[pgray1229]

I've been stuck at my weight for 3 weeks. I weigh 261, so this has been very frustrating!!

I ate alot on Thursday, Saturday and Today (Sunday) I seemed to have fallen off, and can't get back on.

I've come so far - 50lbs. Why did my body stop losing weight?!? I wanted to try Wendie plan, but I find that too restricting too "diet" like.

I'm afraid to eat every ap. I do eat every fp, and eat all of my GHG's.

What could be the problem? I'm not destined to maintain at 261, that just seems ridiculous!!!

[luckymommy]

I don't do WW right now, but I've done it in the past, so I hope you don't mind me commenting. So many people on this board have been in your exact situation, but they got through it and I'll bet you will too!!! You have done such an AMAZING JOB, losing 50 lbs.! WOW! Think about that! Yes, pleataus' are frustrating and they send people running for the hills. However, what's the alternative? Give up? Gain back the 50? No way! You've earned every single pound there, so give yourself some credit.

You might consider cutting back on some of the sugar and carbs. I don't know about you, but for me, quitting Diet Coke saved me! It took several attempts, but diet soda and anythign w/ artificial sweeteners revs up my appetite! Also, I recently increased my weight lifting...by a lot! I did one hour of lifting w/ my hubby last night and man am I sore today! I think it's good to surprise your body with something different. Think of something different YOU could do and see if that'll make the difference. I have a feeling it will. Also, you might consider Interval cardio. I do about 2 or 3 minutes of easy workout and then, I do 30 seconds to 1 minute of very intense bursts of cardio. I do it to the point that I can't talk to anyone...all I can do is think about stopping...which is great because then I get to slow down a lot, until the next burst. I've read that people who workout this way tend to lose weight three times faster (read it in an Oprah magazine and a Women's Health magazine too).
Anyway, I wish you all the best and hope you can push through this frustrating time. Oh, before I forget! Sometimes, people's bodies are doing LOTS of great things that just don't show up on the scale..they're losing inches and gaining muscle and holding on to water if they're lifting weights in the first two months. Just hang in there! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!

[sunshower]

I'd like to weigh in on this (no pun intended). I have now hit three plateaus. I agree with you that they're frustrating but trust me when I say they are not forever. The longest I had was 6 weeks.

Some positive points about hitting a plateau are:
1. You're not gaining weight.
2. Your body is showing you that it can adjust to a set form of eating habits without losing or gaining. This should prove to you that you will be successful when it comes time to long-term maintenance.
3. Your body is responding to the micro and macro nutrients you are putting into it by burning what you put in--nothing more, nothing less.
4. It's completely natural to hit a steady point after losing a lot of weight. Yes, 50 pounds is a lot of weight to lose.

Now hopefully you feel a bit better about your plateau.

Obviously, though, you want to break out of it. I broke out of my most recent plateau by switching up my workout. I see you are active because you mention not eating your activity points.

My best suggestion would be to switch up your workout completely--I can help you with this if you want --and start eating your activity points. However, eat only what you feel you earned and always eat the activity points immediately after you exercise. Get the most protein out of these points as you can. Do not just have juice, sugar or carbs. Protein is key.

My second suggestion (you can do both, actually!) would be to switch up the things that you are eating. If you eat a static number of points (essentially calories) every day, your body has become used to that allowance. Try focusing on getting 40% of your calories from protein and 40% from fat with the other 30% from carbs instead of just point values. Try point shifting. Essentially point shifting is like the Wendie Plan. I have been doing this before I read about it on the board. I hit a plateau once and needed something to shake me out of it. I read about calorie shifting and decided to apply the same logic to points. "Confusing" my metabolism worked for me but different things work for different people. If you think that's too restricting, try alternating Core and Flex for a few weeks. 1 week Core, 1 week Flex, repeat. Just shift your food intake somehow so that you body sees a change.

My third suggestion would be to switch up your eating schedule. Your body can probably time and has come to count on your eating schedule. You could try the king-prince-pauper method for awhile of eating a big breakfast, a moderate lunch and a small dinner. You will then have less food in your system when you sleep and you will break the fast with a good breakfast (high in protein) when you wake up. Another method to change your schedule would be to decrease the amount of points (calories) in each meal you have but increase your meal frequency. 5 to 6 small meals per day can really be beneficial. Basically your body will have a small meal, burn it after 3 hours, have another small meal, burn that after 3 hours, repeat.

The best way to shake yourself out of a plateau is to shake yourself up.

[philadelphiab]

I have lost 38 lbs and have had 2 mini plateaus where I actually gained both times 2 weeks in a row. I called my sister the first time and said that I would be the first person on ww who gained 50lbs in a year. I stuck with the program and made sure I ate the 8 healthy guideline (especially fruits and vegies) and the next 2 weeks the dam broke and I lost.

I had heard about the Wendie plan and read about it and it made sense to me..tricking your metabolism. I am not strict with it but after a day where I may dip into the "extra" 35 the next day I try to stay closer to my target daily points. I refuse to be hungry so I have a lot of low point snacks.

I feel your stress because I am terrified for when my real plateau hits. My mantra is: its a lifestyle change and people smarter than me have figured this out and I have to trust that when my plateau hits I will stick it out and use this site for support like you have.

You are already amazing and have already accomplished sooo much! Hang in there and remember the healthy guidelines.

-Phil

[librarygirl12]

I totally know what you are talking about. I've been stuck at this plateau around the 260's for over a month and it is very frustrating. Big congrats on already losing the 50lbs!! That is a huge accomplishment. As for the plateau, I would say take sunshower's advice and hang in there!

[luvmyfam]

I don't know what to suggest you do, other than to hang in there. Some people will plateau for weeks, and then suddenly they're losing again.

I can sympathize, though. I know the things that cause my weight to yo-yo in a certain range. I've been at it since the beginning of April and still haven't made it to 10 lbs of loss since starting. I get a couple lbs away, and then I gain a couple lbs back.

I just keep telling myself that I HAVE lost, though. I'm trying to overcome the factors that I believe have something to do with my gains. In my case, it's going out of town to see either my family or dh's. Now we have a family reunion for his dad's side of the family coming up, and I'm finally really trying to plan ahead and have better alternatives for myself.

I've heard that some people who plateau using one plan or another, will switch it up. At the meeting I went to when I joined, the leader shared that at another meeting she leads, there is a lady who had lost something like 80 lbs on Flex and then plateaued. So she switched to Core for a short time and lost something like 5 lbs in the first week. That's one of many nice things with WW. If you want to mix it up one week at a time, you can, but you'll still be on WW.

Hang in there. A lot of people have hit the plateaus at one time or another, so you're not alone!

[Institches21]

pgray-
Wow 50lbs is awesome, { hey, 1.75 a wk, that is super} but staying the same is very hard, I've had some struggles myself lately, have you measured yourself lately, I found I'm still losing inches, but the scale does not show any loss, in fact some weeks a slight gain. From what I've read {here on the site} your body is trying to adjust to this new lifestyle, and will catch up, promise, just be patient. I've also juggled the pts, eat all the AP's and FP's or none. Only you can judge that for yourself, you will need to try and if you see a loss, than that's what your body needs, I've found that eating all my AP's in protein really helps give me the boost I need, I've also drank a glass of milk right after a workout, that also has helped.
Try not to get too caught up in the number on the scale, we all tend to forget that at times, me included.
Best of Luck, You are doing Excellent.