After my FOUR MONTH LONG plateau in which I GOT down to just below 200 (198) and have STAYED HERE (I got there on March 8th... which I guess makes it a 3.5 month plateau now that I have checked) I have been searching for solutions.

I keep pushing my body HARDER AND HARDER. Do more, for longer, HARDER because it's GOTTA bust right? RIGHT? Cut calories MORE because that will work... right? RIGHT?

wrong.

Why the **** am I BEATING up my body. I lost 180 pounds in less than 18 months. LESS THAN 18 MONTHS. Do you think that just maybe my body needs a break? And WILL TAKE THAT BREAK no matter WHAT I do?

I think so.

Some chickies (and you know who you are... THANK YOU) have thrown out the idea of raising my calories to maintenance, doing a reasonable amount of exercise and giving my WONDERFUL glorious magnificent body a BREAK! This is NOT a race. And I am KILLING myself trying to force my body right now to do something it REALLY does NOT want to do.

So... that's my new plan of attack. I will SLOWLY raise my calories over a period of time. Keep incorporating tons of fruits and veggies. My whole grains and complete proteins. Keeping the junk out and keeping the fast food gone (as I have been) So keep doing what I am doing but NURTURE my body right now as it sorts itself out.

I'm taking my exercise down to lifting twice a week, resistance training once a week and walking 4 days a week. I WAS doing my resistance bands 6 days a week and RUNNING 5 days a week for 5-7 miles. I need a break.

So yah. I'm here. I'm sorry I'm not around much. My life is crazy busy and quite frankly this plateau has been one of the hardest things I've gone through on my journey.

You are doing great! I do think that you may need a break as well but just dont go over board. Listen to your body. Good luck as you have done a great job so far!!!

I think you're doing the right thing and your body will thank you for it.
I had a mini plateau a while back and did the same as you, got stricter and stricter with myself, exercised more and harder, and wore myself to a frazzle. I remember being so tired one night I went to bed at 8pm...
Due to childcare issues then for almost a week I couldn't get to the gym or find much time to do my usual exercise routine at home or go for a run, and my eating plan was mixed up a bit and, guess what, I started losing the weight again. I'd dreaded that week messing up my routine, but it actually did me a favour, made me realise I needed to give my body a break and mix things up a bit.
It is definitely something I will try again when the next plateau hits, as I'm sure it will.
Good luck, and I'm sure I'll be seeing your ticker move down again soon.

***three claps for your post - Excellent Post! ***

I am almost in the same situation. I haven't lost as much lately and I am at the point now where I am running. I had a rough start to the year but now I am on plan and the scale still isn't really moving. I think (aside from continuing to run) I am just going to continue to focus on eating healthy and not worry about the scale so much.

Hang in there! I've basically been in a platuea for a year. I've lost 8-9 pounds in the last year. I should be able to lose more. I watch what I eat, I work out DAILY. It makes no sense as to why I'm not losing, but I'm not. It is frustrating, then a few ppl told me, look at where you've been. You not only took off a big amount of weight, but you've KEPT it off. That is remarkable. You are doing fantastic. Keep up the good work!

Good idea!! Keep up the good work.

Your patience from what we get to see on the boards over the past 3 1/2 months is amazing to me. I myself lose it when I have 3 bad weeks, and I can't imagine 3 1/2 months, but I am sure when I get down under 200 I will experience something similar and I am hoping to handle it as well as you. Its easy to talk about time not being a issue, but in reality I sometimes feel so much pressure, (all brought on myself, mind you), to get this weight off as quickly as possible. It's as if after 13 years I finally realized I have a spider crawling on me, and I want him off. I think your plan is right on target, and I can not wait to hear how things are going.

I'm giving myself the summer at maintenance calories and reduced exercise. Come September I plan to slowly lower calories again until I am losing (back down to 1400-1500) and add a bit more exercise. I'm hoping to trick my body into thinking there is LOTS of food around so it can afford to lose some Or at least that's the goal!!!

At that point I will be one month from my two year mark... I'm hoping to knock off some more weight in that month. I'd love to finish my two years at 200 lbs lost but I'd settle for being 188 and being HALF of my former self.

I think that is great advice!

There is nothing wrong with taking some time for maintenance before making another push towards goal.

I'm nearing 3 years doing this!

You are amazing. You have done so well. The idea of maintaining for a few weeks sounds like a good idea to me. I am glad to hear that you plan to stay here! Keep us updated and let us know how things are going.

I think you're approaching it just right. To have lost 180lbs at a rate of over 10lbs a month is phenomenal to the point of unbelievable!! (Except I do believe you of course! I've seen you do it!)

I'm sure you're right, and your body just needs chance to catch its breath.

And by the way, you look gorgeous!

I love maintenance breaks and think they are fabulous tools in this journey. I took one over Memorial Day weekend for a few days, and am planning my next maintenance break for probably some time in July, and that one will be 10 days long. Last year I took a maintenance break of 6 months! It's just such a relief, after a long period of restriction, to eat MORE FOOD and not have to work so hard at fat loss. And it's really, really helpful to give the body a break, get all the hormones back where they should be (leptin, thyroid, etc) and so on.

Kudos!

It sounds like a good plan. Yes, you've done wonderfully and remarkably well. But, sometimes it good to know when to say when. Many people take a maintenence break during their journey.

Doing maintenence is a journey in itself. I think you have a good plan.

I hope your life calms down, too!

I applaud your decision and do the same, myself. I was having slow weightloss right around the time I got pregnant and honestly, having my body essentially maintaining at around 2000-2200 calories a day has felt good, been more relaxing, and it will make it much easier to resume weightloss in a few months when I have given birth, as my body seems to have officially changed its' set point to 210, instead of 250 or higher. There's a lot of great science about this very subject, but the general consensus is that a plateau of indistinct origin is usually the body adjusting the metabolism and physical processes to operating at a different weight and nutrient intake. Once you refeed and settle at that point for a bit, you can then introduce a calorie deficit more successfully in the future, without having to fight a body that is resistant to weightloss.

Not everyone encounters this, but many people do

I applaude you for persevering so long! Proud of you. Someone was saying you plateau every 10% and that was pretty close to what I did. I wish I was as small as you but I did plateau for 3 weeks and ate bad sorta for 2 days. Not crazy but I had a high fat deep fried meals and high carb. So it was 4 meals of omg what have I done. The next week back on plan.. I lost 8.6 pounds :O