I've been assaulting those few pounds that seem to keep coming back, and which I thought were just "water weight." I've heard to not worry about supposedly gaining a pound or two by the scales when I'm dieting and exercising, as it's no doubt water weight. Well, those few pounds keep coming back, week after week, despite the fact that I exercise almost daily and am several hundred calories a day under maintenance level. So I don't think it's water. I think I'm somehow not losing enough calories.

I don't know what the problem here is, as I calorie-count, so I'm going to go on a multi-day experiment in order to try and break this plateau. No, I don't have the time to do more exercise, but I'm going to make an exception for the next four to six days. I'm going to notify my family that I'm not going to be available for the most part for the next few day as I spend my free non-working hours exercising. I don't think I can safely lower my calories any further, as I'd risk binging, so I'm upping my exercise.

I had been biking pretty often, spending about 25 minutes biking near my home, so I'm going to increase that quite a bit. Injuries have forced me to halt my gym outings, but I can always workout other bodyparts there, so I hope to go there tomorrow night. If I don't start seeing some progress I'm afraid I'm going to just despair and not care anymore and start eating junk again out of a what-does-it-matter-anyway frame of mind.

Like they say - desperate times call for desperate measures. And again, this is only going to be for less than a week. I'm curious to see how it turns out.

what kinds of food are you eating? Are the sodium levels ok?

Maybe upping or cycling your calories might help.

I hit a plateau over the last couple of weeks, after losing twenty pounds. I had a 'cheat meal' to break it, something really high-calorie with carbs, and that seemed to break the plateau. I've heard others swear by this method, and many people actually discourage lowering calories and upping exercise when you hit a plateau.

Have you been watching sodium? If all of that's in order, maybe eat a few hundred calories or so more than you usually do one day and, after the initial water gain from the extra sodium/carbs settles down, check back and see if that has broken your plateau?

But I can so understand your frustration. I hate hitting plateaus; they are so discouraging. I always panic when the scale won't move.

I've had that happen. Depending on what I think may have caused the water weight, I do a couple different things.

--Switch my meals to two big ones a day (half my calorie intake at one, half at the other), and usually include a big helping of rice. This seems to do the trick.

--Take a mental health day and fast for 24 hours (this is done very rarely, btw). It refreshes me, I feel better the next day, and I drink a lot of water, so water weight comes off. It actually does feel nice when done sparingly.

--Just wait. Sometimes a stubborn couple pounds will stick around for about week before dropping off. Especially around the TOM. For example, I got really bloated (up from 155.4 to 158.2) for half a week, and then I was back down to 155 today.

The main point is, if you keep your calorie deficit and do your workouts, it is going to come off. It has to, eventually. Patience helps, but is hard to come by (for me, at least).

Good luck!

Sometimes, water weight can be inflammation from a food sensitivity. In my case, it's artificial colors. I can gain 3-4 pounds in a matter of hours if I tangle with one, and it takes 2-4 days to get it back off. Is it possible that something in your food plan is driving your system crazy? I didn't find my color issue until I lost enough weight to see the puffiness in my fingers and the back of my hands come and go. I was following Dr. Hyman's "Ultrametabolism" plan at the time - he mentioned that if food sensitivity is an issue, it can be the reason that some people lose massive amounts of weight in the first week; it's the inflammation easing up.

One never knows for sure whether it is water weight or some insidious problem with your plan that is manifesting itself with a weight gain. Whenever I have an issue like this I carefully review my food journal and exercise log. I also think about what has happened in the last few days. Have I felt tired? Energetic? What calorie-free beverages have I been drinking? Have I done anything new? Sometimes I remember something I ate that didn't quite make it into my journal and may be responsible. Other times I still don't have a clue as to why I gained. At that point I pray and resolve myself to work harder and to not get down on myself.

THIS! Last week I was battling the urge to binge and bust my diet. Every day it was a constant struggle not to get take out food, chocolate, etc. So I fasted for twenty-four hours and followed that up with a big meal out with a friend. It totally reinvigorated my will power and I've lost very quickly since then.

As far as water weight, my weight has been static for weeks now, so I don't think it's water - it would level off eventually, all things being equal, regardless of my sodium intake. I consume the same amount of salt every day, so I don't think it's the long-term culprit. Gotta be not enough calories lost at the end of the day.

I think I'm done with fasting. The last time I did it, I fasted for three days, lost nine pounds, started eating again, and within a two day period gained nine pounds. After all that starving, I didn't lose a single pound of fat. I think I have an alien body.

Maybe you need to change your diet. I would suggest looking around 3fC and see if there is another diet that will fit into your lifestyle.

Maybe try calorie cycling if you are big on calorie counting.. sadly my body didn't take well to calorie counting and I struggled to lose weight.

I found I had a very hard time losing weight if I did not restrict my carb intake.

Good Luck and don't give up!

Three DAYS?!? The only time I've ever gone that long without eating is in times of extreme stress. Wow.

What I mean by "fasting" isn't a method of starving yourself. For me, I take the day to relax. It's sort of a recharge. And as another poster mentioned, it can also help me curb my cravings if used right.

But for me, it's short, 24 hour MAXIMUM periods of time, and it's not meant to help me lose weight. Starving doesn't work for that. It's just sort of a reboot. And as I mentioned, not to be used frequently.

Good luck!

It seems counterproductive, but do you drink enough water? I think that one of the reasons I rarely have an issue with water weight is that I drink an obscene amount of water each day.

Instead of eating when idle I now drink water...so I don't even know how much I drink a day.

A large increase in exercise is a bad idea.

It's not common for weight to be stalled for several weeks in guys but it happens.

Depending on how long you've been dieting you might want to take a diet break for a couple weeks and let your body somewhat reset itself.

Why do you say this? I wasn't referring to weightlifting, but rather aerobic exercise such as biking or walking.

Walking is fine. Biking is more taxing depending on speed.

Intense exercise stresses the CNS increasing cortisol which is counter productive.

The reason many people drop water after a "cheat" day or "cheat" meal is they relax.

So rather than upping the exercise - I'd suggest you just try to chill out a little bit. Easier said than done I know.

Johnp I always love your matter of fact advice.