I am starting to get super annoyed. I knew this was inevitable. I have hit my first plateau. I have been hovering around 286 and 287 for 2 wks and I am so annoyed. My goal for the end of the mos was 275, but I don't see that happening. I want to say that I have just plateaued following my plan, but I have been a little lax with the caloric intake. What worked for me well before was measuring and making my meal plan the day before. Its so annoying that I have to do this. Why can't I just eat like a normal person and not have to think about it every single moment every day? Any supportive words would be great. Sorry for being whiney. Pity party for one here in northern virginia

Well, what is normal anyway? Besides, I suspect the so called "normal" people you reference probably eat more similarly to the way you "diet" than you might think.

Two weeks isn't so bad, you will get past this. I've had 2 plateaus so far and they DO suck. But it's part of the journey. Buckle down on portion sizes and try to add an extra ten minutes to a walk or something. You'll get those paper towels unrolling again soon!

Kiwi1222,

I totally feel your frustration! Especially since I'm a daily weigher, I know it can drive a girl CRAZY when that stupid number won't budge. I looked at the same number for almost 3 weeks and was about to give up. I was thinking to myself, okay...if I'm avoiding overindulgence in my favorite foods and working my butt off and still not seeing a change, then why change?!? Here's my answer: there are lots of changes I don't see, but I know they are happening inside my body. It's healing, physiologically and emotionally. All the times I fed it garbage, yet it has always hung in there and has done the best it could - with no problems! If you were reading the forum and read your post written by another struggling member, what advice would you give to her? I bet you'd tell her to be patient and keep pressing on!!

As far as my near 3-week plateau, I really didn't feel like I'd changed anything at all. I'd been making good choices, getting in more exercise than I ever had since college. I just couldn't figure it out! And the longer that stupid number didn't change, the harder I worked. Finally, one day the number dropped 3lbs. Then another pound a couple days later. So I think the loss was happening, but it was just masked by all the weird things our bodies do (hormones, water retainage, bathroom changes, not drinking ENOUGH water...).

We should decide not to give the scale so much power! Clothes feeling better? Are you truly giving it your all? If so, then you're the one who's got the power! Easier said than done - I know. Trust me!

Just yesterday, I looked at my losses over the last 3 months and I see a pattern. No matter what I do, it seems to have been the same each month: I lose nothing for about 9-11 days. Then I lose 2-3lbs, and nothing again for another 10 days or so, then another 1-2. I have no idea why, but I guess my body is doing what it feels it needs to do to make this work. It's just not what I expected, and this is NOT how it worked when I was in my 20s! You should look at your average weekly or monthly losses...I bet you're doing way better than you think you are! Tighten up on those calories, make sure your carbs aren't out of hand, and don't stop! Look how far you've come!! 10 pounds ago, you were desperately wishing to be where you are now.

That is so true. 10 lbs ago, I really couldn't imagine being where I am now. I only get my carbs from fruit and veg but have been trying to reintroduce cereal, but I realize that I hadn't been measuring it. Still working out like crazy. I know I have to understand that my body is doing crazy things internally so I have to let it do its work. I'm going to keeping forward, I just needed some words of encouragement and I got them from you both. Thank you. I hope next week the scale throws me a bone. I just want to be out of the 280s so bad. For some reason 270 is sort of a big deal to me. It is when I first recognized that I had really gained some weight, but fooled myself into thinking I was really trying meanwhile gaining about 50 more pounds. While 270 was shocking to me at that time, I'd love to go back to that so I can really lose more weight. After 270 then the next emotionally driven number to me is 242. I weighed that for a long time. I was insecure about my weight then but felt somewhat comfortable. To get back there would at least make me happy.

Maybe you could make a couple of mini goals...like you said, you want to be at least 270 really soon and be able to say goodbye to 280s forever! Maybe you could set a goal just to get in the 270s (279 is about 8lbs from where you are, I think you said?) Don't worry yourself about 270 or 242 yet. You will breeze by those numbers before you know it!

yeah. My original goal was to get to 275 by the end of this month but now that I realize that this is not happening, I would kill to be 279 by the end of the month. I know that this is not realistic, though considering the setback. Really... I just want the plateau to end. lol. I told my trainer today and he gave me a few surprise exercises at the end of our workout when I thought I was done. He justified them as me getting out of this plateau. I told he was full of sh*t but did them anyway as I always do. hahaha. He's used to getting cussed out by me, my coworker and her husband, plus I'm sure many other of his clients. He's really good. Kicks my a$$ everytime

That's awesome that you have a really good trainer! Sounds like he's going to help you whip that @$$ into shape!! I always feel much better when I cuss during a workout too. It's kind of like a stress reliever. lol!
Good luck, girl. Keep us updated!

Well, I am keeping my fingers crossed that the plateau is coming to an end. This morning I was 285."some change"
I try not to pay attention to the fractions of a pound. I am sticking to the plan. I have already done a crazy aerobics class this morning and if the heat permits I may take my pup for a 30 mins walk/jog interval. When its too hot he doesn't like to go for jogs. We may reserve that for later in the evening. IDK. Keep fingers crossed for me. Just so everybody knows who gets down on themselves, coming to this website everyday is what kept me from giving up on myself when I started not to see the scale budge or even go up (which really depresses me). Thank you everybody for your words of support and thanks to all that post goal threads, minigoal threads....and even better before and after pictures.

What does your diet and activity look like? How long since you've made a change?

I have found that it is demotivating to me to set a specific weight loss goal for a particular period of time. What I can control is how many calories I take in and how many calories I burn. I can't control when the loss shows up on my body.

I find that often a loss is sometimes deferred. I will eat right and "should" lose but then it shows up a week or so later. I can't control when it shows up, so I don't set that as a goal.

I set my goals based upon what I can control. I've had a few plateaus while I've lost and they are frustrating. I do track what I eat and the calories what I burn. Usually when I have a plateau, I find that I've lost some focus on either the eating end or the activity end. I find increasing my efforts to weigh and measure what I eat and really tracking and then staying consistent in exercise will usually help.

This is a great mindset and true, to a point. An extended plateau means that whatever you are doing is no longer effective, and it's time to make some changes to your diet, training, or both.

IMMEDIATE changes cannot be controlled, but over time you should still be seeing some progress.

I certainly agree. Yes if you have an extended plateau then changes need to be made.