[butterflygirljb]

I'm pretty sure I'm hitting a plateau. My weight loss has stopped before thatis slowed way down. I picked up my activity and am going to do the Wendy plan someone suggested in the w.w forum. What else can I do??

[tefrey]

Wish I could help. I'm on one too and I'm so mad! I thought with my husband out of the country the pounds would just melt off because I could be even more strict with my diet and exercise. I'm pretty much a vegetarian now that he gone and survive exclusively on low calorie soup and high fiber cereal. But instead of easy weight loss, I'm actually up a pound this week. Aaaaarrrrrgh!

I'm on 1200 calories and I work out until my ankle can't take any more: one hour three days a week, 30 minutes the rest. They always say, if you plateau cut calories and increase exercise. I really can't, although I could maybe swap some cardio for strength training.

My question is, if a person is at minimum calories and maximum exercise, will she come off the plateau eventually?

I can't help but notice that my weight loss stalled out the day we had a freak early snow storm. It's been hot the other days, but I wonder if the cold that one day freaked my body into hibernation mode?

So annoying!

[butterflygirljb]

Hmm. Well you could be building muscle and muscle is heavyer then fat. That might be it. You should Google the Wendy plan. Its for calorie counters and w.w I'm going to try it. It can't hurt.

[ainslie]

Try increasing calories for a couple days. Sometimes your body tginks its starving and holds on to fat. Increasing calories tells it there is still plenty of food.

[Frances123]

Another idea is to change the things you're eating. I basically stalled all summer and was so frustrated. I evaluated my eating and realized that while I was staying within my calories, I was eating a lot of carbs and not much fruit/veggies. I replaced one meal with JUST fruits/veggies and focused more on protein than carbs (Greek yogurt for breakfast instead of cereal, etc.). I immediately started losing 2 pounds per week, which I've NEVER done...and I've maintained that rate of loss for the past 6 - 8 weeks. I don't like fruits and vegetables, but since it's my daily supper I just don't think about it...and I'd rather eat them and lose than not eat them and stall.

[AnnRue]

Zig Zag. This works every time for me. My theory is that your body does release some sort of a hormone when you are doing the same calorie cut consistently. When you eat more, this hormone (possibly something that increases water retention) is stopped.

So what I do...
M: 1800 (and within this day I eat different types of food)
T: 1800
W: 1500
Th: 1500
F: 1500
S: 1200
Sun: 1100

Over all about the same amount of calories but I swear it works every time.

[HelloNurse]

Your body is a wonderfully adaptive machine. If you give it the same amount of calories every day, it will figure out how to function on that many calories every day (to a certain extent). I highly recommend calorie cycling; instead of eating exactly 1200 calories a day, you mix up varying amounts each day so that your body never becomes fully adapted to a particular set point.

I also recommend mixing up what you do for exercise. When you do the same thing, you become more and more efficient at it until it's almost not even a workout; you use less and less energy to do the same motion. If you normally run, try swimming. If you do a DVD at home, try getting a new one. Switch out Pilates for a bellydance video, or check out some Crossfit workouts of the day.

Bottom line is, don't get married to a workout plan or way of eating. If what you're doing isn't bringing the results anymore, then try something new.