Plateau? Lets break it together!

I have reached a plateau since beginning this diet in January - I started at 171 lbs and i am now hovering between 150-152 and i am 5'5".

I definately need some motivation to get over this hump. Who wants to join me???

I have 15 lbs more to go, and I can not wait to rid myself of them.

Let's share our strategies and support - weigh in once a week on fridays and blow our plateaus to shreds!

Anyone Game?

Stay away from anything  creamy.  That is a always good rule.  Your more oily ones tend to be a little better in calories.  Do they have you put the dressing in a separate little cup?  If they do, realize you don't have to fill the cup all the way up to the top, half is probably enough to get the taste.   Also, ours has a little spice area.  You can add all the extra garlic, curry, ginger, etc. and at minimum calories. 

This mongolian BBQ place is sounding pretty tasty. I am dying to have my 3:30 snack before i work out at 4. I am just hungry today!

I'm doing pretty well on calories for today. Even with my tentative dinner for tonight logged (BLT's made with center cut bacon - yummy, and au-gratin potatoes and salad)  I am at about 1,100 cals... So i'm glad i have plenty left for my after workout protein shake and maybe just a tiny bit of dessert later. Actually i am low on protein for the day, so i need to try to incorporate some more of that with whatever calories i have left.

I have hard core cardio day today, part of me is dreading it and part of me is just dying to burn off that extra .8lb that was still on the scale this morning.

I hope i can complete the whole session without stepping off for a few seconds here and there... I want to feel like superwoman!

Well, my mongolian bbq outing would have been great, except I had dessert :( All the sauces are marinades and they all get very burnt off during the stir frying, but I think with all the oil they squirt to make sure it doesn't stick to the flat grill, the calories are more than made up for :(

There's a separate section for spices, herbs, salt etc, but I ended up avoiding it after a nasty surprise with the chinese five spice (a sliver on the teaspoon ended up making the dinner almost too hot to handle for me!. Then there's the marinades which you ladle over your bowl, then you hand that over and they cook it up. We don't have any creamy ones, so I guess I was ok with my choices, other than that damned (amazingly tasty) dessert.

Today's temptation: chinese with a friend before a birthday party. Half a portion of chicken fried rice is quite possibly the only thing I'll eat that won't nuke my calorie allocation, that I know of. Suggestions?

msmeg, your dinner sounds amazing, AND you have calories over?! Wow. Good luck with the cardio! I sabotaged myself last night by messing up my toe, so my treadmill cardio is out for today, and I can't lift weights (I have terrible forearms). What IS your hard core cardio? Other than insanely burnsome

Well, i feel guilty because normally i make myself finish all 50 minutes of it - running at various speeds between 5mph and 7.5mph.

Last night i only did 30 and then 10 on the bike and 100 crunches... still burned 400 cals, but still feel guilty... Even feel worse seeing that the scale is up more this morning  -1.2lbs total from my lowest point 2 weeks ago...

So over the whole month of may, i've managed to maybe lose 1lb total. Which is better than gaining, but ergh! I am so frustrated. The scale has not been good to me in the past two weeks...

Oh well, try again today. Hoping to avoid any chocolate cravings that come my way.

OMG OMG OMG

161.5!!!

I'm down 1lbs from last week.(I only saw 162.5 once, then it was back up to 163) I guess recomitting to my calorie counting has helped. I wasn't enering my numbers consistantly. If this weight is "real" the I have 9.5 to lose to reach my goal!

Can I join?  I've been in a plateau this whole month.  I've lost a total of 50 pounds between July 2006 and April 2008, but now I've been bouncing around between 155 and 157 for the month of May.  Not getting anywhere. 

And I'm heading into the second hardest month of the year for me, June (second to the holidays, of course).  Last year I gained 5 pounds in June and July due to a massive annual project at work that doesn't allow me the time to work out, coupled with a work combination that's both tedious and stressful and makes munchies irrestible.

I definitely need to reassess both the diet and the exercise and make a new plan, or it could be a major setback, not just a plateau.  Our project starts Wednesday, and I have to have a plan in place by then. 

I'm a new convert to running.  I'm nearing the end of a learn to run program, and I'm still very slow.  I've not yet been able to do two full miles without stopping to walk and my mile is at about 13.5 minutes.  Long way to go. 

I woke up late this morning, 7:15 (yikes, have to be to work by 7:45 and I have at least a 35 min. commute).   I didn't weigh myself, I didn't bring a healthy lunch, and I had to eat my oatmeal from my desk drawer for breakfast.    We are having friends over tonight which mean I am going way over my calorie count.  This is my -20% for the week.  I did great 80% of the week.  Now, I am having a night.

I was at 151.6 this morning. Up 1.2 lbs from my lowest point reached almost 2 weeks ago.

I took half a day today off work. I want to have pizza and cheese bread for dinner tonight, but i am sure that will not put me over, but not leave much of a deficit...

Thats a decision i'll have to face later... Now i am off to clean and hopefully work up a sweat in the process.

Welcome Sharz! Awesome job losing 50 lbs so far. thats amazing!

I have a massive project i am in the midst of too - Planning a july 4th festival that draws about 100k people over two days... I def. feel your pain.

As for the running, i reccomend trying the couch to 5k program. you'll be running a 10 minute mile non stop in no time! It made it much easier for me to get into running longer distances.  here's the link http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.s html

How did everyone else's weigh in turn out?

171.   up .4 from my last Monday morning weigh in.  On the upside, I kind of totally splurged last night cuz we had company and we had a bar-b-q (smoke ribs, mmmm) and dessert, and way way way too much wine.   If it only cost me .4, so be it.  I needed a fun night with friends. 

I was doing great with calories yesterday. After dinner i was at 1300 - and at some point my boyfriend mentioned going to DQ and next thing i know, i am eating the most delicious Fudge Brownie Waffle Bowl!

My internet was out so i didn't know what the calorie count was, but i was sure it was high... I ate all but 3/4 the waffle bowl and only about 1/2 the brownie pieces and skipped the wipped cream - total damage (if i ate it all) 980 calories! Whoa!

So with what i figured up i ate about 750 which put me at maintenance cals for the day.

I didn't feel guilty... So i weighed myself after working out this morning and guess what! 149.8!!!!!! a new low!

Hopefully that sticks until friday when i "offically" weigh again!

That brownie thing sounds amazing, I'm salivating here!

My weigh in finally dropped down to 172.4, a pleasant surprise seeing as how I was getting lodged up near 175 more often than not. 10 km walk to do now, maybe that'll help some more :)

I know how you all feel... I've been stuck between 170-173 for a couple months now... I just don't get it...

I saw 169.5 last week and I was SO FREAKING exciting that I was on my way out... but nope. Back to 172 today even though I ran a ton on the weekend and didn't fall off the food wagon.

bleh

dj - we are stuck in the same spot.  170-172 for me.  I am going to try to change up my diet some.  I stopped  at the super produce place after work today and picked up spaghetti squash and eggplant (in addtion to my usual zucchini, tomatos, spinach and romaine).   I am going to see if making my veggie my main course and my meat my side dish helps at all.  

It is so warm at work I am easily downing 64 oz. of water in a day, and not cuz i am forcing it.   At one point I worried I was retaining too much, but my new scale says I am at 45%.  The recommended average for women (according to the directions that came with the scale) is 45-60%.  Maybe upping my percentage a little will help. 

I'd like to join, if its not too late! I started at the end of January at 150+ (I didn't weigh myself very dilligently back then). I'm now at 133/134ish, and I've been constantly yoyo'ing since March! The highest I've gotten back up to was 140 during a cruise, but like I said, I'm back down to 133ish. My original goal was 130, but I've since changed it to 125. I hope to achieve the extra 5lbs through exercise, which I haven't done at all before this.

I feel like I've been stuck at this barrier forever, and I'm ready to finally push past it! I'm 20 years old, medium frame, and 5'4.5''. I've got a sedentary desk job for about 9 hours/day, but I also have free access to an employee work-out facility. I just have to make myself start going!!!

Thanks, guys! :)

hi hharris

I couldn't stop eating last night. Leftover dinner should have been my lunch today. I made BBQ chicken(I only eat boneless skinlesss white meat), rice and grilled veggies. It was so good I couldn't help it. I went to bed just to stop!

I get to run again today! My babysitter gets here at 3:30. Can't wait! Unless my daughter is sick. She wasn't feeling well last night. I gotta go wake them up, time to get ready for school.

Have a good day!

I have had the worst time ever with snacking and overeating for the past 2 weeks. As expected, my 149.8 jumped right back up to 152 this morning... WTF.

Someone in our office keeps replenishing the animal crackers, check mix and candy and its driving me crazy!

I need to get my but to the gym to buy a membership tonight. Hopefully I will have time ( i need to make myself have time). Otherwise, i think I'll do it this weekend.

We have a free fitness center here at work too, however it consists of just treadmills - which im already bored with and some puny free weights and then some weight machines. Plus its down in the basement and theres hardly ever anyone there, the equipment is old...

I think i would do better if i could get myself to go to the classes and do a bigger mix of cardio. Plus there is something about being around other people working out that makes me more motivated to do it.  For $20 a month, i think its worth it!

That sounds like a good plan about the membership! Honestly, I completely hate repetition. I'd rather be dancing or rock climbing or swimming any day than in the gym. Its just that by the time I'm out of work and home, the day is pretty much over for those activities.

Sorry to hear about the workplace sabotage! Would it help to keep a lower-cal snack stash at your desk? Something like a little carrots and low fat dressing or maybe a grab bag of baked chips? =)

I am in I am stuck at 223 to 225 I want to get down to 195 soon. I am running more and biking when it is nice outside. I am going on Vacation for 2 weeks starting Friday so it will be a challege to keep my mind on track.

Yeah - i always bring my snacks for the day, but after months of trying to resist, i can't help it anymore... its a constant temptation.  I just went to wal-mart and refilled my stash of yogurt covered raisins and 100 calorie popcorn and just had to buy some nilla wafers... I love those dang things!

Welcome cbrad07. I actually lost more weight than usual when i took a week of vacation... Of course i didn't go anywhere, but i was sure that being at home for a week would lead to me snacking. Instead i kept myself active and dropped about 3 lbs that week.  Where are you vacationing at? I'm sure you will be active enough that it should be a big deal if you eat sensibly.

I am vacationing in Ontario Canada, several towns and cities. Including Toronto and Niagra Falls. I am gonna take my gear with me and do as much running anyway as possible. Oh yeah I started a facebook group join if you like. The address is http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4242180 5051 .