I'm wonder if it even WOULD plateau at 1200? Why would it? If taking the desired weight X 100 cals is a formula that can be a rule of thumb, then that would mean that 1200 calories would be maintenance for a 120 pound person. Therefore, a person should keep losing until they reach 120 pounds (theoretically).

I'm shooting for 1600 calories a day. I started out at 245 pounds and was shooting for around 1800 calories a day. I lost nicely on that and about midway through, things slowed down, so I lowered it to 1600. If we look at the formula, 1600 should be *maintenance* for a 160-pound body, so I should theoretically keep losing till I get to 160 pounds.

I know everyone's body is different and 1600 seems high to many people. But I'm 48 years old and am consistently losing 1.3 pounds a week (average) on 1600 calories. I don't subscribe to the idea that my body will "get used to" 1600 calories and I'll need to keep dropping, although I DO understand that there may come a point where I am maintaining on that if I'm not exercising enough.

I dunno. I guess I'm skeptical about the theory that if you drop to 1200 then there will be "no place to go". I'd be suprised if an overweight person couldn't lose on 1200 calories a day, actually, and I think a lot of our really successfull losers have started out very heavy and eating around 1200 and won't reach a place where they need to drop their calories; I think they can make it to goal on that quite nicely. My suspicion is that people who say they can't lose on 1200 are probably not being accurate when they are counting, although I could certainly be wrong about that. I know that, in the past, when I would estimate calories, I was always wrong. I always estimated a lot lower than the actual count.

Oh well. Those are my rambling thoughts for today, and they may be worth exactly what you paid for them. :)

I'm not Bombe so I can't speak for her :) but when I say that I lose 1.3 pounds a week consistently, I mean that is where my *average* has stayed pretty much since January. Here are my recorded weight losses for the past 6 weeks:
+0.3
-3.3
-1.4
+0.6
-1.8
-2.8
The average for those six weeks is actually a little lower at 1.13 pounds/week. But my overall average for 36 weeks is 1.3 pounds per week.

I mention this because I think it helps for people who are new to the game to realize that weight loss isn't linear. There will be weeks where you have done everything right and the scale will be up a little on weigh-in day. This is normal and to be expected; our bodies are complex organisms. But as long as the overall trend is downwards, we are on the right track.

Thanks Windchime, that was really helpful info :)

It is not a GIVEN that ones weight will plateau. Absolutely, positively NOT. Mine didn't. As long as you have fat to lose, and you are STILL creating a calorie deficit, you don't HAVE to plateau.

RockinRobin, I have plenty of fat to lose so I hope I don't plateau :)

Geez okay, I shoulda put if it plateaus. Calm down.

That's of course not to say that people that still DO have fat on them don't plateau.... And when I say plateau, I am NOT speaking of the self-induced kind.

And if you do have a non-induced plateau - you'll push through it. You'll forge ahead, reassess your plan if need be, work it out and ride it out till it passes.

I have heard alot of people do plateau so I will prepared if it happens to me but I am hoping it won't :)

I have plenty of fat to lose as well and I haven't plateaued since January 4th, which is 36 weeks. I did have a 3 week period where I weighed the same thing, but then I had a whopping 4.6 pound loss the following week. I really agree with Robin that as long as you are creating a calorie deficit, the weight will continue to come off. For me, there are times when it appears that I am not losing, but it's not true--things are changing, it's just not registering on the scale at that moment. I have had several weeks when I have shown a small gain; I ignore it and stick to my plan. Paying attention to those teeny upswings when you have stayed on plan is just asking to get sidetracked. Now, if I had weeks in a row when I was showing a gain, obviously that is a call to action because either I've gone off plan or I have a BAD PLAN !! :)

My plan is really simple: Do my best to stay at or under 1600 calories and walk 3 1/2 miles, 6 nights a week (7 if i feel like it, but I allow myself a night off). That's it. I don't cut out any food groups and I only say "no way" to a few items that I know will throw me off plan. Other than that, it's business as usual--except my jeans are getting smaller. :)

Yep. Keep your eyes on the goal--that's the path to success. It's hard because we are trained to think of the scale as being the one true measure of success, so sometimes when that one measuring stick doesn't appear to be showing success then we feel we must be failing. I wonder, though--if we monitored our blood pressure, vitamin levels, blood sugar, mental health, etc as frequently as we monitor our weight, we would probably see all kinds of improvements on a daily basis even on days when the scale wasn't budging.

That is great Windchime. What do you drink when you are thirsty other then water?

When I was losing I ate 1200 calories a day Monday thur. Thursday. Then on Friday, Saturday and Sunday I ate 1500. Though to be honest I didn't add the 300/day extra calories on weekend for a few months into my weight loss. The only reason I did was because we go to the city nearly every weekend to care for my husbands elderly parents and it is sometimes difficult to find "lower calorie" options there. Basically my extra weekend calories kept me from going off plan. I should also mention I did this for 16 months, lost 175 pounds and NEVER had a plateau. :)

Lori Bell- so inspiring!

I just wanted to make to rightfully point out that plateaus are not a given. I'm really not sure why you reacted to it the way that you did. :?:

There really was no reason to geez me :(. I was perfectly calm.

I would say 1400-1500 is too low for you. You weigh 280, therefore need more calories to sustain than someone at a lower weight. I'm at 212 and if I ate 1200 calories a day I'd starve! I eat between 1300-1500 most days.

My trainer had a client who came in and was 300 lbs. He trained him would not lose at all- the guy was getting frustrated. Finally my trainer asked him how many calories a day he was eating- the answer was 1200. My trainer told his client to eat 2200 calories a day instead (a whole whopping 1000 more a day) and the guy finally started to lose weight. As he lost the numbers were tweaked, I stopped training with him so I don't know anymore about his client but it just goes to show- 2200 calories may SEEM like a lot but when you weigh 3000 lbs it really isn't.