Ive stopped losing weight!! ive been at 127 for a whole week and havnt changed my calorie intake!  *cry*

 

i thought you had to be stalled at a particular weight for at least 3-4 weeks for it to be considered a 'plateau'?????

~H~

Plateau is when you've been stuck at 150 for a year.  A YEAR.  No joke.  I'm losing my mind.  I do 4-5 hours of cardio a week (and I'm not talking about walking - I'm talking cardio with heart rate between 140-155 the whole time) plus strength training sessions once a week and 10 minutes of ab work 5 days a week....plus try to be generally active on the weekends (gardening, walking, whatever).....plus eat generally healthy - which for me means average 1600 cals per day with an occasional splurge up to 1900.  I've tried eating less....eating more; eating breakfast....juice fast....slimfast.....lean cuisine.....filling myself with broccoli so I can't eat other food (my own diet creation)....settled finally on just trying to have a balanced diet spread throughout the day.

I'm not even sure why I still bother at this point, other than the gym has gotten to be a habit.  Not that I enjoy it - I really don't.  Hard to enjoy something you put so much effort into and get no results from.  But at this point I'm so afraid that if I cut back on any of it, I'd just put on weight. 

And 150 isn't a good weight for me either.....I'm only about 5' 5", maybe slightly taller.  I should be at least 10lbs lighter.

Anyways....that's what you call a plateau.  One week stuck at 127...god, I'd kill to be anywhere near that.

__________________

Ok, editing to update.  Man, thanks for all the positive responses.  I was actually feeling really low today and I really appreciated what some of you said - I never really looked at it that way (that just sticking with it regardless was a good thing). 

I have been trying to vary it up more - do some intervals as some folks suggested.  I've been throwing in some sprints on the treadmill and trying some new group fitness classes - so we'll see how that goes; see if it makes any difference.

I do suppose my body is different - A year ago I was happy to be fitting well in a 10 and I just bought a size 8 pair of jeans a week ago.  So some of the weight I guess has converted to muscle.  Plus i just had a check up and regardless of weight - my blood pressure is low (90/60), my cholesterol is low, my resting pulse rate is low.....all of the major health indicators are really good.  So at least I know that healthwise - my body thinks I've lost the weight! :)

That doesn't totally satisfy me though - so perhaps I will try to to increase some of the weights I've been lifting.  To a certain extent part of it is coming to terms with the fact that I am older now....so maybe my metabolism just isn't going to return to what it used to be and maybe some of my original goals (wanted to get down to 135) just simply aren't realistic.

I would really like to lose ten more though.  After reading some of these responses, I'm a little bit re-energized and am going to try some of the suggestions and see if shaking things up doesn't help.  I know I should be happy that I've maintained for a year in a time when most Americans continue to pack it on- I just want to be able to look myself in the mirror and be really happy - and I'm just not quite there yet.

Wow!  Stuck for a year!  Congratulations on your persistance!!  And your healthy livestyle!!  You rock!  It's easy (well easier) to be dedicated when we can see the scale go down, even if it's really slowly.  Therefore, you've really accomplished a lot.

How do you feel one year later?  Do your clothes fit better?  Do you have more energy?  Do you feel healthier?  More confidence?  Less bulges? 

I've noticed on the forums that there are lots of people who have had unexplainable plateaus . . . do you have anything encouraging for all of us?  I mean, has this last year been worth it?

 

actually i kinda just posted this so my sis could add me as her friend ;) since i couldnt figure out any other way to add her to my friends list...  i just started my calorie counting on this website today :)  Ive been using the calorie king food and exercise journal till now.

and what i meant was ive been steadily loosing baby weight 2-3 pounds per week since i started my diet and excersize plan... i started at 170 and now i am 127.  my goal is 115-120. 

alittlet..  well you sound like you exercise alot and eat very healthy!! im sorry youve been stuck for so long!  im not really complaining... i was just curious as to why with no change to my diet and exercise ive stopped losing weight. :)

alittlet:  The one thing you didn't mention trying is switching up your exercise routine.  When my weight loss slows down, I change my workout, either the intensity, the duration, or the order of exercises.  For example, recently I had a slow down and changed the order of my cardio workout from elliptical, bike, then walk, to bike, elliptical, then walk.  This broke my stall and I started losing again.  Then even more recently, I slowed down again, and changed the duration from 30 minutes bike, 30 minutes elliptical, and 15 minutes walking to 30 minutes bike, 65 minutes elliptical, and 15 - 60 minutes walking and started losing again.

If you haven't tried this, then you might want to consider it.  Anyhow, I admire your persistence and wish you luck.

I've been stuck in a plateau for about 4 months now.  I'm 5'6 and I take in between 1200 - 1400 calories.  My weight has settled at 140-141 and I work out about 5 to 6 times a week.  Some intense days some not all depending on how my body is feeling.  It gets frustrating but from what I've been reading your body gets used to the routine so I have switched around my routine by incorporating tapes along with my treadmill and bike and of course I have increased my free weights.  So I'm hoping this is going to help.  I also believe age is a big factor as far as metabolism goes.  Just need to work harder during workouts, along with eating healthy, seems to be key.

I have been stuck at 127 for months now.  And I am SHORT, at 5'2, I should be about 20 pounds lighter, but right now I am shooting for 10.  I have been stuck here for what seems like forever.  I am doing everything right, cycling calories, cardio 5 days a week, weights, LOTS of water, to no avail.  I also wonder why I bother, but I know from experience if I quit, I'll put 10 back on.  GRRRR :(

I'm stuck to for about 6-7 weeks now. Very frustrating--I've tried all the recommended tricks withut success-went from 272 to 228 for a loss of 44 lbs. since 12-10-07 and now not losing at all-- very frustrating to say the least.

dfs - it is frustrating isn't it?  But what dove stated above and you get to that point where you want to give up, don't because the weight will come back.  Just eating healthy and being active, even without losing weight, is still better than nothing and there is so many benefits overall.  I think its just a matter of improving your workout and changing things  might help in losing the weight plus it will help so that you don't get bored with the "same old same old".

alittlet, have you ever given yourself a week off of exercise to rest your body?

If you can do this without fear of not starting back up again, i'd say give yourself a week off, if you can't go a week at least 3 days in a row.  Then, when you start up again change up your exercise in this way:

Change up your cardio to High Intensity Interval Training.  That steady state heart rate is not helping you.  Your body has adapted to that and you're basically like a hamster on a wheel right now, you're going nowhere fast. 

I'm guessing you probably need to increase your weight on your strength training too.  Are you continually increasing your poundage as the weights get heavier, or have you fallen for the low weight, high reps myth that permeates the weight training for women methodology?

If you change up these two things i'll almost guarantee you you'll see some results.  But start with a rest period, and then come back, and come back strong!

Tks Asilmax-don't you worry-I refuse to quit--however I do like the idea that shandykat puts forward--maybe i'l just stop the treadmill for 4 days and just up the weights and the intensity with them for a few days :-)   ---healthy eating is the way to go and i'm actually enjoying finding different healthy meals and snacks--sortof fun in a sick sort of way LOL

Hey, good news-weighed in today at 227 even-I know its only a pound but that gets me down 45 lbs now and it finally moved a little-and actually in the right direction--here is hoping its the start off this plateau area and down to the next one--- we will see---yea ;-)