Frustrated with this plateau
 

I've been back at LAWL since mid-October. I did the full TO when I went back after my miscarriage, and then another one on Nov 10 & 11. I joined a gym and have been going four times a week - not lifting weights yet but certainly doing between 20 to 40 minutes of cardio every day, plus stretching.

The only cheat that I've had is one night when I had what I term a carb fest. I ate two biscotti and some extra melba toast. I can't even cheat properly! ;)

Anyhow....my frustration? I hit my 20 lb loss mark last week (total loss since joining initially in July), went back up a lb last week, then down enough to keep me at 19.8 total loss ... and have not budged!

I spoke to the young one today at the centre, and all she could offer me was to mix up my foods a bit more. I am indeed a creature of habit, but I still don't see what that's going to do. A protein is a protein in my books, but none the less, I'll mix it up for a few days and see what happens. I might do another TO but am leary to do that when I'm so new to exercise. I got wonky the last time I did it, although I see the thread that has a good way to spread it out through the day.

Anyhow...just needed to say grrrrrrrr....I'm frustrated! I have so much still to lose and do NOT need this to plateau now!

I know what you're going through. About a month ago I did TO and lost 3lbs. The next WI I was up 1lb despite being POP. The next three WI's after that I stayed the same. On the fourth WI (over a week later), the scale dropped 2.2.

It happens. Be paitent. Don't stress because that can keep you from losing as well. Just focus on being POP and enjoying the variety of food.

One week does not a plateau make. You would have to be stuck for a month or more to really be plateaued.

It's frustrating. It sucks. But since there's nothing you can do about it, adopt the mindset that it's a waiting game and you will have the patience and resolve to wait your body out.

Good luck and keep us updated.

I myself have also gone throug a plateau. My plateau lasted for 6 weeks. Is it possible that you are not eating enough? Another good thing to do is to try to have your bars, your carbs, and your fruity fruits (grapes, stuff with lots of sugar) early in the day, and save the vegetables and the fats for late at night. That helped me tremendously. Difficult, but it works.

Here are some suggestions I got from my COD manager also:

1. Egg Beaters for breakfast. I put 1/2 P and 1 slice of RF cheese on a 50 calorie tortilla (La Tortilla Factory - LAWL dietician confirmed with COD that it is 1S).
2. Tuna. Mix 1 can w/1T RF mayo, some Moton Lite Salt, pepper, onion powder. I actually make a few servings at once in the food processor to use during the week. Put on lettuce, tortilla, pita, etc.
3. Fruit. Try to get it all in by 5:00. If not, have berries which are lowest in carbs.
4. Tilapia (MY FAVORITE). Sprinkle fish w/Morton Salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder and spray pan with Pam. Pan fry over med-high heat. Before you turn the fish, spray the top w/Pam so it gets brown on both sides. When it's done, spread 1T horseradish sauce on fish and top w/ 1 or 2 oz. Kraft RF Parmesan Topping (depending on how much dairy you have left). It sounds like a weird combination, but it is really good. I'm addicted - I have it about 3 x's/week now. It counts at 1P, 1C, 1/2 or

I think we've also determined in our many discussions on plateaus/stalls that around the 15-20 pound mark the body has to readjust to the lower weight. The way Katie explained it (I think it was Katie) it really made perfect sense.

Your COD is right about mixing things up. You need to continually fool your body into losing the weight. If you continually eat the same things all the time, your body comes to expect it and it become confortable. You also need to change up your calorie intake every day. For example- one day, eat 1500 cal. the next day eat 1200 cals, the next day eat 1700 cals. It keeps your body guessing and it honestly does work.

I would be careful about overdoing the TO too much. For some it works wonders, but in some cases, the more often you do it, the less effective it is. Again, your body remembers these things and it is out for survival.

I lost 20 lbs. exactly then I stalled for 5 weeks. It's frustrating, but you need to stick with it and be patient. When your body is ready to lose more, it will, you need to give it time to catch up to your current loss. just keep with the program and it will come off.

I could swear that I read somewhere that for every 20% of body weight lost, the body has to adjust. I wish I could remember where I read it.

Yes I am on week 2 of this stupid plateau...Like everyone is saying, it's frustrating but you have to be patient....Keep yourself on the plan and try not to focus on the scale but rather on how your clothes fit.

Thanks....I mixed it up today and will do so again tomorrow. Great advice here!