a week, alternating cardio and weights. I gained 10lbs before I started losing any, then slowly dropped to about 205 where I plateaued.

A physical therapist buddy of mine told me that I had adapted to the workout schedule, and that was my new 'normal'. He suggested that I change my workouts to 'jump start' the weight loss again. Change intensity, duration, type/style etc. of my workouts.

May work.

Myosmith

Probably more likely that you need to make changes to your nutrition. If you aren't losing weight, then your caloric intake and expenditure are in balance. Changing your workout might help but more important is to make sure you are at a caloric deficit. You can always outeat any training regimen.

Buckeye370

I refuse to get on a scale because I'll agonize over each individual pound. I've had many people comment on my weight loss since I started this adventure in November. I finally caved and looked at the scale at my doctor's appointment only to find I've lost 2 pounds of my original 250. My clothes fit worlds better and I've had to take my duty belt and vest in twice now. I'll take it, but I won't be looking at a scale any time soon again.

Fatoldguy

New to the forum, just ordered my first bike. It is supposed to be here on Thursday - so will log my first miles on it Friday.

Like the rest of you, I have been working hard at losing some weight. I was nearly 240 in June and am down to 197 now.

I have hit a couple of plateaus along the way. I have found that I was not eating enough. I know that sounds counterintuitive, and I even went to see a nutritionist - who backed me up on it.

Think about an animal hibernating. Your body can do that as well. I was not eating enough for my level of activity, so my body was holding onto everything for dear life.

At the time I was eating 1200-1500 calories a day and exercising 3-4 times a week. The boot camp workouts I was doing would burn 800-1000 of those, and I guess my body just freaked out.

So I got a calorie tracking ap - Lose It (I am not advocating that one, there are lots of them out there). It bumped my calories to 1800 a day for my level of activity, and almost immediately busted through that plateau. Seems strange - but I ate more and lost more.

The next plateau was about the type of calories I was taking in - too many "sugary" fruits and vegetables. I was eating lots of carrots, corn, snap peas, bananas, oranges etc. I was also eating too many carbs. Wasn't over doing it on carbs, but had to cut back a bit. I focussed on lean proteins and more green leafy vegetables and eliminated all but whole grains.

I have been stuck at 197 for a month now because I have let the diet slip a little and I just need to knuckle down again. I want to be at 190 by the end of March and at 180 by Father's Day.

youcoming

Sure does! My weight loss goals and struggles always come back to two very different things.
First is my body weight in relation to performance on the bike. 220+ and I can't tell much of a difference, 220 and under there are huge performance gains. At 220-230 I can hang with anyone but it's a struggle. 220-215 I not only hang with them I can do my turns out front. 215-210 I start to feel huge gains and not only do my turn out front I'll stay there for extended periods. It's at 210 where things start to get real fun, every pound I loose under this gives me a huge boost in performance, I can hold in the drops longer and breath easier, my climbing ability really starts to shine. At 205-197 ,the lightest I every was in 2010, is pure magic for me. I really hope to get below 190 this summer and my ultimate goal is to be 170 for my 45th birthday in a few years.
My second factor is purely vain, I want to look good with no clothes on, well as good as I can look.

bdinger

I'm 6 foot 2 and currently at 299. I've been at 299 for the past three weeks, almost infuriatingly. My diet has been awesome and I spend at least an hour, more like 2 a day on the bike. This past week I had two long days on the bike, a excruciating hour on the spin bike, and averaged around 1500 calories of intake. Got on the scale today?

299

I'm about to throw away the scale as my waist size is down over 26 inches from where I started, I feel great, and I look great. I know that's no the lowest I can get but then again I was a 570 pound man for a dozen years. Maybe it is the lowest I can get, who knows!

What I do know is these things suck, especially when you have a point in your head you want to get to. I desperately want to get to 249 pounds, but it might not currently be in the cards.

So in other words - I feel your pain. Remember if you aren't going up, that's really what matters.

Baytree

I have been 190 pounds for the last 10 years. However, when I was a competitive runner and martial artist I was MUCH smaller than I am now for the same weight. I mean about six inches less around the waist and hips, smaller chest, thighs, everything. That's because of the difference in density between muscle and fat... then I was about 22% body fat, now more like 30. It really does make a difference.

OP, if you are losing size then you're doing great! Would you rather be light but flabby, or heavy and trim? Just keep up the good work and watch yourself get healthier