Well I have been with Weight Watchers Flex points plan since August 2007 I go EVERY WEEK to the meeting. I started at 187.9 and am now down to 150.2 my goal is 140 and for some reason for the last couple weeks I cannot get past the 150's I will get down to 150 and then gain 1.6 pounds then the next week lose exactly 1.6 pounds it is weird. I think I have been on this program for a while now and I had stopped tracking my food, but now for the past 2 weeks I have been writing everything down. PLUS I joined the YMCA and started going to a class on Monday's called Boot Camp it is an hour and a half long and it kicks my butt, then on Wednesday I go to my 30 minute ads class. and still NO PROGRESS on the scale...... HELP!!!!! what should I do.

Are you taking measurements? If you're doing a significant amount of exercise, you may in fact be losing fat, but the weight of it is replaced by the weight of muscle. The surest way to determine if this is the case is to ask yourself if your clothes are looser, even if you're the same weight (or compare measurements).

If the exercise is new to you, what you might be seeing is temporary wait gain/stall due to the fluids your muscles hold while repairing themselves (which is an integral process to building muscle).

You say you may be lax in writing things down - start there, write everything down for awhile to see if you're fooling yourself into thinking you eat a certain amount when you really eat more.

Otherwise, I hear a lot about "psychological" blocks - maybe you get down to 150 and are subconsciously afraid to see a lower weight, so you may not realize it but you're eating more, making yourself gain the next week. To identify that kind of behavior you'd need to do a lot of self-searching. Have you ever been in the 140s before? Often we're afraid of seeing weights that are unfamiliar to us (so, um, ALL weights for me ). Other people report getting mental blocks when they get close to their goal like that - like, "diet" is all they know, how the heck are they going to manage maintenance? So they keep themselves (consciously or unconsciously) in "diet" mode by going up and down like that.

The other thing would be to check on how much you're eating - if you're eating too little (i.e., just your base points), your body may not want to lose anymore because it feels that's as small as it can safely get given the limited food resources around. (It thinks there are limited food resources, even if it's rather the case that you're just choosing not to eat.) If this is the case, try upping your points by a couple a day to see what happens there.

That's all I got for ya, good luck with it and CONGRATS on the awesome progress so far!!

My mom had that problem for a year. It was just a 7 pound issue but after she saw a doctor he told her that she wont get any lower because that is where her body is comfy and that is her lowest point her body will let her get.

If you are doing YMCA and other stuff you are more then likely gaining muscle and losing fat so that is good i would measure as mentioned above. you might be totally suprised what you find out.

Good Luck with it all!!

What they've said!

So, you've reached a plateau. First things, tighten the belt. Double check what you're doing. Make sure you're writing everything down, drinking your water, following the good health guidelines, etc.

Stick with it. It may take a long time, but you will be able to get it done. You're closer to goal, and that often means we slow down a bit. Just keep at it!

Oh my gosh, I'm right there with ya! We're the same height and started at almost the same weight. I struggled at 160 for a while, now I'm stuck at 158! This is so crazy to me! I keep thinking that this is all I've got and that maybe I'm just going to have to be satisfied here after all, I'm almost 30 lbs smaller than I use to be. BUT I don't think I'll be completely happy with myself until I reach at least 145-146.

These girls have been instrumental in keeping me focused when all I really want to do is strangle the scale!

Hey, I just realized you're from Illinois also. Maybe it's a state thang! LOL!

I am there too...can't get past 180.6 each week. I will gain a few lbs and then lose exactly enough to get back to 180.6. Frustrating!

It sounds like you are doing all the right things...might just be a time thing. Keep working at it, and perhaps you are shedding fat but gaining muscle, which is good because muscle will work for you to burn more calories eventually.

I have a feeling that I need to up my activity level...I am hoping that this week, with meticulous point counting, I will be below 180....I have wanted to get into the 170's for 3 months now, but I keep sabotaging myself by going off plan on the weekends, or by not exercising.

Keep up the hard work, we'll conquer these plateaus eventually!

some "decades" seem to take longer to get out of than others. Also, when you get closer to your goal it is going to get harder to lose.

Suite made some good points about the psychological aspects, sometimes, as unbelieveable as it might seem, we sabotage ourselves... Also, I'm a big believer in making sure you eat enough. We used to have a plan called eat less/regular/eat more, it was a selection plan, but basically, you can/are doing the same thing with your flex points, you need to learn how many you can use and still lose, if you're not using any and you're not losing, you definitely need to eat more. Personally, I use all my APs and FPs by the end of the week, but that's just me, over the long haul, I've lost 40 lbs. so it works for me, but I don't lose every single week. I've learned to accept that.

Also, when you are trying to move into maintenance, still a learning curve, if you look at what you are doing/eating and maintaining it can be a good lesson of what you will be able to do/eat and maintain your weight when you do get to goal.

I often say to my husband after a week when I gain or lose a half lb. or so that if I can eat like this and maintain for the rest of my life, I'll be happy.

best of luck