Stuck
 

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.

Thanks for all the advice. I did start in January BUT for the past year, I've been trying to diet off and on and I always get back down to 167 and then the scale won't budge. And after a few weeks I get discouraged and give up. And that's what I've been doing the past year. When I started this time, I vowed not to give up. So I'm really worried about the the scale not moving at all. Not just after 2 weeks, but like before when I went 3-4 weeks and no weight loss. Hope that makes sense. Bottom line, I've been dieting off an on the past year and have never been able to get below 167. I'm at that point again and the scale hasn't moved in the past week, so I'm nervous.

Some numbers are harder to get under.

Change and deviation from routine can help - eat different things at different times of the day, do 30 minutes of a different exercise on different days of the week, try low carb, high fat, high protein, play around with variables - until you've tried everything and stuck with every option for at least a couple weeks you're not thaaaaat stuck :)

Im in the same boat kinda stuck. I decided to change what I ate and keep the amount the same. I read in your original post that you have oatmeal, flatbread, triskets, mayo, processed cheese in a typical day. There is a theory out there that more protein, veg, and less refined carbs will be processed differently by your body than "white"/processed carbs, wheat, dairy, sugar. In your typical day theres some good stuff but alot of hidden sugars and fats and processed stuff.
Ive kept my calories the same but am not eating wheat, potatoes, pasta, dairy, sugar, processed foods for the next 12 weeks. See if I can budge these scales.
Maybe you need to switch up what you eat?

If this was directed at me, and you did actuallly read my whole post, you would know that I didn't say people shouldn't work out. I already understand the benefits of exercise, I'm in no way an uneducated newbie to any of this. My point was SOLELY that it isn't needed to lose weight, not that it isn't needed for fitness and overall health.

free, thanks for that additional background. Hearing that you have a history at this number definitely explains more clearly why it's so frustrating to you.

I would agree about trying to change up things. Try working out every day (or as close as possible) rather than 3 times a week and see what happens. I know for me, I did a month the last time I was losing where I worked out every single day and had a really big drop for the month.

I would suggest the 30 day shred if you want get the scale moving. It's good and short and you're set for 30 days...I'm sure you will lose some weight when you've done all 30 days of it. I'm doing it too and it helps keep things moving.

Based on how my body works, I would add some protein to your breakfast, a boiled egg, or some lean meat of some kind.

I would also have a snack mid morning and mid afternoon. Nothing big, a piece of fruit or a few veggies with some ff ranch or air popped popcorn. My go to snacks.

The biggest thing I've found is to journal your food and activity and gather feedback from that, change things up now and then, and most of all be PATIENT!:hug::hug:

It took me 2 months to lose that last 5 pounds.:dizzy: I hung in there, and a year later, I'm down 3 more pounds!:carrot::carrot: And maintaining!

I did read your whole post, but doesn't seem you read all of mine, lol. I said I know you didn't say that and that I was just adding on to what you said (not disagreeing in any way).

Thanks for the advice. I'll try shred and switching up my meals. Thanks again!