so it seems im at an impasse. ive lost a bit but i still have so far to go and i cant seem to drop any weight this last week and a half. i know that if you hit a plateau you should shock your body back into weightloss by upping your intake or changing your workout routine but im afraid to do it this early in the game. ive tried going in the other direction by lowering my intake and upping my workouts but that only makes it worse. i really dont want to get discouraged like i always do but im concerned about my body hitting a wall after only 12lbs lost.

You're off to a GREAT start!!! Congratulations.

Okay. So you haven't lost anything in, what 10, 11 days? That's not really a plateau. Just part of the process of weight loss. Some weeks are just better then others, even if we do the same thing back to back. I know it's frustrating when you're working so hard, but patience is something you're just gonna have to muster up. Know that your hard work WILL pay off, just some weeks it will be more apparent than others.

That aside, the first thing I always ask, is how carefully are you tracking your calories? It's soooo easy to overspend those little suckers. And then I would ask you, how consistent have you been? Have you stuck to your plan faithfully every day, or perhaps went off a tad (as we all do)?

Next question - just what kind of plan are you following? What kinds of foods are you eating?

And lastly, what does your exercise program look like?

Let us know and we'll try and help you out.

Congratulations on a great start, I have found that my body doesn't react as I think it should. It seems to have it's own agenda. Sometimes I lose when I think I won't and sometimes I don't lose when I think should. If you are eating the right amount of calories and exercise you will lose. The most impoertant thing is DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED! If you persevere you will see success.

How much are you eating? I find that when I used to start a diet at too low of a calorie intake I would lose 10 to 14 pounds and then quit losing... even if I worked out more and ate less! This time I'm eating more and losing more! I never thought that eating more would be the key to weight loss, but it's working for me (I'm doing weight watchers).

You are off to a GREAT start! I do find that after a big loss sometimes my body just needs a week or two to ... settle if you will. I had an over four lb loss LAST week and this week I'm only down .6 lbs... it all averages out over a period of time.

Some questions to ask yourself:

are you sticking faithfully to your plan?
are you having a lot of "just a bites" aka JAB'S. Those can account for a couple hundred calories if you do it 6-8 times!
are you getting your water intake in?

I think these are important things to ask. And make sure you are being truthful to YOURSELF!!! You will only be harming your weight loss goals if you don't be accountable.

Good luck!!! There will be many "blips" in the road but you can get through them

thanks for all the congrats guys. i think i needed to see it in perspective and your replies really helped that. i have been following a low carb plan but ive noticed i stalled out when i started eating NO carbs. plus i was too tired to work out. taking your suggestions i upped my carbs from 20 or under to 40 or under and that helped with energy so hopeully it will help my body adjust a little more. i think it went a little nuts because of the extremely low carbs. does that sound more reasonable?

no carbs is a BAD IDEA! You will be tired and your body will object. low carb is ok but you do need some.

i'm sure you'll start losin again soon and in a few weeks you'll wonder what the problem ever was!

I also eat low carb, and I absolutely find that when I go to zero carbs it messes my weight loss up---it's as if your body is needing something else in the diet and thinks it is being deprived so holds on to everything it has--thus no weight loss.

Also, if you are only eating protein, you are not getting the fiber you need to "keep things moving" as well as they should, and this will stall weight as well.

Add in some salad and veggies for roughage and carbs and you should see the scales move again--good luck!