I have lost about 55 pounds so far in about 10 months and my weight has stalled at 174 for a month now. I am starting to wonder if this is pretty much the end of my weight loss. I am at a 12-14 size and my original goal is to get to a size 8-10 around 130-150. My calories are cycled for about three days at 1300 and three days at 1400-1500 and one day around 1800. My target protien is 30% but in reality it is closer to 25%. I walk an hour a day and do light weights every other day for about 15 minutes, I also do two sets of crunches and planks twice a day. I notice I enjoy implementing small bits of exercise through out the day while my children play.

I am not sure if I can do more. Or maybe I am unwilling to do more. What I do is part of my daily routine and easy to maintain in my life for the long haul. My eating is regimented with some room for flexibility and I really can't imagine changing too much more without feeling like I am on a "diet"......

So is this it? What other tiny changes tweaks can I make? Should I just keep going and see what happens?

I can't believe I am making a "stuck" thread. LOL.....

What would you change if you were to "stop?" It sounds like you've established an eating and exercise routine that you like, so why not just stick with it and see what happens? Chances are you'll eventually lose more weight. We've got similar stats and, while I've been lucky to not have gotten stuck for very long since I started last summer, my losses this summer have been small and slow. But I'm comfortable with my eating and exercising and I'm happy to have maintained my loss.

No matter what happens next, you've done a great job so far. Congrats!

First, you sound happy where you are. There's nothing wrong with deciding to maintain until (or if) you decide you want to be smaller.

If you want to continue losing, there are lots of things you can do, and you seem to realize that. Lower calories. More intense exercise. Heavy lifting.

You have come an amazingly long way. I think it's better to stay where you are than push yourself harder than you want to, and end up giving up and gaining.

i agree with everyone else.

if you've found a routine you can LIVE with and you're happy, i wouldnt change any more. to create a bigger deficit youd have to eat less or work out more, maybe both. can you sustain that?

I just interviewed Canada's leading obesity expert today. (I'm writing a magazine article about weight loss facts and fables.) He said he encourages his patients to find their "best weight," which is a balance between the weight they envision and the weight they can maintain without struggle. It sounds like you may be at your best weight now. If you want to try going lower, you'll probably have to reduce your average caloric intake, at least temporarily. Only you can determine whether you're willing to do that.

p.s. He and other experts I've interviewed say there is no actual science supporting calorie cycling, refeeding days, intermittent fasting, eating at different times of day, etc. They're just preferences.

One thing I suppose I am disappointed about this process is that I have stalled out before I have reached an overweight BMI. I would at least like to get to that point. I have about 10 pounds to go......I am hoping I can tweak enough to get to that point and then determine if I want to do more. I don't want to quit, but maybe I am just lazy and don't want to put in the work. :-)

Short term yes, long term, don't know. I guess my biggest fear is pushing too hard and regaining.

I think 55 pounds in 10 months is great!

As far as a plateau, I think maybe our bodies just sometimes need a little time to play catch up.

If you think about it, the math says, create a 3500 calorie deficit, lose a pound, but that pound does not go "POOF" and disappear the second you reach that deficit.

Patience and persistence, you'll break through.

The only other thought I have is maybe lift some heavier weights and build some calorie burning muscle!

You're not necessarily stuck you just have to decide if you're willing to workout harder or not. Up to you.

Some questions...

How fast are you walking. There is a big difference between walking slowly for an hour and walking as fast as you can for an hour. If you're not raising your heart rate when walking I'd argue you're wasting an hour a day because the number of calories you're burning is minute and most importantly you're not getting any cardiovascular benefit. If is the key word in that sentance.

Can you elaborate on the weight lifting? I don't know what light means to you but it sounds like a waste of 15 minutes over other day. Lifting light weights to me sounds like lifting 5lb pink dumbells around isolation exercises. Again I would need more specific information but there are many benefits to lifting weights and you're getting exactly none of them if you're doing what I envision.

John P,

My walking varies from day to day but it mostly consists of a meandering pace to school with a second grader and a moderate pace from school back home. So I would say a half hour of hard walking. My husband (a cross country runner) and I have spent some time on intervals, but I have a sciatic back issue that rears up if I push too hard. I am hoping to eventually run a mile, but I hesitate to continue until I can lose more. I started running at 220 and it was hard on my knees and back.

My weight routine is simple I have a few sets I do. Again, casual exercise I do with my kids. Any recommendations on how to up the anti in this situation? Maybe I need a kid friendly workout video or something.

I think my aim is to make this stuff part of my day. Things I can continue doing without a gym and with my kids. Things I can enjoy.... things I can maintain after my initial weight loss.

id argue that standing is better than sitting for an hour. ANY walking>no walking.

if you cant maintain it long term then theres your answer

i definitely think that if you're happy, and you're living a lifestyle that you can keep up long term then you're there.

If you're walking briskly for 30 minutes than you're doing plenty for cardio, no need to run unless you want to. When you look at the research most of the cardiovascular benefits are acheived with only 20 minutes 3x a week of increasing your hear rate. Calories burned is another thing but I'm not a big fan of cardio for burning calories. That said you might find running at 175 is a lot easier than running at 220. (If you want to)

For lifting weights ... no need to go to the gym. You can workout with your kids. I'm a fan of the Spartacus 2.0 work out for upping the intensity beyond what you're doing now. You might need to make a slight investment in some heavier weights over time as you get stronger. 3x a week is plenty. You'll probably find it challenging at the beginning but you can make some modifications and over time you and your kids will get stronger. When you get bored with it because it is too easy or you've simply been doing it for too long you can move onto something else.

In the literal sense this is true but if you're walking so slow that you're not increasing your heart rate than there is no cardiovascular benefit to walking but sure compared to sitting on the couch walking burns more calories.

I just wanted to update this thread. I overcame the month long plateau. Since my post I have lost almost four pounds. Not huge losses, but I am a slow loser. I think it was a mix of water weight and a slight calorie shift/ decrease. Another example of needing to use patience in weight loss.

I don't know who you're kidding. 4 lbs is a lot! Way to stick with it and not give up!