Hi everyone, I have lost a total of 35 pounds since July. It was more diet focused with a little exercise. Well I am at a HUGE STANDSTILL at 154. I mean I am just not budging at all. I have about I am about 20 pounds away from a nice 135 and I just cant lose anymore. I have stepped up the cardio hoping it would help but so far it hasnt budged. Anyone else going through this or anyone have any advice. I am desperate to get past this "not quite overweight but not in shape" 150.

I'd say strength training!!! And great job on the 35!!!

Are you doing interval training? Try that.

I was on a three month plateau at the weight of 175 until I started combing weight training with my normal cardio...I have lost 8 pounds and 5 inches off my waist alone since I started 6 weeks ago...I feel that mixing up my cardio work out with the added strength training helped a lot! GOOD LUCK with whatever you do...you should be so proud of your 35 pounds that is a huge amount!

First of all thank yall for the encouragement! I would have thought that I would be happy with 35 pounds when I first started but now that Im here, I just dont feel happy with my weight. It is a little discouraging when people tell me that Im not overweight and I look fine, but I am still technically "overweight" according to my BMI. Anyway Im rambling...

Right now I am doing about 1 1/2 hours of cardio 3 times a week. I usually do the stair climber, rowing machine, treadmill, or the elliptical. By strength traing do you mean lifting weights? Wont that make me bigger? Granted I dont know much about any of this!! Should I add another day or two of cardio?

Lifting weights will not make you bigger. It is very difficult for anyone to put on a substantial amount of muscle and women put on muscle at less than 1/4 the rate of men.

Two important things you didn't mention are:

A) How long you've been stuck
B) How many calories you're eating or what food plan you're following if not counting calories

Well maybe about a month? Thats a guess! And as far as my eating, vegetarian-organic-low fat-no sugar-no processed diet. I include eggs and dairy in my diet also. Calorie count varies. Between 1400-1800 calories a day. There are days where it might dip to 1200 but thats rare.

You should really google Women and Weight training...there are so many wonderful articles out there!! As basically mentioned above.... women have about 15 to 20 times less testosterone than men. Testosterone is the reason men are men and women are women. After men hit puberty, they grow facial hair, their voice deepens, and they develop muscle mass. Because men have more testosterone, they are much more equipped to gain muscle. Because women do not have very much testosterone in their bodies, they will never be able to get as big as men.

At a month you could be mainting but you could also have lost fat and it is simply being masked by water.

As for your calories ... hard to say.

I'd suggest lifting weights.

Ugh!!! Looks like weight training it is! I was really hoping to avoid that! Thank yall for your advice, I guess tomorrow I am gonna try and make myself go to the weight room. Does it matter if I do it before of after my cardio?

First off - amazing job on the 35 lbs! That's commendable right there!

I'd just like to add I'm about your weight and height and have been stuck here for 8 weeks (actually about a year with varying degrees of effort of weightloss and calorie counting, but 8 wks with determined commitment), so at 1 month I'd say you're still doing ok lol. I'll be upping my strength training as well because heavy lifting has already changed my shape and appearance for the better over the past few months and I've barely lost any weight on the scale. I have just started to take measurements instead of relying on the scale.

I think it is generally recommended to do strength before cardio or even on a separate day than cardio so you can really focus on it but since I am time-constrained with my workouts I fit it in after cardio (which I hate, so I need to get out of the way) or whenever I can and it seems to be fine.

My weight has stayed the same since December, but due to doing the New Rules of Lifting for Women workouts, Lifting weights, I've lost lots of inches!

I've really leaned out my body, and I look tons better! Bang the barbells, sling the iron! I can now hold a plank for 90 seconds, I can dead lift my body weight, I can do 15 pushups!

Being strong is so empowering!

I've been plateauing for 4 months now. Weight training has definitely helped. The scale doesn't change but the tape measure does. You won't get bigger, you get leaner and you feel stronger! Cardio and weights complement each other.

It's hard to say with your calories. I was eating 1200 a day when I plateaued. Turns out I was eating too little. I was also lethargic, TOM was messed up, brittle finger nails, so there were other factors. I have started eating 1550 calories (1750 on work out days, roughly netting around the 1500 mark) and I've just started seeing downward movement (and during TOM too!).

If your plateau continues over 2 months, I'd definitely have a go at eating at maintenance for a bit. Your body just might need a break to recoup.

hah, i feel the same! i can't seem to shake these last few pounds. i think the trick is as you lose, you have to workout harder because you're no longer burning as many calories, but it's hard because you're exhausted from running a deficit for so long. it's just going to take more discipline.