Hello All,

I am new to the community and I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Karen, I'm from NYC, and I have been overweight my entire life. In 2004, I reached 264 lbs (I'm 5' 4") and I decided it was time for me to get serious about my weight problem. I changed my eating habits, began to exercise and over the course of about 9 months, I lost around 65lbs. I then traveled to Florence, Italy for four months and I dropped another 20 lbs while there (completely effortlessly -- everything there is so fresh and delicious). When I got back to the US, I kept up the dieting and exercise routine and eventually got down to around 175lbs before hitting a plateau that discouraged me greatly.

I've gradually gained back around 15 - 20 lbs and I'm now at 190 due to an EXTREMELY sedentary job. I'm getting married in October (to a man I met while in Italy). The fact that I regained some weight frightens me and I'd like to lose some for the wedding. Last year I dropped to around 185lbs, but then, of course, hit another plateau. All these plateaus are so discouraging and terrible and I feel like my body is somehow defective. Everytime I hit one, I have a tendency to feel so discouraged that I get lax in my diet and exercise.

Over the last month and a half, after reading the wonderful "The Truth About Beauty" By Kat James, I began a no-sugar, low carb, higher fat diet/protein diet and I have definitely slimmed down (my clothes are MUCH looser than they were 6 weeks ago), though the numbers on the scale have stayed the same. I have been working on my grad school finals like a maniac and haven't been working out as much as I should, but my semester ends Tuesday and I intend to dive into exercise immediately after that.

I'm just feeling so... impatient and annoyed I just KNOW that I'm going to hit a plateau (I feel like I might already be on one, btw) and I will be 190lbs for my wedding in October. I'm frustrated, because I DID make lasting changes to my lifestyle and I worked so hard, but the smallest I ever got was 175 lbs. PLUS... even at my "thinnest" my body never looked "better" than it did when I was 260lbs... I was just a smaller version of what I had been (i.e. no nice, lean body was developing). Even now, changing my eating habits, eliminating sugar and getting physically smaller hasn't budged the numbers on the scale.

Do any of you have any advice, especially those of you who have experienced many plateaus and have gotten through them -- what did you do to keep yourselves motivated to push yourself further, etc.? I just have this feeling that I will NEVER be lean and thin... EVER... no matter what my efforts and I'm resentful that I could work so hard and change so much and STILL BE FAT!!!!

Anyway, I've been reading around and you guys have such inspirational stories! I'm happy to meet all of you.

- Karen

Plateaus are frustrating. I just went through a month long one where I was questioning everything I was doing. I knew I was eating right and exercising but nothing would make the scale move.

I took a week off from exercise and bam the weight loss is back in high gear.

Maybe you need to evaluate your exercise plan. Perhaps a couple sessions with a personal trainer would help to refocus on a weight loss exercise plan. I did that a couple of months ago and for the most part it has been a successful exercise plan for me.

Count your calories and see where they put you. I don't know which plan you are on but sometimes you just need to see if your perceived calories match the actual calories.

Don't give up!!! You can do it.

Hi MsRoboto thank you for your kind words and congrats on your own amazing weightloss (seen under your name).

I have a few free sessions with a personal trainer with my new gym membership, but I've been skittish to use it because I've already had sort of a bad experience with a trainer I just didn't click with a year agp (aside from a bad personality match, I didn't care for his style of training, etc.) but I should maybe schedule something at this new gym.

I bought the Biggest Loser Tone and Sculpt DVD the other day and I intend to combine that with cardio at the gym, so hopefully I can jump start something.

May I ask -- what have you been doing exercise/food-wise? We're about the same heights and we had almost the exact same starting weights.

Best,
K

Karen,



First, I have to congratulate you. You have lost a fantastic 74 lbs. And I hope you can recognize that achievement for what it is.

Oh plateaus.... and stalls... and stops... along the way. Both fortunately, and unfortunately, the only thing to do is to keep going forward, even if the scale isn't moving in the direction that you'd like. Often experiments with different amounts of calories, different foods, different exercise & weight lifting programs are needed. This can help, because sometimes our body hits a plateau because it becomes efficient. It slowly needs fewer calories to do what it's been asked to do over months & years, and it learns the frequent foods we eat & uses them fully. This is an excellent survival ability... if we were still picking berries & hunting wild boar out in the wilderness. For weight, loss... not so fun to be efficient. It means slower losses, and then the occassional plateau.

Once it's been determined that you are indeed going through a plateau (really at least 3-4 weeks of wishy-washy scale movement, anything less is just a little pit-stop) it's time to buckle down and take a look at what you're eating, how you're moving and if something needs to change. Sometimes a plateau occurs because we've become a little complacent in our efforts. We "forget" to track our food, stop going for that extra walk so often, we become a little comfortable in what we're doing. Pretending that it's a clean slate and "starting over" is a good way to stop this. By going back to using the tools that we needed in the beginning, we may be able to get back on track. If more weeks go by and you know within your heart that you've been following plan wonderfully, then it's time to switch things up, take away a few calories, add in a few calories, eat more calories one day and a few less the next, exercise more, exercise differently. Something, anything to keep your body guessing. And if a few MORE weeks go by after all this effort, we must continue on. Our body will drop the weight, we must keep moving.

In the end, isn't being healthier, even if it's while stuck at a plateau, better than being at our high weights again?

You can do this. Focus not on the scale, but on how you feel, and how healthy you're being.

Best of success!

WOW! Congrats on the huge weight loss. Are you drinking enough water? Do you drink diet soda? (toxic stuff) I would try the Rotation Diet. It will really freak your body out and you will drop some quick pounds. Start on a Monday. Mon, Tues, Wed-600 Calories a day. This is **** and kind of like starvation but you will drop 5 easily. Then Thurs, Friday, Sat and Sunday switch to 900 a day. It will feel like a feast after 3 days of 600. Then on week 2 up it to 1200 calories a day for a week. At first you might not even be able to eat the whole 1200 because your stomach will by so shrunk. After a week of 1200 a day...rotate back to the 600, 900 week. In this 3 week period you will drop at least 10 to 15 and you WILL see it on the scale. Remember to drink alot of water and try to exercise every day. On the 600 calorie days just do like 2 or 3 10 minute walks. Let me know how this works for you. It worked for me and I am excited to get on the scale every AM! Good luck!

Plateaus are just part of the territory. You just have to be patient and remember that you'll break through eventually, and the pounds will start to fall off again. Try mixing up your exercise routine or your diet. Don't let your body settle into a routine - shaking it up a bit might help kick start it out of your plateau.

This is a very rare thing for me, but I have to completely disagree with the advice given in the above post. This sounds dangerous unless under the close & careful eye of a doctor. 600 calories a day is starving. Dropping weight fast is not the goal. Dropping it healthfully & forever is. Sure, one can lose weight on only 600 or 900 calories a day for long periods of time, but it's most likely that the weight being dropped is muscle. Muscle... the stuff we actually want to keep in our bodies, because it helps us burn more calories and makes us look good when we get down to our goal weight.

Many people who begin at higher weights lose weight effectively by starting their calories higher and slowly decreasing them as they lose weight.

This is the sort of plan that needs to be scrutinized by a trusted and well certified doctor before beginning.

You may look the same because you've probably been losing muscle as well as fat. Lifting some sufficiently heavy weights could help

Good luck on the FINALS! Just finished my freshman year of college - and SO not looking forward to grad school! But for that alone, Congrats!!

I am doing the ABS plan from Men's Health. It is sensible for me. There is a women's one too but I think they just take out the references to male virility. I can deal with that.

The plan calls for concentrating on including the 12 powerfoods into your eating.

1. Almonds and other nuts
2. Beans and legumes
3. Spinach and other green vegetables
4. Dairy (fat-free low fat milk, Yogurt, Cheese, and Cottage Cheese)
5. Instant Oatmeal (unsweetened, unflavored)
6. Eggs
7. Turkey and other lean meats
8. Peanut butter
9. Olive Oil
10. Whole grain breads and cereals
11. Extra protein (Whey) Powder
12. Raspberries and other berries

It works for me. There is no emphasis on calorie counting just eating the right things.

I have not counted calories on this plan but some people do and I was going to when I hit that plateau but then the weight started coming off again so I didn't.

I do 3 days a week at the gym about 30 minutes of weight training. I have 3 different weight training programs so a different one for each day. I then do about 30 minutes of cardio. I usually do the Arc Trainer but have been known to use the Elliptical from time to time.

I did use a personal trainer to setup the plan. He was VERY good. I had him for my free sessions and he really listened. I wanted emphasis on conserving time. I was spending 1 1/2 hours per workout. I am now doing about 1 hour each session. I wanted to conserve my knees. I did not want anything that would require me to jump and land because at 250 pounds I felt that would result in an injury. I wanted emphasis on weight loss.

I think he hit it right on the head and I loved seeing the bulky guys doing similar exercises but of course they used 3x as much weight as I do. I am NOT trying to compete with them.

I think that it's really working so I'll stick with it.

When I hit that plateau I was questioning everything but I knew that I was eating pretty healthy so I stuck with it and it is definitely working.

I have lost essentially 2 sizes from 44 pants to 40 pants. I had to break down and buy a couple pairs because my old ones were SO big. That was awesome.

Hi, and welcome. Huge congrats on your weightloss. My name is Alexis and I am from NYC too. Drop me a line if you would like to be diet buddies? I wish you the very best!!

HI everyone -- thank you for all your kind words and suggestions. I think what I need to do is basically really throw myself into working out and develop a strength training program. I realize now that I haven't been pushing myself as I should and that I tend to fall into -- and stay stuck in -- comfortable exercise routines.

I purchased to strength training DVDs (the Biggest Loser Power Sculpt and something else featuring the same trainer) and I'm hoping to do those in the morning and then do cardio in the evenings at the gym and just keep on with what I've been doing diet-wise.

Now that my finals are over (WHEW!) I will have all summer to develop and follow an exercise program. I was thinking of taking a summer course, but with my wedding only 5 months away, I'd rather focus on getting into better shape now so that once school starts again, I will have my program set.

Thanks again! I wanna put up one of those weight loss tickers, but I can't until 30 days after joining.

- K

Hi -- congratulations on getting through freshman year; in many ways that is the toughest year of college.

In terms of grad school... I really enjoy going and being back at school. I graduated from college a semester early in Feb. 2006 and took two years off trying to figure out what I wanted to do and last fall I decided I want to become a (high school Social Studies) teacher. In New York State all teachers have to earn an MA eventually, so I enrolled in this program. It's only my first semster, but it's been good. I LOVE leaving work early and sometimes before class my fiance meets me on campus for coffee. It's great to not have to be sitting at a desk for 40/hours a week straight anymore.