Not losing weight but my clothes fit different?? Explain — September 2026

Dr.NephBHM_UK said:

Nine weeks flat after five months of steady loss, same dose, same routine, and I cannot tell whether to wait or change something.

Plateau breaking story with a stall: I stalled at 197 lbs for 8 weeks. Tried everything — calorie cycling, increased exercise, more water. Nothing worked.

What finally broke the plateau: adding HIIT cardio 2x/week. Lost 6 lbs in the next 3 weeks. Plateaus are temporary — they always break if you stay consistent.

Dr.NateNeph said:

Plateau breaking story with a stall: I stalled at 197 lbs for 8 weeks.

Agreeing with Dr.NateNeph, and the qualification matters more than the agreement. Most reported plateaus are not plateaus. Weight is a noisy signal — daily variation of one to two kilograms from glycogen, sodium and gut contents — so a fortnight of flat readings is well inside the noise band. Before concluding anything, look at a rolling weekly average over at least four weeks and at a tape measure, because recomposition shows up in circumference before it shows up in weight. Then track intake honestly for a week: appetite suppression fades unevenly, and intake creeping back up is the single commonest cause.

Dr.NephBHM_UK said:

Nine weeks flat after five months of steady loss, same dose, same routine, and I cannot tell whether to wait or change something.

This is my experience too, for whatever a second data point is worth. The detail I would add is minor and it is already implied above.

From the other side of the consultation, briefly. Take it one variable at a time. Almost every unanswerable question in these threads is unanswerable because three things changed in the same fortnight, and no amount of subsequent argument can untangle them after the fact.