What a plat-toe!!!! ARGH! I've been stuck at 175 for MONTHS now. in the past 3 months, I have tried increasing my calories (didn't work!) and decreasing my calories (didn't work!) SO NOW....

I'm INCREASING my exercise. MORE weight lifting, and MORE cardio. I'll keep y'all posted, cause dingdangit daisy! - something HAS to work at some point!

Go, you! I think more exercise is an excellent strategy.

Have you tried changing up your calories? I mean, if you were going low-fat, try low-carb, or vice-versa? It seems to be working for me.

Way to go on making the change!!! It's like you read my mind and came up with quite the elegant way of saying exactly what I'm going through too!
I wouldn't have come up with "dingdangit daisy", but i like it! LoL

You can do it! And dingdangit daisy, I will too! My new forms of additional exercise are tennis with the hubby and riding our bikes.

Hi gardenerjoy!!!!

Yes, I've changed up calories... I have lost weight on low-carb before (30 lbs!) but piled it back on because A) I love my carbs! - and 2) I get much of my fiber from whole grain bread & brown rice (and the goddesses know I need more fiber, LOL) I've never done low-fat per say, I mean, many things I eat ARE lower in fat (like skim milk or 2% cheese for instance) but I really don't eat a lot of fat-laden foods anyway.

Throughout the many years of my "experiments" I have learned a few very important things (for me):

1. Never cut out ANY food group altogether. I will eventually eat said food group & probably go a bit nuts & gorge on said food group. Not good!

2. Keep portions to a minimum.

3. I continue good healthy eating habits when I continue to EXERCISE.

4. Give myself a break when I have "not-so-good" eating time.

5. EAT SLOWLY.

Yeah, I bet you recognize some of those from Beck? Esp. #4 & 5!


So while I know that low-carb works for me, I also know that *I* cannot keep up the low-carb for very long. Therefore, low-carb DOESN'T work for me.

But I'll keep trying different things, and different combination of things until I succeed. I ain't into giving up!

Dingdangit Daisy I'm proud of you!!!!!

Yeah, I have to admit that low carb doesn't work for me in that sense, either. It's helping me burst through my current plateau. But, for the first time in this journey, I am now doing something that I know that I can't maintain. I, mean, I bake all of our bread in a bread machine and have been looking into grinding our flour -- I am so not cut out to be a low carb dieter! But, for some reason (probably a combination of Beck and 3FC), I'm confident that I won't crash and burn out of this phase and into carb-gorging. I'll use low-carb to change things up for awhile, break through the plateau, and then experiment with something else.

Also, I'm not going all that low carb. I looked at South Beach, but opted instead for the plan in The Complete Beck Diet for Life. Lower carb than anything else I've tried, but I still get to eat a slice of bread now and then!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing how the exercise works for you! That's another area that I'm continually experimenting with.

I think more exercise is a great idea. It can definitely give you a boost.

You mentioned going lower in calories and higher calories. Have you tried both? In other words, zig zagging? Your metabolism can adjust to whatever level of food you give it. This seems to effect some more than others though.

More exercise is a great idea. I hope it works for you.

On the suggestion to change up the nutrient value of how you eat - instead of "low carb" why not exchange one serving of carbs for a serving of protein. It could be a small adjustment in the percentage of carbs to protein that makes a difference. This will still allow you to have what you want but just reproportions things a little bit.

Good luck!

I think you are a great model of persistence. I have no doubt you will break this plateau. Keep going!

I'm having this problem too!! I have been stuck at 180 for about 3 weeks now. So this week I'm increasing activity levels. My roommate asked if I was interested in working out in the mornings. I said HECK YEA, but only if I had someone motivating me to get my toosh out of bed at 5am. We went today, and BOY WHAT A STRUGGLE! I did 25 mins on the elliptical, but when I got to work, I was crashing at 10am and reached for the can of Monster energy drink. I guess I just need to adjust to the habit of waking up that early to keep from forming an addiction to the drinks. They have a lot of sugar that isn't good. Good luck to you, and I'll be right there with ya!

I feel your pain! I'm battling it out with the longest plateau I've ever had.
I am dead set on getting into the 140s by next Monday. I WILL SUCCEED!
Good luck to you as well!! WE CAN DO THIS!

Beach, LOTS of us have issues with carbs - even whole grain ones. I can't help but think that you may be one of them. You mentioned that you've lost before on low carbs, hmmm, this kinda tells me I think you may want to experiment with giving them up again - and yes you LOVE your carbs, but maybe you need to decide which you would love MORE - the carbs - or the slim, trim, fit you.

I too LOVED my carbs, loved em' to pieces and in fact didn't think I could live without them. But the price became too high for me. It was no longer what I valued MOST. I wanted it. I wanted that slim, trim, active, fit, normal weight me. I wanted to give myself the best chance at the longest life with the highest quality of life. So I decided to give them up for the most part.

And guess what? I don't miss them. Nope. After a few tough weeks, they became a distant memory. And I no longer craved them or desired them. It was no longer an issue. It just became something I don't do anymore. And I'm fine. Perfectly fine. No regrets. I'm too busy enjoying the heck out of my life.

I do have grains on rare occasions now, but always with the knowledge that my weight WILL go up and that I WILL most likely stir up my wants for them once more. That is my decision and we'll see what I decide in the future.

I will tell you this - the anticipation of having to do something is usually much worse than the actual event. I would be shocked if you did not find this to be true in this particular instance.

If you want what you do not have, you must do what you have not done.
Another quote I love - you'll never achieve extraordinary results by taking ordinary measures.