Week 18 scale stall but waist down—what labs next?

The 23-day stall with shrinking waist tracks with what I saw around week 16. Scale was flat, pants were loose. I’d keep measuring.

Ferritin 48 would make me curious too. Mine sat low-normal and iron-related stuff changed my energy, not the scale.

I had ferritin around 45 and thought it was fine. After talking with my clinician, we looked at ferritin plus transferrin saturation and CBC. Energy improved, but scale still did its own thing. What I learned: a stall isn’t one number. Your ALT 24 and CRP 1.1 look reassuring from my lay perspective.

I’d log waist, sleep, and lifting numbers for another month before changing anything.

The resting HR drop is interesting. Mine fell 5-7 bpm by month 4, stayed there even when weight stalled.

I track CRP and fasting glucose too. My CRP bounced around 0.8–1.4 with no scale movement, mostly sleep and stress.

Did you take measurements same time of day? My waist can swing an inch from sodium and hormones.

Same pattern here: weeks 14–22 scale flat, waist down another 2 inches, deadlift up. What helped me was comparing monthly averages, not single weigh-ins. The daily noise was maddening.

I also asked for a DEXA later, but honestly tape and progress photos told the story. Your glucose and ALT numbers would make me less worried, not more. If sleep is better, that’s a win.

What do you mean by changing anything? I’d avoid chasing the scale if measurements are still moving.

I disagree a little with waiting if measurements are moving—23 days is short. I’d give it 4-6 weeks before calling it a true plateau.

The CRP tredn idea is good. On the lab side, that number finally dropped below 1.0 around week 20, and the scale had already slowed well before that.

My scale sat for 34 days around week 20, but my jeans went from snug 36 to loose 34 and my watch band needed a new hole. Same time, same fasted morning, waist at navel dropped 0.75 inch while weight bounced in a 2-lb window.

I started logging waist every Sunday and only cared about the 4-week trend. Are you measuring at the same spot and time?

On my 23-day stall I kept losing centimeters but not pounds; the body-comp numbers that moved were waist, hip, and thigh, while scale stayed flat. Labs I tracked with my doc were fasting insulin and HOMA-IR, not just A1c, plus lipids, TSH, and ferritin.

My A1c was 5.1 and fasting glucose 89, but fasting insulin was still 14, which explained why my waist kept dropping while weight laughed at me. Ferritin was 38, so I started eating more red meat and slept worse, ha.

I also took monthly progress photos in the same outfit, and that was more honest than any single lab. What does your waist trend look like over 4 weeks instead of 23 days?

Weekend sodium and alcohol hide 2-3 lbs for me; scale only drops after four dry, boring days.

Adding 20-minute after-dinner walks moved my waist but not my scale for three straight weeks.

When I stalled around week 20, I started measuring my calf and thigh, and they kept dropping even when weight didn't. What actually broke my plateau was a 3-day food log: I found my 'healthy' handfuls of nuts were ~400 extra calories.

Not saying that's you, but tracking bites/creams/oils for a week was more useful than another lab for me.

I stalled 24 days around week 16 and the only thing that moved was my resting heart rate and mood.

What helped me was not labs but a 10-day stress/sleep note: late meetings and 5.5-hour nights lined up exactly with the flat scale. Once I got two 7-hour nights in a row, the whoosh came. Might be worth tracking sleep debt before more labs.

Honestly, 23 days is barely a stall at 18 weeks; I'd kill for your waist trend. My scale didn't move for almost 5 weeks, then dropped 4 lbs in 3 days.

I wish I'd tracked a specific pair of jeans instead of daily weights—wearing the same belt notch is way less noisy. If you're not changing anything, maybe just add waist at navel plus hips every 2 weeks.

What moved for me during a long flat stretch was strength numbers, not labs: I added 10 lbs to my goblet squat and 2 push-ups, and my body fat scale actually dropped 1.2% while weigt stayed.

I'd track a 3-lift total or how many stairs you can do before breathing hard. That's the stuff that kept me from tweaking too soon.

Waist down 4 inches is the real headline; the scale sat flat for 26 days while the belt kept punching new holes. Tape measure and how the clothes hang beat the morning number, every time.