At first I thought maybe I was messing up on my diet too much and I needed to tighten up a little when I had lost weight for 14 weeks in a row (except one and I don't wanna talk about that week! LOL) and then I stepped on the scale and I didn't lose anything.

so I made sure I ate extra clean that week but because I had to do some traveling I couldn't go to my usual machine at the YMCA and had to resort to walking and using crappy hotel equipment I thought maybe THAT was the reason I didn't lose any weight that week too when I weighed in.

I was shocked that after all those weeks of losing weight I had come to EXPECT a weight loss even if it was only a pound and I had lost as much a 5 and 6 pounds a few times!

But THIS week I LOWERED my caloric intake down to 1700 from 1800 calories and worked out my usual 1 hour a day on an elliptical (except I had to walk 2 days when I was visiting my parents in NC)

And I kinda panicked when I stepped on the scale and it said I GAINED .06 pounds. I mean it didn't make sense to me! I am dieting and I am exercising but I am not losing weight!

Then it suddenly occurred to me and it hit me like a ton of bricks ...

I'M ON A FREAKING PLATEAU!!! So thats THREE and one half weeks with no weight loss in fact I probably gained a few pounds if the truth be known!

I guess I am about due one right? I have been on my weight loss program for almost 5 months and have lost 50 pounds or so.

My workouts used to be extremely difficult and when I started on the elliptical (only machine I can do because of a bad knee) I could only do 15 minutes and I thought I was going to pass out! But now I can do one whole hour on the thing and hardly break a sweat.

NOW that I realize what the problem is I am OK. I keep thinking I was screwing up my diet somehow or not doing enough cardio. I have read enough about plateaus on here to know what to do. I also went to go see a nutritionist and she had a lot of good tips. She said to lower my caloric intake to 1600 calories and do extra cardio and just keep going and eventually I'll start losing weight again.

I bought a pedometer and I have been wearing it for a few days now. If I don't count running on the elliptical for a hour each day I step about 5 -6 thousand steps a day. If I count working out and riding my bike it goes over 10,00 each day easily. I am AMAZED that I walk that much because 5 months ago I could hard walk a block without having to sit down!

Anyway's I am very bummed out about this plateau but at least I understand what is happening.

If anyone out there has gone through one I would sure love to hear how you got through yours!

There is a tiny part of me that is terrified that I WON'T get out of this plateau and what weight I have lost comes back and then some and I fail in this attempt to lose weight.

I know it is negative thinking and I try and push it back in my mind but it is like this insidious dark thought at the back of my mind that won't go away.

I'm gonna hit it hard tomorrow at the Y ... it's all I can do ...

Don't fret, you're doing great, just keep going and you will see results again soon!

I hit a plateau for four whole weeks and I got so discouraged. I got very obsessed with trying to lower my calorie intake until I was eating 1000-1200 calories a day and it was rediculous. I figured that I wasn't doing enough because it wasn't working and then one day I ate 1700 calories, then kept it at 1300-1400 and I lost two pounds.

My body had thought I was starving (Which I was) so it conserved and now I'm moving onward and downward.

You will continue to go downward, your body has found a place it is comfortable, perhaps you were at your current weight for some time before? Anyways, you'll move, we all do!

Am having a plateau too. Crap, isn't it?

Was so fustrated that one day I only ate 30 calories. Didn't help.

We'll get through it.



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yeah I really am OK because I KNOW that the important thing is to stay on track and just keep on trudging along.

And I can relate on one day I fasted and didn't eat ANYTHING for 24 hours in an effort to jump start my weight loss and all I did was end up with a MASSIVE headache I know it was from not eating because as soon as I ate something the headache went away!

Now I have to fight this little voice nagging at me that say "your body thinks it's starving go out and pig out somewhere to show it that you are not!" LOL

No pigging out Flatiron! Remember, that's behavior we're looking to do away with. We don't want to go there any more. That's how we got obese in the first place.

Just wondering how carefully you're tracking your calories. Measuring and getting portions down correctly and all that. Could it be possible you're underestimating your calories? Have you had any "off" days? Because 1800 calories doesn't seem like all that much for a man of your weight.

Of course, of course, of course you'll get out of this plateau. You create a calorie deficit and your body WILL let go of the excess fat. But not always in the time frame that you have in mind.

Hang tight. Track those calories accurately. Kick it up a notch at the gym. Are you doing any strength training?

I was kinda bummed to see 205 again on the scale this week. I worked out every day except sat. counted everything I put in my mouth. I've been going between 203 and 205 for 7 weeks. My only hope is that if I eat real clean for a couple days and drink loads of water I will let go of some salt my body is wanting to hang onto. ( that is my hope anyway, not sure how else to explain this plateau )

Have you folks read Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto?
It's very detaily (too much so for beginning weight loss) but once you're losing and exercising ... It's full of tweaking ideas for further losses (and muscle retention).

First of all, congratulations on your 50lb loss!! That is incredible -- WTG!! Sorry to hear about your plateau...

One thing that struck me about your post was:

There are some GREAT elliptical routines on the Precor website that you could use on any machine so long as you have a heart rate monitor and a stride rate reading. Here's a link to their routines: http://www.precor.com/cons/en/tools/workouts

The thing I love about the routines is that they are heart-rate based. So, as you get in better shape, the continue to be difficult because you are adjusting your speed and resistance based on heart rate. Even if you don't want to use the routines, you may want to try increasing your resistance on the elliptical until you get to the point where you are breaking out in a sweat again...

Good luck! Hopefully breaking this plateau is just right around the corner...