I'm wondering what most of you ladies (and gents) do when you plateau out? How long do you go before saying, "Okay, I've plateaued out and need to do something different?" And after coming to that decision, what have you done? What has and hasn't worked?

I consume (usually quite consistently) 1330 calories a day. Now technically, when I run those numbers, I should be losing 2 lbs. a week. Even from the beginning (I started calorie counting at the beginning of February), however, this hasn't been the case. I am lucky if I lose .5-1 lb a week. For the past month, however, my weight has not really budged at all. I don't want to lower my calories since I am all too aware that anything below 1200 would put my body into starvation-mode. So I'm wondering if I should increase my calories? And if so, by how much? Do any of you seem to have a 'magic' number that just works for you?

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!

I don't have advice persay, because I'm in the same situation. But I'm increasing exercise, and hoping that that will work!

That's exactly what I'm doing, too. It's hard, because (and it's a running joke among friends) I hate sweating. After I did about 30 minutes of cardio last night, I texted a friend to let him know that **** has frozen over--I exercised on my own volition. He didn't believe me. "Did you sweat?" he asked. "Yes," I replied, "I even sweated."

It's still too soon to say whether or not the exercising will work, though. So I thought I'd just ask the wonderful people on this forum for their own hints and tips.

I find if I am stuck if I up my calories a little bit for a couple of days when I go back to the normal range I start losing again. I'm not sure if that works for everyone, though. I have increased my exercise too, or tried doing different exercises to break a plateau.

Give upping your cals a try. I weight 162 and am eating 1600-1800 (zig zagging them) and losing consistantly. Of course it's individual, but 1300 cals is pretty low IMO. I like freedieting.com for calories, I know they seem high, but they really work. I do have the occassional week with no loss, but it hasn't lasted more than 2 weeks yet.

I also wanted to add that everytime I've increased my exercise I've had to increase my cals or I stall.

I feel your pain. I'm stuck at 150, but I was stuck at 165 for a LONG TIME! I'm eating 1400 calories a day and running for 5-7 miles/day. I don't think I can eat less or exercise more. So now what?

Have you thought of trying to cycle or zig zag your calories? I plateaud out for 7 months last year...i was doing weight watchers and eating the exact number of points....since doing counting calories i have cycled my calories and have lost every week since january 1 except one week

Ncuneo and kkazz123, thank you for the advice on zig-zagging. I think I will try that (along with the new exercising regime) and hope that it breaks this plateau. My BF seems to think zig-zagging is nonsense, and prior to this point I've followed his advice since, before we started dating, he himself lost a little over 100 lbs (so obviously he did something right, no?). But clearly this is a case where what worked for him is NOT working for me.

freedieting.com will give you a zig zag schedule

I'm kind of confused as to why you would up your exercise, and not view it the same as lowering your calories? You're still creating a larger deficiet.

Anyways, I eat around 1400 calories per day and lose around 1.5 lbs per week with only cardio 3 days per week.

Sorry I didn't clarify on this. When I exercise it, I have an app on my iPhone which adjusts my calories in accordance to the exercise that I've done. So even when I exercise, it gets adjusted so that I am still consuming, essentially, 1330 calories a day. Does that make any sense? A larger deficit isn't being created.

i would just like to add that i am in the same situation as you... eating consistently 1200-1300 cals a day and working out and MAINTAINING at 150 for the past month. It can be frustrating, but I am trying zigzagging now (from freedieting) from about 1200-1700, and staying very consistent with healthy eating and hitting the gym 4-5x a week. i have decided to stay away from the scale for a few weeks though, just in case i still am at that 150 number i might throw the scale

here's to hoping it works! good luck!

I know this is off topic as to what you're asking but I just read an article that said that once you reach a plateau, you should take this time to let your body adjust to the new weight and maintain it for awhile because once you can sit at that weight and decide to lose more, it will be easier to maintain your ideal weight later because your body will have adjusted to a lower weight.

Just some food for thought

Hey, I'm sorry to hear about your plateau. I've just started going back to my old nutritionist, and I'm not losing as much weight as I was in the beginning now as I was a few years ago when I was seeing her. She makes me keep a food journal, and noticed that I wasn't eating enough protein. Her ideal for me is to eat 3 servings of protein a day, and I was only eating two. When I added the extra protein, I started to lose the 2lbs a week.
I'm not big on protein, but I throw a half a cup of beans to a salad or eat an extra hard boiled egg or something. Try it- especially if you're exercising...your body needs the protein.

hope this helps!

Thanks for posting this! I, too, am going through the EXACT same thing, so it really helps to read all the tips from these successful members. :-)

I've been stuck losing and gaining the same stupid pound for the last two weeks. It is very, very frustrating and depressing, but we CAN NOT give up or let it lead us off track.

I just keep telling myself that I AM eating right and exercising regularly, so that's all that matters. I'm going to do what everyone has suggested and try the zig-zag thing, maybe increasing my daily calorie average a bit. I hope this works!! Can we check back next week for a progress update? :-)