[BecomingActiveJessie]

I started hitting the gym in Feb. I'm taking multiple aerobic and strength training classes five times a week. I'm pushing myself hard and feeling good about it. However, the weight is no longer coming off and has almost stopped completely. At first I thought it was just gaining muscle but it's been over 10 weeks and that just can't still be the issue. Anyone deal with this issue? Did you find you had been eating too much or too little?

[fiberlover]

Well - I guess the first question is how much are you eating in a day and how much are you exercising? You might need to eat more.

I exercise every single day, and do strength training. I eat around 1350-1400 calories (with a high day thrown in there of 1500) and lose about a pound a week.

[CandyKisses0204]

How much have you lost so far? It can also depend on how much you still have to lose. The more you have to lose majority of the time the faster it comes off. Try changing up your exercising maybe your body is getting used to the same things. Also even if you are staying within your calorie goal what you eat and how much water you drink effects everything. Just keep going an try to stay positive.

Oh yea and if you arent eating enough your body might be storing all the fat you are taking in so if thats the case try and up the calories a little

[BecomingActiveJessie]

good questions girls. I'm 209 and have lost 30 thus far. I do WW at home so I try to stay within my points. Exercising has helped me drink a lot more water. I eat three times a day, making breakfast my biggest meal. 1300 to 1400 c a day seem low for my weight. I take aerobic classes and I do this to make sure I'm always being pushed. I do a different class every evening so I know my workout routine is not the source of the problem.

Fiberlover with your calorie intake and your exercise routine you would think you would lose more then 1 pound a week. Did you think the same when you started ? I guess I just thought exercising would make me lose weight fast but it's actually just slowed me down.

If I need to up my calories what should I up it to?

[fiberlover]

Jessie - you would think I would lose more, right? I wish I would LOL! I have always been a turtle with weight loss. I used to eat more calories when I was heavier, but have dropped it down. I actually was at 1200 for a while last fall and upped it to where it is now and have still been steadily losing. (I like eating more )

You can look at a site like fitday.com or thedailyplate.com and figure out a good calorie range for yourself. I certainly wouldn't suggest my calorie level for you. Not sure what your total daily WW points correlate to calorie wise - it's approximately 50 calories per point or so. And it would depend on whether or not you are eating your AP and Flex points each day. Do you eat those? If not, you might try doing that and see what happens.

[cheetara]

Are you using your activity points? I would try that, then add more WAPs if that isn't working. I always ate every single one of my points - works for most people that try it, I think.

[bethbeth]

I like this site for seeing how many calories to eat. Lots of good info to read about how to shift calories during the week too.
http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
You probably should be getting at least 1500-1600 calories a day, I would think. If you're eating less than that, it could be slowing your weight loss.

[findingfawn]

Just wanted to say welcome. I don't really have any advice sorry.

[barbygirl43]

I too don't have any advice. I guess I've been lucky in finding a good balance between eating and exercise and am losing at a steady clip.

[lifechange]

One of my strategies has always been to slowly add in exercise to help bump up metabolism as I go. I started a month ago doing an exercise video at home every morning before work- 25 min. I also noticed that when I travelled on business two weeks ago I did my video and then in the evening I went to the fitness room- 8 min on the eliptical and 25 min on the bike and then some weight training. This stalled my weight loss and frustrated me. When I researched this on the web I found out that the muscle tears as you are building it and therefore retains more water so it may look like you aren't losing weight- but have faith you are.
Food for thought: If I start adding more exercise in at this point what tools will I have a few months down the road when my weight loss slows? I also realize I don't have time to get to 90 min of exercise a day at the end of my journey as some people do. My problem has never been the losing it is the maintenance. The last time I lost 90lbs by the last 25% i was exercising twice a day- 25 min run in the morning and a tae bo exercise video later in the day (evening).