So, my weight loss has almost been perfectly linear. Since October, there had only been two weeks that I lost below a full pound. Part of me knew that I'd eventually plateau or regress, but the other part of me thought that I'd been linear so long, maybe I'd make it to goal that way. Wellllll, part #1 was right. I've been hovering at 150 for about 2.5 weeks now. Fluctuating in this same pound, 150.6-149.5.

I have been eating well. I do not rigidly calorie count, as in plan and record, but I am very conscious of calories and count them up in my head. For breakfast, I always eat 1 cup whole shredded wheat, 1/4 cup milk, and 1 orange. That adds up to almost exactly 300cal. For lunch, I usually have a soup and salad, open face sandwiches, a Lean Cuisine, or leftovers, again, almost always exactly 300 calories. Dinner is my big meal, I usually have 4oz meat (mostly chicken or fish, sometimes beef), and two sides of vegetables. It's usually around 400-500 calories, and then I have a dessert about an hour after dinner of 200 calories (usually a fat free yogurt, fruit, and fruit juice smoothie or a slice of banana bread or something). I eat an early dinner, so I'm done eating by 7pm at the very latest. I hardly ever snack, and if I do, I mentally add the calories and adjust for the rest of the day. I try to keep most days at around 1300, 1500 being the most.

I just started to exercise (I know, lame, huh?) about 3 weeks ago, which is around when my plateau started. Which is frustrating, lol. I've been doing weight training for about 30 min every other day, and on the off days, I walk/jog. I've worked up to 20 min slow jog/10 min walk. And then I'm fairly active through the rest of the day with work and school. I have definitely gotten fitter, I'm jiggling less in certain places, and I've lost 1.5in off my waist. So I have made progress, just no progress on the scale.

My BMR is 2050 cal/day, according to the calculator. And if I plug my exercise into calorie burn calculators, I get between 100-300 cal burned. And that's conservative, since I underestimate the work that I do.

I know it's often suggested that people up their calories, and I do understand the reasoning behind this. I'm just afraid to! I've lost this much on the same routine, I'm afraid to up my calories now that I'm lighter. And I can't go too much further down, isn't under 1200 too low? Should I up them a bit now that I'm exercising? Just wait it out and hope for a whoosh of loss?

Sorry this is so long, I just wanted to cover all the information. Thanks for reading (and hopefully replying, haha).

I always got told that switching up the intakes and workouts would help and I think it did a bit when I was stuck at 125, I always plateu at 117 lbs so I'll be in the same boat as you soon (if I keep up the work) haha. Also maybe having different amounts of calories each day might help. I'm not saying to rigidly calorie count because I'm trying to stop that because it's obsessive but maybe have a bigger lunch and a smaller dinner one day too? I guess all I can say is variety helps Hope the weight falls off soon! x

At your new tiny size, I WOULDN'T recommend increasing the calories.

It's possible it's the exercise making you retaining water. Something else that struck me are the couple times you used the word "always" in your post. Change up some of those "always" items. That may jump start you.

You've had such a great run! It's very normal that you've been at the same weight for a time. Frustrating when you're that close, but normal all the same.

Two BIG THINGS.

1. Any time you start or change your exercise routine, you'll hang onto water weight (if you're sore, that means you have microtears in your muscles, which means they are swollen and retaining water).

2. There are a million other reasons that weight might not move for a week, including NO REASON AT ALL. Sometimes our bodies are fickle. I really don't start worrying until you have at least a month of no movement. Sure, it's annoying, but it's part of the reality of weight loss.

I also would not raise calories, especially not after 2.5 weeks. Most likely this will work itself out, and if not, your weight is so low right now that you'll most likely need to increase exercise or decrease calories to keep losing if you're genuinely stuck.

Thanks guys I also didn't think raising my calories was the way to go. I've been very satisfied on my 1300-1500 calories.

I wasn't too surprised when I maintained that first week after I started to work out, in fact, I was kind of expecting it. But it's been almost 3 weeks since I've consistantly worked out. I'm still a little bit sore, and I do stretch before and after, but it's not the same feeling of just starting to work out anymore.

And yes, I do have a very stable routine, and I should vary it more. I'm just a creature of habit, and it's easy to "count" calories when I eat the same things for the most part, lol. I'll try to mix it up a bit.

And one more (very) TMI detail. I've been, well, stopped up for the last two weeks. I mean I have gone a few times in that time, lol. But it hasn't been regular or easy I drank a glass of water with psyllium powder and ate some prunes. I may even sacrifice the calories and take a tablespoon shot of olive oil. So hopefully my body will let go of some weight that I can just "flush" away, haha.

If you've lost inches, then I imagine it might be your TMI problem that's contributing to the weight "gain."

Try pinto bean or chickpea soup in lieu of whatever soup you normally have at lunch. Way more fiber than almost any other food--about 14g per 120 calorie serving.

One suggestion I would make is that, for a week or two at least, you do an actual journal of exactly what you're eating and their calorie counts. I know you keep a running total in your head, but actually putting it on paper/on computer will help you make sure there aren't calories coming in that you're not counting/forgeting/estimating incorrectly.

I also think that the TMI could be a BIG factor.

Lastly - you're very close to goal. I know it's hard to be that close and not actually there, but things slow way down near the end.

Oh, one more thing - if the plateau continues, you might think about figuring out what your maintenance calories would be at your weight, and stick to that for a week or two and see what happens, and then drop back down.

For your TMI problem you could try taking some vitamin C. Magnesium is really good for that too. (if the prunes don't work)

Congratulations on your weight loss. You've done really great. I hope your stall passes soon. If I were in your situation I'd probably do what Eclipse suggested. Good luck.

For being stopped up - i always suggest a couple apples or a really big glass of apple juice. Or Raisin Bran... this may be TMI - but i had a really large bowl of Raisin Bran the other morning after being stopped up for a couple days.. and went 3 times in one day!

It's *most likely* a combination of things - the sometimes initial affects of added exercise, the stuffed up-ness, it's time to shave off your calories a bit, really stick with that 1300 instead of 1500 or just one of those things.

I would most definitely NOT raise those calories. That would be totally counter-productive. You are tinier now. You require less calories to run your body. It won't be quite as *easy* to keep on getting that all important calorie deficit. Your smaller body has changed the math equation. This is when we decrease calories, certainly not tack more on. You decrease your calories and/or increase your physical activity.

How's your water intake? That can help you with the bathroom. And watch out for those prunes - they're VERY caloric. I'd stick to real veggies, veggies, veggies to get you - moving - in each and every way. Instead of that banana BREAD - more veggies or maybe some watermelon.

Think mostly veggies and some fruit at each and every turn.

You've done great so far, this is just a minor blip as you head towards your goal. This too shall pass.

plateu huh? Well, I hot one of those for a couple of weeks... actually just up until today. Maybe try switching up your workout to change things a bit, checking your calories/or whatever you're trying to watch.... ? Drink more fluids maybe? sometimes it's water retention....

I had that when I was taking my calcium without magnesium... eh.

anyway, I recommend drinking apple juice concentrate straight... I've done this up for a few people...works wonders... that and grape juice concentrate straight... you know, those cans you mix w water...

Thanks for all the advice everyone

My psyllium fiber is starting to do it's thing, so maybe I'll lose a bit once everything is working again, haha.

I'm upping my cardio, still doing weights and strength every other day. Today I did an hour and a half of moderate cardio, but I'll probably stick with around an hour for the most part. I was doing 30 min. I also have a session with a personal trainer tomorrow morning, so maybe she'll have some suggestions I'm definitely losing body fat and inches though. This is probably the firmest I've ever been. I'd possibly consider wearing a bikini, haha.

And I also joined CalorieCount.com. It seems like a really user friendly kinda thing. Today I ate 1250 calories.

So, hopefully I'll start seeing the scale move soon!

You might be gaining muscle too.