I hope you all don't mind me posting here since I am FAR from maintenance but I read this forum frequently and all of you are so knowledgeable I wanted to pose my question directly to you. Mods obviously feel free to move if you would like.

Little background info: 24 years old, 5'5, about 194 lbs. Almost exactly one year ago I started losing weight for the first time in my life. I started at 207 and got down to 183 fairly quickly by basically changing everything, I started exercising regularly and I cut out all soda and sugary things and ate pretty "cleanly." Over the past year I have gone from 182ish to 192ish like three times, I always get stuck at that same spot.

Now, onto the problem, this time I have rededicated myself to making this a lifestyle change. For over a month I have kept track of my calories (average around 1500 and I rarely go over 1600) and started exercising again (resistance training in addition to treadmill for cardio 5 times per week, cardio for ~40 minutes). From my experience in the last year with all this exercising and eating good I should be dropping weight like crazy. At one point in the last year I was losing weight slowly while eating 1800 calories a day and not exercising at all. But I haven't lost a pound, in fact, the scale started to go up at first so I put it away so I wouldn't get irritated and quit. (Also, I haven't taken my measurements at all this time but I don't think they have changed because all my clothes fit the same.)

Actually this is the problem part, I have no intention of quitting yet but I am starting to become (irrationally?) paranoid that my yo-yoing has caused my body to decide "nope, we can't let go of this fat, we must hold on for dear life!" So I'm wondering if this could be the case. It seems silly when I think about the math of weight loss but I don't see any other explanation, I am perplexed. At first I was hoping that there was a slight increase on the scale because I had added a teeny bit of muscle but even if that were the case, after over a month it should have started on the way back down right? I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone, nothing is as it should be .

So I suppose my question is, did this ever happen to you on your journey? And if so, what did you do to change it up? The only thing I can think to do is lower my calories but on top of the fact that it doesn't make any sense to me to do so, what would happen if I lower them to say 1200 and then get stuck somewhere along the way, I wouldn't be able to lower them further to get past a plateau or something.

Ok - I have this problem too, so I'm sorry I can't offer any advice!

Just wanted to say I feel your pain! I am trying to "zig-zag" my calories, 1650 one day, 1800 the next, 2000 the next back to 1650 etc!

Can you up the exercise? I've recently added running to my exercise stuff (even that hasn't made a difference though ) and I'm hoping it might come off.

Also, as the BFLers will tell you - "clean" eating is important. Lots of fruit and veggies and some wholegrains and NO processed carbs like bread (I love bread!). I think this might be my problem - I'm going to see tomorrow when I weigh in!

Hi holicanmc and welcome to Maintainers! Of course you're welcome to post your question here! (and any others too ) It's a question that I've seen A LOT lately, all over the forums, so you sure aren't the only one stuck on a plateau. Maybe others besides Frus can chime in about their experiences?

I plateaued briefly several times when I was losing and dealt with it by dropping my calories a bit each time. I started out at 1600 calories when I was 257 pounds and dropped by a hundred each time the weight loss stalled until I hit 1200 calories. For the last six months that I was losing, I stayed between 1200 and 1300 calories. I was doing an hour of cardio per day and weights five times a week. That's what it took for my body to lose fat -- you may be totally different, of course.

I was a classic yo-yo dieter (for decades!), but don't think all my past attempts messed with my metabolism too badly since I was able to average about 2# loss per week (122 pounds in 50.5 weeks). But I think the whole area of metabolism and weight loss is unsettled, without a lot of clear answers, so who knows?

A few thoughts as I read your post:

* when you count calories, are you weighing and measuring or eyeballing portions?
* are you journaling?
* are you honest about counting every bite, lick, and taste?
* have you ever had your body fat % checked?
* do you ever take a 'cheat day' or 'cheat meal'?
* is your cardio as intense as it can be?
* perhaps try switching up your cardio?

But the bottom line is that sometimes we just have to be patient when we know we're doing everything right. Even if the scale isn't moving, you know you're getting stronger, healthier, and more fit. And after all, what's the alternative? Quitting? I don't think so!

You're not alone . I've hit my very first plateau ever, and I've been bouncing around between 139 and 141 for probably about 6 weeks now. I haven't bothered to change my ticker because to be quite honest, I'd be changing it EVERY DAY .

Therefore, my only advice is to follow Meg's advice . And follow 2Frust's advice, too . And whatever you do, don't quit. A lot of people go into this whole weigh loss thing all pumped up to lose, and then after a long period of success they get discouraged when they hit the inevitable plateau and stop losing. Meg has said a million times that our bodies operate on their own schedule (or maybe MrsJim says that...I dunno ). During a plateau, it's key to remember that your body will let go of the fat when it's ready.

So, go over your food, your exercise, etc. and make some adjustments. Experiment with it. Add 5 minutes of cardio to every session. Up your water intake. Make sure you're getting 8+ hours of sleep a night -- that's important for muscle recovery and will also keep you in a positive frame of mind during the day. And in the meantime, look at it as "practice maintainence." I've found that it's a hard mental battle to shift from a losing mindset to a maintaining mindset, and I firmly believe that taking time to get used to the concept of maintainence BEFORE you actually get there is a great idea!

Thanks so much for the encouragement guys, it's rough when I can remember how I used to be, I ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and was gaining but it was *very* slowly. Of course I also had high cholesterol and was probably headed towards Type II diabetes. Now I'm actually putting in effort and nothing is happening.

Anyway, my resolve has strengthened and right now I plan to lower my calories slightly and increase my cardio on the weekends (Fri, Sat, and Sun). Also I think my macronutrient ratios need to be better so I'm going to try and completely, well mostly, cut out the convenient processed food. None of the processed things are that bad calorie wise, I mean, it's not like cookies or something, but they are mostly carbs, Lean Cuisine's for example.

My cardio could use an intensity boost I think but right now I'm trying to build up some endurance. I have never been able to jog, even in high school when I played lots of sports. So far I have gotten up to 8 minutes continuously jogging extremely slow. My heartrate gets up to about 80% of my MHR even when I walk because I do a pretty high incline.

So, today I have stayed under 1400 calories, my ratio was about 40% Carbs, 30% Protein, and 30% Fat, and I did resistance training as well as two 40 minute treadmill sessions. So today I am very pleased with myself. I am worried about when I get to my normal sticking point (~183 lbs) but I will just deal with it when I get there I suppose.

A little sidenote, I think it was LovesBassets who I read in another thread talking about motivation vs. "just do it" with regard to exercise. And I must say this has been very helpful (hopefully you know what I'm talking about) because I hate cardio with a fiery passion but so far when I try to talk myself out of exercising I think "just do it" so thank you very much for that!

Thanks again to all of you for the support, honestly, I can't believe how friendly and supportive everyone is on this forum!

Holly

In terms of finding cardio you like, there can be lots of fun options. I just started a combined karate/boxing class a few weeks ago and I cannot believe how fun it is! I sweat thru the entire thing and can be somewhat achey the next day. But it makes me feel like a totally empowered strength goddess, which can hardly be a bad thing.

I started to rebound after a large weight loss (regained 40 lbs), and I've found that keeping track of my intake and journaling on a daily basis has been incredibly helpful. I use Fitday.com most days of the week to keep track of calories, activity and weight. I've now re-lost 26 pounds since early November. Only 14 more to go!!!

One other thing is that I try and keep my life revolving around healthy activity. I have a number of groups that I do things with ie biking, hiking, snowboarding etc. So I always have someone to call for some fun when I start to feel bored in my routine.

Good luck to you!

Boarderchick - congrats on losing the 26 pounds! As you so wisely said in another thead tonight, keeping it off is the tricky part. All I can add is a hearty AMEN, sister!