I've managed (finally) to get my eating under control (1600 calories right now, with my eventual goal being 1400).

I work out every day but Sunday for at least 40 minutes. Hard. And I switch between different kinds of exercise so I don't "get used to it".

I've substituted good (or at least) better choices for food -- whole grains, fruits, vegs, complex carbos for junk, avoiding sweet stuff, cooking my own meals so I don't get the high sodium frozen dinners, drinking skim milk, greek yogurt in place of standard American ... etc, etc.

Yet my weight loss has tapered down and this week for the first time in a very long time, I gained a half-pound.

What else should I be doing?

Hey Girl. Well your motivation shows!!! I would lay off on the exercise, honestly I don't believe you need to exercise everyday. Your body needs time to repair and rest too. You can actually stall if you overwork your body.

I find building lean muscle helps me to lose inches a lot faster than doing long winded cardio workouts. I still do cardio to burn fat (Max I do is 30mins) with another 30mins of strength training. I enjoy toning and strengthening that much more, you feel stronger. Have you tried that? I do a full body workout 3 times a week (Mon, Wed, and Fri) that's it! Back in the day when I was super fit, I would do cardio Tuesday's and Thursday's and muscle tone/build on the Monday's and Wednesday's then rest Friday, Sat and Sun.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

ETA: If you on track with your food and you gained a pound it could very well be muscle your building! Scales don't speak the whole truth

I agree with InsideMe on the scale thing. Scales totally lie - or at least, they don't measure what we want them to measure.

It actually sounds like you have an amazing plan, and you're doing an awesome job working it. Like all of us, there are definitely things you can tweak - like maybe adding some more strength training, as InsideMe suggested (and something I need to do as well) - but stalls and even slight gains are part of the process as your body adjusts. If it's any consolation, in my experience, my weight seems to go down in whooshes. I won't lose, or I'll gain slightly, and then whoosh! I'm down by 2 or 3 pounds overnight.

Also, if you're going to use the scale as a measurement tool, it's important to weigh at the same time every day (most suggest first thing in the morning - after using the restroom) and with the same clothing (or none at all) each time. The scale's a good tool, if you understand and can live with its limitations.

I also hope you're enjoying and appreciating the non-scale rewards of your plan!

You're doing great, Tec4! Sometimes the scale goes wonky for no reason at all. Weight loss isn't linear, unfortunately, and we all have upticks on the scale even when we're POP (perfectly on plan.) I think your exercise is spot on, there's nothing wrong with exercising daily. And, you said you're switching things up so you're most likely giving muscle groups a rest in between days.

Keep on doing what you're doing, the scale will show it if you stay on plan!

Don't forget to take your measurements too! It sounds like you're doing wonderful and I wouldn't change a thing about your diet/exercise. The weight gain could be a million different things (you need to have a bowel movement, natural water retention due to your cycle, you ate too much salt recently etc).

If you're sticking to 1600 calories and exercising that much you will see a loss. I went through a phase where I didn't lose almost anything at all for a couple of months but a lost a lot of inches! So make sure to keep measuring yourself.

How much water do you drink in a day? I have read that sufficient water consumption plays a part in weight loss and I know my own weight loss slows down if I don't get at least 2 liters of water a day. I mention this because it sure looks like you are doing everything else right!

make sure you get enough sleep - I always see a whoosh when I get a chance to catch up on an hour or two of sleep!!

sounds like you have a great plan and just need to keep on keeping on and the scale will catch up with you!

The sleep! I forgot about the sleep, April Snow. The ironic thing is, the sleep thing is what pushed me over the edge to deciding not to use the scale. My current schedule (which should resolve itself after this school year) does not allow me to get sufficient sleep, and it's made me give up weight loss efforts too many times over the course of the past few years. You're so right. Sleep makes a huge difference to the scale.

First: Thank you all for responding! It helps so much to hear from others who are or have been there.

Second: Working out. I: walk outside (altho not lately with the heat. Over 80 and I'm indoors! , 2: treadmill, 3: elliptical (and I mix the two), 4:swim, 5:water aerobics, 6: lift weights and do core workouts, 7: cross-country ski (in season -- obviously not much of an option right now! ) I try to mix things up so I'm not always doing the same thing, even if I do treadmill twice, I try to pick different programs or do intervals.

Third: Water - I keep a two-quart pitcher on my desk and a reminder in Outlook and I usually get through 2 pitchers plus some skim milk and whatever other water I run into.

Fourth: Sleep! Yes. That's a problem sometimes. I'm teaching myself French and I tried counting sheep (un, deux, trois) but got so confused it made me worse. I usually get to sleep ok, but oh, boy, staying there's another story.

Again -- thanks. I'm not so depressed about this that I'm quitting ... And I will try measurements.

I completely agree with Gale. When the scale goes wonky for me, I just keep going and know that it will start moving again. Usually when it does, I get a nice wooosh to make up for the time it was not moving or bumped up a bit.

I seem to go in 2 or 3 week cycles, loose big one week stay the same-ish the next and maybe the next, I've always thought your body has "catch up" weeks.
Do not stress - it will all come good!