3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

Bev-the reason that she was stuck to begin with is because she had slowed her metabolism from eating way too little for her weight/activity level-so it is being brought back up for a while to get her metabolism running quicker again-so that is why she is doing the 1800 calories right now. ;) She was eating around 1200 calories a day at her current weight, and a pretty good exercise/activity level-and because she was eating too little-her metabolism slowed and went into "starvation mode" and she stopped losing.

I also want to reiterate that activity and exercise is such an important key here. Dropping your calories every time you hit a plateau isn't always the best way to go. First-you should never eat below 1200 calories a day-because of the metabolism slowing, and because it makes it so much harder to get in the nutrients/fiber that you need and should be getting each day.

In my case-I get through plateaus in ways other than dropping my calorie intake. The most important thing I think you can do to keep things improving is to make sure that you are increasing your fitness level. It is very easy to not exercise at all, or to fall into a rut of doing the same old thing over and over and over. When you start exercising-you may have to push yourself through that 20 minutes on the treadmill, or through that workout tape. BUT-if you are doing the same exercise plan that you were doing 3 months ago-you have progressed to a certain fitness level and are now maintaining it-rather than increasing it.

An easy analogy is to think of a mail carrier. I bet the first few weeks of doing their walking route was a challenge-but after 5 years of walking that same route-their body has adjusted and it is no longer a challenge.

You have to shake it up to increase your fitness level. Your fitness level and your diet go hand in hand for optimum results.

Small changes can produce big results-without having to change how much you are eating a day. If you are doing 20 minutes on the treadmill every day, start going 25 this week (35 more minutes a week) and in a few weeks move up to 30 minutes a day. (70 more minutes a week than what you are doing now) and over time you are burning a lot more calories.

If you are doing the same strength training video that you have been doing for a while-and it is no longer quite the challenge that it was when you first started it-increase your resistance. If you use 2 pound hand weights-go to 3's, then 5's in a month or two. If you do floor leg exercises, add ankle weights to the routine.

Increase the resistance on your exercise bike, increase the incline on your treadmill, go from Walk Away The Pounds 2 Miles to the 3 Mile video. Do what it takes to challenge yourself fitness wise so that you gain more muscle and lose more fat-and end up with a quicker metabolism as a result. (The end result over time is that you will be able to lose and maintain at a higher calorie level!)

I have also found that small changes in WHAT I eat, rather than how many calories I eat make a difference in my weight loss as well. Cutting out simple carbs (white bread/rolls/refined cereals/low fat treats like ice creams etc.) and replacing them with good carbs (more fruit, veggies, oatmeal, etc.) helped me pass a plateau without any calorie change at all.