So I know I've definitely hit a plateau... I've been bouncing between 195 and 198 for the past few weeks... and it's driving me nuts. Other than the fact that I need to hit up the gym more (which starts today... I'm going right there after this actually -- it's not that I don't like being able to go to the gym but I work like 60 hours a week at a dangerous job, and midnights at that.... It's hard to find the time between taking care of the fam and sleeping! ugh!), I know I probably need to start cutting my calories down a bit as well.

Currently, I eat about 6 protein/dairy servings a day, 4 to 5 veg, 2 to 3 fruit, 4 carb, and 3 fat. That usually lands me between 1600 to 1800 cals a day. But, I know that now that I've lost this much I need to cut back MORE.... but I'm unsure as to where I should cut it FROM. The protein? The carbs?

Typically, where did you ladies who've pushed past this point cut from? Any advice?

I would personally cut out one fruit serving and up the gym workouts...especially strength training is great. I'm at about your weight and I eat a lot less calories, but I think you're doing it the better way since you have a lot of wiggle room. Personally, I would always suggest cutting out sugars first.

Make sure your proteins and dairy are coming form the leanest, healthiest places. I eat fish--a lot. Also, plain, non-fat yogurt. Just keep going.

Lucky - How many cals a day do you eat? And at what rate are you losing?

Thighs - Honestly, I eat a LOT healthier proteins now than I did when I first started this thing! Definitely have added in the fish way more than before too. My proteins pretty much usually come from eggs (I'm a big egg eater), low fat cheese, low fat yogurt, skim milk, and chicken breast. Salmon a lot too, as well.

Salmon calories add up fast. So do eggs, so if I were you I'd mix in some egg substitute or egg whites with my eggs to cut calories (the yolks hold most of the calories, so of course they are the good part.)

Speaking for myself I cut whole grain carbs to breakfast only, but not everyone has to take that approach. You might try cutting them at dinner and seeing if that helps at all.

i weigh more than you do so idk about breaking any plaetus yet but maybe you can try cutting out all sugary drinks ( fruits juices sodas ice teas lemonaids? )

also i dont eat any fish at all BUT i used to make salmon for my husband at least once a week until the doc told me it was too high fat a fish for him to be having that often ... maybe you could find some other fish you enjoy, or be really cautious about what kind of serving sizes you eat when you have salmon ....

I actually don't drink much of sugary drinks... if any actually. It's all diet pop (one a day) or crystal light for me, if not water.

The salmon I eat come in pre-portioned packages... 100cals per piece.

There are two probabilites: you have hit a plateau or you have hit your maintenance level. If you are only using 10 calories a day then your maintenance level is around 2000 calories so you can see that if you average 1800 calories that's less than 2lbs a month loss, if you go strictly by the math. Add to that normal water fluctuations it's entirely possible you won't see a loss over several weeks. If it's a plateau, then all bets are off. And personally, from what I've read, reducing calories doesn't help. Your body has adjusted you metabolism to your present caloric level, so you can try to maintain, and then start again at a lower caloric level after about a month. You can hang on another week or so and see if you get a drop; hopefully it's just that you are so close to your maintenance level. When you are very young, you can mulitply your body weight by about 15 to get approximate maintenance calorie level; but as you get older it goes down. I'm older so for the past 5-6 years I've only used about 8 calorie per lb. even with swimming and some weights.

There are two probabilites I can think of: you have hit a plateau or you have hit your maintenance level. If you are only using 10 calories a day then your maintenance level is around 2000 calories so you can see that if you average 1800 calories that's less than 2lbs a month loss, if you go strictly by the math. Add to that normal water fluctuations it's entirely possible you won't see a loss over several weeks. If it's a plateau, then all bets are off. And personally, from what I've read, reducing calories doesn't help. Your body has adjusted you metabolism to your present caloric level, so you can try to maintain, and then start again at a lower caloric level after about a month. You can hang on another week or so and see if you get a drop; hopefully it's just that you are so close to your maintenance level. When you are very young, you can mulitply your body weight by about 15 to get approximate maintenance calorie level; but as you get older it goes down. I'm older so for the past 5-6 years I've only used about 8 calorie per lb. even with swimming and some weights.

I'm pretty sure that it's that I'm just really close to my maintenence level, which is why I wanted to figure out where I could reduce calories from in my diet. I hope that it's not a hardcore plateau, either! That would suck... definite blow to the morale. :/

I'd suggest: increase vegetables, decrease carbohydrates in the form of breads, cereals, etc.

Check all your calorie estimates and portion measurements also. You might be off on some things without realizing it.

Jay

I agree with Thighs Be Gone and JayEll. Good luck and keep us updated

I cut out carbs in my evening meal, and added in more veg. It's made my evening meal only about 300cal, and has made a huge dint in my calorie intake. I would also look at increasing the intensity of your workouts. Now that I'm under 200lb, I find high intensity exercise so much easier, and it means that you don't need to spend as much time at the gym. If you can manage 3 hour sessions in a week, you could burn over half a pound of fat.

Also, if you've been running a calorie deficit for a loooong time, your metabolism may have shut down. If you increase your calories to maintenance for 5 days, that can help reboot it. I've tried it and it seemed to work - and you may as well, if your weight isn't going anywhere anyway. Plus I think it's good practise to eat at maintenance to get an idea of what it will be like when you hit goal. I find it surprisingly difficult to increase my calories without going overboard.

Onederchic - Thanks chica!

Jay & Couch - Thats what I was thinking.... decrease a carb, add a veg. Probably the healthiest way of doing it when I think about it.

Couch - I am bound and determined to hit up the gym from now on for 3 days a week, compared to my usual ONE. I've been so lax about it... but it has been crazy these past few months. Still, I have no excuse now... so I will do it! I'm on day two this week, so I'm doing good so far! Also, I think my problem is that I'm eating too close to my maintenance level right now to make too much of a difference and was trying to hope that it would when it probably really shouldn't. However, if cutting my calories more strictly does help, I will definitely try your metabolism booster idea! I wouldn't doubt that it would help! I know what you mean about having a hard time eating at maintenance without going overboard... but honestly eating the way I'm eating right now... which is really close to my M-Level... seems to be a comfortable level for me now that I've managed to keep it around this level. The hard part seems to be reducing to keep on losing now!