Year long plateau?

Hey any advice would be greatly appreciated!  Right now I am 5'7 and 135 pounds, I have been at this weight for about 12 months.  This summer  I was perfect with counting calories and running 4-5 days a week.  I didn't lose a pound so I stopped counting and didn't run as much maybe 2-3 times a week and I am still at the same place.  I do know that I am at a healthy weight but I would like to be able to lose a little more.  Has anyone experienced this?  It's weird because I was able to lose 30 pounds in a year and a half and now it's slowed to nothing.  Thanks!!

Sounds like a very nice weight for your height!  Maybe your body thinks it is just right!

I have the EXACT same problem!  I am 5'8" and weigh 132.  I lost about 25 pounds within 8 months and have now been at a plateau for more than a year and a half.  I exercise 5-6 days a week, running 5 miles at least 3 days and do strength training.  I count calories religously, weighing and measuring everything and I can't get the scale to budge.  In 18 months, I think I have been able to lose 2 pounds.  I loosened the reigns recently and am just starting to get back to my normal routine.  But even with overdoing it over the holidays and taking a break from my exercise routine, I don't even gain weight now either.  I am more than puzzled.  I have tried all sorts of variations on my diet (always keeping my calories above 1200/day), but nothing really seems to work.  I would literally like to lose about 4 more pounds, but at this rate, that should take me about 4 years!

135lbs and 5'7" gives you a BMI of 21 which is on the low end of the healthy weight-scale..... which you already know.  30lbs ago you were a little overweight so weight-loss would have been quite natural.  When you're not overweight, weight-loss isn't going to happen without doing something drastic to yourself.

Sometimes when people embark on weight-loss they do so thinking that if they were slimmer life would improve in some way...   And then they get slimmer and find they're still the same person and life is just the same as it ever was.   You'll be much happier if you succeed in enjoying the new-look you as you are now rather than thinking you need to lose more weight.

Original Post by mmdsc96:

I have the EXACT same problem!  I am 5'8" and weigh 132.  I.......I would literally like to lose about 4 more pounds, but at this rate, that should take me about 4 years!

 Why?.... When you're at the low end of a healthy weight for your height what difference is 4lbs going to make except to keep you on a permanent diet, permanently restricting calories and permanently frustrated with yourself? 

I agree, that is why I have eased up.  I am happy that letting go a bit didn't result in weight gain.  I am going to continue to eat healthy, and I enjoy working out.  I know I need to be less obsessive about it and that is a resolution of mine for the new year.  I am just afraid that if I am not diligent, the weight will come back.  I was pretty much "pudgy" my entire life, and now that I have lost most of the weight, I never want to go back to my old self.  I would love to look better in a bathing suit as I still have a bit of a belly, but I do realize that enjoying life is a little more important than that too.  My body just doesn't want to drop any more weight and I am not willing to do anything unhealthy to get it to either.

Wow, you're exactly where I want to be. Right now, I'm 5' 7" and 159 lbs. I've been around this weight for 10 years but it's just too chubby! What's it like to be at 135?? Just want you to know that I think that size is probably the sexiest. You're not scary skinny and you're not chubby. It's perfect! And healthy!

Original Post by mmdsc96:

 I would love to look better in a bathing suit as I still have a bit of a belly, but I do realize that enjoying life is a little more important than that too.  My body just doesn't want to drop any more weight and I am not willing to do anything unhealthy to get it to either.

 That's a great outlook! Just remember, everyone else doesn't see the flaws that you see. If you don't like the look of your stomach, tone it up a little bit. I am 5'8", 22 yrs old with 2 kids and I weight 172. I'm trying to get to 138, because that is what the doctor told me is a healthy weight (between 135 and 145). You are definitely at a healthy weight, being only an inch shorter than I am. It's not going to hurt you to lose 4 more, but if your body just wont do it, then I'm glad you take that as a sign and that you're happy with yourself. Too many people out there don't have that healthy of an outlook on life. Congratulations on your weight loss as well!

Thanks for the words of encouragement!  Good luck with your weightloss.  It was a long slow process for me, but I really just changed my thought process and realized it was a life change not a diet, and that is when the weight finally came off, granted, a lot of work comes with that too!

Concentrate on maintaining this weight for as long as you can, so that your new habits sink in.  Losing a little more might be hard, might frustrate you, might send you back.

Comparied to you I have just recently hit a plateau getting stuck at 122 lb's after dropping 73.  I would love to loose just 2 more lb's but it appears my body doesn't.  I have noticed that even thought the scale isn't moving down the inches still are.  I take measurements at least twice a month. 

Maybe you are experiencing the same thing with your body getting more toned / trimming inches instead of loosing the pounds.  Have you checked your measurements since hitting the plateau? 

try upping you cals so you have NO MORE than a 500 calorie deficit after you take into account both exercise and what you ate. I'm 5'7'' too and this is what helped a lot of us lose again after we got to that weight. You should come over to the "130/120 Club?" sometime.

Or start weight training and switch to a measuring tape instead of the scale. You should see results even if not pounds lost.

GI Jane hit the nail on the head, trust your body, the scale seems to be in a pretty good spot. Try weight lifting, you won't look like a body builder but you can tighten up the areas that still seem soft to you.

Yes, I have experienced that, but I was a lot heavier than you are.  I lost a good bit, then it leveled off.  I think of it as a year of maintenance and prefer to put a positive spin on it - I didn't gain anything back as I had done in the past many times.

You've proved that you can stabilize your weight - that's really good.

Thanks I really appreciate all of the feedback.  Having to have patience is FRUSTRATING!!  I definily need to start weight lifting again and doing my best to keep eating right and working out :)