I am struggling so badly right now with a plateau. My body will not move past 155 for anything. I bob around between 155 & 156. I exercise 5-6 times a week - Jazzercise which is cardio with strength, I eat 1500-1600 calories everyday, always at least 32oz of water, & still my body is fighting me. I did low carb for 4 days with my husband who wanted to lose 5lbs...he lost 5, I gained 1. I'm honestly nearing my wits end here. I can't seem to reach my goal of 148 & it is mentally exhausting.

Are plateaus legit, or is it a myth? I just don't know what to do. I can't sit here & have nothing happen when I'm working my a$$ off for nothing.

Plateaus do kinda exist. My understanding is that your weight loss will stall if you are eating too much (e.g. you've lost weight and now you are at a stage where your body needs fewer calories to lose weight) or you need to up your exercise (same thing really, your body adapts so you need to increase the intensity to get burning again)

Have you changed your exercise or amount you are eating for a while?

I've been stuck between 155 and 156 too! It's really annoying because 155 will be 60 lbs lost for me and I haven't seen that yet. :/ I've never really plateaud before and i've only been stuck for a few weeks so far. I have graphs of my weekly weights so that I can always look at the big picture when I'm feeling discouraged. Good luck getting out of this plateau! Sorry I didn't really offer any advice.

I've had a few plateau's...most happening within the last 15 pounds. Your body could be shifting, which is why your stalling. You could have become to accustomed to your current exercise routine so its not as effective anymore. Or if you've recently changed up your excerise, your holding onto water weight. How long have you been eating at your current calorie range for? If you've been eating the same amount since you started losing, you may need to lower it slightly...

During my stalls I've broken through them by uping my calories, and changing up my exercise but thats just me. Hopefully you find something that works for you Good luck

I've been plateauing for 3 months now. I move between 159 and 156, but never touch 155 or under.

I upped up my exercise in Jan (started weight training and a new running program)... nothing changed. Now I am changing my calorie intake. I was aiming for 1200-1300, which in retrospect was properly too low. So now I am aiming for 1500. I've been at it for 2 weeks now, and am just finishing TOM, and so far it seems like I might have lost some. Well, fingers crossed I have - I am so frustrated with it!

I've just been telling myself that this is a practice run for maintenance. Sometimes I think we just have to wait it out.

I've read a lot of people saying that upping their calories for a day helped them shift it. Your body's still adjusting so it might be getting too few calories if you're exercising a lot. Good luck!

Thanks guys. I think I'm going to add 30-45 mins of cardio a day. I've tried everything calorie-wise: adding & subtracting, & I'm still stuck. I thought atkins for a week would help push my body past this, but so far, nothing. I'm going to see what adding cardio does, & pray that it helps!

Have you tried doing interval training? E.g. if you run, try upping your general speed and add some high speed sprints. That might help as well

I've heard that eating at maintenance for a little while can break a plateau. Not sure how it works, though. After all, if you're eating to maintain, how do you know when you start to lose weight again?

I heard that it makes you lose the water retention you may get from eating so few calories. That being said, I only ever heard of people retaining water when they drastically cut cals - like men who eat 1500 cals a day.
EDIT-Usually I hear that you should eat at maintenance 1 day a week to get through a plateau. Its never given me a woosh (usually only constant waiting through those stalls and eating below maintenance works for me) but it does work for a lot of others.

MadisonAve, can you post a day or a few days food logs? Maybe we can help if we see exactly what you are eating.

If you're at a deficit, it's probably just water retention. It will flush out.