So I kinda had a goal of losing 8-10 pounds before a vacay next week. I have been working out pretty much everyday(mixing it up a bit - spin, running, pilates, cardio classes), watching my food intake but have lost NOTHING! Since I have to figure out why - here are a couple of excuses, someone tell me that my excuses are valid -

1. First TOM since baby was born (last June)
2. Tapering pumping/nursing
3. HUGE Plateau and eventually I will have a whoosh of weight come off

you don't say how long you've been trying ffor those 10lbs?

A lot of women say they cannot drop weight while nursing. I never found that to be true with myself, but I think it can be true for some people, particularly if you were really small before.

As far as TOM, yes you can retain 3 or more pounds before/during. Mine usually goes back to normal after about 3 days after I start .

Hang in there! If you're doing the right things, it WILL come off, eventually.

When you say "watching" what exactly do you mean? I can "watch" what I'm eating and lose very little but if I write down everything and really track my calories I lose pretty reliably.

I kinda set my goal about a month and a half ago...I am a portion control chick vs. a calorie counter(as a vegetarian I tend to stick to veggies, brown rice, etc - no junk food.) I feel amazing that I have gotten down to this weight while still nursing my LO but was hoping for a lower number before our trip but I guess I will survive. I start a boot camp at the end of June - hopefully that jump start my weight loss again.

I struggled a lot with weaning. I thought I had a pretty good idea of how much my son was eating so subtract those calories right? Wrong. My body was clearly burning a lot more calories making and recycling milk that he didnt eat. During the weaning taper it wasnt sooooo bad - I gained maybe 1 lb/month (I was in maintenance by then), but when he quit I gained quite rapidly.

I know you do portion control and not calorie counting, but if you are weaning you may need to do a spot check on what portions you really need now vs. what you are taking in. Reset the portions and then go back to what works for you.

This could be your problem. I would suggest journaling/counting calories for a week or so to see what your actual calorie intake is. It's very easy to eat too many calories, even when those calories are coming from good healthy foods.

The problem with calorie counting in my world is that we tend to eat at my parents house about 2-3 times a week which means Indian food. Indian food (from Indian stores) do not list nutritional information on the bags - so calorie counting would be out - not that I am a fan anyways. I am going to just keep up with my 6-7 day a week exercise plan and eating until after I am finished nursing and see what happens. Boot Camp is next...if nothing happens there, I might shell out the money and get a personal trainer for a month or so.

Thanks all my fellow chickies!

well its pretty hard to give advice if you're happy with your plan. just keep it up, but also consider that if you're not losing, your plan might need some tweaking.