Weight Loss

I have  been on a pleateau for the past 11 days.  For that time I have eaten properly (measured portions, stayed around 1500 cal), taken my vites, exercised at least 3x per week and drank my H20.  So, I'd consider this a true plateau.  How long can these plateaus last?  They are SO frustrating that I've had to stop getting on the scale.  I'm a grazer when I'm not managing my intake and it's so easy for me to get bummed, go back to bad habits and graze emotionally. 

Any suggestions from others who can honestly say they have been doing all the right things and have plateaued?  Also, is this a plateau?  It feels like forever without losing but maybe I'm just being a drama queen.

Ugh!!!

I've been on a plateau for 2 months! It's very frustrating, but you just have to keep doing what you're doing, and be careful not to undereat. I've inadvertantly been burning too many calories/not eating enough, so be careful you're staying nourished. Also, it's best to weigh yourself only about once a week, so you can see your long-term results. :)

I've heard some people advise to put a couple of pounds on, then start being strict again. I've also heard people say to do extra exercise to get past it. I think the basic jist is that your body gets used to the routine you're in and maintains it's weight, so try to find some way to give it a little jolt.

Hi, I'm new to writing in forums but I really need some advice. For the past 4yrs I have been working hard to lose wt.I'm now 66kg as of today, down from 111kg 4yrs ago.I'm 42 female, 5ft7 ". My goal is to reach 60kg but the past 3months I've been stuck at 66kg...I've increased my cals to 1700 and reduced to 1400 but sill no weight loss..I exercise 5x a week using exercise dvd's. (Davina power of 3 is my favourite) I also do Tony littles dvd's one on one using 5kg weights)

Breakfast: 50g oatmeal w/skim milk, sprinkle almonds on top and cinnamon.

snack: 2squares of dark choc

lunch: chicken, tuna salad or grill fish, veg and non fat prune yog

Dinner: boiled egg or porridge or crispbread and vache kiri cheese or grilled chicken and fruit

Any idea what I'm doing wrong??? how many cals should I be eating.

Also do housework every day and take care of my 3 kids...

I get frustraited very easily when I plateau the longest so far was 3 weeks. i was doing the 1 pound dance, 1 up 1 down and back and forth not going anywhere. I was eating right, exercising drinking water everything!!! The best advice I got from my trainer. First he told me to stay away from the scale, not to make the weight your focus. Then he changed up my eating...added protien, eliminated certain carbs like potatoes and bread advised me to eat more oatmeal and sweet potatoes. I stuck with it and the weight began to drop again and quite quickly, since has slowed down but is steadily declining. I know it is frustraiting,  Keep positive it does not last forever!!!!!

Am there now up 2 down 1 grrrrrrrrrrrr doing all the right things and yes is very frustratintg!!!  Will  try more oatmeal and sweet potaotes, not eating a lot of bread anyway  maybe 1 slice a day high fiber bread the good stuff.  How long before you  started losing again?  Good luck and keep up the good work. 

Kauikat

1) Adjust your caloric intake for your new and now reduced body weight

2) Change your work out routine

3) Try zig zagging your calories

One of those should knock you off your plateau

I'm trying #3 and shifting my calorie to 1350 then 1750 then 1450, etc.

I'm trying not to whine but it's frustrating that when we gain weight it's so simple -- we take in more calories than we expend.  But when we expend more than we take in it doesn't always seem to matter.  And, there are all of these new rules like only eat after 7 pm on Tuesday of a full moon.  Ugh!

Life's not fair!  LOL!

I hit a six week plateau at 228 lost 6 pounds in 2 1/2 weeks and now am finishing my third week of a new plateau-very annoying. I know I am much healthier though, eating great and exercising daily. Developing new recipes is fun also. Just keep it up-I think some of us are more prone to the dreaded plateau than others. After watching my weight los pattern (total of 52 pounds lost so far since 12-10-07) I see that I am one of them- good luck :-)

Not sure I believe in plateauing the way some do here.  If you burn more than  you take in you'll lose weight.  That is a plain fact that won't ever change.  I think what most people refer to as plateauing is their burn has slowly gone down as they have lost weight so over time weight loss slows and eventually stops.

There can be other factors besides the reduced burn rate from being smaller, if we do the same work out routines we become more efficient at doing them.  If you run for 30 mins a day for 1 yr.  You won't burn as many calories in the end as you did the beginning.   If you have stopped losing weight  you must increase your burn or (less recommended if its already low) reduce your intake.

If you don't have much time as is then change what excerise you are doing.  Try to focus on different muscle groups that aren't as strong.  Find something that is quite difficult.  For a lot of athletes nothing does this quite like running stairs, lots and lots of stairs.

I actually lost .5 of a pound!  Has the plateau ended?  It feels like it has -- even though I'm only down half a pound I feel different.

We'll see.

My experiences with plateaus have been that they usually only last for a couple of weeks max then your body adjusts and things continue. One of my tricks when this happens is to give my body something it isn't getting, a shock so to speak, like a pizza, or some ice cream or something that isn't on your menu currently. Something bad and not just a taste. Like going off the diet for a day. I know my body reacts quite well to that.

My battles are journalized on my blog if anyone cares to venture over. The address is on my profile.

Thanks.