I started working at getting healthier and losing some weight on June 6-- I had a couple of setbacks, but since then have lost about 20 pounds- 209 to 189. And believe me I am happy about that, I feel better, clothes fit better, I can see it in my face... but that initial weight loss was fairly quick and I have stalled out for over a week now, and stayed stuck at 189.

I know it's common to stall once you've lost a bit, and I've worked at ramping up my workouts (I alternate 35 minutes on the treadmill and elliptical, 5 days per week). I do both as intervals and work to improve my last distance/speed each workout. I've also tried to focus on drinking enough water. I've been alternated my calorie intake, thinking maybe I was too low and moved closer to 1500 than my normal 1200.

So I come to you for advice on what worked for you and how to keep making myself eat right and go to the gym. It's a blow and I kinda just want to go to Einstein's for breakfast now and eat a big fat bagel.

Thanks for listening to me vent.

hi angelam, just want to say I totally understand where you are at. I have the same situation here. It's way harder to motivate myself because it's slowed down. Though it might have slowed down also because I am not as motivated anymore... hihi. I don't have advice, but I am sure plenty of gals on here do.

I am hoping that my trip to France the next week is gonna fix me up. I'll have a week of eating only fresh, mostly veggie foods. No way of buying my own groceries and lots of free time but no internet. I should be walking a LOT and feeling completely refreshed when I get back.

Stalls are frustrating!

Have you tried shaking things up a bit? Sometimes changing what you eat for a day can push you out of a stall. Maybe if you eat some carbs, cut out all carbs for just the day, like no fruit, bread, or rice, etc. Just for one day. Maybe change what you eat at meal times (like have a heavier breakfast and a super light dinner), or eat more calories one day and then drop the calories the next. Maybe a big 'ol bagel (or a half of one) for today only and then back to your typical eating will help, unless you know it's going to start something you can't stop.

Have you measured yourself. Sometimes you're losing inches but not pounds.

Let us know what you do and how you get through it!

Sounds like you are doing great - eating sensibly and exercising. This is just temporary - if you stick to your plan the scales will move again very soon. My weight lose is never linear - it stalls for a week or even more then takes a
more dramatic dip - particulartly at the start. Just think you are owed a cuople of pounds - they will let go soon!

Keeping going will break the majority of stalls, and a week is only a tiny one. If you look at my weight log, my general pattern is to hover around the same number for 7-10 days, then the weight drops for a day or two, then rinse and repeat. Waiting it out may seem frustrating and like you're not doing anything, but continuing the diet is still progress, and it's a huge amount better than giving up, which will certainly halt your progress. Indeed, then you can pat yourself on the back for accomplishing the harder job of keeping going during a stall.

1500 sounds fine for your weight and activity levels. Make sure you're enjoying what you're eating, otherwise that too can tempt you to give up. Treats (I like very small pieces of dark chocolate, or sharing half a punnet of strawberries with my partner) help improve morale as well.

A week is not a stall, A month or more is. You are doing fine, just think next week you will post a loss.

Thanks, I know it's not a huge plateau, but it's been almost two weeks with no loss and that's hard to see.

I think I'll keep trucking, and try shaking things up a bit more. I like consistency (it eliminates the 'what should I eat?' challenge), but maybe it would be good to find a couple of different go-to meals.

And try and remember that the scale will eventually go down.

You have lost 20 pounds since June ? That is a great accomplishment !

maybe try more veggies, water, and keep with the exercise. you will get there.

*waves* Hi from one Las Vegan to another! Congratulations on losing 20lbs, that's awesome! I'm going to echo what everyone else has said, it sounds like you're doing everything right, but sometimes the scale just doesn't cooperate. Have you tried using your measurements as an indicator instead? There were a couple of months where I wasn't losing anything, but my work pants started to look like I had tied a piece of black cloth around my waist because they started to sag so badly.

I am completely on the same page as you about consistency - it's taken the guess work out of weight loss for me now that I've found something that works and that I can live with. Fortunately my husband is a very easy-to-please eater and is A-OK with the same 3 meals that I rotate through cooking every week LOL But I've had a couple of days lately where my weight has just been stuck for a while, and I'd shake things up a little just to shock my system back into doing what I want it to do - last night we went to MacShack (wheat pasta, no sauce, fresh tomatoes, basil, chicken and artichokes - ate half, kept half for lunch today), and last week I picked up one of those to-go packs of sushi from Albertson's, but other than that it's been oatmeal for breakfast, crockpot chicken for lunch, and some type of veggie soup or a salad for dinner.

Be good to yourself and keep doing what you're doing. Even if the scale doesn't show an immediate difference, you're surely looking and feeling better, and something has got to give sooner or later - just wait out the plateau and enjoy the whoosh when it comes!

Good luck - stay cool out there, it's barely 8:30 and it's already warm out!

Edit: PS. Do you go to LVAC by chance?

I had the same problem for three weeks, and it does get frustrating. I went through my menu with a fine tooth comb, even logging the sweetener for my coffee. I found where my problem was (I had become too lax on counting my alcohol intake) and this morning my scale showed the difference.

It IS hard to stay motivated when the scale isn't moving. I was on 3Fc and efenryone in my weight group (mid 200s) was losing 2-3 lbs a week when I was only managing 1-2 or sometimes none. I kept on till I got to 235 and just felt like not trying anymore because I felt I was putting in too much effort for the results I was getting. So for about a year I stopped trying! I just gab up. Thankfully I had picked up enough good habits that I didn't really gain any weight during this time, BUT had I kept up, I would have been at goal or really close even with my snail speed rate of loss. I regret not keeping it up. Because of course the problem with giving up now is that the same issues that prompted you to take on this journey have not been dealt with. So yes, you can keep on keeping on now, OR you can throw a tantrum give up, and then later come back and start all over. From experience, it's more worth it to just keep on keeping on.

Congrats to you on your fabulous loss!

whatever you do, dont UP the exercise/intensity while SIMULTANEOUSLY dropping your cals
that will set you up for a vicious vicious cycle that causes serious metabolic adaptation and damage... making it harder and harder to lose fat...ever!

^^^^^^^^
Should ALWAYS be the first place you look, when weight loss stops....... become obsessive about weighing and trakcing for a day or two, and you may just find that what you thought was 1500 cals, was really 1800......
even things like PAM, splenda, and I cant believe its not butter, have calories, and if you use a lot of these products (like a lot of dieters do) than those cals can easily add up to well over a hundred extra a day... depending on your use... before i "wised up" i never counted splenda, cuz i thought it was calorie free!! (**IDIOT! IDIOT*) and when you tell me something is a *free* food... oh boy, i go crazy... i put splenda in everything that could possibly taste better sweetened, and thats a lot of things.. and overtime, i got used to the splenda, so id have to use MORE splenda to makes things as sweet.... it ended up adding up to 40+ packets a day.... sometimes more... guess what? thats 160 cals a day, right there.