plateau

uh!! advice when the weight just does not want to drop after 3-4 weeks of counting cals, cbs, fats, protein and exercise------?? it's disheartening.

Several ideas....

• Relax... Body-weight is a fluctuating thing and weight-loss doesn't go in nice, straight lines.
• Measure other things.....  Sometimes your shape can still be changing even if the scales are stubbornly the same.  Work out whether you feel healthier, if your skin is clearer, if you have more energy.... Weight isn't the only arbiter of success.
• Keep your food diary more accurately.... weigh and measure everything that you eat or drink.  Cook your own food rather than delegating what you eat to a food manufacturer or restaurant etc.  It's quite easy to eat more than you think otherwise.
• Make sure you're eating enough....  Operate a 500 - 700 cal deficit between your calories in and calories out.
• Make sure you're getting a balanced diet of nourishing wholefoods and plenty of water to drink.  Imbalanced diets and too many 'diet' or other processed foods can have unintended consequences.  Fat doesn't make you fat.  Carbs don't make you fat.  50-60% carbohydrates, 15-25% proteins, 25-30% fats... as a benchmark
• Vary your diet and exercise regime.  If you find yourself eating the same things too often, try something new.  If your exercises have got samey, ditto.
• If you've been dieting for a long time (six weeks plus) have a day where you enjoy your full maintenance calories.  This is a good way to boost a metabolism that has been depressed by weeks of food restriction.  Repeat every three weeks or so.
• Check your BMI.... If your BMI is between 20 and 25 you are a healthy weight and therefore further weight-loss will naturally be very slow.  If you do a lot of exercise and are very muscular it will be difficult to get below a BMI of 23, for example.

Hope something there helps

thanks for corresponding! I now believe hormones and menopause have a big role in all this---