Hey everyone,

I've hit a plateau on the scale. Like a SERIOUS plateau... as in, I have been bouncing around the same 3 lbs for a month. It's annoying and it's frustrating. However...

I know I have lost inches. My jeans are falling down my butt, and this morning I comfortably zipped a pair of pants that I haven't been able to wear for almost a year. I have also seen a reduction in the cellulite on my thighs and my stomach is flatter. Great news, I suppose!

Here's the thing. Two years ago, I lost 40 lbs. And I did it doing all cardio. I got down to 118lb and honestly... it was relatively easy (even if it did take a full year). All I had to do was watch what I ate and go running every day. But I didn't look good at 118. And I felt like garbage... to the point that I actually went to the Dr. because I was so drained, and run down, and lousy-feeling all the time. He ran blood tests and did a full physical and he told me what I didn't want to hear - I was working out too much, and he told me to cut my workouts down (like, by half) and eat more calories because I was just running my body into the ground (I was working out about 90 minutes a day and eating around 1,400 calories). And I did what he said... and I felt better.

And then over 2 years, I gained back 15 lbs. Which brings me to now.

I am trying to find a healthy balance (hence my handle). I realized that what was lacking the first time around was resistance training. I feel like that is why, even at 118 lbs, I didn't look very good (I was very flabby/jiggly). I also know that I was over-training, and now I shoot for a 45 minute workout, 5-6 days a week - usually a mix of circuit training and cardio. With some Wii Fit thrown in just for low-impact fun. I am also trying to aim for a more balanced eating approach, with a target of 1,600 calories and an emphasis on veggies (where before, my #1 concern was just low calories).

I feel myself getting frustrated. Last time, the scale just went down, down, down and I had that nice, constant reinforcement. Now, I don't have that. I know I should just start measuring, but I don't really know what I should be measuring. I am also frustrated because, while I can feel the muscles I am building, and I feel like my body is tighter overall... I still have a lot of body fat covering that muscle.

I guess what I am asking is... should I still continue doing what I am doing? Should I switch to more cardio for a while, and then focus on weight training after I have lost more body fat? Should I drop my calories lower? (which seems almost impossible as I am ravenous all the time these days.) Am I ever going to see the scale go down?

What would you do in my shoes?

are you lifting weights? Cardio will make you lose weight, but it produces deflated fat people, not sculptured thin people.

Sounds like you need weights more than cardio.

Why are you so concerned about the weight on the scale? Is that number more important than how you feel? Does your doctor think you need to lose weight.

Also, have you had a body calipers test done to KNOW that you have too much fat, or is it perhaps your perceptions are off?

Have you seen this blog where they show the same woman at the same weight but like 4 different dress sizes? She weighed 160 before and after, but she shrunk AND she was eating an enormous amount of food as she was burning an enormous amount of calories with weight lifting. Maybe someone can remember that blog and link it for you (and then I'm going to bookmark it!)

Your doctor told you once before that you were doing too much on too little fuel, so how could you think to eat less?

Weights are far more important for weight loss and toning than cardio. Cardio is okay if you just want to be healthy. You need to be the same weight for 6 weeks to be on a plateau. It isn't even realistic to think the scale will go down every week. Everyone's body is different, but we all have our own weight loss pattern over 4-6 weeks. Track yours and then you will know what you can realistically expect.

First the scale is just one of the many tools we use on a weight loss journey. Believe me, I totally understand the frustration that comes with bouncing around the same 2-3 pounds. I've been doing that myself for the last 2 months or so and it's enough to make me want to pull my hair out from time to time.

However, like you, I've been working out. My body is changing. My clothes are fitting better and, in some cases, are getting too big. My muscles are firmer and stronger than they were and my stamina has greatly increased. In short, my body is looking and functioning better - just like yours!

So, if I were you (and in many ways I am) I would stay the course. Eat healthy, continue to exercise without overdoing it and your body will respond by being healthier, more toned and stronger regardless of what the stupid scale says!

honestly? i would up your calories. if your body doesn't have fuel to work hard-it wont let go of the weight.

I think this is the blog you were looking for 155 before, 155 after (and she's a size 0 in her after!)

http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/06/22/...ddicts-part-2/

Very inspiring. It's part of the reason I always choose to lift weights over cardio.

Yes! Thank you! And now I have it bookmarked. People need to stop being a prisoner to the darn scale!!!

I would keep the same. You are succeeding -- you are fitting into smaller clothes and losing inches.

But you aren't going to see anything much on the scale because that just shows a change in weight. Not from WHAT.

You may very well be losing fat tissue each week but then building muscle tissue -- making an overall change of NOTHING in terms of weight but a BIG difference in composition.

Again, you are fitting into smaller clothes, right? That means you are a leaner, tighter package.

So to me is sounds like the problem is emotional/attitude more than anything. Need to let go of the scale thing.

Take a walk, shake it off, clear your head and move to the tape measure now. Your scale days are over. Congrats for getting to this milestone!

GL!
A.

WOW! ... that... is... AMAZING. Simply AMAZING! - I really don't get it ... same weight & such a different body... from eating Paleo diet (and, I assume, weight lifting.) How is it possible? Simple AMAZING!

You definitely don't have to lose weight to change your body proportions. When I started lifting I weighed 129. That year I made myself a dress. A couple of years later I was still 129. I tried on the dress. It was too small in the shoulders and back and way too big in the waist, hips and thighs. I had completely changed my body through lifting, but I weighed the same.

I've seen pictures of other women my height who weighed around 130, like I did, and I am always shocked. I was much smaller, much smaller at that weight—because of weight training.

I agree with your doctor about cardio—especially aerobic cardio. If you do too much of it, you do lose muscle. That is why your body-fat percentage will be higher at the end of your journey if cardio is not tempered with weight training.

wow, that blog post is amazing.

I think you are right... I need to get rid of my old attitude and stop paying attention to the scale. I obviously took a great step two years ago in dropping that weight... but now I need to focus more on health. And I do love the muscle I am seeing from my resistance training, so I guess I should just keep doing what I am doing.

For those of you who measure... what do you choose to measure? Thighs, hips, arms and waist? Anything else I might be missing?

I measure bust (widest and underbust), waist (natural waist where I am the thinnest) and hips (where I am the widest). If that widest part changes, I change where I measure. Upper thighs and upper arms. I have also measured my wrists a thousand times for frame size reference, but that is not so much for weight loss. But even my wrists - at the bone has lost .5"!

I don't think it's the paleo diet (though eating right helps and the paleo diet is a heathy diet). It's her workout/weight lifting that has changed her body so drastically.

I think it's more high protein + weight lifting than anything else. I would love to do Paleo but I know I wouldn't be able to restrict myself like that. I do try to keep paleo as much as possible, but I would rather eat the right amount of protein without snapping and binging because I've restricted my food too much

When you lift VERY HEAVY and eat enough to build muscle it does amazing things for your body. I'm constantly getting compliments on my arms and legs, which I attribute to weight lifting.

I just look odd right now. I have muscular arms and legs but a flabby middle. I'm not sure if it's because I need to exercise my core more, or if I need to wait for the skin to catch up.