Know this has been discussed many times, but I have to ask

That dreaded word plateau.  Recently joined, on Sept. 28, 2008.  Wanted to lose 20 pounds.  I am 70 years old and really wanted to weigh the amount that has been on my drivers license for the past 50 years.  Also want to be in my best health as I have gotten older.  I have followed the 1200 calories each day, with exercise, that consist of walking and gardening.  The first 11 pounds came off very easily.  For the past ten days, the scales refuse to move even an ounce.  No change in my calories, no cheats, still exercising each day.  When I first started, thought, this is so easy.  This site is really a wonderful tool helping me keep up with my daily food.  I am not giving up, for the past 10 days I have continued to work the program.  Sure this has been asked before, is there a secret to get those scales to start moving down again.   You folks have been such an inspiration to me, reading your post has inspired me to follow the course.  Thanking you in advance for any help.   

You say you are eating 1200 calories per day and doing some exercise, too. Are you eating enough. Your body could be refusing to lose the weight because it may think you are starving it?

Yes, I had given this some thought.  I eat mainly fruits and vegetables, grains, very little meat.  Chicken and fish.  Husband had open heart surgery several years back and we have continued to eat very healthy.  I don't follow any type of diet, just keeping track of my calories.  Gave some thought to figuring out if there was any food that I was craving that was high in calories and take one day out of every week and add that to my diet.  Sure I could find something that would add 200 to 300 calories to my diet.  Should I add this on just one day or just go ahead and try to increase my intake for a period of time.  Thanking you for your help.   

Try giving yourself a day off from counting, or plan on eating without a deficit for for a day or two. I have found that it can really help kick start your metabolism.  Good luck!

I second trying a cheat day or two.  Those tend to help me lose again when I'm stuck.  It doesn't make sense, but it seems to work.  Sometimes I'm up for a few days, but then all at once I'll lose a whole bunch overnight.  Good luck!

It could be what is commonly called "starvation mode" although it has nothing to do with starving.  The correct term is adaptive thermogenisis.  The following is from the Ask Mary Q&A in the Advice section

Since Starvation Mode is one of the number one topics on CC+, I thought it might be nice to get your take on it. What does it mean? Does it exist? When does it kick in?

Observations by scientists and lay people show that the "starvation mode" exists, but there is no clear explanation for the phenomenon and it is difficult to measure in the lab. In scientific terms, “starvation mode” is called “adaptive thermogenesis". In relation to weight loss, it is the decrease in calories burned by an individual following a low calorie intake, that is beyond what could be predicted by individual’s age, gender, weight, and activity. In other words, the person is burning fewer calories than the calculations predict. The composition of diet, duration of dieting, the exercise output, and the individual’s muscle-to-fat ratio all affect the adaptation. Unfortunately, obese individuals may be more prone to adaptive thermogenesis.

What that means to us is, if we eat too little our bodies hang on to every last molecule of fat.  The solution is to shake things up by eating more. 

Try eating up to your maintenence level for a few days, then drop back down and see if that works.  I'm speaking from experience here.  My weight chart is in my profile.

Thanking each of you for taking the time to reply with great information and advice.  At this point, think I will shake it up a bit.  Not going to concern myself for the next few days  with  calories,  We don't normally eat out but there is one restaurant that I had been thinking about, so today we plan on going.  It will be a nice change.  This has been my first time to diet, so didn't relate to the plateau, until  I hit the stumbling block.  Now I know first hand.  You folks are such a great support team.  I appreciate each of you sharing your experiences with me.  I applaud each of you in your success.  Will keep you informed as to what happens with my situation in a few days.    

To hallnhealthy

If you check to see how many calories a day you will need once you have reached your goal, you will see that you will require less than you did when you started the diet. 

When you reach what you think is a plateau, it means your are eating what is now just enough  to keep you the same.

You cannot continue to follow the program, if you wish to lose at the same rate as at first. Therefore,  you will have to reduce your calories even more (of course more exercise would work too...but not alone).

I am 65 and have found that this is the only way to keep the scale moving. Isn't it amazingly awful to see how few calories we need as we get older? (Less muscle is why). 

Another reason for a plateau, is that as an animal reduces its weight from what was her set point ( the weight her body wants to be naturally), her metabolism slows down to compensate for the "starvation."

So it gets even harder as our weight goes down.It's a catch 22 for sure.

But if you (and I) can't accept weighing more, then all we can do is starve ouselves more,  Which is what i'm doing. However, my goal is 25 pounds more than I weighed in my forties. And if I reach that goal, I will accept it and be very happy.

Hope this helps, 

your sister in struggle

joy

Joy, thanks for feeling my pain.  Yes, I intend to meet my goal.  My mother is 93 years old and is very healthy.  Still drives, cuts grass, whatever she wants to do.  She is one of the reasons that I felt I should strive to be in my best health.  She and I are the same height, 5 feet, and she weighs 112, and I am on 123 now, hoping to get down to 115.  So many of my senior friends are having knee surgery and whatever I can do to avoid, needing surgery will help me in the long run.  I have always suspected that my age would be a factor in this weigh loss.  I will keep you all posted as to what the scales are saying about my goal.