I third the request to see your journal. Being so active, I'd be really, really hesitant to cut back your calories any more. The quality of your food choices may be what's stumbling/limiting your success.

I know exactly how you feel. I've been around 138lbs for about 2 months. I've had my indulge days, but most part I was super good, and exercised everyday. And it made me very angry for a while, but I am okay now. I am thinking as long as I workout and eat healthy regularly then I will get to 125 eventually. I am so tired of being mad and disapointed. I am going to enjoy the process, and as long as I get there then everything is good.

http://www.fitday.com/WebFit/PublicJ...?Owner=busty17

Okay okay - here's my journal! I have a chocolate "treat" every day, I'm weaning myself off it at the moment and after tomorrow I think the chocolate will be gone! Oh and the brownie today is for my birthday!

As for timings, recently I've been having 1sl of toast in the morning 7am (because I'm not hungry for more, usually have eggs or something), then fruit and yoghurt or a chicken sandwich about 9.30-10am, jacket potato with cottage cheese or scrambled eggs with 1sl toast at 12.30, carrots or more fruit or sometimes nothing arount 2.30-3pm, then 6pm is grilled pork medallions with corn or chicken veggie stir fry with rice then I usually have 1 chocolate around 8pm and a protein shake if I'm lacking and can afford the calories.

Exercise schedule is (from next week)

Monday - UBW morning, couch to 5K lunch, 1 hour kickboxing (teaching) pm
Tuesday - 1 hour kickboxing (pupil) pm
Wednesday - couch to 5K lunch, UBW evening
Thursday - 2 hours kickboxing pm
Friday - LBW pm
Saturday - couch to 5K
Sunday - rest

I'm not giving up kickboxing since I'm working up for my black belt, I've started running for some variety.

I know my eats could be a little cleaner and that might improve gradually, but compared to how I was eating 6 months ago it's amazing! I suppose if I'm not prepared to eat completely clean I'll just have to have more patience!

Weighed this morning and BF% is down 0.1%

tsots I am with you in the feeling. I think today I'm over my little but it still is frustrating! I think if I focus less on weight and more on my fitness (like completing a 5K running all the way and getting the next belt in kickboxing) then it might just sort itself out! Plus I know my goal says 154 but I am reasonably happy with where I am now, so perhaps I just need to chill out a little bit!

2frustrated, I am with some of the other people. Maybe you need to eat a little more. Normally I would think 1500 is a pretty good amount, but I would guess that maybe you are burning more than you realize exercising. So if on Monday you eat 1500 cals, but you burn over 300 working out (just a guess, I don't know how much kickboxing burns), then your total is 1200, which might be too low?

I can't say anything about the protein because I suck at getting enough protein in my diet (I am the carb queen, it's kind of sad), but I'm with Megan on the fat thing. Maybe you are not getting enough good fats. I've been helped off plateaus before by adding more fat to my diet (cooking with olive oil instead of PAM, using regular salad dressing instead of lf). A quick glance at your food journal makes it look like you get most of your fat from meats and desserts so maybe adding in some oily fish or nuts would help. Don't forget to keep an eye on what percent of your fat is saturated.

Yeah I'm a sucker for my desserts, but hopefully that'll clean up as the Christmas junk subsides! I will try the nuts and seeds things! I have pine nuts that are just goddam yummy! Maybe I'll start with the peanut butter on toast again!

OK, I think you are eating WAAAAAY too many processed and sugary foods, and not enough vegetables. I went back a few days in your journal and never saw a vegetable except corn, which IMO is not a vegie, but a starch.

Lots of bread in there, too. Can you try changing the sources of the calories for a week or two and see what happens? I'd suggest eating foods that are much lower on the glycemic index- sweet potato instead of white potato, brown rice instead of white, apple instead of banana, (ahem) a piece of chicken instead of fudge- try making a low fat mole sauce if you need chocolate!

Mel

Whoa girl! A little low on protein still, for all the exercise you're doing.

Carbs come from veggies FIRST. Then if you have room you can allow yourself treats in the form of white carbs, but veggies must must must come first.

Also check your sodium levels, processed foods can make those skyrocket.

You know, cheating on your diet every once in a while really helps, too. One time I didn't watch very closely what I ate and didn't exercise as much and then I lost 9 lbs in a few weeks! It's so crazy sometimes

Right, a couple of things

I tend not to enter my veggies in fitday, since I think they're pretty healthy and usually pretty low in calories, like 4 calories in a mushroom, it's not worth switching the computer on for that! And I usually don't know what veggies I'll be having till I get home

I've been switched to brown rice for ages now, I quite like sweet potatoes but the ones you get over here are not as sweet, plus I don't like them with CC! I always eat apples! I've been having about 2 or 3 a day for ages! They're good for the mindless munchies!

I finished all the chocolate at the weekend, and there's no more processed gunk left in the house. However I don't mind just 1 piece of chocolate a day, to keep the cravings at bay! It's usually really dark and is always just one piece (even though I log it in fitday as 2 or 4 because of the calories )

I'm upping my calories to 1650 and increasing the fat and protein. Today protein is 120g. Also exercise is increasing this week since the kickboxing term starts today.

What about doing some calorie ups and downs? A day or two at a 10-20% above your normal calories, then a day or two at your normal calories, then just one day slightly lower, then back to high. Maybe your body has gotten into a rut and needs to me shaken up a bit.

I've never tried doing this but have talked to some people on line who have.

Dang, what a PITA, huh? Well, I think I'm probably with the majority as far as eating as clean as you can for a week or two and also to up your cals. I actually think based on your exercise that if it was *me*, I would eat 2,000 cal a couple days a week (2? 3?), and then back down around 1500 the rest of the time--and definitely eat the high amounts on the days when you're doing the harder workouts.

I always feel like this whole process is an experiment of one so I'd just log everything and try changing 1 (maybe 2 counting the food switch-outs suggested by Meg) thing at a time and give it a week or two and see if the scale breaks loose. If you DO decide to switch out some things, I would personally continue with a weekly weigh-in so you can determine what, if any, of the things you try gets you off the darn plateau.

and.....for a couple weeks at least, maybe log EVERYthing? Just so if nothing else, you can solicit the experts' advice (like Meg, not me) to review your log again and see what's to be seen?

Frus it IS soooo frustrating to say the least... Don't give up, like it was said, we are an experiment of one, EVENTUALLY it will come off, it has too if you are doing all the right things... Just keep experimenting with the process, because just as soon as one experiment works, you need to try a new one because you reach a plateau...

Thanks Ilene! I've upped my calories a little bit but the scales are still stubborn! I've almost cut out bread from my diet and I've not had chocolate in over a week! I think I might wait for the extra exercise to kick in and see what happens next week! I'm just gonna chill out now, if this is where my body wants to be then I'm not entirely unhappy about it, but it would be nice just to be that little bit smaller!

Frus -- Maybe this will encourage you... This week I decided to officially weigh myself and measure... I keep a journal, so since January 05 I have lost a whopping, drum rrrolll please, 2#!! Not much eh? But when I measured I'd lost 2" on my chest (as if I really need to lose there ) my waist stayed the same, lost 1" at my waist, thighs are the same, biceps have a 1" loss also, I was extremely happy with those stats.... Plus according so some calulators (which I don't really rely on, but use the same one consistently and it goes down) I am down to 18% BF!!

PLUS I have gone from a size 8 to a size 6, during 2005 .... (I actually bought a size 4, but honestly they MUST be missized, there's no way I am a 4 )

So, I guess what I am saying is that maybe you should find other ways of measuring your successes... The scale is not a very accurate measure of our success...

HYH

I have read in 2 articles 1 written by a woman on WW whos weight would not budge no matter what she did and one by a bodybuilder. Both said this during Plateaus or right before them you should alternate your intake of calories have 3 reg, 2 low, and 2 higher. EX. if your intake is normally 1500. Intake that 3 days aweek. 1800 on high days and 1200 on low days. They swore this worked for them. They said it keeps your bodys metabolism guessing. once it adjusts to how many calories it gets and how many it needs to burn to maintain it does just that it maintains. I am going to do this once I start losing. Keep me posted if you decide to try. Remember to mix the days around.