I dont understand what the problem is here!

I have completely stopped losing weight! I cant lose nothing. I am getting so mad! I eat nothing but healthy foods, I exercise, drink lots of water, drink the green tea...I am starting to get discouraged and I do not want to. But when you feel like you are doing all you can do, what else can you do? I dont think there is anything else I can do. I did better when I ate like 800 calories a day. I knew that was bad so I stopped doing that and have been eating minimum of 1200. Seriously i am getting MAD! can anyone help me here? Am I missing something? I was told to zig zag but I dont know what numbers to use. Thise sight tells me to eat 1250 a day. So do I fluctuate between 1250 & 1450? ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! so frustrated!

scooch scooch....

did you try changing up your exercise? 

I agree with hs1229... Try switching up your workouts. 

How long have you been at a plateau?

I have been at this stopping point for almost a month! I am going to switch things up a bit, but I have been and NOTHING WORKS! thae first 20 melted off like butter!

I am soooo with you KCNAE, very much the SAME situation here.

I'm a Chinese and my menu would NEVER be in high fat, high sugar, high sodium or whatsoever! We eat LOTS of veggies, some fruits and we have all the balanced food in the family for EVERYONE, i don't drink any soft drinks, green tea, oolong tea, and i certainly drink loads of them...i work out and i have NOT seen a change since i lost a few pounds three weeks ago.

I am sooo frustrated and was almost to give up...the only faith I'm having is I keep in my mind the concept that since you are not giving it up, you are not gainning weight. Without this motto, I'd quit LOOOONG time ago!

Anyone help? NOTHING WORKS! Even I've been switching things.

KCNAE, I'M WITH YOU, DON'T FRUSTRATE OUT, JUST STAY HERE AND SEE IF WE CAN GET ANY HELP.

You made a very good point. I am not gaining and if I gave up I would. I dont think I would ever go back to eating the way I used to cuz enjoy the way I feel now being healthier. I just wonder is this it? Is it impossible for me to lose 60 more pounds? I am at a loss! Nothing is working!

kcnae3, I feel your pain!  I joined CC to break a plateau after losing 43# over 2 years.  It worked and I lost 7lbs in 2mo.  Then I hit another plateau!  I've been there approx 2 mo.  I have tried everything.  I increased my exercise, decreased my calories, decreased exercise, increased calories, zig-zagged, stood on my head and threw fairy dust.  Nothing budged the scale!  I want to scream!!!  I lost a couple of inches at first, but even that has stopped.  I'm concentrating on strength training now.  Several people have recommended that.  Let me know if you find any good solutions!

I have had several long plateaus during my weight loss in the past year and a half.  They usually came after losing a lot of weight really quickly. 

Eating more really helped - surprisingly enough.  Eating DIFFERENT foods helps too - maybe your body has just gotten used to eating the same things?  Try different exercises, or different intensities.  If you usually go for a fast walk, maybe try jogging for a minute then walking for 2 minutes.  Add stretching, yoga, pilates, weights.  You could just buy a stretch band (cheap) and do lots of stuff with that for resistance training.  Get a jump rope!  Excellent cardio and super cheap.

The main thing is to not give up.  After making a few changes, my body would finally wake up and dump some more weight.  Just keep at it and try not to get too discouraged.  :)

I have lost almost 70 pounds now, but it has taken since Jan 2006!!  Slow but steady and its worked for me

I have gotten good at switching foods up. I have broadened my menu lots! I went out this weekend and bought some weights (8 pounds a piece) but its a start! I looked at the jump rope and thought about it...now I am thinking I should have gotten it. I have a hard time with running ( i swear i dont know how) and jumping jacks and that fun stuff. I have severe rheumatoid arthritis and it is PAINFUL to do to much to fast. So that limits me! I will keep trying though.

just a note: 1200 calories is still VERY little food.  EXPECIALLY if you excersize!!  1200 was to low for me, it took a month at maintenance calories to kick myself out of the rut and then I slowly lowered back down to a decent amount that wasn't as low.  Plus the only thing that seems to work for me is 100% clean eating, nothing processed. 

Remember walking is EXCELLENT exercise! 

Get yourself a body composition scale. I haven't lost a pound in three months, but I'm gaining muscle and losing fat. The body composition scale lets me know I'm making progress instead of feeling like I'm stuck in a rut.

where do i get one of those scales? It is one of the ones that tell percentages of fat and all that?

kcnae, a few things. You are adding bone mass and muscle mass by exercising. Two you need to find a deficit of between 500 to 1000 calories a day between what you need to eat to maintain your current weight.

So if by doing nothing all day, just sitting around basically,  let's say you burn 1500 calories to make this easy. Now to continue to make this easy, let's say through exercise you burn 750 calories. Eating 1250 you are right at 1000 deficit but your body probably can't handle that high a deficit. So now let's say you eat 1750 instead. Your body is happy because it's getting the fuel it needs to handle all the extra exercise plus bone and muscle mass you are adding. But you are at a 500 deficit now. 1500 for living + 750 exercise = 2250 minus 1750 eaten = 500 deficit. That's a pound a week. Try varying that as well, maybe 700 works but 800 doesn't. I know that seems crazy, but it works for me.

kcnae, I can definitely relate. I have not budged in the last 2 months either, and I know that it is frustrating. That is why I started using this site because the information if very helpful and people sharing their experiences is helpful as well.

As far a the plateau, sometimes it just takes your body a while to wake up and realize what is going on. With that being said, I am going to continue on my crusade for better health and continue with my gym habits. I almost feel like my body wants me to stop, however if I give in, then I will be in the same situation that I have always been in. I don't want that.

As far as the body composition scale, I bought one this weekend at Bed Bath and Beyond. Yep, one of those annoying coupons that they send all of the time finally came in handy.  I believe it was $30, and with the 20% off it was $24.

Good luck.

Hi all! I'm new here, frustrated with my own plataeu. As I talked to many people about what I could do, one thing kept coming up that I wanted to mention. For all of our hard work, our bodies are constantly adjusting. And it'll just chill at a certain point for a while as it adjusts to the new weight, the new muscle, the new activity, whatever. So while you'll initially lose w/a new activity, the body adjusts. It doesn't mean you're doing something wrong, or that it's never going to work. Keep loving your body and keep taking care of it! But serious, long-term weight loss takes a long time, and we all have lots of plateaus. Don't beat yourself up! Keep exercising, keep eating well, keep changing it up. That's the healthy lifestyle, and these are life long habits we're acquiring. Know you're treating your body well, and just keep at it!

OK, buck up session over!

Hello I am also new to this site.

I'm with greyman on this subject.
Think about like this Fat are feathers and Muscle is Lead.
If you take a pound of each then the feathers are going to be huge and the pound of lead is going to be small.

You say that you arent loosing wieght , are you loosing any inches?

Are you eating regularly like 5 to 6 times a day if you arent and trying to skip meals , starve, eat alot less then your body may think that there is a shortage of food and storing it as fat.

One thing that works for me is if I cut my meal portions down I trick myself by using a small 6 inch plate instead of a regular 8 inch or 10 inch plate) and filling it with food (only what fits on the plate) when I finish it I am usually full.
If i am not full after that I wait 20 miutes to see if I'm still hungry.

Also another thing that works is eating right. I eat a regular diet of meat (small portion 6 oz of meat), Veggies (eat all you want)
And I eat all day this seems to help with my metabolism.
Another thing is water, and then water, water, water.

Are you a member at a YMCA or gym somewhere?
If so are you taking the classes? Areobics/ Step, Yoga, body sculpt, Weight training? I dont think you would bulk up much cause it takes alot of wieght to bulk up.
Any of those?

This is just things that you may or may not have looked at.
Good Luck , Keep on doing whatever your doing just remember to shock your body with different things.
The DnT

I am so dumb! I was reading this thread and thinking WOW...this sounds like me! Then I realized DUH! it is me. I posted it awhile ago and I thought it was new! Anyway there is my dumb moment for the day.

I do eat 3 meals a day and 2 or 3 snacks. I drinks LOTS of water and I exercise! I am so sad:(

I am gettting sooooooo frustrated. I planne dout my weightloss from now till christmas and everyweek I put my goal of a 2 pound loss and my actual loss. Well at first I was 8 pounds ahead and now I am soooo behind. I CANNOT LOSE!

I have tried so many things and I am getting NOWHERE!

Get the OMRON 500 scale from amazon.com it does bmi, skeletal muscle, fat percentage in addition to the weight and it keeps a 1, 7, 30, and 90 day average so you can see what progress you've made.