[lovemacon]

Hi all,
Well I was having a bit of a bad day, so I thougth i would come here and post. I have been at somewhat of a plateau for the last month. And while I have managed to not get discouraged, I'm starting to break a little bit.

I slipped back into an old habbit today. The old "Well, I am not loosing, so i'll just eat whatever." I've come to my senses since the Snicker bar this morning., but I still feel bothered about not making any progress. I keep telling my family I'm ok, but trth is I am staring to get a little down.

I've been extremly consisitent with my exercising, and overall pretty good with my eating. Since Feb. I've lost 32 pounds. Last week I was at 35, but when I stepped on the scale this morning I had a 3lb gain. Ugh!

Sorry to vent, but I need some support. I still have about 30 pounds I'd like to loose. I know it's not going to be easy, but I also didn't think it'd be this hard. I've thought about getting a trainer, or talking to a nutritionist, but I don't know. Any thougths?
Thanks for listening.
love

[Glory87]

You said you've been "overall pretty good with eating." When you plateau, you really need to take a very close look at your calorie intake. Are you journaling? Using a tool like Fitday to count calories? Are you absolutely and completely honest with everything that goes in your mouth? Do you actually measure or just eyeball? Are you eating good, whole foods (avoiding a lot of processed foods and salt/sodium)?

Don't worry too much about a 3 gain bobble, could be anything and could be temporary.

[jillybean720]

I would never consider only 1 week of not losing to be a plateau. One single gain could have lots of causes--hormones, strenuous exercise, excess sodium, the lovely female time of month, something you ate the previous day that hasn't yet *ahem* passed through, etc. I wouldn't worry about it untill you've been not losing for a solid 3-4 weeks. I know that's not the answer you probably wanted to hear, but a single week or two of not losing is really nothing in the grand scheme of things

[50lbs2go]

ok this was my problem too. have you tried zig zagging your calories? one day at max the next at very min and so on. also how is your workout? if it is high maybe reduce it a bit or try something else to keep your body guessing. the snickers is not a big deal. the weight will come off. have you tried detoxing? this has helped me too. good luck and don't give up you made it too far to go back. allow yourself a treat so that you don't get down on yourself. feel free to message me if you want to chat. we could all use the support

[BlueToBlue]

Getting a trainer or talking to an nutritionist are both great ideas. I have a personal trainer myself and I've found him to be invaluable.

You haven't really given us enough information for us to be able to offer suggestions.

When you say you are exercising consistently, what does that mean? How many days a week to do you exercise? For how long? Cardio or strength training or both? Are you exercising at your target heart rate? Are you doing the same form of exercise all the time or do you mix it up?

There are just as many questions we would need answered in terms of food. What diet plan are you following? Do you know how many calories you are eating? How do you portion out your food? Are you eating a lot of processed foods (even "healthy" ones)? How much fat/carbs/protein are you getting?

I also wouldn't worry about the 3lb gain. Unless you ate 10,500 calories above your maintenance calorie level (not your losing calorie level) last week, that's got to just be water. I once gained 3 lbs from a single bowl of miso soup (all that salt really makes you retain water ).

[JayEll]

Hey there, lovemacon,

Tell us how many calories you eat, average, in a typical day. If you don't know, then tell us what foods you eat for each meal and snack.

And, as Blue to Blue suggested, tell us more about your exercise--what do you do, how often, for how long?

Maybe we can make some suggestions that will help!

Also, you might want to read the Sticky post at the top of the Support Forum titled "Why Body Weight Fluctuates."

Jay

[lovemacon]

My weght has actually stalled for the past month, so I've been the same for the past 3 1/2 weeks. As for my eating, I haven't journeled in the past nor am I using fit day. So I will do that and post.
here are some of the things I eat regularly:
-1 egg + 2 egg whites omlet w/spinich, peppers, mushrooms and salsa
-fiber one cereal w fruit
-oatmeal w berries
-a banana (everyday)

snacks:
yogurt w.fruit
almonds
granola bar
fruit

lunch
boca burger
roasted veggies
salads

dinner
usually chicken
fish
salad/veggies
If you all don't mind looking over it, I will post my menu for next week for input.

I did switch up my exercise, incorporating interval training every other day. On the other days I usually walk for about 60 minutes or a WATP video. I've also incorporated Water Aerobics on some of the interval days as well. I typically work out 6-7 days a week.

Today I am feeling very munchy like nothing is satisfying me.

[JayEll]

Hey again, just show us one or two days--too hard to comment on the whole week in the forum. But, if you'd like, there is a Planning & Journals weekly thread here in Support that you're welcome to join.

Anyway, post the menu for a day or two on this thread.

Jay

[houseelf]

The main thing is, don't give up! Your success inspires me. You have come so far, you obviously have the right idea. Others have posted great ideas on how you can shake it up again. Just remember, as long as you have not given up, success is always waiting for you.

[WaterRat]

And, have you taken your measurements? I once plateaued for - honest - 4 months (I still have the WW booklet showing it), but I lost 2 sizes in that time. I was miserable about not losing until I measured (and realized I was swimming in my clothes ) Don't despair, and don't give up!

[PerthChick]

I've recently broken a nine-week plateau. I had lost 35 pounds and was stuck at 195. I had a lot of things going on in my life at the time (had to move house, mum was in hospital etc), and I think I subconsciously *got stuck* emotionally.

So I made sure I wrote everything down - food and exercise - and I realised I was only consistently reaching 70% of my goals. It's amazing what that extra snack does, or that thoughtless bigger portion of food.

I sat down and wrote about everything that was going on, and made a promise to myself that I would aim for 80-90% of my goals every week. It's working - I've dropped another 6 pounds over the last seven weeks, and am feeling a lot more motivated.

The key, for me was to plan my meals every morning, write down everything (and I mean everything) I ate, and drink plenty of water. Each day I aim to eat 1650 calories, exercise for an hour and drink 2 litres of water. At the end of the week if I have achieved 80-90% of that, I almost always lose weight.

Don't give up! And good luck.


Ani

[lynnm39]

Ani, I like your philosophy. Your plan sounds great!

[PerthChick]

Thank you . I'm probably one of the slowest weight loss chicks around here - been on this journey for 11 months, and average just under a pound/week. But I'm really happy with what I'm doing - and VERY determined to get to my goal.

[BlueToBlue]

My first that is that you're doing a lot of cardio. The problem with doing a lot of cardio is that it makes you hungry, hence having the munchies all day. I think it might help for you to cut back on your cardio a bit and add some strength training to your workout. Building muscle would help increase your metabolism.

I recently got off a plateau by reducing my cardio slightly and cutting back my calories by about 200 per day (I was at 1500 per day and dropped to 1300). I had been doing an hour of very high intensity cardio three days a week (circuit training with a personal trainer on the other four) but I knew that I could not sustain this level of exercise on 1300 calories a day. So I cut back to 1/2 hour on two of my cardio days. This made a big difference. At 1500 calories with all the cardio, I was hungry all the time and not losing any weight. At 1300 calories with my cardio cut in half, I'm losing again, around a lb per week and am not experiencing the hunger pangs nearly as much.

I also think that logging your food and tracking how many calories you are eating is critical. This would help you figure out if you are eating too much or too little for the amount of exercise you are doing, both of which can cause a plateau.

[Kilketay]

I think journalling will really help your situation. My guess is that you're eating more than you think you are. It's very easy for extra calories to slip into the diet! I have a problem for example with taking a few bites here and there as I'm cleaning up my toddler's plates. It really adds up!

And, just for the record of an opposing point of view, cardio doesn't make me more hungry. It makes less hungry.