I think I am in a plateau since I have stalled for almost a month. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions of how I could start losing again?
I know from reading sparkpeople articles some ways to avoid and break a plateau. I think I already use them though...maybe someone will see something different.
My program:
Exercise: I've been doing the 30 day shred for almost 2 months, but because of the different levels it is not the same workout for that long time. I worked my way up to level three and I want to stay there for maybe 6 more workouts before moving onto something new. Right now I am doing level 3 and 1 back to back since I haven't done 1 in a while.
I also do Cardio. The beginning of the summer I started walking and trying to jog alot. But then for about a month into August I started doing Tae Bo and switching different dvds. Now I am back to walking and have started using the stepper which I have never used before. I also do Pilates and switch those dvds around so I do something different every month.

Rest: I take at least 1 day a week to rest and do no cardio or strength. Furthermore I let my muscles rest a day between strength training (like I will only train Monday, Wednesday and Friday). I also get plenty of sleep each night.

Eating: I use Sparkpeople.com's suggestion of how many calories to eat and typically always stay in that range. I also track my sodium, and other nutrients to try to make sure I am eating healthy things and not just empty calories. I also drink between 12-15+ cups of water depending on my activity level. I eat three meals and sometimes 2-3 meals throughout the day as long as I am in my calorie range.

So I am not sure what I am doing wrong? I am thinking of eating in the higher end of my range, maybe even 2000 calories for a few weeks to see if that boosts my metabolism. Would that be bad and make me gain? I am afraid of eating more if it will cause me to gain. Any advice?

man if you find any good advice... pass it on. im stuck at 179-181 for about 6 weeks. i figure if i keep going, ill eventually break through!

One thing I've read and done that's helped in the past is changing up your calorie intake each day. Like having high days and low days with your end of week total still being the same amount.

Like for example if you eat 2000 calories day, every day that's 14,000 calories a week.
So have a low day and eat only 1500 calories, then have a high day and eat 2500 . . make sense? Work it out so you still only end the week with 14,000 calories but you've sort of tricked your body into not getting to used to one set amount.

I was stuck at the same weight for almost two weeks. The only thing that broke the plateau was "zigzagging" my calorie intake. On Monday and Tuesday, I went 200 calories above my usual intake. Wednesday and Thursday, I went 200 below. And Friday-Sunday I went back to 1,500 (my normal intake). I was able to finally drop 2 pounds.

Calorie Cycling (zig zagging) seems to help quite a few people bust through a plateau. If you give it a shot, or whatever you do, keep us updated . Good luck

You are going to think I'm totally cuckoo, but my advice would be to go several days, (like a week) without your workouts...and eat at the lower end of your calories. For *ME* this broke through short stalls quicker than anything. The human body, as awesome as it is, is not designed to go, go, go at high intensity day after day. Even the cave men took a break. I never had a plateau, but I did have a couple of weeks (not in a row) in my losing process were I didn't lose. I didn't eat more, I ate a little less, and gave my muscles a break and WHOOSH. It was gone.

I don't think you're doing anything wrong. Going a little higher with calories for a few weeks usually does the trick. Keeping your body at a deficit for long period of time is a stressor that triggers adaptive responses that sometimes make weight loss difficult, and allowing your body to recuperate can minimize those effects. Unless you feel like you're overtraining, I wouldn't recommend stopping exercise (...this is the advice that 'quick weight loss' centers give their clients because they know exercise can slow the rate of loss of scale weight... all that darn muscle you're maintaining and/or building doesn't always look good on weigh-in day... but remember, the whole point is to lose fat, not muscle).

Just be smart, don't do anything drastic, and you'll start seeing more progress soon enough.

Ok, so lori's suggestion actually worked for me. I didn't do it on purpose. I had to stop because I strained my hip flexor and I got told if I didn't let it heal I could really injure it and be out for 3-4 months. So I took 2 weeks off totally. It worked, I started losing again.

I thought this morning I was on a plateau but I checked my real stats and this month I've lost 3.2 lbs and 6 inches. Apparently I am gaining some muscle. Have you done your measurements?

Another thing is that I use sparkpeople too but I found that their calorie count was too low for me. It recommends 1200-1550 but if I eat more than one day below 1300 I stall. So I vary it. I would say my "normal" is around 1600 calories, my low is 1250-1300 and I usually have at least one "high" day of 2000-2500 (depends on my burn because I do this on my most active day). What's interesting is that often times I post my biggest loss the day or 2 after my high day. You are super active and I would bet that you need more calories.

When stalling, when I'm doing everything right, I found adding a little bad fat, kicked it into gear. I'd have a couple of pieces of bacon or a burger and it kicked things into gear.

I think I wasn't getting enough fat and my body thought I was in a famine or something. I accounted for it and kept it in my WW points range. That little boost of fat seemed to be what my body needed to think we'd killed a mammoth or something and the famine was over.

I know it sounds weird and counter productive, but it worked for me.

Thanks guys. I usually always eat at the bottom of my calorie range anyhow, and that hasn't seemed to make it change. Unless I have something I usually don't have, like ice cream or I end up eating out, my calories are usually at the bottom of my range.
So I was thinking of trying to eat at the high end of my range instead. I am not sure how many days I will be able to do that. I tried doing that last week and got only 2 days...I don't tend to eat that much it seems but it seems I am never hungry...

For my husband and I, it's been taking a day off to eat some "no-no" foods, then hopping right back on plan the next day. I read somewhere that it fools your body or gives your metabolism a jolt. We think this has helped us from stalling, but I know not everyone would agree. I've done it about once every 2-3 weeks.....he's done it about weekly but you know how guys just lose no matter what LOL! There are so many theories out there......who knows what might really work??? But I feel this has worked for us pretty well.

It does sound weird but it has also worked for me on more than one occasion. I didn't do it on purpose the first time; I was kind of in a stuck place for a week or so and I went to Sonic for a burger; I ended up losing pretty good that week! Like you, I kept my calorie count in my normal range.

I've also had weeks where I was just really busy/tired/whatever and didn't exercise like I usually do, and still was able to lose. I don't think I'd want to do that all the time, but I think there is something to Lori's theory that our bodies need a REST once in awhile. I honestly think that it's our actions and choices over the long haul that make the difference, and I also suspect that my choices that I made yesterday and the day before don't necessarily show up today--I think it might take several days or even weeks for choices to be reflected. I'm not sure about that, but it's something I've suspected for awhile.