Plateau Burn You Out? Ready To Hit It Hard Again?
 

Hi! :wave: This thread is dedicated to those of us who have been faced with nasty plateaus that have taken us outta of the game for a time. All the desire is still there but our motivation is struggling to keep us going. Well now, it's time to take all our energy outta feeling sorry and regretful and put it back into action. If this is your second (or third, fourth..fifth!) time around of making a go of it, you know exactly what struggles I'm talking about. Please come join and be ready to finally blast those pounds away with a little encouragement, support and perhaps some enlightenment to help you along your way!!

A little of my story..
 

Hi!

I joined 3FC with the highest intentions of losing 100lbs. and I made great head way (losing 57lbs.). BUT...it started slowing down when the things that used to work for me wasn't working anymore. And though I tried to continue the harder it became to push myself. It's hard to keep going when everyday you try and everyday you get disappointed. Before I knew it...all my negative self-talk and old comfort friends reared their ugly heads again. So, it's been a love/hate relationship between me and food this past while. I've had the greatest intentions to pick myself back up and kick butt, but then there was always something to come along to make a great, easy excuse. It's summer vacation...everyone around me is eating it..I can pick myself up tomorrow..yada..yada..yada.. Now this is it! No more excuses...time to "Wake UP" and to really make an effort..a serious effort. As serious as the first day I joined this support site. Woo Hoo!

Here's a link that offers some enlightenment regarding plateaus, it may give you a light bulb moment.

http://health.msn.com/dietfitness/ar...ntid=100096724

Take care and thanks for visiting!

Even though I can hardly call mine a plateau I *am* ready to hit hard again so am joining your thread!
Totally recommitting to make this next year count.
Congrats on your 2 lbs gone, Tina! We can do this :D

Thanks for the nudge!
 

Mine is not a plateau, either; it is a full-on relapse......REGAINING 20 #s of an 80# loss and maintenance of 4 years, but I too, have had enough of the added weight. It just seems every day I choose the rewards of food over the rewards of being at an absolutely great weight for me........135#s, here I come. Count me in!! Thanks for the post, the boost, the oomph!!

Plateau/Relapse here. I haven't changed my ticker to show my true weight yet, but being honest the scales read 229 today, which is down a couple of pounds from the highest I have been since my relapse. The plateau started in December, and even though I have continued to eat healthy I did quit my exercising then threw in a "bad" day here and there and the scales started going back up. I started exercising again 2 weeks ago but have kept my "bad" days. I know its time to kick the "bad" day thing to the curb, but it is just so hard.

I really think this thread will be great for all of us. Thank you Tina for starting it.

Hi, good morning all! I thought I'd start by telling something that I did today that I'm proud of myself for doing. **Hence the quote under my ticker** I got on my elliptical and burned 221 calories. I could only last 15 minutes, sheesh, you sure get out of shape really fast when you stop exercising! Another thing I'm rather proud of too, is that another pound has left for the "second time" hehe! I feel really spiked and excited about my attitude towards this. I think I can turn things around for the better! Yay! :carrot:

Emily, that's what it's all about. Just ready to hit it hard again. Recommitting ourselves! Thanks for the congrats BTW. :) You're so right, we can do this! Love your energy girl! ;)

Maryblu, first of all..congrats on that amazing loss! Maintaining for four years is awesome! Like you, I'm trying to turn things around NOW before I spoil all of my hard work with mindlessness. Time to take the reigns again and start steering our own wagon! Welcome! :carrot:

Robbin, I know once you start feeling in control again your bad days will become minimal. I know how hard it is, but if we can muster up a little bit of strength against negativity we'll slowly regain our will to make good of the days we're given. :hug:

I see a lot of great fat busting days ahead of us!

Have a great day ladies and here's to making every effort today to change our tomorrow!

Hi there . . . :wave:

So good to see you back posting Tina . . . you've definitely been missed, Chickie.

My whole year has been one long plateau so far . . . actually I tend to refer to it as "inadvertently practicing maintenance". Whatever you want to call it, a twelve pound loss in almost 8 months does not exactly thrill me to bits. I know, I know . . . definitely better than what it could have been if I hadn't been at least half-way trying. :shrug:

Anyway . . . here's a good little article from Prevention Magazine that was in my e:mail this morning . . . thought you might all enjoy a read . . . http://www.prevention.com/cda/articl...%20Tips%20Ever

Have a great day everybody . . . see you again soon . . . :carrot:

Good morning ladies, hope everyone is doing good. I did slip up on food yesterday but I walked an extra half mile last night, not that it really did much cause the scales are up 3 pounds today but hey lets blame it on water weight and move on, I am sure they will be back down in no time and I am ready to kick this in the butt.

Have a good day.

Hello! I am new to the boards....Tina thanks for telling me about this group! I am so confused....I am not losing weight, but people are still saying that I look like I have! I make the mistake of weighing myself daily....how often do you girls weigh in? I am just so impatient. I feel like I have been on point lately with my diet, and my family walk/jog nightly. Do you have any good tips for breaking the plateau? I'm excited to get it done for good this time! Good Luck girls!!

Good morning ladies! It's nice to see some movement in our new thread! How exciting! I'm really so happy today for two reasons: 1) the scale dropped another two pounds and 2) I pushed myself an extra 5 minutes on the elliptical. Granted I did dropped the resistance down a notch..but hey I burned 53 more calories than yesterday! Woo Hoo!! :carrot:

Linda, Hi! Thanks for missing little ol' me. :o I missed it here too. You seem to be riding the same wave I was on. Little to no movement for an extended amount of time. Sad to say it broke me this summer and I lost myself. Now I am paying for it, but hey at least it's reversable right?! Keep at it girl!

Robbin, sorry to hear of your nasty scale reading. :devil: But your attitude is amazing today! :carrot: One thing you can be proud of yourself is the fact you pushed yourself a little extra too! :carrot: Here's to having a fully OP day! You know what to do right? Chug that water today!

Staffingchick, welcome and thanks for coming to check us out! Congratulations on what you've lost...that's really great! :carrot: I know it never seems to come off fast enough, but if we focus on living a healthier life soon we'll reap the benefits of looking good in time. But that's always the part of plan that we're waiting for that never seems to come fast enough! LOL! For breaking a plateau I find zig zagging your calories helps or intensifying your workouts. What plan are you using? I calorie count, sticking to the ol' method of calories in vs. out. I'll post something regarding breaking plateaus. Oh yeah, I weigh everyday...I find it keeps me accountable for the day. Whether I need to be more diligent or if I can have an extra few calories.

Well, chickies haven an awesome day! Keep fighting for your right to be a better you!

Excerpt from "Best Diet for Life"
 

I just wanted to jump on and say hello to all of you, especially you ladies that were in our previous 1 lb thread. It's great to see you all posting again! I had wondered how each of you were doing. :hug:

Wow! I can't believe how much weight some of you have lost....that is so amazing! You are such an inspiration! It's nice to hear that I'm not alone in the torture of weighing in daily:-) I try to wait a week, but I just can't. I agree with Tina....that it keeps me accountable for my actions. I have been watching my calories also. I was doing the no carb/low carb thing, and it just didn't work for me. Do you all drink lots of water during the day? Do you really think that helps you with your loss? Thanks for the warm welcome girls....I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you. By the way...my name is Angela - "Staffingchick" is my screen name b/c I own a staffing agency! Have a great day!

Tammy, it is soOOOo good to see you. You have always been and always will be an inspiration to me! Congratulations on your furthered weight loss! Look how close you are to goal! You go girl! I'm so beyond proud of you for sticking this through, like I used to say...you're like a rock! I know this thread seems to be dedicated to getting over plateaus and ruts, but please feel free to keep coming in here and posting. We'd love to have ya around!!

Angela, I try to guzzle the recommended amount..some days (especially lately) I haven't gotten no where near that. But when I'm on program completely 100% I manage to drink 2.2 litres a day. Now that is peanuts to some, but that is amazingly well for me. And I actually think it helps, you know, "flush" all the fat and toxins away. Also helps against water retention. So glad to hear you're feeling well recieved and comfortable here. I look forward to getting to know you equally as much!

Well girls the weekend is upon us, and if you're me, that means incrediable challenges lie ahead. My sister and family is coming either tonight or tomorrow. You know what it's like when you have company..it's so hard to keep OP. But fingers crossed, I'm feeling really dedicated..I think my willpower will outlast my temptations! If I don't get a chance to check in throughout the weekend..I hope you all have a great one (in all aspects of diet and exercise)!

Hi all (thanks for the invite, Tina),

This seems like a good place to start. I'd been sliding off program since early summer and just couldn't seem to get the fire lit under my motivation, but at the same time I kept telling myself I wasn't going to quit (again). Fortunately I didn't drop the exercise and activity even when I wasn't paying attention to food intake. Actually I was paying a LOT of attention, just not doing anything to get it under control.

So after a great 2 week camping vacation and with a busy Fall semester looming, I've put my healthy hat back on. I started logging a couple days ago and have stayed steady; which is more than I can say for the past 3 months.

First challenge- tomorrow is my birthday and we are going for brunch at my favorite restaurant (Lidia's Kansas City) for celebration on Sunday. I've been staying low on my points so I have some extra, but it will take a mindful attitude (I tend to throw restraint to the wind when celebratory).

Good thing it's with friends I need to catch up with, so I will talk a lot [can't talk with a full mouth- that's bad manners :)]. I'm also going to look at the menu online and decide what my best choices are. There WILL be other birthdays and my goal is to end my 40's in a healthy active body.

ruthannie

Hi, all!
 

A quick hi to all...it is fun to be part of a group actively going/working for good health, goal weights and fitness.

Special thanks to Meowee for the Prevention link. I am a Prevention junky; if I
haven't read it in Prevention, it ain't true........and yet, I missed that article. I do get the emails, too....don't know how I could have missed it, but I bookmarked it now!

I have to say, this time of year it is easier to get excited about fruits and veggies....my raspberries are awesome, and the cherry tomatoes are sweeter than the Big Boys, but they are mighty fine, too. My dog loves my cucumbers.....do you believe that? He loves them..if I don't give him one that has overgrown and gotten too big, he goes to the vine and picks his own!

Have a great weekend, all!

Hi there gang . . . :grouphug:

Sounds like a good plan, RUTHANNIE . . . planning ahead usually pays off. Just tell your waitress to make sure your water glass is always full and keep chugging away at that when you feel the urge for one more bite of something tempting . . . and have a great, great Birthday . . . :yes:

Oh yes indeed MARYBLU, this is such a great time of year for fresh produce to fill up with . . . I just love tomatoes and raspberries are my very favourite fruit. This morning for breakfast I made the famous 3FC protein pancake recipe just overflowing with fresh local blueberries.

Hi again TAMMY . . . once again, thanks for introducing me to that pancake recipe . . . how about posting it here for the newbies who aren't addicted to it yet (I could do it, of course, but figure you should have the honour.)

Good luck with the weekend challenges TINA . . . you can do it, girl. I know how important those family visits are for you . . . and thanks for the plateaux busting hints. BTW, did you get moved into the new house?

Lots of water definitely helps me, ANGELA. I try for ten 8 oz glasses a day (2.5 litres). Have to admit sometimes I count the occasional diet coke and I always count Crystal Light. Drinking lots of water prevents water retention and, of course, water weighs a lot. Sodium encourages water retention. One of the best ways to 'make up' for a high sodium day (like chinese food, for example) is to drink extra water the next day.

Anyway -- speaking of things that encourage water retention :mad: -- we are back to sunshine today (after torrential rains yesterday) and while that's nice, we happen to have 97% humidity to go with it and high humidity is also notorious for bringing on water retention problems for me. So I'll be trying for extra water intake today.

Hope everybody has a great moving and shaking day planned . . . see you all soon . . . :carrot:

Hi chickies! Just taking a few moments to peek my head in here. Love to see the action going on! Anyways...I'm hanging in there (thanks Linda for the encouragement). We just went to lunch to my sis's family favorite place...a fish and chips joint. Believe me it smelled good, but honest to my Lord I wasn't feeling it and felt quite good about eating my toss salad and wrap! Woo Hoo! No endulgences so far and I'm so stoked about that! One day down, just 1 1/2 days left to go and it's Monday! Phew!

A quick welcome to Ruthannie, thanks for coming to check us out! Looking forward to getting to know you and walking down the same path to weight loss and health!

Hope you all are having a good weekend so far...I'll be back for personals when I can!

Humidity- ugh! It's why we vacation in the desert. I always feel like I swell up when the humidity is high. Maybe it's just that everything sticks and clothes feel small. Staying hydrated helps alot though. I try to get 3 liters a day, sometimes more. The sometimes diet soda, I do have a morning coffee and a green tea every day. My day doesn't feel started without several glasses of water though. The water thing was never a struggle for me- I have other weak spots.

In looking through journals from November-January when I lost the beginning part of this- I noticed that it's the vegetables and minimally processed whole grains that seem to work well for me. LOTS of veggies and low glycemic fruits like apples and berries. Grains like Kashi and brown rice- not a lot, but grains still in their whole form rather than baked goods (even the whole grain ones). So that's kind of where I'm steering the bulk of my food planning.

I really like that with points it's my choice and no food is off limits, I can just choose the more whole fresh stuff or a treat. Now the challenge for tomorrow is figuring out how to count the foods at brunch.

ruthannie

Hi gang . . . :wave:

Poor old Nova Scotia set "mugginess" records again yesterday. Today is supposed to be even worse. Some thunderstorms are being prediced for later this afternoon and, hopefully, that will clear out some of the humidity.

I thought I was avoiding the dreaded 'Fruit-fly Infestation' this year, but they caught up with me yesterday. Had to wrestle a battalion of the little devils for my last peach and, although I won that little skirmish :lol:, I guess they are winning the war at the moment since I had to put all the rest of the fruit (including the tomatoes) into the fridge and set out the infamous 'vinegar jars'. Yuck, I don't like cold fruit and a refridgerated tomato is just a shadow of itself. :mad:

Anyway, hope everybody is having a great day. I'm planning to spend most of mine in front of the A/C. Keep doing the good stuff, gang. See you really soon . . . :grouphug:

Tina - thanks for starting this thread. Together we can all reach our goals.
You are an inspiration!

Hey ladies! Gosh, I hoped that I would have a little more time this morning to write up a good post...personals included. But I have a house full of little feet today. My cousin had to go to the hospital for some tests and I'm watching his girls for him. But I will share with you, 1) I maintained my loss over the weekend and 2) knowing I had to babysit by 7am, I got up at 6am to exercise! Gosh, I'm so committed again...yay!!

Lisa, welcome! You're right, with a little inspiraiton, motivation and support from others we can certainly beat anything together! Thanks for coming to check us out!

Hey ladies, how is everyone doing today? My scales seem stuck at 231 right now even though I have been sticking to plan, but that is what this thread is all about right.................. I am hoping this week to turn up he heat on the exercise and be a little stricter with my food. Maybe that will get those scales moving again.

For those of you that do not know me, I want to let all of you know now, I am probably not going to be a daily poster in the thread. Its not that I don't want to but things in my life are so hectic right now that I tend to run out of time during the day. I work full time and have 4 kids, football season has started and my youngest (Mark, 6) has practice 4 nights a week and games on Saturday. My two oldest kids Vicki (15) and Mike (13) think that mom is a personal chauffeur and my 7 year old Matt has homework everynight that he needs help with. While I am handling all of this my husband (Randy) is in the military and will be deploying to Iraq in October. I am the President of the Family Readiness Group for his Company and am dealing with families that have never been through a deployment before and do not know what to expect. And even though all of this is no excuse some of these things are the reason I have let my weightloss take the back seat in my life. But I have realized that it should never be in the back no matter what is going on. I have to get to a healthy weight for me.

Well moving on, I am excited to see all of the faces here and feel as long as we stick together we will make it to where we want to be.:hug:

Good afternoon ladies!

OMG!!! It is so nice to you TINA, boy have I missed our 1lb thread!!!

I hear ya girl it's to get back in the groove. I've been stuck between 185-188 for the last 3mths!!! But with all honesty, I have not been really trying as hard as I know I can. I'm ready now to kick these last 12lbs and maybe even more, WHO KNOWS!!!

You ladies have a great evening!!

Hi girls. Today is my birthday-YAY! So you know I had to treat myself to a small piece of cake:-) I did really well over the weekend. I lost 2.5 pounds, and I'm hoping there's no way the cake will put all that back on0LOL! I have been drinking tons of water in hopes that it will keep me full. I've also been skipping out on the sampling of my two year olds meals (ha,ha...I know we all do it)!! It is a challenge every day. I like coming on here to read your posts...it is very motivating. I hope you are all doing well, and had a fabulous weekend. Can't wait to here more of your results. Take care.

Hey all!
 

Okay, I'm back again. Time to do a real post! LOL

Ruthannie, I hope you had an awesome birthday! I for one know I love having my healthy hat back on. Nothing feels any better than to be (or to feel) like your in control again. Even though I'm living with the "damages" and still look the same on the outside, I feel like a skinnier person on the inside for doing the best I can each day to get healthier.

Maryblu, you can say that again. It sure is great to know there are people out there going through exactly what you are and who are as excited as yourself to work towards the same goals. I gotta say reading your post about your raspberries, tomatoes and cucumbers got me craving. Ahhhh...they sound so delicious!

Linda, no we lost the house we put a bid on to hold while we sold our own. Somebody put the exact same offer on it and was able to move in ASAP (that means $$ to the builder ASAP). We being the first bidders had 48hrs. to react, but where and who on earth can pull that amount of money out of their back pocket. ($400,000 +) Luckily our realtor was kind enough to cancel his contract with us. Anyways...I don't envy you in the least with all that humidity...arrgggh..that's gotta to be the worst!

Robbin, if anybody deserved to be nominated for wife and mother of the year award it would be you. Gosh, I had to sit down and take a breather after reading your post! Girl, your stove must have a lot of burners on it, but so glad you could find one on there for weightloss. Don't worry we all understand and probably can sympathize with you as to finding time just for "you". Keep thriving to strive.

Jana, hey girl. Look at you! So close to goal! Awesome work. Take it from me, no matter how long your body seems to "hang out" keep trying. Try intensifying your workout, or adjust your calories. Your body needs to be "shocked" into moving again. You can do it!!

Angela, Happy Birthday!! Yeah, I can imagaine "one" piece of cake is forgiveable on your birthday. Congratulations on the (-)2.5lbs. Woo Hoo! Keep it coming girl! Funny you said ("you know we all do it") regarding your kids meals...isn't that a terrible mindless thing all us mothers do?!! Sheesh! LOL! I'm glad you like coming here and feel motivated...that means this thread is doing what is intended to do. :D

Phew! Glad I could get all caught up with you all! Have a great day! Here's to making one small decision today to better your outcome on the scales tomorrow (figuratively speaking).

Hi gang . . . :grouphug:

Weather is much, much better today and I'm taking advantage of it. Just about to run out again, but wanted to say a quick Hi to everybody.

See you soon . . . :wave:

Hey! How do you guys get the weight tracker on your signature? They are super cute! Thanks for your help.

hey girls----

I must MUST be a part of this group! After exercising and being awesome, I've let myself slowwwllyyy faaallllll off the bandwagon and drag my butt behind it! I've been having bad days like 3 days out of the week--- including pizza TWICE this week with no remorse!
I still jog and all... but i just CANNOT get a handle on my cravings and desires. and I always give myself excuses "one time won't hurt". well, it does!!!

due to that, i'm up to 138 today and i havent been able to get down to my desired 135 for a MONTH......

leda

Sorry to post again....I just want to see if I figured out this whole "weight tracker" thing. Thanks!!

http://www.3fatchicks.net/img/bar-re...4/145/172/.png

Good morning everyone! Hope you're all found well and raring for another day of fat busting! Circumstances yesterday led me out for dinner to a Japanese restaurant and speaking of mindlessly doing things automatically, I added soya sauce to my soup. The soup probably had enough sodium to last me two days...but oh well, can't take it back now. Now I'm reeking the havoc of it, retention! The best part is that a mistake like that can easily be corrected with a lot of water! So guess what, I'll be drinking like a fish today!

Linda, glad to hear the weather is becoming much more liveable. Hi!

Angela, you're ticker is looking good! It's nice to actually see your progress isn't it. And it's such a great thing to go in and change your weight to watch those pounds go down!

Leda, it's funny how your "quote" relates so well. Welcome! I know cravings have got to be the worst to fight. I love pizza too, no let me rephrase that, I LOVEEEEEEe! pizza too. When I'm having a craving for it I make a healthy version. Usually Hawaiin with lean sliced ham, on a whole grain crust, low sodium sauce and reduced fat moza cheese. I have two slices and a nice size side salad to go with. I'm totally satisfied by it. Just a suggestion!

Ladies, I heard or read something a while back...not sure where, but it just popped into my head again now. "It's impossible to keep up your motivation up to a max all the time while trying to lose weight. That's why it's important to look at this as committing to a lifestyle change. If you're depending on getting all the way through this on high motivation you'll be fighting thoughts of failure and doubt because that initial "honeymoon" period will be over as soon as you hit your first bump in the road."

Makes so much sense doesn't it?! It boils down to how committed you are to this and how badly you want this for you in the long run.

Anyways, have a great day ladies! I look forward to reading all your successes soon!

Good Afternoon Ladies!!!

I was having a good eating day yesterday until I lose a fight with someone King Ranch Chicken!

I'm doing good today and I hope to keep up the good work!!!

Leda & Tina - I have a fight with PIZZA everyday!! My favorite place to order pizza from is Domino's and there is one RIGHT across the street from my apt. When I take Precious out for her walks everyday, I see it and smell it. I haev been in this apt. for a month now and have not once ordered Domino's!!! I almost have but I DIDN'T!!! GOOD ALWAYS WINS OVER EVIL!!!! EVIL PIZZA-ZERO; JANA-25 HAHAHA!!!

You ladies have a wonderful evening!!!

Howdy Ladies! I see some familiar faces here and Tina had sent me a PM and let me know ya'll were hiding. I am SOOOO identifying with the plateau thing and being stuck and have been for many months now. I am proud of the fact that i have been able to keep off about 60 pounds for going on around a year now but when you still have about 80-90 to go it still feels like a tremendous task.

So i may flounder a little here at the beginning and may be in and out on my posting but hope to be in full swing of things soon. I am working on getting over sinus infection, ear infection and bronchitis that was working on pneumonia right now, so exercise is the last thing on my mind but i know that is the key to getting going again for me.

Hope to be seing lots of less of you soon! Erin

Hi gang . . . :grouphug:

Wowwweee have I ever been having a crummy day. Weather is great, but I'm the pits. Started my day at 3:30 with a really nasty hypo event and have been feeling yucky all day long.

Hopefully everything will be back to normal tomorrow . . . :wave:

leda,

I can relate, not that I had completed my journey to goal, but that I was doing great and then slowly slipped off the side of the wagon, with the occasional pathetic attempt to get back on. Last week I decided to hop on with both feet. I'm glad to have found these groups. I think the last time (when I was sliding), part of it was lack of community support.

Welcome back to the wagon, maybe if we clutch at each other, we can keep from slipping off (or at least have help jumping back on) and not get left in the dust.
:)
ruthannie

:hug:

meowee, hope tomorrow goes better. I had quite the day (posted a long vent) over in the WW At Home group.

ruthannie

Hey ladies, I am so excited to see some familiar faces here and some new ones too. I don't have alot of time for alot of chat but did want to drop in and say hi. I truly believe that if we all work together and help keep each other accountable we will break these plateaus and start heading in the right direction again.

Speaking of the right direction, my scales are down a pound from the uppage I was at a couple of days ago. So now I am at 230.0 :carrot:. I have a feeling it is because I was sick last night and spent most of the night in the bathroom but hey, I am always excited to see a drop no mater what the cause.

Well it is time for me to get to work. Hope to check back soon.

Good Morning Ladies . . . :grouphug:

Life is definitely looking better this morning. My blood sugar is sitting at normal levels and I feel human again. We won't talk about the scale-:devil: but eventually he, too, will come to his senses.

Hope you all have a great day planned . . . see you soon. :wave:

Good day ladies! I'm really happy to report that not only did I manage to lose my retention weight but one more pound went along with it!! Yay! I'm really trying and feel really committed to this. I'm a little nervous about lunch today though. I'm invited over to a friends house for lunch. She does try to be health conscience, but you know how it is when you're counting calories....you count everything! And I just won't know down to the point of what I am consuming. But the best part is we're going for a walk afterwards and I already did my workout this morning, so bonus burning today!

Jana, wow! Avoiding pizza is a huge defeat! Now, that's some great committment. You go girl!

Erin, it's so good you decided to pop in! Don't worry about having a slow start, I know once you are feeling better and have your mind in the game again...you'll blow some pounds outta the water! Congratulations on maintaining your loss!

Linda, sorry to hear you had such a bad day yesterday.

Ruthannie, I think having a support helps a great deal! Especially with having a group of ladies who have slipped and know how difficult it is to get back on the wagon.

Robbin, LOL..I remember once when I was doing this I got sick and lost 3lbs. in one day. I was so excited, even more so that when I started introducing solids again the scales didn't reflect that.

Have an awesome day ladies! Keep the fire burning!

Thought that this would be of some interest to you all...
 

Q: I'm a 49-year-old woman and have lost about 60 pounds in six months. I’ve seen great results but still have more to lose and I’m worried about my middle—I’ve seen no change there in two months. I’m working out with a trainer twice a week and do 4 to 5 hours of cardio a week. Do you have any suggestions on how to continue losing weight, and how to target my belly?

A: Obviously, what you are doing is working. So before you panic because you feel like you’ve reached a plateau, relax. Losing 10 pounds a month, on average, for six months is quite an accomplishment. But it’s also quite a shock to your body: All that fat loss has produced a host of biochemical, physiological and anatomical changes that your body is learning to adjust to. It’s a good idea to allow your body to adapt to its new weight without trying to pressure it to produce more drastic weight losses. The fat you’ve lost is energy, after all, and the body likes to preserve energy. So you need to coax it into accepting your lighter body.

When someone is extremely overweight, it’s common for weight loss to happen fast initially, but then slow down. The National Institutes of Health’s guidelines for treating overweight and obesity in adults say there’s often a predictable plateau after about six months.

This phenomenon is partly due to the fact that you need fewer calories now than you did at your heavier weight. What that means is that what worked for you in the first months may not be the same recipe for weight loss now.

Let's say, for example, that you lost weight when you were eating about 2,500 calories each day by cutting that to 1,800. But now that you're lighter, that 1,800 calories may be closer to what your body needs. So the same amount of calorie-counting with your foods and calorie-burning through exercise might not have as powerful an effect.

Plus there is some evidence that a person who is at a reduced body weight has even lower energy needs that a person who weighs the same and has maintained that stable weight.

Your lower energy needs now are just one of many physiological responses to your weight loss that may make you prone to gaining it back.

So what can you do about it?

First of all, rather than trying to lose more weight right now, focus instead on weight maintenance—keeping off the weight you’ve already lost and fighting your body’s tendency to regain it.

To maintain the weight loss, and to continue losing, you may need to eat even more healthfully than you already are and be slightly stricter about portion sizes.

You are on the right track at making exercise a key component of your weight-loss program. It’s a rare person who can keep lost weight off without exercising.

But you may need to increase your activity—either by working at a slightly higher intensity during your cardio sessions, or by adding a few more minutes to each one, or adding another day of cardio. Every person is different but research suggests that it takes from 60 to 90 minutes per day of moderate intensity exercise on most days of the week to control weight.

As far as your belly is concerned, you’ve no doubt lost a significant amount of fat from that area already. If you don’t feel like you’ve seen further whittling down of your waistline in the past couple of months, then shift your focus elsewhere for now. Scientists and researchers still don’t understand everything about how fat is gained, lost and distributed on the human body. There is no magical ab move that will suddenly make fat vanish from your gut. But research shows that belly fat tends to be the most easily lost (and gained). If you have a genetic tendency to store it there, or to store more of it in the area, it may be more resilient.

Try to be patient and remind yourself that you spent years packing the pounds on, and it can’t all be lost overnight—or even in less than a year. Shift your focus on how to live in a way that prevents your lost fat from returning. Eventually you’ll achieve a healthy, fit weight. But give it time. The good news is that even though it may feel like a battle—and it is—it will get easier.

According to the National Weight Control Registry, a research database that tracks the behaviors of more than 6,000 people who lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least a year (but on average for nearly six years), successful weight losers report that once they’ve kept the pounds off for three to four years, it seems to get easier to stay lean.

"From MSN Health & Fitness site"