Yup, it's another one of those, "I think I've hit a plateau" posts.

I started out 2013 at 169 pounds. I've been working my booty off with running at least 10 miles a week and since I wasn't seeing results, I decided to start lifting with a trainer 3 times a week. Aside from one or two cheat days (like the post-half marathon cheeseburger and beer), I've been good and kept my calories at 1200 net/day. I'm at 164 pounds now, which works out to 5 pounds in 60 days. At least the scale number is trending down, but it's just frustratingly slow. I had hoped by now, I'd have hit the "normal" weight on the BMI chart, or that I'd be able to fit into size 10 jeans without having a muffin top, but it just hasn't happened yet. I'd hoped the lifting and running would have added up to more than a quarter inch off my hips and waist in the last 60 days, but that hasn't worked out either. I'm really not sure what else to do and I'm frustrated as ****! I still have another 20 pounds that I'd like to say goodbye to, and while I know I've got to work at it, the fact that it's taken me 2 months to lose 5 isn't really encouraging.

Ok, I'm done complaining.

What have other people done when they've gotten hung up like this?

I'm pretty much where you're at. It took me a year to lose 12p, working out 5-6 days a week and at one point I was running about 20 miles a week. Due to aches I've had to chill on the running so now I finally broke down and ordered new running shoes that I think will help. I'm stuck at the last 3p for a while now. I've had a rough start this March but I plan to get back to the gym ASAP.

I wish I had an answer about the plateau. I could stand to lose another 10p but I can't even lose 3.

First, are you sure you're counting your calories accurately? If you're eye-balling it, then it could make a big difference. Also, are you sure you're not retaining some water? As we build muscle, our body repairs the torn fibers with the use of water. How active are you aside from the 10 miles a week of running? As far as I know, 1 mile equals about 100 calories lost for a 150 lb. person. That doesn't include the fact that you would lose about 10 calories had you not worked out, so the net calories lost are about 90....even if you were to lose 100 since your weight is a little higher, it's not as much as you think. You mentioned a few cheat days....and we are only about 2 months into the weight loss for you (I hope I read your post right...I'm super tired)...so all those little things will slow the scale down. BUT! You are doing great! I know it seems slow, but changes are happening beneath the surface. You're building muscle, you're getting more fit and as long as your calories are right....why not try some calorie cycling? That might shake things up for you. Hang in there and don't give up. I wish you all the best.

I have never done the 'net' calories thing, if you are referencing 'eating back' your presumed exercise calories and then eating 1200 over that for weight loss.

There is absolutely zero way to know how many calories you are expending while working out, and 'guidelines' have huge variation rates.

In the past, when I was working out 5 to 6 days a week, I would always give my calories a 'set' point, like 1400 a day and not think I was eating too low just because I 'supposedly' spent 700 calories at a gym.

Those figures are SO random and do not take any 'real life' factors into consideration. For example, walking (which I love to do) really doesn't make me lose weight at a faster rate.

Me and friend decided to start walking an hour a day a while back (both about the same weight) and within about 4 months she had lost 10lbs 'only changing that, not her diet' and I had not lost a single pound! BUT, I'm a restaurant manager and I walk and am on my feet CONSTANTLY on a 10 hour shift 5 days a week (sit down probably one hour a shift for paperwork)

So, walking is not a shock or a big deal to my body. Now, also I could always walk faster and had more endurance than her, b/c it was an exercise my body was super comfortable with, so I'm getting benefit, but it's not the same and I guarantee you I was not expending the same amount of calories she was by adding it to my routine.

Anyway, you may be winding up with more net calories than you are assuming. Or you've simply hit a bit of a wall that you have to break through.

What do your lifting routines look like? I'm curious more than anything!

I don't know if I have a ton of advice. I can definitely understand the frustration!

All I can say is that I definitely can sympathize... I feel like I've been trying to lose 5lbs forever... and it really seems like this last time when my weight went 20lbs above the highest it had ever been it did some actual metabolic damage really making it much harder to lose weight than it ever had been before for me...

I'm really starting to believe that my history of yo-yo dieting and weight loss even in just the 20lb to 30lb range that I was in has made it much harder to not only lose weight, but much, much harder to keep it off...

So I've pretty much given up ever getting back to the 127lbs that I weighed just after college and to be honest getting to 135lbs might not be in the cards for me either with the way things are going... at this point I'm just hoping I can maintain what I've lost...

I agree with this. I think that it's very hard to accurately count calorie burn. And since you are pretty actively, I'm guessing that you are allowing a fairly substantial amount of extra calories to your 1200 net. I'd pick 1400 or 1500 calories and just stick with that, not calculate net calories, and see what happens.

I agree with those who advise forgetting about "net" calories. Whether you're exercising or not, you're always using calories for energy, so there's not much point trying to figure out your net. In actual fact, you need a NEGATIVE net number to lose weight: energy in minus energy out.

In your shoes I would figure out how many ACTUAL calories you need to eat for your weight, age, activity level, and desired rate of weight loss. Lots of online calculators will do this for you. Then eat that amount, perhaps cycling a little so you eat a bit more on days you work out hard.

Freelance
www.englishgrammargripe.com

Thank you guys for all your suggestions - I appreciate it!

Food and calorie wise - I weigh almost everything that goes in my mouth (the exceptions are pre-packaged foods and when I'm starving at work and grab a piece of fruit for a snack). As far as eating calories back/net calories, it's more of my way of calorie cycling. I eat more the days I run, depending on how far I run (1300-1400 calories for 2-3 mile days, and 1500 for 5 mile days). I know I'll EVENTUALLY get there, it's just a slow and frustrating journey right now.

LockItUp - lots of multi-muscle exercises. Today was evil lunges (hold a 20 pound disk weight straight overhead and lunge the length of the room and back, medicine ball oblique crunches, 60 seconds of plank, standing shoulder press and curls, dips, back extensions, pecs (3 sets of each), then a mile run and 200 meter sprint.