Why aren't I losing weight any more!?

I started my diet at 160 and I am down to 146 now and I am stuck. I have been the same wieght (plus or minus a couple pounds) for weeks now! I am eating healthier (around 1300 cals a day) and execising 4 times a week but I can't seem to lose any more weight. Should I be exercising more and eating less??  I just don't know how to get over this hump without being unhealthy! Any ideas???

1- If you eat 1300 a day and burn off say 400 a day, that gives you a net intake of 900 a day, which is too low.  Doing this for a while will cause your body to hit starvation mode as you are not feeding it enough.  At which point you stop losing weight as it doesn't want to die.

Assuming 1300 is the right amount you should be eating (this is within the 500-800 deficit of your maintenance expenditure), you need to ensure that you are at 1300 at the end of the day after all activities are factored in.

2- You have hit a plateau.  We all do.  I've been on one for 2 months.  How to get off?  Suggestions are usually eat more and totally change up your exercise routine.  Do some differnet cardio and lift weights if you do.

Your body has gotten used to its new lifestyle and needs to be shaken up a bit (or in some cases, alot)

Try removing something from your diet.  If you eat a lot of dairy try cutting that out for a couple weeks.  Substitute it with more fruit or something else healthy.  A lot of people find out they have allergies to food (which will mess with your metabolism) when they cut them out of their diet for short periods of time.

try increasing the intensity of your workouts, at least 1 or 2 times a week.  Or, you may add something new to your workout routine, or change it in some way.

Our bodies tend to adjust to what we are doing, so you may not be burning as many calories per workout as your were before. 

Are you near your goal weight?  If so, the weight will be lost slower.

I suggest that if you are very near goal weight, that you figure out what your maintenance calories will be at goal weight, and then target that for your calorie intake.  You will lose slower, but your body will reach its natural set point and you won't have to make any adjustments in your diet. 

I was at a plateau for about 4 months.  The scale wouldn't budge.  It was frustrating.  A couple weeks ago I took out my normal desert of Smart Ones chocolate cake and replaced it with sugar-free jello and also have added more running and different exercises to my routine, and now I'm back on the losing track.  So far I've lost 3 pounds the last 2 weeks, so I'm happy to finally be off that plateau.  Plateaus are annoying, but, like suggested by other posters, you have to mix things up and make your body get out of the normal routine its become accustomed to.

how long have you been dieting and do you ever 'mess up' on your diet? Because if you dont allow your caloric intake to fluxuate every so often, you will get stuck like this.  I allow myself to eat out once a week and up my calories by about 500. This way your metabolism bounces back up. I'm not a doctor, but I've lost 92 pounds so far this way :)

Yea, i would agree with boosting the intensity of your workouts. Keep a sharp watch on calories to make sure you arent slipping in a bunch of uncounted "snacks" and you should start losing again.

Also might consider splitting up the workouts to a couple times a day (shorter, higher intensity).

"Protein Break - 3 days only.  "Plateau buster"   I started at 219 at Thanksgiving 2006.  I have used this twice since last Nov. when I get "stuck".  I lost 4 lbs. over 3 days - going from 188/189 down to 184.   BREAKFAST: 2 eggs - boiled or poached Coffee or tea 1/2 orange - (helps to calm sweets craving)   SHAKE - protein (no bars) (Slim Fast shake would work)   LUNCH: 4 Oz turkey or chicken (no skin) Small salad of raw green vegetables Coffee or tea   DINNER: 4 Oz - LEAN beef Small salad of raw green vegetables 1/2 orange   SHAKE - protein - either before or after dinner. - ours are 8 oz. protein mixes we drink from our weight loss center   Use Kraft fat free salad dressing or Walden Farms and add 1 tsp. of fat per day (ie low fat may or low fat butter)   NO STARCHES at all - NO sodas - NO substitutions of any kind for these 3 days!!   This is for women.  If men do it, they get 5 ozs of meat portions.  

Zig zagging works very well for me... there was a really good post on C-C about this awhile back, you might be able to find it.

Here's a website from a quick search I just did:  http://www.naturalphysiques.com/tools.php?ite mid=64

I find it works very well.

Good Luck!

has anyone else tried the Protein Break that dwilliams is talking about? I realized today that I have hit a plateau and I want to break out of it before I am stuck here for too long. I want to do it healthily though--I am a little skeptical of the Protein Break thing, just because it sounds a little to me like a mini crash-diet, which I'm really not into. no offense intended to you dwilliams, I'm just curious to know a little more about it. Losing 4 pounds in 3 days sounds great, but won't I immediately gain it back? also, if in fact this would work and be a healthy plateau breaker, I have a few questions:

-do you eat the whole egg, or only the whites?

-would a fat-free Freshen's smoothie with a Protein booster count as the protein shake?--that's the closest thing to a protein shake they sell on my campus.

-could I use balsamic vinegar instead of a salad dressing, or is that a substitution?

-can lean beef be just like a burger patty?

I'm still a little skeptical, and to be honest will probably take the zig-zagging/switching up my workouts method to break my plateau, but I'd like to hear more. thanks.