Hello,

For some reason I have stopped losing weight. I am exercising more right now, and I am eating healthy. I did eat broasted chicken about a week ago, but I can not believe that this would have a such a major impact. Once a week I eat out, and this had not had an impact in the past, so I can not believe that this is just because of the chicken!

My friend is in med school, and he said that a human being can only gain about two pounds of muscle per month max...so there goes the theory that I am gaining tons of muscle!

The only difference is that I have been exercising inside rather than outside due to the extreme cold here. Could this make a difference?

All that I know is that I have been tempted to eat things that I know that I would regret...I have been thinking...what is the point of doing this if I am not losing any weight??? I know that this is a bad thought!

Right now I am just trying to stop my self from quitting...because I really want to make healthy changes for myself.

There's some very good points in this thread, starzzy. Maybe they'll help you.

Even if you do everything right, you aren't going to lose weight every week.

Just keep on exercising and eating right. If you are worried that your exercise isn't rigorous enough, then you may want to invest in a heartrate monitor.

It's taken me almost two years to lose 32 pounds. If you stick to healthy habits long enough, the weight will come off.

Sometimes those pesky scales get stuck at a weight or bounce up and down between the same 2 pounds for months. grr

What I found that has helped is to change the type of exercise I am doing. It's hard when you can't get outside much, but maybe try a belly dancing workout dvd or something you haven't done before!

Hey, hang in there! Yes, building muscle does affect weight, and so does water retention if you're near TOM.

But in my case I have found that when my weight loss stalls I'm not watching the calories close enough. I may think I'm not eating "that much more" but when I add it all up, I find I've gone over what I ought to be eating. So, maybe keep a closer watch? Anyway, good luck. I once had a plateau that lasted for weeks . . .

Jay

A one or two week stall is nothing; you have to expect that there will be some stalls along the way. The closer you get to your goal, the more stalls there will be. I wouldn't worry about it until you get to at least four weeks with no loss.

A week is not a stall, even two isnt something to worry about.

And no, one broasted chicken did not cause this.

Sometimes if I stall hard I have to increase my calories for a week or two (usually I do two) I go up not a lot, maybe 150-200 calories per day. It should not be enough to make you gain, more a "maintenance" level. Give my metabolism a boost. Then go back to my original level and shazam

Also through all my years I notice there are some weights I just plain stall hard at. Specific weights are like a set point for me. I can be "bad" for quite awhile at those weights and not gain, and I can be perfect and not lose. I just have to stick with it until the body gives in and slides me on down. To the next plateau.

Weight loss is rarely a smooth, linear process where you lose weight every week. I had many weeks where I did everything "perfectly" and didn't lose any weight.

I had to accept that there were many factors related to the scale that were completely beyond MY control. Salty food, time of the month, drinking a big glass of water - there are many many good reasons why the scale didn't do what I wanted it to do. I really had to make goals that were not scale focused to stay motivated. I made goals like - if I worked out 5 times a week or brought my lunch every day. I rewarded myself for the things *I* was in control of and tried not to stress too much over what I was NOT in control of.

A one or two week "stall" without weight loss is frustrating but perfectly normal (and happened quite a bit for me).

Just to echo what others have said, remember that the scale is a poor tool to measure what you want: fat loss. Scales measure bone, muscle, fat, water. It's very possible you lost one pound of fat, but are retaining some water and added a little muscle.

This is one of the reasons why Glory's advice is so good.

Don't give up. This journey is going to have lots of UPS and DOWNS along the way. It's part of the process.