[CherryPie99]

I guess I'm not asking for any really specific advice, but these are just random thoughts that I have. Of course if anyone has advice, I'm glad to take it!! As I mentioned in another thread, I've been stuck at 262 for the last 2 weeks. And the scale JUST. WON'T. MOVE. I know that this happens, and I agree with what SparrowSings said in the other thread - just keep doing what you're doing and it will come off.

When I started this journey, my goal was to move more and eat less. And I lost 82 pounds. But I've never measured calories. So this week I happened to eat all day stuff that was pre-measured (but pretty typical of what I usually eat) and so I added up the calories. Imagine my surprise to find out that I have been eating around 1300 calories per day. I thought it was more then that. I typically have a bowl of Special K for breakfast (and when I measured out the 1 cup this week, turns out I have been eating probably 3/4 of a cup) which is 200 calories. For lunch a bowl of healthy choice soup (200 calories) and a piece of fruit for lunch (another 100 calories) and a "sensible" dinner - some meat, rice and veggies would be typical. I don't have any snacks, ever. And I work out almost every night and according to my heart rate monitor I burn between 500-700 calories at a time and that's not counting the 30 minutes of pilates/yoga I do at lunch. After reading some threads here I wondered if I should up my calories - but that caused me extreme anxiety - what if that's not what my body needs and I gain??!! - was what was in my head.

So Tuesday night I did the workout video "30 Day Shred It". It was hard and yesterday my thighs were killing me. But when I got home last night, I walked/jogged 2 miles on the treadmill anyway. Because my legs hurt, I know I jogged a little oddly and today, my thighs hurt so much I could barely go down the stairs and when I got up after a 2 hour meeting this morning they almost gave out and I almost ended up in a pile on the floor - instead I lurched like Frankenstein out of the room LOL. So I decided today would be a rest day and I didn't do my lunch pilates/yoga (but did walk the approximately 1/4 mile back and forth to Subway). Now I'm home and sitting here with TREMENDOUS guilt and anxiety because I'm not working out.

I have never tried to lose weight in my life and I never in a million years thought I would feel like this, but here I am....

[newbieblogger3]

Lottie63 just wrote a good post about exercise and weight -app. 15 minutes after this post -you'll probably appreciate it.(It's in this same category) And, although I'm no expert, I think most everyone would agree that sometimes you really need to "listen" to your body - it seems a day off when you get that sore is the right choice..

There have also been several other people here who feel that changing your caloric intake is a good way to get through a plateau -you certainly seem active enough to up your intake a bit and see what happens. Good luck -L.

[Nikki6kidsmom]

I have found that if I still workout when I am sore it helps the stiffness and I feel alot better after-wards. I do a boot camp program and have done the 30 day shred myself. I know the thigh pain you are talking about and usually they are so much better after a nice run plus I have no guilt.

I have had several stalls on my journey and I know they are linked to stress and not sleeping well. But keep on with what you are doing because you are burning fat and building muscles. The scale will move in time I promise.

[The Last Noel]

WOW. What you have done and what you are doing is amazing. You are amazing! I dont have any advice to give I just wanted to tell you that.

[SparrowSings]

First, off --- WOW! You are really working your plan, both the food side and the exercise side. I am impressed with your stick-to-it-ness and the fact that you accept some pain as a possible side effect of the exercising and just shrug and go on. (I whimper, believe me, I whimper.)

I don't know much about this, however, your calories do sound a little low to me for your level of activity. You could plug your weight and a reasonable estimate of your activity into a calculator like the one they have at the livestrong.com or similar sites and find out what they say. I have also had friends tell me they lose weight better when they get 3 servings of dairy, but that might be specific to them.

Remember, it is physically impossible to take in fewer calories than you expend and not lose weight eventually, so keep up the very, very good work. It WILL happen!!

(Hey! I bet you can burn a bunch of calories by throwing a major fit at your stubborn scale --- and you might scare that puppy into delivering some better numbers! )

[CherryPie99]

Thanks everyone for your words and support. I certainly don't feel that I am doing anything special and thanks for telling me that I am "amazing" The Last Noel, but I don't feel that what I'm doing is that big of a deal.

I do have some perspective today. It has been a long and stressful week work wise and that stress may have been part of my little drama queen fit last night.

I think I realize that I have been getting fixated on a NUMBER rather then what this really SHOULD be about - which is doing things that make me positive and healthy.

My legs still are sore today, and I think I will skip the pilates at lunch as I really need to run some errands anyway, but I will be hitting the treadmill tonight!! The scale must move eventually and it will be good when it does, but until then, I am a person, not the number I see on the scale!

[Eliana]

I'm going to recommend calorie cycling, only because that's my new thing. I know it's hard to increase the calories! But sometimes that's what our bodies need. Sometimes! Stalls are totally normal! I get them all the time. But this past one has been longer than I like, so I switched to calorie cycling and it has revved things up again. The biggest problem with calorie cycling is that it can be hard to get back on plan after a day off. To counter act that, I have started to add calories through healthy foods like an extra apple at lunch and maybe throw in a yogurt after dinner. That kind of thing. I do not agree with going off plan entirely just because it's hard to get back on.

I have had really good results with this so far and I've been under an extraordinary amount of stress! So I think there might be something to it.

[SCraver]

It's good to let your body rest. It isn't during the actual exercising that you build muscle, it is while you are resting that your body is repairing and building muscles. You make microscopic tears in your muscle when you work out and they need time to heal. If you are too sore to go down a flight of stairs - it is time to REST!! Some light walking and stretching is good, though. Stretch! Stretch! Stretch!!

[SparrowSings]

CherryPie: I think I realize that I have been getting fixated on a NUMBER rather then what this really SHOULD be about - which is doing things that make me positive and healthy...... The scale must move eventually and it will be good when it does, but until then, I am a person, not the number I see on the scale!

Oh, you 3FC chicks are so wise! Seriously, that was an excellent example of getting your head back to the right place and remembering your real priorities. Your mental game is every bit as good as your physical one, CherryPie, something I am going to try to remember for my own weight loss.

So, you asked for advice, but you ending up giving it --- ain't that cool?