Plateau

[LOVE2C135]

Hi there,

I'm starting to get discouraged. I've been on a plateau for the last two weeks. Any advice on getting down from here would be great.

Kerri

[dottiejon]

sorry you havent had a quick response, the site is quiet right now. A few questions-

what plan are you on, how long have you been on it, how has your weight loss gone so far, are you eating too much, are you eating too little, doing any exercise?
If you want to post a few days menus, we could look for problems. But 2 weeks isn't too bad, maybe just your body consolidating changes. Maybe you just need to ride it out, or shake your metabolism up a bit with a day off.

Hope you're doing better,
dottie

[lady_adnerb]

Another question: How close are you to goal? If you're close to your goal weight the weight loss slows down. Your body fights the fact that you're burning fat and losing weight. So it's normal to "stall" once in a while.

[LOVE2C135]

Thanks for the responses. Right now I'm doing low carb and have been for the last couple months. So far I've lost 10lbs and just started running/eliptical again after about a month off. Since I've started working out again I haven't had ANY weight loss, which just doesn't seem fair. Right now I'm at 184. My highest weight was 239, and my goal weight is 135. Over the last 4 years I've lost 55lbs, but oddly enough I haven't actually tried until now. I had a life change (divorce) at the beginning of that 4 year stretch and became MUCH happier. I noticed that I didn't eat as much happy, and that I was eating way too much married just out of unhappiness.

Anyway, now that I'm actually trying it's damn hard. Here's my meal breakdown for low-carb:

Breakfast: Usually an egg and a sausage.

Lunch: Almost always salad w/lettuce, tomatoes, egg, and bacon, or the "side-by-side" at Baja Fresh. (high protein/veggies). I do watch the dressing content.

Dinner: Usually salad along with a small piece of chicken, steak, or other protein. I also usually have one other vegetable with it (steamed broccoli, asparagus, califlower).

Snacks: During the day when I snack I usually have some nuts or seeds. At night my snack is low-carb ice cream and I make sure I put it in a very small dish to stay w/in the serving guidelines.

Exercise: I'm up to 3 miles running usually 3 times per week and 1 to 2 days of eliptical for 30 minutes. Weights sporadically - haven't quite gotten the drive for this part yet. I need to though.

Any insight into this would be great. Thanks so much!

K

[StarPrincess]

A couple of things:

First, it's not at all uncommon to stop losing for a week or two here and there. It's not really a stall, it's just your body catching up and trying to adjust.

Second, it's also not at all uncommon to not see a change on the scale when you start a new exercise regimen. This is a good thing! Your body is converting fat to muscle. Increased muscle = increased metabolism = more fat burning.

You can't rely on the scale exclusively. Are you losing inches? Are your clothes fitting differently? You sound like you're doing great! Just keep it in perspective

[LOVE2C135]

My pants definitely feel looser today, but they have been since I dropped the ten. Maybe I'll do some measuring tonight and start a record. My big impatient push right now is the fact that I'm going to Cabos on June 12th and that means swim suit. I was hoping to be down 15 more lbs by then.

How long does a stall generally last? You're longest stall?

Thanks so much for the reply. I really appreciate it!

[StarPrincess]

It's actually not even considered a real "stall" unless you've had no change in weight or measurements for at least 3 weeks. I stalled for 6 weeks once, but I'd lost 50 pounds pretty quickly and my body definitely needed some catching up time.

[LOVE2C135]

How often do you guys weigh? I've been a bit compulsive about it. It was every day until I really started trying to lose weight. Now it's about 3 times a day. I'd like to get down to once a week but I'm a bit compulsive...

[StarPrincess]

It depends on how much the scale rules your life. If you're going to freak out every time there's a fluctuation, then you may want to hide the scale except for one a week.

I'm relatively disinterested in the flux, and far more interested in the low end of it so I tend to step on the scale every couple of days just out of curiosity more than anything.

[LOVE2C135]

I'm down a pound today!!! Thanks for the encouragement yesterday!

[nasus40]

Hey did you know muscle weighs about 5 times as much as fat so you gain muscle and lost lots of fat and still not glose an ounce!! way to go. I hope to be in the same prediciment soon!!!