[Tampaquillowner]

Guys,
I started out on the SBD but have gotten very serious about becoming vegan and have cut out eggs, milk, yogurt (I eat soy now), and am slowly cutting out cheese (very very slowly ). So the SBD doesnt really work for me anymore. I have been reading mega literature about vegetarianism and it suggests 60 percent of calories come from carbs (whole wheats all the way).

So basically I intake normally 1800 calories per day and usually expend 500 calories 3 days a week and 200 or so calories 2 days a week. Three weeks ago I hit a plateu and was not losing any more weight no matter how hard I worked out or how strictly I ate. So I upped my calories to 2000 per day and I lost 2 pounds. But the scale is back at 170 so I am not sure if it was water weight or what.

What can I do to break this weight loss stall? Any suggestions are appreciated. I have been doing the 2000 calorie thing for about 2 1/2 weeks now.

Thanks!

[andoreth]

Depending on your size (height, body composition, etc) and your individual metabolism 2000 cal/day could be close to your maintenance level. And, without knowing a reasonable goal weight for you it's hard to make specific suggestions...

I would suggest, though, that you try to stay away from a lot of sudden, drastic changes in you plan- mainly because that can make it very difficult for you to find out what works and what doesn't. (And bodies seem to think "sudden" is in terms of weeks and months, not days.) Try staying on plan for a few more weeks, and if you still don't find a pleasent result (and this might not be in the scale: it could be looser clothing or just feeling generally fitter, etc) you could try to lower the cals or up the exercise by a 100 cals or so. Try that for a while, then re-evaluate.

It can get a bit tricky finding the right balance, but you'll benefit from an easier and healthier weight loss if you find the right mix. Good Luck!

[SSarah]

How about coming over to Veggie Chicks forum and joining us for a 6 week diet plan called Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman? We have a thread there that's entitled "New Group/Challenge Starting Soon." We're starting officially on Monday. The plan is plant-based. Great for Vegans!