Hey guys, I decided to stop by here because this thread looked interesting. I've been thinking that I had hit a plateau, but after reading I am thinking that maybe my body has gone into starvation mode? I only lost 8 pounds before my weight loss stopped. I had a drastic drop the first two weeks, and then for the last three I have had zero weight loss. My eating wasn't on a schedule at first because of my work schedule, and often I would be starved by the time I got dinner. I know I wasn't eating enough calories each day, only 1200-1300 while I should be taking in between 1400 and 1700 those first two weeks. I upped my calorie intake, but still not on a regular eating schedule, and it didn't help. I told myself that it was because I was eating too much, so I was planning to drop my calories again. I am just so confused what to do and what my body needs. I don't want to give up, but I am just at a loss for how to continue on with my weight loss... any help is greatly appreciated.

Oh, and for exercise I walk between 6 and 8 miles each week. I'm 5'6, 222 pounds. I'm a cashier, so I move a lot at work, and I work between 4-6 hours, 5 days a week. Anything else to factor in? haha..

What are you eating?

For breakfast, 2 scrambled eggs with a pinch of cheese and a cup of coffee, and a carnation breakfast shake post-workout on the days that I do. A banana for morning snack. Lunch is usually a salad (salad mix, spinach leaves, cheese and FF italian dressing). Then, an afternoon snack of a Special K granola bar. Dinner is usually chicken breast and a big portion of whatever veggie we're having.

I have upped my eating a lot in the past couple weeks because I knew I wasn't eating enough. But then, when my weight still wouldn't come off I thought maybe I've been eating too much. It's really frustrating and discouraging because I have no idea what is the right thing to do... add more calories or cut calories.

You might need 100-200 more calories per day or you just might need to make sure your getting enough proteins and healthy fats. I can lose faster on the same amount of calories if my diet is protein based rather than carb based. I am sensitive to weight gain and genetically prone to be diabetic but I can gain muscle like mad too so I use that to my benefit. It really depends on your body and finding that sweet spot in it's balance. You might need to switch around how you're getting your calories.

How is your water intake?

Here' a link to a pretty good calorie calculator. It gives different options (cals for weight loss or fast weight loss, zig-zagging, tips on what to do when you hit a plateau, etc.)

One of the things that really stood out to me was "It truly is better to burn the fat than to starve it." In other words, eating the bare minimal of cals will eventually backfire because your body will adapt/acclimate to that number. It's better to eat a more realistic amount of cals and burn off the extra via exercise.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/cal...alculator.htm#