[KatieK]

Hi Everyone,
I'm so excited to have found this wonderful forum!!!!
I have lost 25 lbs in the last 4 and 1/2 months. I count calories and I walk 6 days a week on my treadmill --fairly fast--3.8 miles for 41 minutes and the rest warm up and cool down adding up to 90 minutes--just over 5 miles.
I have lost about 1 lb a week but now have only lost 1/2 lb in two weeks!!!
I started at 153 lbs --the heaviest I had ever been in my life-- and I am down to 128. My goal was 127 ( though I would like to get down to 125 and then range between 125 and 130) and I got down to 127.5 but then PUT ON 1/2 lb and have stayed there for over a week.
I have changed nothing and have stayed steadfast, but I'm wondering why so close to my goal I seem to be stuck.
Also I still have fat in my belly and my husband ( who is very supportive) thinks I should continue with the cardio until I lose that fat before switching to alternating with weight lifting.
But as I said I seem to be on a miserable plateau.
Any help/advice/encouragement would be most appreciated.
Katie

[Heather]

Katie -- You've done really well! What you're experiencing is normal. It's just harder to lose the closer you get to goal. It's harder to create the calorie deficit.

That's okay. The scale might slow down, but see this as a time to start using things other than the scale to mark your successes. After all, once you've lost the weight and don't have that marker of success you'll have to find other things to focus on (fitness goals can be great here).

You might want to check out the Featherweights forum and the Maintainers forum for other people going through the same things you are!

CONGRATS!

[Cheryl14]

Hi Katie!

Welcome!

Congratulations on your weight loss and your great exercise plan!

Here's some wisdom from my soon-to-be daughter-in-law! She a five-time marathon veteran who is training for her first ULTRA (100 mile race!) She says that after you run a certain pace and do it over and over, the body becomes VERY efficient. It gets used to the "plan" and adjusts the calorie usage to the new "plan." The trick if you want to LOSE WEIGHT is to mix it up a bit. My future DIL does yoga and she did Turbo Jam with me the other day. She changed her usual route and did hills. She went lifting with my son (her fiance) and also did intervals on the track when she discovered that eating a DOZEN chocolate chip cookies a few days in a row caused her to gain water weight AND some REAL pounds, too! She runs 15-20 miles a day and can STILL gain weight if she overeats because her body is so efficient at running. Mixing it up shocks the body into saying, "What's going on here?" and helps burn off fat.

Cheryl

[BeezKnees]

"I have changed nothing and have stayed steadfast, but I'm wondering why so close to my goal I seem to be stuck."

There's your problem! Like Cheryl said, ya gotta mix it up. According to my personal trainer, our bodies become very quickly accustomed to routines and they lose their effectiveness. She said to switch up the order of weight and cardio exercises. For instance, if I usually do 20 minutes on the bike, then 25 on the treadmill, change it up often and do the treadmill first. Also, she advised that I switch up the order of my circuit training sets. Maybe do it backwards. Maybe rearrange it so that I'm doing different exercises together.

"Also I still have fat in my belly and my husband ( who is very supportive) thinks I should continue with the cardio until I lose that fat before switching to alternating with weight lifting."

Nuh uh! Do the weights! Muscle uses more calories than fat, so adding muscle to your body will help you burn more calories and lose fat.

I'm 20 pounds overweight. My PT has me doing weights at least 3 times a week, and cardio at least five (but preferrably everday.)

Also, do you "climb" when you're on the treadmill, or are you walking flat? My PT says that I always need to be climbing when I'm doing my cardio. Hills, hills, hills. Whether on the treadmill, the stationary bike or the stairclimber.