Frustrated by the plateau

Ok, I have lost about 30 pounds but now I have just quit.  I have not lost weight in about a month and actually gained 2 pounds last week.  I am exercising 5 - 6 days a week and doing a lot.  I usually do 45 minutes to an hour of cardio that includes either spin class, biking or squash and occasionally swimming, and then I do yoga 3 - 4 times a week for an hour and I climb the rock wall at the gym for 30 - 45 minutes 3 - 5 times a week.  The rock wall is my favorite.

I eat about 1200 - 1350 calories a day, drink a ton of water, limit diet drinks to one a day, consume fruits and veggies, have a green salad at least once a day, have mainly good carbs and eat lean meats.  What am I doing wrong?

You sound just like me, I ended up buying a gowear fit (gowearfit.com).  It has taken all of the guess work out of losing weight for me and after being stalled and fluctuating for a month (after losing 20 "easily") I've lost 9 in the month of May.  Best thing I've ever bought myself, no more being frustrated and trying to figure out what I should be doing!

you wll be told here on CC your on a starvation diet ..seems your doing everything else right except for that. 

Could try introducing more healthy fibre like psyllium husks, flax seed, rolled oats, rye and splet flakes...when I did this I found my weight loss kicked back in.

Most health food or bulk food stores have these.  There are numerous other grains and cereals which are very high in fibre and nutrients too which before 2009 I never would eat.

Retrained the taste buds this time around...to try new things.

Takes time for the body to adjust...

That sounds like a lot of activity and not a lot of calories. What are your stats (age, weight, height...)

I'm 46 (next week), 153 pounds and 5'2.  I lost the first bit doing weight watchers.  I have kicked up my exercise in the last six after joining a new gym.  I am not sure how many more calories to add.  I eat more than ww says I should, but I can't figure out how to determine what I should eat.  It was after adding more calories that I quit losing though and I can't eat less, I would starve!

Yep, that's exactly why I bought the gwf, I was totally shocked to find out that on an average day I was starving myself.  I was not hungry but it was holding up my weight loss.  That was exactly my question too, if I'm doing everything right then why am I not losing.  I was sure I'd hit a plateau.  The gwf (similar to what contestants wear on the biggest loser) though is a device you wear on your arm and it measures how many calories you're burning (it also has an optional display that shows you in real time!) and then you log what you've eaten so you know exactly what you're doing and are able to calculate what your deficit needs to be based on how many pounds a week you want to lose.

Looks awfully expensive.  I think I'd like to see how well it works with someone relatively long-term before I commit $250 for an arm band and another $6.95 to use a web site.  CC is free and has so far worked for me although I've gotten in another plateau.  I'm not worrying about it so far because I have hit plateaus a couple of times in this journey and have always broken through eventually. I've got no reason to believe that this time will be any different.  I'm going away for the long holiday week-end and I'll be most likely eating a few things I shouldn't and alcohol will definitely be involved.  Needless to say I'm not expecting weight loss for the next week, but it might help me when I start again next week.  I'm interested in hearing about how this works long-term though.  Keep in touch!

I got mine cheaper on amazon, you can also find them or body buggs on ebay.  You also do not have to have the display...it's just really encouraging to see in real time what you're doing.  I did a TON of research because this was a HUGE investment for my husband and I (I'm a sahm and he's a pastor so not alot of extra money here lol!) could not find anything bad to be said about it (except for a few people who did not understand how it actually worked and thought it magically knew how many calories you eat lol).  While obviously I can't give my own personal long term review I was able to easily find people who have been successful with weight loss since they came out (approx 3 years now?).  You can rent them online but the wait is a long time, if you don't mind waiting though it would be a good option to try before you buy.  I also use cc for tracking calories and my gwf came with three months free for the website but once that's over I'll just be using cc for tracking calories because I purchased the display, so no need for the gwf website.

So, this is not based on any thing other than my own personal experience, but when I hit a plateau for a couple of weeks, I stop dieting for a week or so. Ok, nothing like going on all night cake and cookie binges or anything like that.. but I just kind of relax my standards for a while and cut back on my excercise. When I pick up the next week being good again, I usually have a big loss. Last time I did this I was stuck for 3 weeks... after about a week and half of a "diet vacation" I came back to loose 5 lbs.

I agree that your calories sound a bit low.  I would try upping it to at least 1500 for a week or two.  You don't want to go lower than 500 calories below your expenditure,a nd I have heard that eating a different number of calories each day actually helps (ie 1400, then 1600, then 1300, etc.)

The other thing you can try is to change up your workout.  Do something you haven't done in a while, or try some strength training exercises (not that rock wall climbing doesn't involve strength).  Do something difficult.  Interval training might help, where you warm up on the bike or treadmill or whatever, then go as fast as you can for a minute or two, then slow back down, and repeat.  Your body gets extremely effecient at activities it does regularly, and stops burning calories as much during them.

Please please please do yourself a favour and DON'T QUIT!!!! It will not help your plateau and only bring you farther away from your goal.

Persist in what you have been doing since you know it works. Exercise is excellent for you, not only to lose weight but for your health. So you you should keep it up EVEN if you don't plan on losing weight.

I also hit a small plateau for 2 months after losing about 90 lbs. I noticed I had increased my exercise but not cals. Once I increased cals a bit, the scale started moving a bit more. Not as fast as before but it is moving. When I was on the plateau I just kept going. My philisophy is that the ONLY way I will be able to maintain my weight loss is IF I continue with my healthy habits. So this is my new way of living. If I keep losing weight, good! If not, I'll change it up a bit and keep going! Quiting is NOT an option.

You can do this!!!You are not trying to lose weight...you ARE losing weight. Keep going! :)

Original Post by melindalittle:

Ok, I have lost about 30 pounds but now I have just quit.  I have not lost weight in about a month and actually gained 2 pounds last week.  I am exercising 5 - 6 days a week and doing a lot.  I usually do 45 minutes to an hour of cardio that includes either spin class, biking or squash and occasionally swimming, and then I do yoga 3 - 4 times a week for an hour and I climb the rock wall at the gym for 30 - 45 minutes 3 - 5 times a week.  The rock wall is my favorite.

I eat about 1200 - 1350 calories a day, drink a ton of water, limit diet drinks to one a day, consume fruits and veggies, have a green salad at least once a day, have mainly good carbs and eat lean meats.  What am I doing wrong?

Honestly it all comes down to a calorie deficit.  This has been proven in study after study after study.  Make sure that you are tracking your calories correctly.  You seem to be doing a lot of exercise....but what are you doing the REST of the day?  I ask, because if you are seated the rest of the day, then that can make a huge impact on your calorie burn for the day.

Consider adding weight lifting......(and some protein to your salads)  If you gain muscle your metabolism will speed up and as a bonus you will look great too.

Congrats on your weight loss!

I work with a personal trainer and we both got very frustrated because I was not losing weight doing training 3 days a week and cardio 4 days a week...I was on a 1200 calorie meal plan...we upped the calories to 1500 and then I started losing weight!

I stalled again, but the next time, it was because I had snuck in some calories that I "forgot" about--you know, a couple bites of french fries, 1/2 a bagel, a few nuts, one or six Hershey kisses, etc....even 200 calories can stall you out when you get older (I am 55)...

Hang in there! You must not give up--I think the ONE thing dieters need a lot of is persistence---slow and steady wins the race!

A little while ago I hit a 2 week plateau myself.  I was very frustrated and almost ready to just give up.  And then I remembered that I saw on a show that switching up your workout routine could help to recharge your metabolism to start losing again.  So I did just that!  Normally I run on my treadmill, indoors, but this time I took it outside and found hills to run up and down in my community.  I did not weigh myself for the whole week and I did not change my eating pattern at all.  After the full 5 days of running outside (+ most of my normal exercises) I managed to drop 4 whole pounds.  But it's different for everybody right, I'm 37 yrs, 5'6" and 160 lbs.   Now I will run outside at least twice a week and have not plateaued since.  But I really hope you check into your calorie intake, it does sound like you are not getting enough.  Take Care

How much did you increase your calorie amount?  I think that is what I am having trouble with.  I just don't know how much!

I feel the same way. I am just stuck and I have been eating really healthy and exercsing. I am so disgusted and fustrated that I can't take it any more. I feel like it is affecting my personality and just plain consuming my life. Can anyone help. I am 5 ft, 107 pounds, a couple of weeks ago I was actually 103. My gw is 100. I am eating enough calories plenty of fiber, protein, veg, and carb. Does anyone have a some tricks. My stomach is showing that I had 3 kids and it makes me sick. I am new to all of this health, calorie, exercise and etc. I never really had to watch like this. Any suggestions? I do cardio and circuit training (45 Jillian Michaels). I just want to live my life like a normal person instead of logging on this website all the time.

Three kids is an accomplishment!  Strength training (i.e. weight lifting) really seems to be helping my 2 kid stomach out.  Probably will never look like a teenager again, but after two pregnancies and one caesarian, I'm not one, either.

If you are so frustrated and feel like it is consuming your life, maybe it would be good to take a break.  Enjoy life a little for a week or two, so you can relax.

You know what I think your right. I think sometimes I am way too hard on myself. Thanks, I really needed to hear that.

Original Post by melindalittle:

How much did you increase your calorie amount?  I think that is what I am having trouble with.  I just don't know how much!

 I put in your stats in the calorie target tool and put you at moderately active and it said that you should have 1495 calories with your activity level.  It sounds like you need to add a couple things into your diet. This was with just putting a 30 lb more loss, I wasn't sure how much you were wanting to loose and when your goal weight was.  I would mess around with that calorie target tool.

I bought the gowear fit too.  I have crazy low calorie days (yesterday was just over 2100) and crazy high days (today i will hit 2700 by bed time).  Not because I do a lot of exercise on the high days.  I just am busy at work on those days.  It was really hard for me to pin down what I should eat. 

I am 42 - currently 129, 5 feet tall and eat 1500-1700 cals a day.  Higher on those mega days. 

But you can get a really good idea of how much to eat by tracking ALL of your activities for a week or two.  Every day.  20 minutes dishes (x calories), 2 hours tv (x calories) etc.