I'm 167.5 and stuck. No matter what I do, I can't get past this dreaded number. I eat 1200-1500 calories every day. And exercise for about 30 minutes 3 times a week. On a typical day I eat:

breakfast - low sugar, high fiber oatmeal
lunch - egg salad on flatbread
dinner - protein (usually chicken) and veggies and sometimes a salad
Snack - After dinner (we eat early b/c of my 2-year-old) I'll have 5 triscuits and 5 cubes of low fat Kraft cheese

Does anyone have any experience breaking plateaus like this? Any advice?

Changing my workout helps a lot. What do you do now for your workouts?

pinkalarmclock - I do Jillian Houghs Just Dance video. It's 45 minutes long, but I only do 1/2 hour.

in the past when I hit a plateau I ate a big steak dinner followed by a day of extra hydration and then the weightloss returned

I read somewhere amongst all my research that to maintain your weight you do 3 30min workouts a week. To lose, you need to up that to 4-5 a week. To lose a lot you need to do 4-5 45-60min workouts. Or, maybe a jumpstart to your diet?

Mix it up with the workout - you are doing bare minimum. Try some interval training to build some muscle mass. Through in 1-2 days a week of strength training. Mix it up and you'll see results.

I agree with what others are saying, that you should work out 4-5 days and go a little longer. Add some different stuff. You have to keep pushing your body in different workouts to lose weight. Womenshealthmag.com has free downloadable workouts (you have to put your email in). Another video is Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, it's a good one. I like to look around at tons of workouts and steal exercises from different ones for my workouts.

I'm going to disagree with the workout stuff. NO WORKOUTS are needed to lose weight. They help, they're great for fitness and overall health, but not required for weight loss. I personally have lost at least half my weight not working out at all (not saying it's good, but it's a fact), so I just wanted to throw that out there. I'm definitely not discouraging working out, not at all, so please don't misunderstand.

If the meals for your day that you posted are accurate I don't see how that is possibly up to 1500 calories!

How long have you been stuck!? That will greatly influence any advice I give.

I agree with this. My mom lost 30 pounds without lifting a finger as far as exercise is concerned.

I do subscribe to the "eat high calories for a day then go back on plan" theory. I don't understand why it works, but it has been my experience. I have not had any plateaus this time around because I've always thrown in a planned high calorie day every couple months or so. It is important to go right back on plan the next day though from what I have observed from myself.

I say ramp up the exercise. Sure you could do without it but for me it's crucial if I want to get anywhere this century. I cannot stick with eating low calorie ALL the time so I exercise (A LOT) so I can eat a little more. Plus I'd rather be toned than a fluffy 144. I guess it depends what your goal is.

Just wanted to reiterate I wasn't saying people shouldn't exercise. And that I also would rather be toned than fluffy. Exercise especially is crutial the closer you get to goal. I just dislike the misconception that one cannot lose weight without exercise.

U can lose weight with no exercise but her body is already used to her exercise, I read u need to change it up, trick your body like I ride my ellipticle really fast for a minute, then regular, then fast. But I know what u mean I have not been able to pass 132 for about 2 weeks. I did go off track this weekend since I kinda partied abit. It can be so discouraging, but I was just invited to a wedding on march 9, haven't seen anyone that is going for over a year. Would love to be at goal by then. But if I keep losing a pound every 2 weeks I will only be down around 3 by then. Let me know if u figure it out. Good luck

ok, so I'm nosy and I looked through your old posts. From what I can see, you started at the beginning of January at 175 and you you hit 167.5 on 1/9.

So no, you aren't really stuck. That is just the normal ebb and flow of weight loss. It's not linear, you don't see a loss every single day. You had a good first week, which is normal but then things slow down and for many people, the scale moves in fits and starts.

Keep on going, and at some point soon, you'll see another dip. But 5 days isn't a plateau. It just means your body is catching up with itself from the big drop the first week.

I know it's true that you can lose weight without exercise but I think it's more important to state that it's much healthier to be active. Brain health and body health, it makes a huge difference. I think it's important to stress exercise as a part of life unless there is a medical reason to refrain.

Here are a few articles that talk about general health and exercise:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1211082810.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...1122143354.htm
(just two that I found quickly)

There is a lot of information, that's just a little. I know you weren't saying not to exercise, haha. I just thought it might be good to say that exercise, although not necessary for weight loss, is very important for your health. Just adding on to what you're saying, not disagreeing!

Good sleuthing - our OP needs to learn that this is not a linear path - up, down, steady. our bodies are complicated - just be patient and keep eating right and moving and the scale will move - it just doesn't do so when we want it to sometimes.