I had to resubscribe since my e-mail changed (was laid off from my job). So...anyway. I am following the color plans and currently on the purple. Today I weigh 176 (up 1/2 pound since last week... And I'm 5' 3". I started on the red but was just maintaining on that, when I switched to purple I lost a couple of pounds a week for a few weeks, now it seems I may be starting to just maintain again? The thing is that I work out every day -- weights 3 x week and cardio (bike, treadmill or some other machine usually) or yogo the rest of the days. My workouts usually last about an hour. I have been seeing some muscle definition so I know I'm gaining muscle, and have slowly lost about 6 inches. I know I can't expect this to go fast but I guess I'm just so unsure about how much to eat (what plan to be on) due to my work out schedule. I was very successful on LAWL a couple of years ago and then I let life get in the way and gained back 40 pounds (never went through the maintenance phase though). Anyway, everyone on this thread seems to know a lot about the program so any advice would certainly be welcome. I tried the new number plans when I briefly tried to go back to the center that is now closed and it did not seem to work for me. I was considering dropping to gold but it seems like that may be too few calories?? Help!! And Thank you in advance!!

Here's the worksheet for selecting which color plan you should be on (and WTG on the 6 inches lost!):

Menu Plan Worksheet
Use this worksheet to figure out which plan to follow.
Take your present weight deduct your ideal weight, and you will have the amount you need to lose. Example: present weight = 200,
deduct your ideal which is 130, and you have 70 pounds to lose.
Work out on the chart below which category you fall into, then take your take your ideal weight plus the amount you need to lose, and
you will see which plan to start with. Remember that once you start seeing that you are hitting a plateau, move up to the next plan.

Healthy Females 18 – 65 years
old
Ideal weight + 10 = Green
Ideal weight + 50 = Gold
Ideal weight + 40 = Purple
Ideal weight + 50 = Red
Ideal weight + 100 = Red

Healthy Males 18 years old and
older
Ideal weight + 80 = Purple
Ideal weight + 70 = Red
Ideal weight + 100 = Red
Do not drop below Purple plan

Cardiac: Male & Female
Ideal weight + 100 = Red
Ideal weight + 150 = Red
Do not drop below Red Plan

Insulin Diabetic: Male & Female
Ideal weight + 100 = Red
Ideal weight + 150 = Red
Do not drop below Red Plan

Activity greater than 5 hours a
week: Male & Female
Ideal weight + 100 = Red
Ideal weight + 150 = Red
Do not drop below Red Plan

Shift Worker: Male & Female
Ideal weight + 100 = Blue
Ideal weight + 50 = Red
Ideal weight + 100 = Red
Do not drop below Blue Plan

Oral & food controlled Diabetic:
Male & Female
Ideal weight + 100 = Blue
Ideal weight + 50 = Red
Ideal weight + 100 = Red
Do not drop below Blue Plan

Breast Feeding Mothers
Ideal weight + 100 = Red
Ideal weight + 150 = Red
Do not drop below Red Plan

Senior Female
Ideal weight + 100 = Blue
Ideal weight + 50 = Red
Ideal weight + 100 = Red
Do not drop below Blue Plan

Senior Male
Ideal weight + 80 = Purple
Ideal weight + 70 = Red
Ideal weight + 100 = Red
Do not drop below Purple Plan

Teenagers: Male & Female
Ideal weight+100 = Orange
Ideal weight+150 = Orange
Do not drop below Orange Plan

And a related question on this from me......how is a plateau or stall defined? I know we should move up a plan if we hit a plateau, but at what point is it classified as that? If we don't lose weight for two weeks? three weeks? a month? How long should we continue what we're doing before changing plans to break a plateau?

Wow, Suzanne, that is some great info. Thanks for sharing. I would not call it a plateau unless you have not lost for 3 weeks or more. Sometimes your body is just readjusting, and it takes a little time. You have to figure that when you are losing, your body is having to downsize on blood, hormones, tissues, and the like. Hmmm, that really grosses me out, LOL.

Suzanne that is some great information. I agree with katie that it would be 3 or more weeks with no loss to be considered a plateau. Maybe mixing up your food combinations, adding some extra fiber, drinking more water or adding some cardio exercises could add a boost that your body might need. Just some suggestions I would try. I have also been reading a lot about how stress causes you to gain weight and not enough sleep. so that might be worth a try too.

I did a whole lot of reading old posts here over the past few days to get myself back up to speed -- someone else had posted the info here at one point in time and I just copied it into a Word document so I'd be able to put my hands on it easily.

I agree with you on the stress and lack of sleep - both of them affect me negatively. Exercise supposedly helps to counteract the stress, but the only thing I know of that works for the other is to get more sleep. I did have a friend who was a hyponotherapist and he was big on taking power naps. Said they worked for him. YMMV

I appreciate it! I will stick with the Purple plan for now and plan on doing Take Off next week so hopefully that will give me the nudge that I need. Have a great day everyone!