Hello, stuck in a plateau. :(

[mudskippersgrl]

Hello there,

I am 20yrs old, starting weight was 226lbs and now 3 months later I am
189lbs, but have now hit a major plateau and havn't lost any weight for the last 3 weeks.

Im stuck and not sure what to do, I have changed my excersize routiene, and worked out harder than ever, but there has been no change, I am starting to get extreamly frusterated, so hopefully a few of you out there might be able to lead me in the right direction..


Thanks

[ellis]

Hi! Welcome to 3FC.

Congratulations on your loss so far... that's great!
So... how's your eating? Have you tried writing down your calories? You may be eating more (or less, which can also be bad) than you need.
If you want to post a typical menu here, we can have a look and see where you may need direction.
Also... are you drinking enough water?

[mudskippersgrl]

hi and thanks.

And yes, I have a folder that I write down everyday exactly what I eat, how many calories and what I do that day for exercise.

I allow myself 1200 cals per day, and drink nothing but water and 2% milk.

I typically workout 4-5 times per week, usually 1 1/2 - 2 1/2hrs each time.


The only thing that I can think of that might be working against me is that for the most part I eat a lot of the same foods each day.. example: (turkey sandwiches, crackers, grean beans, and apples.) For the most part thats what I eat day in and day out, just because I cant afford meats and such.

This is how I have eaten all thoughout my weightloss so far, and it has seemed to work, so my only guess is maybe my body wants something differnt, maybe its something else...

The only thing new is that I have added a fiber supplement into my diet...

Other than that Im pretty much lost...

[kuhljeanie]

1200 calories and 2.5 hr workouts? doesn't sound like enough food. i got similarly stuck, and when i upped my cals to 1500-1600, almost 10 lbs flew off in a week.

HTH!

welcome to 3FC!! you'll find great support here!

[traveling michele]

sounds like you aren't getting enough calories and your body is going into starvation mode.
Try around 1500 a day for a week or so and see what happens.
Good luck!!

[JennyG]

I know it sounds crazy to eat more and still lose, but I have recently lost 80+ pounds and plateaued for about 4 months, eventually that is what it was, I was exercising daily and not eating enough, I upped my cals from 300-400 extra, taking me to around 1600 a day and I lost 5 pounds in 2 weeks. Altho it sounds crazy, try it for a week and see how you do GOOD LUCK!!

[mudskippersgrl]

Alright, thanks everyone for your input, greatly appreciated.

Its really hard for me to wrap my mind around that, just because I know that eating too many calories has gotten me overweight... and so my mind just thinks, "eat less, eat less." But I'm sure you all are right... I've heard before eating too many will make you gain, and same as eating too little.... Crazy...
lol...

Loosing weight is emotional, and I'm normally not emotional about anything... so seeing a difference of 0 for the past few weeks has been hard, thats why I have been so hesitant on eating more calories because my biggest fear is that the dreaded scale might say I have gained...

But Ill try to increase my calorie intake slowly and hopefully things will start to get back on track.

I appreciate everyones input.

Thanks