So after I lost the first 20 pounds, I seemed to have stalled.I've been hovering between 147-148 for the longest and I can't seem to find the right diet that works for me.

When I was at 150, I stalled and just thought that maybe time will help. Well, I ate a slice of pizza and didn't exercise because me and a friend went grocery shopping that night and I lost two pounds!

It seems that if I eat more (1600-1800 calories a day) and DONT exercise, the weight can come off. (the other day I was down to 147 after not exercising but when I began again, the pound came back).

I'm just really confused. I know that dieting alone won't be as succesful but I'm not sure if I need to eat more or less.

ANY suggestions would be awesome!

i remember being stalled once..and then i ate a cheeseburger and lost the next day lol

yeah its infuriating!! lol. I'm wondering If i need to eat more when exercising..

Calories in/calories out -- sometimes it's really hard to figure out exactly the amount of calories, especially if you eat packaged food or eat out a lot.

The short answer to this is - probably. If you're exercising, not losing, but losing when you eat more, then its possible your body just needs a little extra fuel. I would try wearing a heart rate monitor that will tell you how many calories you burn when you exercise. If you're already tracking your calorie intake per day, you can use the "burned calorie" amount to see how much you need to make up for your deficit. A girl I work with (has a master's in exercise physiology) SWEARS by knowing your Basal Metabolic Rate - this is the amount of calories your body needs, per day, in order to survive - so if your BMR is 1400 calories and you're burning 500 calories at the gym, she would say you have to eat at least 1900 calories in order for your body to NOT stall out.

thanks stella! i'll give that a try.

How long has your weight been stalled? If it's only a couple of weeks, don't worry about it. Are you taking measurements? You could be losing fat while gaining muscle.

I wonder about this too. When I check how much calories I "should" be eating for my height, weight, and age it doesn't seem right. I have been stalled for about 3 weeks and I have lost weight before when I think I've done a pigout day.
So maybe I'm not eating enough calories either? But I've rarely ate that many calories. My usual diet before I started trying to eat better was actually not too bad. So I have changed it a bit but not too much. I probably eat about 1400 calories a day and when I checked on a website it said I should be eating close to 1900, some even said over 2000. I don't want to eat that much though because I don't think I ever have on a regular basis. So I'm afraid it would just make me fatter?

are you writing down every morsel of food you're eating? If not check into www.sparkpeople.com and start tracking all your food, they will also track your fat, protein, fiber and sodium. If you are eating a lot of sodium it can make you bloat and make it look like you weigh more than you really do on the scale

Yeah, too few calories can make your body think it's going into starvation mode.

You also sometimes need to just let your body rest! It's a journey after all and there have to be some pit stops... right?

I've started to break my plateau by changing what i eat, rather than how much. I've pretty much gone the whole foods way. it ends up being pretty low calorie, usually around 1200 a day, but its started me off losing again. So it might be something worth looking into

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