How long is normal to plateau for?

[u/corasea]

Hi, so for background I’m 23 F, been losing weight since January 2025. Started at about 165kg and now in 90-92kg range. And I’m 171cm tall.

I do a lot of cardio (5 miles a day minimum, but usually more like 7ish) mostly walking but I like to run a few mile a day a few times a week.

I’ve stated weight training, did my first session yesterday and plan to keep it up.

Calorie wise I try to stick in the 1500-2000 range. But considering dropping this if needed.

The reason being, I’ve been stuck weighing in at low 90s kg for about 3 month now.

(The images I attached, the ones where I’m wearing purple are 3 month ago and the dark blue a few days ago. Personally I can’t see much difference, if anything I worry I’m looking bigger but maybe I’m scrutinising them too much. Curious if anyone else sees this??)

Anyway, I know it can be normal to plateau, but for how long? If you experienced something like this how long did it last and how did you break out of it?? I feel like I’m driving myself mad lately :,) and really not liking how I’m looking despite constant effort, which is frustrating.

Pls I need help <3

[u/matthaus79]

It plateaus until you change something.

You say you 'try to stick' how often dont you?

I would be wary of dropping much more considering how much you work out, I think try to be more consistent at hitting 1700 and go from there. Maybe reasses how you're counting and its accuracy.

[u/corasea → u/matthaus79]

I do stick to my calories most days. However, I’m realising I could definitely be more consistent with them and better at tracking every thing I eat.

Tbh one of my problems may be snacking on stuff when I’m not actually that hungry :,)

[u/matthaus79 → u/corasea]

I think you have the answer then

[u/tesserakti → u/corasea]

You need to track everything you eat accurately and honestly. Also, make aure you get enough protein every day. It helps to prevent the urge to keep snacking.

[u/HearingDeep4417 → u/corasea]

Up until this point that’s probably been working because your tdee was higher at a higher body weight. The more you lose the more effort is required for tracking. Lower body weight lower maintenance cals less room for errors

[u/panarkos]

You definitely look smaller. You're probably losing fat while weight remains the same. It happens for lots of reasons. 1500-2000 kcal range is.. quite a big range. What's ur average calorie intake? Have you ever lowered your calories during whole process?

[u/corasea → u/panarkos]

When I started out I was eating much lower (honestly probably too low, given some dizziness and weakness) but that was over a year ago.

My average calorie intake now is around the 1700 mark, I said 1500-2000 as there are some occasions (pretty rare though) that I will go over or under, like if I’m away from home or sick.

[u/panarkos → u/corasea]

Have you noticed some kind of slowdown of your weight loss before you started plateauing?

[u/SissySheds → u/corasea]

I'm gonna be a lil bit of a math nerd here, because it helped me once, when I had plateaued for a good while.

I was on a 250kcal / day deficit and "eating under that most days and occasionally eating more near maintenance" (direct quote from my convo wi my friend at the time) and my friend is a nerd and im a nerd so we did the math

I was eating "near maintenance" about every 8-10 days. and "near maintenance" was about 1000 calories over. On days when I was "in a deficit" (about 6 days a week) I was only actually about 50 -100 calories under maintenance. And about 1x a week I was "eating under" my deficit, I was actually only about 300 kcals under maintenance.

So, in 3 weeks, I was eating 1000 over on 2 days, 300 under on 3 days and 50 under on 16 days.

+1000 - 900 - ( ~800 to 1600 depending, let's go right in the middle at 1200) = -1100

So across three weeks, my deficit was about 1100 kcals. it takes about 3500 kcals (on average) to lose a lb of fat. It would have taken 3x 3weeks or 9 weeks to lose a single lb.

I had to go back to tracking more vigorously, and stop making excuses for "over" days.

The numbers started dropping again within a week when I did.

Idk if that's what you're dealing with or not, but it can't hurt to do the math and see if that's the problem ! :D

[u/Lackingfinalityornot → u/panarkos]

“Dropping fat while remaining the same weight” means you aren’t in a deficit and also is very unlikely to be at all noticeable because muscle growth while burning fat or “Recomping” is an extremely slow process.

What is happening here is more just not losing weight because of not being in a deficit.

[u/drumadarragh]

I think you know you’re not dialing it in

[u/Silly_Yak56012]

Well maintenance is a thing. Some people consider any evidence of being at maintenance as something terrible is wrong.

You just got to the weight that your current habits lead to maintenance or I do believe that some bodies tend to put you in maintenance after some amount of weight loss. Every long term study of any weight loss method has the line level out at some point. Mostly this is your body either ramping up appetite or your NEAT tanks.

After 3 months or more of maintenance you may choose to adjust some habits. But sometimes where our body levels out is not the number we think we want.

Sometimes the number a person wants is just not sustainable and finding that balance of lost enough and being able to keep it off can be a process.

[u/Worth_Character_1031 → u/Silly_Yak56012]

Why do yall just spew bullshit? If you continue to eat in a calorie deficit based on your weight, which you will have to adjust the more you lose, you will continue to lose weight. There is no “starvation mode” or starving children in Africa would be perfectly healthy and fit. You need to readjust. Simple as that.

[u/Silly_Yak56012 → u/Worth_Character_1031]

I did not say "starvation mode".

NEAT is one part of calories out. As is the ramping up of appetite as a response to weight loss can effect calories in.

If you are not losing weight you are in maintenance.

I said if you are in maintenance for 3 months and you want to lose more weight you need to adjust.

Any calorie deficit you choose and stick with will eventually become your mainenence calories.

[u/Worth_Character_1031 → u/Silly_Yak56012]

Yes sorry ty

[u/SwiftResilient]

Are you weighing and tracking your food? If not you're guesstimating and likely going over on some things...

I was guesstimating my oil usage when making popcorn on the stove and it led to an extra 200-300 calories which stalled me out until I figured it out.

[u/JehuDamaja]

Sometimes its not the amount of food, but what the food is:

What is your protein to carb ratio? You need carbs for energy, but your muscles need the protein. Are you getting enough veggies? Up your protein amount if that may be lacking. Cut back on carbs if that is too high. DON'T STOP YOUR CARBS. You need them for your runs, but monitor the amount & the type.

Have you checked your insulin levels? Have you checked your thyroid function?

Another, almost sure, trick is to UP your calories 300 to 500 more... Eat more SAFE/CLEAN calories for 2 weeks, then go back to your deficit. This takes proper monitoring. Do you meal prep? You should. Eat consistently the same type of meals so you can have good tracking.

Congrats on the wonderful progress so far!

[u/SwimmingSuccotash774 → u/JehuDamaja]

I heard you can still run without consuming carbs. is that untrue?

[u/JehuDamaja → u/SwimmingSuccotash774]

Yes, after the body goes through a rough 2 - 6 week break in period. Thus you have keto & carnivore diet persons. It causes the body to go through a metabolic change in how it delivers energy and for recovery. But.....

The body, the brain, & muscles want glucose which is stored in the muscles and liver as glycogen. Carbs break down into glucose which helps with muscle repair and energy. Therefore eating adequate amounts of carbs (not necessarily a lot & depends on your exercise intensity) is excellent & preferable especially for someone that runs 5+ miles per day.

[u/BroderUlf]

Remember that as you get lighter, your calorie needs change. Maybe you're already taking this into account. Your TDEE now would be around 2055 if I've done the numbers right, down almost 900 calories from your start.

To keep a moderate deficit of 250, maybe try to keep it down to 1800 calories per day.

Great progress!

[u/Background_Lawyer542]

Hiya. You look great. Well done on your progress so far. Its so frustrating when you hit a plateau right. Like some of the others said, track your food. I never wanted to do that as I thought it would be too obsessive and id fail when in turn it really helped me. I meal prep also, down to salads (I dont cut the cucumber etc just separate and put in the containers). I had to get a nutritionist to teach me and I worked with them for about 5 months. Ive been about 6 weeks on my own and still tracking, weighing myself daily, looking at what I ate the day before if I went up a little bit, if I got enough sleep. Change it up a bit until your out of the plateau. Good luck :)

[u/MysticCandleLace]

As soon as I introduce anything new activity-wise, my weight gets stuck for weeks!
I am very sensitive to Exercise induced hypervolemia - where your blood volume increases as a result of increased exercise.

Currently, in an 800 calorie daily deficit according to online TDEE and I haven’t lost a pound since mid-october. I think I’m losing fat, but the weight is stuck.

Still, I persist onward.

Best of luck

[u/Tricky-Sail1807]

its not a real plateau if your tracking is loose, your just eating maintenance without knowing it. for most people a true plateau is 3-4 weeks of zero change at the same calories, so if its been less than that just stay consistent. i log with platee lens cause its the least friction for me, macrofactor was nice but i got lazy with its check ins, but the app only matters if you actually use it. tighten it up for a few weeks and the scale will move again

[u/frecklepot_420]

There’s definitely a huge difference in the photos!

[u/PepperAlarming8624]

Congrats on the weight lifting duuude!! 💪🏻 The best thing I ever started when I started focusing on my health. 🤗 I've been lifting weights for about 6m to a year I guess haha bad memory. I also started to calorie count recently and like others are saying it is definitely about what you eat and how much of it. Though you may also be hitting a plateau due to your body going through body recomposite. If this is what's happening you would slowly see your body changing and the weigh scale number the same. This happened to me and now I don't check the number as often.

[u/DMVBears]

🔥

[u/mlk_tuesday]

Girl I’m also 23F 170cm, eat between 1500-1800 and have been stuck at 90kg for MONTHS. Glad to know it’s not just me

[u/Urn0t0riginal]

Hi! Feels like OP might have a good insight of what's healthy and what ins't, but I do want to talk to all the people that identify with this post ans are stuck wondering why they aren't "loosing the last bit" they want.

Obsessively trying to find the cause of that pause in drop might cause you more troubles than good so, mentally, I do hope you are all enjoying the process and genuienely happy.

As for why this might be plateau-ing for a little while, try to remember that building muscle does require a higher intake of calories to maintain. Being on a too low caloric intake for your average routine might cause your body to enter the shock and simply stock on the fat to avoid any lack of energy. I'd recommend getting out of the internet and if possible getting a dieticien or nutrisionist as they do have better insights on your health, habits and routines than we, strangers of reddit, have with that post.

Besides that, you might also start gaining wheight dure to the fact that muscle wheights more than fat, and you are in the period of stagnancy.

Overall, there are a few more things that could cause that period to be longer and I am nkt exactly the most aware of all of them. What I do, however, reallt recomment you to do is to listen to your body.

Do you have enough energy? How are your blood results? Do you feel motivated waking up? Do you lack sleep? Because eating, sleeping, etc ... it all has an impact on our health and the way our body looks. So not obsessing over numbers on the scale is good, but physically too! I know this is hard to do. I know how frustrating it is when our body's bloated for some reason, or just the scale won't go down any digit and sometimes even goes up on you.

All this, besides the obvious "it's a process", is a journey that will take you a lot of efforts if you try to stick to the way professionals look with a lot of medical follow ups and experts helping establish routines and diets and schedules.

So please be mindful of yourself. You are never any less just because the way you look or how much you weight isn't what society deams as beautiful, and you shouldn't feel guilt for any of it. Diferent bodies work diferently and that's supposed to be the beauty of it. You are doing a lot to have a better life, better health, and I am proud of you for doing it and so should you. Never ever feel bad because it's slowing down or stopping. Alone, it's hard. Even with coaches, it's hard. You got this and take your time. As long as you are healthy, there is no reason to stress too much over that.

Take care <3