[sha25]

I have been at this now for about 13 weeks. In about 9 weeks I lost 22 lbs and was thrilled with my progress. The last 4 weeks I have been bouncing between 187 & 189. I can't seem to break it. Any advise would be great!!

I eat between 1200-1400 calories a day.

My eating goes along these lines. (outline)

Bfast: egg w/ spinach and onion, WW toast or Kashi cereal/fiber one w/ skim milk and a piece of fruit, or greek yogurt and piece of fruit.

Lunch: big salad w/ black beans, spinach, romainne, cuc's, carrots, celery, instead of beans sometimes i add some turkey. Or a turkey sandwich with spinach on ww bread.

Dinner- lean protein usually fish or chicken. I eat red meat but limit my intake to about no more then once a week. Loads of veggies. sometimes i'll have some brown rice or sweet pot ww pasta loaded with veggies

fav snacks: Almonds, pistachios, ww crackers w/ hummus or carrot sticks with hummus. I love fruit and raw veggies. yogurt if i didn't have it for breakfast.

I exercise alot(5-6 days a week). I am currently doing C25K, I ride my bike, weight train 3 days per week, zumba. I am constantly on the go and average over 10,000 steps on my pedometer a day.

I am losing inches, but that has slowed down too. I read alot on here to try increasing calories but I eat enough and don't feel hungry or deprived. I log my food and account for every bite.. I have had two off plan days in these four weeks, fathers day and a wedding and either day I did'nt go overboard just ate things I normally wouldn't but still was in my calorie limit. (they were estimated though) But I know that two days wouldn't blow it for 4 weeks.

Sorry this is so long.. I appreciate any suggestions anyone can offer!! Hopefully since I am writing this I'll wake up to a woosh tomorrow and finally break past this stall

[gtech2mit10]

I'm sure you feel satisifed since you're eating awesomely healthy high-volume foods, but at your current weight and your height, 1200-1400 might be a little low for all that exercising you do, and you might want to consider raising the calories -- maybe add some healthy fat?, and perhaps calorie cycling?

[sha25]

Thanks for the reply I have been reading about calorie cycling lately and have been considering trying that. I hear what you are saying about my level of activity versus calorie intake. I feel so full but maybe trying the calorie cycling with some days higher might kick start weight loss again. I do get healthy fats from olive oil, fish and nuts...This can get so confusing

Thank you for taking the time to give me suggestions...

[Losing It 2010]

Just wanted you to know that I read your post and I wish had words to offer but I am at the other end of your quest so all I can say is keep moving forward and reaching out. Even though you feel stuck your weight loss inspires others

Originally Posted by sha25

I have been at this now for about 13 weeks. In about 9 weeks I lost 22 lbs and was thrilled with my progress. The last 4 weeks I have been bouncing between 187 & 189. I can't seem to break it. Any advise would be great!!

I eat between 1200-1400 calories a day.

My eating goes along these lines. (outline)

Bfast: egg w/ spinach and onion, WW toast or Kashi cereal/fiber one w/ skim milk and a piece of fruit, or greek yogurt and piece of fruit.

Lunch: big salad w/ black beans, spinach, romainne, cuc's, carrots, celery, instead of beans sometimes i add some turkey. Or a turkey sandwich with spinach on ww bread.

Dinner- lean protein usually fish or chicken. I eat red meat but limit my intake to about no more then once a week. Loads of veggies. sometimes i'll have some brown rice or sweet pot ww pasta loaded with veggies

fav snacks: Almonds, pistachios, ww crackers w/ hummus or carrot sticks with hummus. I love fruit and raw veggies. yogurt if i didn't have it for breakfast.

I exercise alot(5-6 days a week). I am currently doing C25K, I ride my bike, weight train 3 days per week, zumba. I am constantly on the go and average over 10,000 steps on my pedometer a day.

I am losing inches, but that has slowed down too. I read alot on here to try increasing calories but I eat enough and don't feel hungry or deprived. I log my food and account for every bite.. I have had two off plan days in these four weeks, fathers day and a wedding and either day I did'nt go overboard just ate things I normally wouldn't but still was in my calorie limit. (they were estimated though) But I know that two days wouldn't blow it for 4 weeks.

Sorry this is so long.. I appreciate any suggestions anyone can offer!! Hopefully since I am writing this I'll wake up to a woosh tomorrow and finally break past this stall

[sha25]

Originally Posted by Losing It 2010

Just wanted you to know that I read your post and I wish had words to offer but I am at the other end of your quest so all I can say is keep moving forward and reaching out. Even though you feel stuck your weight loss inspires others

Thank you for your kind words Losing it in 2010!!

I never looked at my weight loss as inspiring to others, so thank you for that

[jendiet]

i agree with a little more calories for all of that exercise. Just a 200 cs increase might get it moving again.

[Natalia]

your meals and snacks look great!
how is your beverage intake? It's summer and humid too so you could possibly be retaining more water.

If you want to try to increase calories a bit but don't want to eat more, how about an olive oil based dressing?

[Mommy in Motion]

About 2 years ago I hit a plateau for about 16 weeks, bouncing between 128-130. I kept getting more and more strict with my eating and more and more intense with my workouts to try and break out but that didn't work.

What finally worked for me was CHANGE! I started cycling my calories (eating more on my heavy workout days, less on the rest days). Changing up my routine (I started doing yoga, and added Wii Fit for some "fun" exercise) and experimenting with my diet (new recipes, trying new foods, limiting red meat)

You're body gets good at what it does. And, when what you're doing is no longer a challenge to you- you can sometimes see a dramatic slow down (or an altogether stop) in results.

Stick with it! You've made great progress so far, and eventually the scale is going to budge again!

~Dagny

[sha25]

thank you Natalia & mommy in motion!!

My beverage intake is great. I drink all water. 3-4 liters per day, 2 cups of coffee & green tea at night. I don't drink sweetened drinks at all!!

I use olive oil and vinegar as a dressing on most of my salads..

I think I am going to try calorie cycling and see how that goes. Quick question, should I be consuming more calories on my weight training days or running days? (on my weight training days I usually do a form of cardio as well, biking or zumba..)

also, I think it may be time to invest in a new scale!! we have a large shipping scale at my job, that is 100% accurate that needs to be calibrated!! I jumped on there today in my clothes and sneakers and it said -2 lbs, so maybe my scale at home is off!! Last week I had to pop out one of the pegs on the bottom that feel in so just maybe.. I'll be buying a new one this weekend..

[sha25]

Thanks jendiet, I think I will add in more calories but maybe do calorie cycling..

[SCraver]

I read somewhere to expect to plateau every 10% you lose... so you started at 210, you would plateau at about 21 lbs lost. Once you break through this, you may plateau again at the next 19 lbs lost (10% of 188).

Sounds like you do all kinds of exercises - that is good! Your body gets used to exercise if you do the same thing all the time. Make sure you are switching up what you do for weight training every 4 - 8 weeks.

Keep at it! You will get over the plateau!