Down 28 lb since January (214 to 186). For 21 days the scale hasn't moved more than 0.4 lb either way. But my waist is down another 1.25 in, and my A1c went from 5.8 to 5.4. I lift 3x/week and walk 8k steps; calories around 1650.
Is this the classic whoosh/plateau thing, or am I eating back too much on weekends? What data would you track next—weekly averages, tape, photos, or something else? Curious what broke your last 3-week stall.
Three weeks is barely a plateau. Weekly averages matter more than daily numbers. Are you weighing at the same time every morning?
My last stall broke when I stopped eyeballing weekend portions. Not saying that's you, but 1650 can become 2100 fast with two restaurant meals.
The tape and A1c moving is the real win. I'd keep everything steady another two weeks before changing anything.
Agree on weekly averages. I also tape my waist every Sunday. Scale was flat 4 weeks while waist dropped 2 inches.
What did your weekends look like the last three weeks? That would explain a lot more than daily water shifts.
I had almost the same numbers—lost 30, then the scale froze at 183 for 26 days. Waist kept dropping. I only changed one thing: added a 30-minute walk after dinner and kept food the same. The scale finally dropped 2.2 lb the next week. Not saying it'll work for you, but for me the stall wasn't fat regain.
Have you recalculated maintenance after 28 lb down? 1650 might be a bigger deficit than you think, but sleep and stress can mask it.
Sleep is my tell. Under six hours, I stall.
Photos are underrated. I hate taking them, but side-by-sides show more than a 0.4 lb daily swing.
To the weekend point—tracking Friday through Sunday was humbling. I was basically erasing my Mon-Thu defecti without realizing it.
I wouldn't change calories yet if lifts are still progressing. Three weeks flat with waist down and A1c improving sounds more like recomposition plus training water retention.
If the weekly average is still flat after another two weeks, then make a small adjustment. Also, are you measuring waist at the same spot? I was off by an inch once just from placement.
What app are u using for weekly averages? I've been doing it in a notes app and it's clunky.
Three weeks flat with waist and A1c improving is usually recomposition, not a failed deficit. I’d track weekly average weight plus waist at navel and a pair of jeans, not daily lows.
Weekends are sneaky: if Friday-Sunday adds 800-1200 cal/day, that can erase a 300-400 daily deficit. Try same-day weigh-ins for 2 weeks, keep weekends within 200 cal of weekdays, and take front/side photos every 2 weeks.
Sleep was my hidden lever: two 5-hour nights and I hold 2 lb of water. Fix sleep before you cut more.
Check your gym log instead. If your squat or rows are up while weight is flat, that's recomp, not a stall.
Two more weeks before changing anything, realistically. 21 days is long enough to feel rough and way too short for body comp to show up on a scale — food volume, water, sleep, training all move that number more than actual tissue does.
Weekend creep got me too — I'd be 2 lb up Monday, back down Thursday, so every Friday looked flat for a month. What fixed it wasn't eating less, it was keeping Saturday the same shape as Tuesday: same breakfast, same lunch, one dinner out instead of two. Scale started moving again at basically the same intake.
If your Sundays run 600-900 over, you're just treading water all week.
Measure first thing before coffee, at the narrowest point, and put a faint pen dot on your skin so you hit the same spot — I moved my tape 2 inches higher one month and 'lost' an inch that was never there.
Better anchor for me is one specific pair of jeans and how the waistband sits. If those are looser on a flat scale week, the scale is lying.
Honest take: adding more tracking is how I made a stall worse. I went from one weekly weigh-in to daily weights plus a food scale plus tape, my stress went up, sleep got worse, and the scale sat at 191 for 26 days.
What helped was picking exactly two numbers: a Sunday morning weight averaged over 4 weeks, and waist at the navel. The 4-week average showed I was still down 0.4 lb/week even when every single day looked identical.
If you want a third, do photos every 2 weeks, same light, same shorts — weekly photos are pure noise. Also, 5.8 to 5.4 is a way bigger win than 0.4 lb.
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